I guess I don't seem to be able to tell why FFTA was so crappy. Someone tell me why, I'm serious. I played the original Tactics after Advance, and yeah it was tons better, but I never thought Advance was downright shitty.
-Dumbed down job system, split between races. Completely pointless, thrown in to make fans think it was a whole new exciting aspect. I think I could have beaten the game using 3 classes. Fail.
-Could not stand the whole "make the map this way and get secret items" shit they tried to rip off. It's been done before, and it sucked then too.
-Inability to rotate the camera in game.
-"Judging" system. Again, just another thing they forced in to the game to give it that fresh feel.
-Kiddy story. Come on. I usually don't complain about this, but it was awful.
-Very cluttered game menu.
-Retardedly easy. I beat this in three sittings. I was 12.
At least, that's how I remember it. Granted I haven't picked the game up since I beat it 4 years ago, but w/e.
I think Fire Emblem 8 came out a year or two later though, so that made it all better. I did enjoy that game.
