Final Fantasy Tactics Advance

More distracting than strong painkillers

Who would have thought Square’s strategy RPG would be an effective painkiller?

» Game Boy advance » 2003 » Square Product development division 4 Before i used to run Retro Gamer i worked on games™. I started off as the News Editor, but it soon became obvious that the magazine’s Retro section was a far better fit for me. One day, I was heading back from a magazine ‘post mortem’ (a meeting to discuss a recently released issue with the rest of the team) when I suffered a back spasm. White-hot pain spread from my lower back like wildfire, and the agony was so intense I fell to my knees and ended up gripping a table, tears rolling down my cheeks and too scared to move in case I caused further injury. Sent home to rest, the pain was so intense I couldn’t even lie in my bed; instead, I slept and rested on my lounge’s wooden floor. It was impossible to even lift my head forwards without triggering flaring pain in my back, so even watching TV was out of the question. Thank god, then, for my import copy of Final Fantasy Tactics Advance.

The strategy RPG for the GBA had turned up a few days previously and I hadn’t gotten around to playing it. Being stuck at home, though, I had all the time in the world, and it was possible to enjoy it by simply holding my GBA SP above me so I could look straight up at the screen. There I was, brace around my neck, avidly staring at the GBA’S tiny screen as the adventures of Marche and the rest of his team played out in front of me. I’d never played the original Final Fantasy Tactics on Playstation, but I knew of its heritage and it wouldn’t have mattered anyway, as Tactics’ story was completely standalone.

It was completely compelling, too. Maybe it was the strong painkillers or a need to focus away from the dull throb in the base of my spine, but I found Marche’s adventure utterly enthralling and I didn’t rest until I’d completed it. Mechanically the game remains superb, with a deep job system that is engrossing today as when I first encountered it on my wooden floor. It would be silly to say that Square’s game changed my life, but it certainly made it a lot more bearable for 227 hours.