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Final
Fantasy is no doubt a notable name. It has
been the most critically acclaimed, most popular,
most creative, and, of course, the longest
running role-playing series to date. And because
of that, each game must exceed the quality
of its predecessor. Every game in the series
encompasses some impressive production values.
Immense pressure is applied on Square every
year but in the end it all pays off.
Since this was the first Final Fantasy game
appearing on the Playstation 2 it had to be
an exceptional one. After the game was shown
over at the Electronic Entertainment Exposition
(E3) screenshots and movie clips exposed the
game’s looks and some of the story.
As you probably already know a Final Fantasy
title can’t be left with only stunning
graphics but must excel in all aspects of
the game. The good news is that that is exactly
what the game does. Final Fantasy X offers
what you would expect from a title like this
and more. It takes some interesting new refinements
to the fundamentals like the character advancement
and battle system. Perhaps even more importantly
to the fans, Final Fantasy X laces an engaging
and highly memorable plot. It is not a very
difficult game considering the standards of
the series. That said it makes it highly accessible
to even newcomers to the series with the addition
of an in-game tutorial. To get through the
whole game, however, you’re going to
have to be ready to spend a considerable amount
of time with it and it might even be longer
than the other Final Fantasy games (around
fifty to sixty hours with side-quests). Overall,
the game sports a serious fun factor so don’t
be surprised when you’ll be hitting
the fifth or sixth hour in a day. If you haven’t
played Final Fantasy X before or have been
waiting for a game worth your time and money,
there simply is no question here.
At one point throughout the game each character
will be the focus of the chapter. Each character
has some kind of a history. Tidus is the main
protagonist in the story. This time around,
though, the developers created Tidus in mind
not as negative or shy person but someone
who is involved and positive. At first he
seems like a total show-off, and a little
egotistical but in time you’ll grow
to like Square’s latest character just
like in past Final Fantasy games.
in the game you will meet Tidus’ cohorts
each being completely different from the other.
Companions include Yuna, an illustrious and
young summoner; Auron, an expert swordsman
with a mysterious agenda and calm personality;
Wakka, a man with a typical islander look
and leader of the local blitzball team; Rikku,
a teen-aged girl with a cheerful attitude;
Lulu, a black mage with almost no trace of
emotions; and finally Kimahri, a deadly monster
but shows malice unless he has to. In one
way or the other, each one of your characters
will be a big help.
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"Each
character is highly memorable" |
The
few opening minutes to the game starts off
pretty hectic and fast paced. Tidus, the main
character, is the star of the Zanarkand Abes.
His dad abandoned him a few years ago and
has hated him for that ever since. One day,
during a Blitzball tournament, Zanarkand is
attacked by an enormous entity named Sin.
During the onslaught, Tidus is suddenly transported
into another world called Spira. On a nice
tropical location (Besaid Island), he is found
and meets a young summoner-in-training named
Yuna who happens to be starting her pilgrimage
in an effort to destroy Sin by acquiring all
the Aeons (explained below). It is only appropriate-
since the pilgrimage is long and harsh- the
game should have some emotionally tense moments
for the characters. Her guardians are initially
Wakka and Lulu but the roster increases as
the story moves forward. The plot begins simple
but you realize that it becomes much more
complex and worthwhile.
Character advancement is one of the essentials
for a role-playing title. Final Fantasy X
uses an interesting leveling-up mechanism
that uses something called a sphere grid.
Unlike in many role-playing games, instead
of gaining experience, you win points that
you can use to move your character around
the sphere grid. The grid is a large board-game
map. At nearly every step of the grid, you’ll
find nodes (nodes are basically points on
the board) that raise attributes like strength,
magic points, and even learn new abilities.
