At some point after completing all 300 missions, you will see a cutscene in which a Ninja comes into Cid's office and says that he hasn't had any success getting evidence on corrupt judges. Cid suggests turning to the clans, and while his subordinate suggests that they might be open to corruption, Cid knows of one clan he can trust.
After taking on the new mission, "Cleanup Time," Marche meets with a judge, wearing a hat to disguise himself (From the judge? The judge probably has seen Marche before, but has seen too many clanners to know who he is or why he's here), and the judge prepares to give him "immunity." Cid arrives and the judge unconvincingly tries to deny wrongdoing, but Marche confirms that the judge was trying to make him immune to red cards.
If you've played the game, you'll know that virtually any plot-important NPC, as well as the bosses you have to defeat to clear a mission, have an immunity to the law, meaning that they can break the laws, and will only get a yellow card in response, which erases the AI character's JP, but doesn't do anything until after the battle(mainly, affecting the perpetrator's stats, fining their equipment or docking their reward). Since the AI has no use for JP or what happens after the battle, immune characters break the law with impunity.
47/ This Let's Play
has a nice list of all the various people who have immunity, from the ancient Totema and Llednar (whose immunity didn't save him from being sent to prison for using Omega) to petty criminals and wild animals.
Marche reveals that he came on the request of Judge Watch, and Cid take's the judge's disbelief as proof of wrongdoing. The judge summons minions, and Cid fights alongside Marche, asking to be judged fairly.
An engagement ensues, with the corrupt judge watching the engagement, but judging it reasonably fairly. It's not too difficult, since it's likely that you will be very high level for this as a result of doing all the sidequests, and the enemies aren't much higher level than those you face at the end of the main game.
After the others are defeated, Cid tells the judge that what he did was wrong, and sends him away to prison. He thanks Marche but says the problem has only begun, asking to join Marche's clan to be able to monitor the judges incognito. Marche naturally feels a little awkward bringing the judgemaster into his clan and giving him orders, but Cid resolves to do his best.
When you go to town with Cid and Babus in your party, Babus will pace back and forth in an area that looks like the place where you fought the "Battle Tourney" and "Mage Tourney" missions in Bervenia Palace, muttering to himself. Cid walks up to him, asking if Babus is casting spells again, but Babus says that it's a phrase he heard from Mewt, the one he mentioned at the start of the game. Babus mentions that ancient cultures placed values on sounds, and is trying to find out the meaning behind these.
Babus admits that he was taking a day off, and Cid says that's good, because Babus "always worked too hard for his age". Babus thanks Cid, but Cid says it wasn't a compliment, because it meant none of the others could slack off. Babus isn't sure of how to take it. The scene was a nice look at their personalities, and it would have been interesting to have more interactions between characters.
The next mission is the first of a series in which you deal with corrupt "officials," putting all manner of absurd rules on the engagements and daily level. The first is "No Arms," which would mean that you can't use equipment, but the official, an Illusionist, complains that he can't use the law in battle (not that it seems likely to stop him from using arms), although he'd be at a relative advantage, as a spellcaster).
The next official is a Hunter who makes a rule forcing people to give kisses for free, and one has to wonder how far he could potentially go with his ability to make laws like these. When he's defeated, he laments that he only wanted friends. Marche thinks that enforced kissing isn't the answer, but doesn't think to say it out loud, presumably finding the official's plan too stupid to comment on .
Elsewhere, a Sage reports to a judge that income has gone up ten percent since last month, but they're facing some resistance in certain places. The judge orders that seal production continue unabated, but remarks that Cid is making his move.
Take on the next mission, and you reach the judge's headquarters, with the Sage informing him that they've been discovered. Cid walks in, and the judge prepares to kill him. "The Road We Both Aim For" plays for this battle, but the judge goes down easily enough. Cid, however, knows that this won't be the end of things.
Some more corrupt officials are next, and their laws get even more absurd. A Blue Mage sets up a "No Full HP" law, which makes people hit each other to keep their victims in compliance with the law. Apparently, the Blue Mage likes to watch people hitting each other, so it's quite nice to give him a beating to reduce his HP to 0.
