ffta2 is perhaps the most perfunctory tactical s-rpg ever made. it's the skeleton of a real s-rpg. normally, i am all for casting aside story and characters to focus on the core gameplay, but in the case of ffta2, it has resulted in some of the most sterile scenarios and useless character development decisions ever. it's the opposite of, say, a blizzard game: everything has been made so generic and reductive that the whole experience is meaningless. it's like doing your checkbook, only with bad animu art. i'm still having a certain level of fun, because i am the sort of person who as a child would play with a calculator for amusement, but this is some seriously dull shit. it might as well be sudoku, since its whole design thrust seems to be "occupy the player's time" with little ambition beyond that.
also WHY THE FUCK DOES IT TAKE SO LONG FOR THE CPU TO MOVE. if you're gonna make a perfunctory game, pass that efficiency on to the interface. disgaea can get pretty dry, too, but at least it's snappy!
