Escapism To Its Logical Extreme: Let's Play Final Fantasy Tactics Advance!

Welcome, Welcome to my first legit no-foolin' Let's Play on Talking Time! Final Fantasy Tactics Advance is the direct successor to Final Fantasy Tactics for the PSX, LPed by our very own Eddie, and is different in a few ways:

JP System Retooled
Now, instead of gaining JP for your class whenever you do dang-near anything, each unit participating in the battle gets a set amount at the end. Whether this is good or bad depends on who is speaking.

Race System Added
Now there are 5 races a player character can be:

Human/Hume: As usual, Humans are the jack-of-all-trades race. They have the highest amount of base classes (5!) and can fill any role.

Moogle: Moogles are the cute speedsters. That's the best way I can put it without confusing both you and myself.

Nu Mou: Nu Mou are the spellcaster race, with nearly every class in their tree being a spellcaster one, with two exceptions.

Bangaa: In sharp contrast, Bangaa are the physical powerhouses, with only one magic class. They are also not nearly as red as that picture would have you believe.

Viera: And lastly, the all-necessary "race of female warriors" race. They are the more direct speed-fighter race that Moogles aren't, and they also possess the most brokenest class in the game.

Anyway, I'm planning for this to be a very community-focused LP; ithe classes the characters choose, etc. are going to be decided by you guys! Starting with the obvious first thing:



Name this sucker. I'll close the voting in a week or so.

Azmar.

It is the best name on so many levels.

Plato

Also, might be worth it to explain in full what classes are available to what races when it gets to be party-building time.

I'll go with Azmar. I was going to suggest Ramza, but that's obviously silly in comparison.

If this is the one I'm thinking of, I hated building the map. It seemed to me that the only way to get good things out of it was to look at an FAQ, but maybe you can show me differently!

Sorry, but I have to disagree. When I played this game I saw this:
And was inspired by a muse* to create the most appropriate name possible:
Caolic.

*Or possibly a demon in disguise. I didn't really check for an ID.

Weeks? Uh... I don't think most people normally leave voting open for that long.

I thought that was interesting I was just less impressed by the "rewards". "Gee, thanks for the phoenix down. It's not like I already have dozens and hardly ever need to use them."

You have a good point. I edited it to one week, so Saturday.

Put me down for Azmar.

Also, any chance of playing the entire game with a moogles-only guild? No? Okay.

Hey, you edited this in. No fair.

Well, I mean, sure, if you've got some racist grudge against Nu Mou.

Yeah, Azmar is good. Azmar Evluoeb.
There is actually a simple pattern you can follow but I'll let the LP speak for itself.
This is the best thing to do in this game. (For "awesome" values of "best")

I was actually going to suggest this very thing.

Thing is, the game is very easy to break. Heck, even if you playing it the normal way, you'll end up breaking the game one way or the other after the halfway point. I already saw an FFTA LP that broke the game to pieces and hoard all the secret characters/best classes as soon as possible...and it's really not as fun as it sounds. So, I'm going to suggest against that and make this a challenge run instead.

However, if this still has to be a conventional LP that showcases everything, here's a possible compromise: use Moogles (*or other race, but Moogle's really the funnest and most diverse race) only for the main quest, and showcase the other classes/race in the side-quests/side-missions.

How would you suggest I go about this? Should I punch in a couple gameshark codes from the beginning or just gradually assimilate my team as I go on?

Okay, as I'm kinda missing the hilarity that is dubbing our lead Azmar...
someone mind explaining the reference? I'll vote for it if the story's funny enough.

Wow, just about every race from FF12 is on display here. No Seeq, though? Interesting. Nu Mou definitely got the short end of the stick in the translation to 3D...

Azmar is indeed the best name. Read it backwards.

D'oh! Thanks for pointing out the supremely obvious.

Yeah, I'll chuck in my vote for Azmar too then.

Sorry, but when did we (that is, you) become a vampire naming their child?

I say only do a challenge run if you want to. Let TT create units for your clan, and if four or five people decide they want to create a Moogle squad, awesome!

The more I think about it, the more open I am to the idea. If only because, as Raven pointed out, the game gets much, much, easier as you progress on through the game. I might go with Raven's compromise, namely being:

Also, Azmar is currently landsliding 8:1:1. I figure if it maintains that lead by Wednesday, I'll just choose that.

Sucks to your Azmar.

Steve is clearly the best rpg name. Or STEVE!!! if you want everyone to be excited everytime they see you.

I'll chuck in my vote for Azmar as well, though its near guaranteed at this point.

Flame Rod
Black Robe
Turbo MP
The Prominence
Although you could do it with a Hume I guess.
Also Jugglers are pretty game-breaking.

As for arranging the map, it's just clustering like locations and reaping the rewards, mostly. That and getting Cinquedea.

Another vote for Azmar, unless Torzelbaum feels like explaining why his choice is better (other than its potential demonic heritage).

Here's another vote for Azmar.

I didn't, last I checked. Modern vampires name their kids incredibly stupid things like Renesmae. And I don't think anyone wants that.

Whichever is most convenient for you. I slightly lean toward the latter option (*I think you'd get one starting Moogle character besides Montblanc at the beginning), with possible intervention of inserting vanilla Moogles should you spend a significant amount of time without enough Kupo reinforcements. In any case, give yourself enough leeway so you don't end up regretting it and burning out!

Since any name I would suggest is going to lose to the main leader, I'll simply say there must be a Viera named Bunny at some point, just to be THAT GUY.

I'm pretty old school. I don't give a damn about sparkly vampires. Also this is a video game we're talking about here.

I had to think for a little bit but here's my stance:
While both names are stupid (because that's all Marche deserves) I feel that my name is more original and doesn't besmirch the good name of Ramza.

The other half of the reference is of course...
Lord of the Flies.

There's a medium-funny joke in naming him "New Kid" that stops being funny after the intro level. :shrug:

And Moogles have better/more balanced defense growth across their jobs than other races. (Bangaa get better physical defense and Nu Mou better magic defense, but Moogles get more of both than either of them, Humes, or Viera.)