The next up is a Thief who decides to outlaw Literacy, making it impossible for the questgiver to keep records, because he doesn't like to do paperwork. He apologizes and promises to do his paperwork, assuming he'll even keep his job.
Another judge is shown, with a Gladiator inforing him about the judge's arrival and the arrest of the judge in Cyril. He says that he only judges engagements, and doesn't sell seals of immunity. An Assassin comes in, and informs him that she's collected the donations, with the previous clans giving generously, and some new ones joining. The judge tells her to add the newcomers to the list of benefited clans.
Marche gets a mission request from a member of Clan Marble, complaining about judicial favoritism and even expressing a willingness to go to the Jagds out of frustration. Cid visits the aforementioned judge to confront him. The judge plays dumb, initially acting friendly to Cid, then asking what he could gain from fixing an engagement, until Marche shows what he has to gain by retrieving the list of clan donations. The judge has a "!!" reaction, and Cid points out that he has the evidence he needs.
Another judge battle ensues, with the judge going down fairly easily, and Cid remarking that there are other forms of corruption.
Next up is a "No Answers" law, with a member of Clan Ritz mentioning that she got the silent treatment from her friend because of the new law. The official, a Ninja, asks what Marche is doing there, and he silently remembers that the law prohibits answering. After defeating the ninja, he mentally answers his question by sayingthat "Bad guys always get caught!"
Another official puts up a law against jumping, which prohibits climbing stairs in a place like Roda. While this isn't as vertical of a map as Lutia Pass or Siena Gorge, it does make things inconvenient. However, the official, a Black Mage (incidentally, all of the officials have been humans), like the "No Arms" and "No Full HP" judges, doesn't have to abide by this rule, nor can he force you to abide by it.
Cid holds a meeting, opening by reminding the others about the Cyril and Baguba judges being sent to prison, beginning with "As You Know" verbatim. A special judge says that the split with the palace was supposed to be good, and a Sage says that it was an unwise decision. They debate why it is, as the special judge suggests the timing was too soon, while the Ninja says it's a problem with the judges' moral fiber. The Sage seems offended by the suggestion, but Cid suggests it's worth considering, to the special judge's surprise. Cid says he'll resign once the survey is done, but suggests that the judges were all following the orders of someone higher up. The Ninja concurs, and says such a person would know the laws and the prisons. On his way out of the meeting the special judge comments about Cid's willingness to resign.
The final mission, "Decision Time" comes up, and it takes you to the prison in Sprohm. Cid asks a Defender who's responsible, and he says that it's the judge in charge of the prison. Cid asks what he could possibly want, and the special judge from earlier arrives with two other judges, saying that he wants the rank of judgemaster. Cid points out that judges breaking the law reflects badly on the judgemaster, and Marche realizes that the special judge wants Cid to resign. The special judge says that in the end, it doesn't matter, nor does the fact that Cid wouldn't make him judgemaster, so he'll take Cid's "judge sword" from him.
"Incarnation" plays again, and this time, you fight the nameless special judge alongside his accomplices, whom I thought were the judges from Cyril and Baguba Port (Mike and Reinhold). It doesn't take too much effort to defeat these three, and conclude the game.
Back in his office, Cid thanks Marche, and suggests that he might make a good judgemaster when he's older.
So that's it. The Corrupted Judge Campaign was a decent post-game campaign, an extra treat for those who managed to make it through all the other missions, but it didn't add all that much to the main storyline, and, for the most part, wasn't terribly difficult. It seems like it would be Downloadable Content, if the GBA had such capabilities, as an additional campaign separate from the main game.
All in all, Final Fantasy Tactics Advance is a great game, one of the best on Game Boy Advance. It has its flaws, as the endgame could be expanded on further, the laws can seem unfair at times, and there are a few other things I pointed out throughout the liveblog. But all in all, it's fairly deep and engaging, and allows a great deal of character customization. The storyline was fairly enjoyable, with interesting characters. It's also quite long, and had replay value in allowing you to use different parties and character builds.
Thank you for reading and commenting on this liveblog.
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