Speaking of Lucavi, I do wonder how closely tied they are to the Espers in XII's Ivalice. Obviously they got the same names and similar appearances, but they are fairly different. They possess willing people in order to appear within the physical realm of Ivalice, they talk, etc. The Espers in XII already do exist within Ivalice, they do not talk, and their lore instead is about how they plotted against the gods iirc and were cast out of heaven or some such. Though they do get turned into stones when defeated
So idk how to really connect them.
I don't know, and this is something that I really wanted XII to give me. I understand that the plot doesn't need to be (and may well shouldn't be) directly connected. But I would have loved SOME hint as to what the deal was. Did the Lucavi wind up possessing the Espers and using their forms in Ajora's time? Or were these the Lucavi all along and were simply aligned with the what the the XII cast were trying to do (I happen to like this explanation)? The fact that each character can only equip a single Esper does kind of line up with the Lucavi, though they aren't possessed of course. It would have been cool to get a hint that they had a scheme in mind, or maybe even showing more of a connection between those Zodiac Stones and the ones that were so important in Ramza's time.
After beating Tactics I do feel that there's more connections between this game and XII than I initially thought, for sure. But still, the vast difference in time periods throws me off.
Indeed, and I believe XII has some reference to Ajora buried deep somewhere? Or maybe it's just the Cache of Glabados that Balthier is after (the Church being the Church of Glabados), but again, a bit more of a taste would have gone a long way to enticing me into that world. Even a mention of a person named Ajora causing a small uprising somewhere? Or even hints as to what might be leading to the Calamity. Or a myth of Zodiac Braves?
When I first heard that FFXII would be taking place in Ivalice, I actually thought the main cast would be who became known as the Zodiac Braves. But again, I'm fine without DIRECT connection, it makes the world feel bigger. But the super-tenuous ties just make it feel like a different world with some homages. Obviously Matsuno didn't have XII in mind when he made Tactics, so he could have gone anywhere with it, really.
I want to make mention of a few little world things I noticed recently.
First up is, of course, airship graveyard where you do the final battle; I like that underneath Orbonne is an aaaaancient city with obviously a lot of airships. Seeing as XII's Ivalice was (iirc) the Golden Age of Ivalice and had an abundance of airships, I can only assume that these airships must've been underneath Orbonne for over a thousand years. I wonder if any hearken back to that distant magical Ivalice of XII, or if that's way too far back in time?
Since XII has existed, I have always assumed they were airships from that time period. Though the final arena does more resemble an airship from the early FFs than those of XII.
Secondly, when hitting 'Select' over world map locations, a few places stood out. Siedge Wield, for supposedly being home to an extinct race of moogles, and Beddha Sandwaste, as it states 'The tombs of ancient emperors are buried in the sand', and that makes me think of King Raithwall and the Sandsea.
I knew about the moogle line, but that's a cool thought on the Beddha Sandwaste as well.
Anyhow, back to the actual question; I covered it a bit on the previous question, but as for my thoughts on how it relates to the other games, well... Basically XII is the best era of Ivalice so far
Tactics really does show that, while there's still a civilization and humans aren't going extinct, it's also declined a lot from XII. Technology, airships, a lot of magic, the other races are long since gone (totally extinct, moved elsewhere, or in hiding, who knows?), the land itself has changed, and there's a vast difference in power structure. In XII's era, there were of course kings and kingdoms and rulers, yet the average/common citizen had a lot more freedom in basically all the kingdoms. There was a greater variety. In Tactics, it really is simply 'the royalty/church vs. the lowborn'. There is hardly any grey area in that sense; sure, a few lowborns do get chances to rise, but there's forever that distinction based on one's blood.
Tactic's Ivalice feels more like a... cold prison somehow. Depressing, kind of black and white in several ways. XII's Ivalice? Colorful, vibrant, mysterious, magical, there's a freedom in it, and variety. It's ALIVE. Tactic's Ivalice feels... not quite dead, but, quiet and in a coma or something. Compared to Ivalice's blazing sun, it's a cold moon.
Well, yes, if you had to live in Ivalice, XII's would definitely be the time period you would want. In Tactics it is of course much more akin to the Middle Ages, and considerably bleaker. But that did allow Tactics to tell a better story, imo
I can see the appeal of the "ancient advanced civilization," especially when you have a game that shows what it was like, and games like FFX make good use of it too. But it is a little too prevalent in fantasy for my tastes. Especially when it cropped up in Dirge of Cerberus. (I don't mind it here, of course, just speaking in general.)
As for Tactics Advance, now up til recently I was always under the impression that, 1) the world Marche and the rest originate from is in fact
our world (because they read a book about 'Final Fantasy'), and 2) the Ivalice they are teleported to is an alternate reality Ivalice, or rather a fictional Ivalice. But after talking to Ryu, apparently both the world they originate from and the one they transport to
are XII and Tactic's Ivalice?
If so, then I believe I'm correct in saying that Marche's world is far in the future from Tactics, and they obviously go back in time thousands of years.
Which if their world really is the future of Ivalice, then that's kinda okay, because it's very similar to out world and much more alive again compared to Tactics. As Ryu put it, the magic is still there, just hidden. Which is evident by them finding a magical book.
Yup, "St. Ivalice" is just a town hundreds of years after Tactics. I wonder if it's contemporary with Arazlam Durai, or if Ramza's story was discovered before or after Advanced's "present day." If it is after the release of the Durai Papers, it would be interesting if Luso knew of Ramza, or at least if that information is available in his time.
And then of course there is also Vagrant Story, which also takes place after Tactics but much closer in time period. The links between games are also tenuous, but there are hints to Agrias and Orlandeau - and that the latter is revered with relics like those of the saints in the Christian church.
I hope to keep making progress in A2, the gameplay is of course familiar, but it has been difficult to remain focused as there is so little story to speak of. It's just doing missions. At least so far. I also have Vagrant Story on PS3 that I should get through. If I could get through both before Zodiac Age and just have a Year of Ivalice, that would be sweet.
Gonna attempt it again shortly.
You've also got a pretty good handle on the story, good work!
Battle party was Ramza-Dragoon, Black Mage, Beowulf, Reis, and Luso. I was totally not prepared for that level of WTF-ness. 
I enjoyed the game and the plot quite a lot, I feel like there's 'mysteries' and little bits of info that you can also find reason to connect with XII's timeline (one being Mustadio's last name, Bunansa, the same as Balthier's, so they could be descendants?) More on this topic below. 