Each character starts off in different locations
in the sphere grid and is surrounded by nodes
that reflect that character’s natural
talents. For example, Auron is a warrior therefore
he naturally starts off surrounded by nodes
that increase his strength, health, and anything
else essential for a swordsman. Interestingly
enough, the path your character takes sometimes
branch off so you’re forced to plan
ahead which particular fashion of developing
he/she will take. Also, some nodes are locked
until you can get some items later in the
game.
Weapons and armor are very important in many
videogames and the role-playing genre is no
exception. Final Fantasy X gives you the ability
to customize the weapon or armor to some extent
with certain special properties or side effects
but also have a limited amount of property
slots. All equipment starts off with at least
one side effect like “counter-attack”
or “poison.” The number of status
anomalies and abilities for your gear is abundant
and any Final Fantasy fan should be familiar
with them.
Like in past Final Fantasy titles each member
of your party has a different weapon. Tidus
and Auron use swords; Lulu uses a moogle;
Wakka uses a blitzball (I’ll cover Blitzball
later); Yuna uses rods; Rikku uses claws;
and Kimahri uses a hybrid of a spear. As I
have said earlier each one of your character
will be helpful and well defined. For instance,
if there is a flying monster it is only natural
that the swordsmen can’t hit it so you’re
going to have to put in someone like Wakka
(throws his blitzball or Lulu who uses her
magic).
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"You'll
visit a wide variety of locales" |
Final Fantasy X has been brought back to it’s
turn-based roots with quite a number of alterations.
The usual numbers of combatants on your side
of the field have usually been four but here
it’s now three. Although, when it is
your character’s turn, you can exchange
any active member for an inactive one without
penalty. Still you can’t be “cheap”
as to swap someone in then out during the
same turn. Your men (or women) actually have
to do something in order to gain some sphere
grid points. Likewise in all role-playing
games, if your active party is knocked out
cold, the game over picture will beseech you.
Another innovation in the battles is the ability
to see the order of turns. This allows you
to anticipate many of the opponents’
moves. Anticipation mixed with the ability
to switch on the fly adds some tactics and
strategy into the fray but in reality decreases
the difficulty of most battles. Combat is
presented in a slightly faster pace than those
for the Playstation and it is apparent. Final
Fantasy X, once again, brings back the Limit
Break but it is now called “Overdrive.”
For those who have never heard of the Limit
Break or Trance it gives the character- if
he/she has received enough damage- opens up
a powerful move (each move is different for
each person) in the action menu. This time
around, you can choose in which manner your
character will achieve the Overdrive. Initially
you have only one option available to gain
the Overdrive but as you move through the
game you discover many more than one.
No
Final Fantasy is complete without a few side-quests
and at least one “big” mini-game.
Blitzball, which happens to be the most popular
sport in the world of Spira, plays a part
in the plot and simply can be played for fun.
Blitzball isn’t mandatory to play but
one point of the game will force you to compete
in a tournament. Watching it in action seems
intimidating at first but it’s actually
easy to get into. There's also a 12-step tutorial
that teaches you how to play, though some
experimenting will likely be necessary during
the actual game play. Blitzball is a hybrid
turn-based/real-time game whose main mechanics
rely on pure statistics. When on the offense,
your attack is compared with the opponent’s
three defending players in the vicinity. Easily
comprehensive, if the attacker is stronger,
your character can shoot the ball past the
defenders, then past the goalie, and finally
score a point for the Zanarkand Abes. If you
play enough, you can recruit new players,
join tournaments, gain levels for your teammates
and acquire new special abilities, and so
on. Recruiting players is not as simple as
it sounds; it takes a lot of time and money.
When not playing blitzball, members will stay
in one spot to make it easier for you to recruit
them. Players originally have a contract with
a certain team or are free agents. Other teams
can also recruit players so you must fight
to get members of your team. Occasionally
players will be dropped from teams after a
game and you'll be able to go recruit them
if you know where they are and if you get
there in time. Blitzball is arguably the most
complex mini-game for the Final Fantasy series.
