Final Fantasy Tactics Advance: Maeson
ファイナルファンタジータクティクスアドバンス
A top-to-bottom gameplay overhaul of Final Fantasy Tactics Advance that rebuilds jobs, abilities, equipment, battles and laws so that far more of the game is worth using.
What it changes
Maeson's hack reworks almost every system in Final Fantasy Tactics Advance, aiming for a game where many jobs and abilities are useful instead of a few dominant tricks deciding every fight.
- Abilities first. Plain attacks lose most of their weight; nearly every ability now costs MP, has its own power value and usually an element, and abilities are bought with accumulated JP instead of being learned from gear.
- Jobs. Growths, ability sets and defensive traits were redone for every job, each can use four weapon types, and some, like Morpher and Beastmaster, changed a lot. Shared jobs differ between races.
- Equipment. Gear is grouped into three tiers that follow the story, and weapon types now trade power for speed or defense.
- Battles. Enemy line-ups, gear and AI choices were revised, most foes carry two ability sets, and fights scale to your highest-level unit.
- Flow. Dispatch missions were reordered so item rewards come before the missions that need them, and the second story opens without clearing all 300 numbered missions.
- Laws. Some laws were removed or added and the permanent stat penalties are gone (an optional patch restores them).
Optional extra patches add more challenge, separate job lists for Marche and Montblanc, a skippable intro and more. The hack is built on LeonarthCG's FFTA engine hack project.
Playing it
Apply the main patch to your own copy of the North American release, following the instructions that come with it.
Credit: Maeson, with thanks to FlamingZelda, Dartharon, Hextator and the Final Fantasy Hacktics community.