Final Fantasy Tactics A2

I was playing Final Fantasy Tactics A2 on my DS for a couple days, and I think I know what it is that really irks me about the game: Lose conditions (laws) that are not directly controlled by the player. FFTA2 has an interesting gameplay system carrying over from the previous version. In a battle, players are required to adhere to certain "laws", which may be something like...you can't use fire, lightning or ice weapons/spells in the battle.

At first glance, FFTA2 improved on the previous game with the graphics, and from making the game more forgiving when you break those laws. That is, until I realized that they added new laws in. It's understandable that the laws can force you into a certain style of gameplay (that's where Tactics come in: reconfiguring your characters) but some laws are just stupid.

For example, there is a law against targeting distant units. Well that's easy. I'll simply not equip ranged weapons and refrain from casting spells. Or at least doing so while directly adjacent to an enemy. Until you realize that a critical hit knocks an enemy back by one cell, so you're counted to have targeted a distant unit simply by having a random critical (a good thing, usually). Ok that's annoying enough. Then you realize that some enemies can confuse or charm your characters, causing them to act randomly or otherwise attack your own characters. That means that Mage over there will likely cast Fire on one of your own guys, while standing far away. Oops...that means the law's broken, too. There's another law that's like this: No knockback. Same drill with the criticals.

I think these design hiccups are quite sufficient to destroy the enjoyment of an otherwise really polished game. I love the new graphics, the transition between lands is smoother and basically everything else is really nicer than the older version. Something to take note of, I guess, as the recurring problem of the laws can really ruin one's day.