Though, some might find it not worth their
time nor think it is fun, your efforts in
contributing to the team will nevertheless
reap some kind of benefits.
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"Blitzball
is a new feature in Final Fantasy
X" |
Aside
from Blitzball there are a number of optional
quests. There are the ordinary quests like
looking for a character’s ultimate weapon
and chocobo racing but new ones emerge in
this installment like monster hunting and
searching for hidden summons. New additions
is the hunt for Al-Bhed dictionaries that--each
time you find one—will help decipher
the perplexing language. Diversions like these
do help change the pace and overall mood of
the story when you truly need a break from
your original mission.
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"Strategy
is essential during battles" |
There’s
a summoner in the game so there must be creatures
like Ifrit and Shiva, right? In Final Fantasy
X they are known as Aeons. Yuna is the only
summoner at your disposal so evidently she
is the only one capable of summoning these
beasts of destruction. Aeons include such
classics like Ifrit, Shiva, and Bahamut. New
summons include a winged beast named Valefor,
a horse with electrical properties named Ixion
and there are even optional Aeons you can
acquire. Like in the past games in the series,
each summon has it’s own dramatic intro.
Unlike in the past Final Fantasy games in
the series, Aeons can stay on the field and
fight in place of your party. In addition,
you’ll be able to upgrade your Aeons
statistics but it is usually not very necessary
since you’ll be using their powerful
overdrives mostly. Aeons can and will save
your team members’ lives more than once.
Once an Aeon is destroyed your party goes
back in to face your adversary. A common practice
is to have an Aeon take the deadly hit especially
if you’re facing some incredibly fearsome
foes.
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"Shiva
makes her return again, as do others" |
Final Fantasy X is almost entirely linear.
Every scene on your mini-map will have a red
arrow showing the way out to the next scene.
The elimination of the world map in the game
especially helps out the newcomers to the
series by eliminating some tedious back tracking
and the one thing that has plagued a number
of games: getting lost. Final Fantasy X has
a big world in its story and the last thing
you need is forgetting where you’re
supposed go.
Final Fantasy looks and feels simply incredible.
There is hardly any loading time- even during
the transition to the battle sequence. Attack
and magic animations during combat are seamless
and just feel right. Square is famous for
its gorgeous CG animations and there is no
exception here either. The pre-rendered cut
scenes look almost as good as the movie, Final
Fantasy: The Spirits Within. Scenery is bright
and simply looks good to look at. As for in-game
models, characters look pretty good. During
dialogue though, lip-synching doesn’t
look all that great. How the lip moves clearly
shows Japanese dialogue has been there. The
few lines delivered in CG sequences look better,
though, but not a total improvement, unfortunately.
Many fans have been waiting for this and now
it is here: spoken dialogue. Almost all speech
is spoken and quite well actually. Sometimes
you just have to make fun of some of Tidus’
dialogue because when he tries to act funny
it falls short of great quality. As for everybody
else Square chose actors who fit the role
of their respected characters and have done
a superb job- especially the person who played
Wakka. Popular series composer, Nobuo Uematsu
has done an outstanding job with the game’s
soundtrack. Many tracks like the main theme
song are memorable. Music played during random
encounters in RPGs tends to be repetitive
but that’s hardly the case here for
the game sports a battle track that is memorable
and fun to listen to. The only question here
is: why the rock track during the early blitzball
tournament? It may not be as dramatic or powerful
as past soundtracks but that’s not the
point since the game is supposed to be lively
and tropical-like most of the time.
Final Fantasy X--simply put--is a terrific
game to play. The hard work and ambition that
was put into this game clearly shows. It has
everything a great game should have: fun gameplay,
stunning graphics, excellent sounds, and an
original storyline. It isn’t a huge
departure from the series; instead, the game
sports enough innovations to key characteristics
to make it unique from the others. And so,
the legacy of great games continue and like
its predecessors, Final Fantasy X stands out
as one of the best role-playing games ever.
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