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Review: Final Fantasy X
I expected a lot from Final Fantasy X, if only because it's Square's first RPG outing on PS2. Within the FF series, every time the jump to a new console was made, it resulted in either better graphics or gameplay, or in this case, both. Although fighting a battle in FFX initially feels like fighting a battle in one of it's predecessors there's been a significant amount of changes to the combat system.
I'm not going to discuss much in the way of plot or characters, because if you're like me, you'll want to discover that part on your own, since the plot is what keeps console RPGs moving.
What's New? Final Fantasy games have always been rather combat-heavy, and leveling up at different times had gotten mind-numbingly boring. In an effort to change that, there are many more options during combat. Characters can be swapped in and out of combat at any time, and they can perform moves as soon as entering the battle, so it's no longer a big deal when you have to fight the weak-against-magic monster and you forgot to include a magic user in the party. In the same way, summons (called Aeons this time around) remain summoned until one dismisses them, replacing the party in battle. When an Aeon's HP drops to zero, the party is brought back into battle, but the Aeon can also be dismissed before that. There's still random battles just like previous games in the series, but it feels like they turned down the frequency of the battles a bit, especially from last year's FF9.What would be a new Final Fantasy without a new magic system? This time around, it's a little quirky, but it doesn't disappoint. Remember when I mentioned leveling up being boring? Well this time around there's no character levels. Instead, everything is determined by a large sphere grid, that the characters move on using points they accrue by fighting battles. At various points in the grid, characters can lay different types of spheres that enhance them with new abilities, increased character starts, or more max HP/MP. The result is a non-linear system which is more open ended than magic systems of the past, allowing for greater character customization. The trick is to guide a character to the places on the grid that will allow him/her to get the skills desired while using the least amount of sphere levels (which are essentially travel points). Backtracking on the grid is allowed, but is also counterproductive.
Now onto the most fun part of the game: the graphics! With the capability of the PS2 at its disposal, this is easily the best looking ever Final Fantasy title ever, and it's a beautiful world that's been painted. While walking around, the world really comes alive, as trees sway and grass moves as wind goes past. Many of the characters' facial expressions are done in realtime, and while the scenes aren't picture perfect, they are a far cry from the jagged polygonal models on Playstation as well as the two dimensional sprites from the earlier FF titles. The battle sequences look better than ever also, as characters move more fluidly, and enemies do as well. The already stunning realtime animations are augmented by amazing FMV sequences. My only small complaint here is that there's no way to skip the movies entirely. Since it's still my first time playing the game, I haven't wanted to skip anything, but I still feel sorry for the impatient. There is, however, a configuration setting to turn off the extended summoning animations, so there won't be a five minute wait for the huge Aeons enter from space.
Something else FFX features for the first time in a Final Fantasy game: voice acting! Although not every bit of dialogue is dubbed, the voices that are dubbed are done better than I expected. My only complaint is that the lips were synched to the Japanese dialogue, and never resynched during importing. However, that never stopped me from enjoying a Kung Fu movie, and it doesn't stop me from enjoying the game either. Given that the game was released two months earlier than originally planned, I'll let this detail slide.
What's the Same? Although the magic system was overhauled, most of the spells are still the same. There's still three levels of elemental spells, and an Ultima spell, and so on. Also, it wouldn't be much of a Final Fantasy without chocobos, and they are featured yet again.When Final Fantasy IX was released last year, it featured characters with the traditional Final Fantasy classes, like summoner, white mage, blue mage, etc. I think Squaresoft found that players enjoyed the return to these classes, and decided to continue the trend. Although each character is ultimately customizable into any class, they each start with suggest paths across the sphere grid that resemble one of the classes.
Conclusions Well, if my synopsis of the game didn't sound glowing already, let me reiterate. This game is fun! I had more fun playing the first few hours of FFX than I have had while beating other games. After seeing the character designs for the game, I was worried it might degrade into a "Dude, Where's My Water Sword?" kind of angst-ridden adventure, but instead it's just been fun, and lots of it. On a ten point scale, I give this game a nine, and although it's a little early to call, it may be my favorite Final Fantasy yet. Battle is integrated well with the plot, and with the tutorials placed within the game itself, I'd even recommend this game for those who may not necessarily be RPG fans.
Gamespot's, because I almost always agree with them.
python -c "x='python -c %sx=%s; print x%%(chr(34),repr(x),chr(34))%s'; print x%(chr(34),repr(x),chr(34))"
i'm still not quite sure why they removed the active time battle system from this one. generally speaking, the ff fighting system from 7-9 was easy enough to 'not die' in. the ATB system at least kept me on my toes.
generally speaking (and yes, i haven't gotten to a decent boss fight as of yet) it would seem that 'this monster attacks for about 310 damage, this character will need to heal this character next round' now. seems a tad bit stupified.
your jesus is another mans xebu. chew on that hypocrites.
I am very pleased with the game. I've been waiting a lonnnnnnng time for it! Two thumbs up to Squaresoft yet again!
I'd still rather be playing it with the Japanese voices... -_-
I suppose this means it's time for me to learn to READ Japanese as well...
But man does this game look sooooo kickass! ^_^
Friend: "The NIC is misconfigured..." Me: "No prob, I'll just telnet in and fix it." *Silence*
Isn't it about time they renamed it "Almost Final Fantasy" ?
--
\ Christian A Strømmen
I can't deny the the FF series have been visually stunning, moreso with every release but the constant stream of releases has, to me, meant the quality of game play has dropped considerably.
/always/ win. :)
Droolsome graphics don't
Martin Brooks / Slayer99 #linux / UIN 2178117
Call me a luddite, but the most beautiful Final Fantasy game I'd played was FFVI. 3d just wasn't good enough to draw my attention away from the classical FF. But FFX may finally have succeeded and hopefully I'll be able to see the other FF games in a better light, now. The majesty of FFVI will not be forgotten.
Pax Digitalia
If you click the sphere screenshot link you will see this message:
"Referer Link Error
On every single HTML page of GameFAQs is the following request:
Feel free to link to this page, but not directly to the FAQs.."
So, go directly to http://www.gamefaqs.com.
Buy a Nintendo DS Lite
I just don't think FF is all that compelling. Sure, its cute to see the cut-scene animations, but ultimately this is a board game with clever graphics.
Pretty boring considering the games that make better use of a computer as a medium for entertainment.
And in other news, our weather reporter mounted on a flying pig advises all you denizens of Hell to wrap up warm, because there's a cold snap coming on.
Actually, it's not that surprising. I'm about to embark on a port of some software for the Japanese market, and I've been told to multiply my estimate by 3. I mean, pad it as much as I usually do, then multiply by 3. The Japanese market habitually underpromises and overdelivers, in stark contrast to marketing driven North America and Europe. How quaint!
If you were blocking sigs, you wouldn't have to read this.
Personally, I liked the older Final Fantasies. The new ones seem like punching buttons through a movie. In the old ones (FF, FF2, FF3 or FF, FF4, FF6) They had some much more interesting puzzles and even if the characters are 2D, I think the game was more fun to play.
I don't have time to make a sig
I love this game, but how the hell are you supposed to control the blitzball team? My guys completely suck. That action menu to pss or shoot doesnt open when I hit square and i have to wiat for an encounter to shoot. Is this a bug or what?
By the time FF X is released in the UK, you lot will have played through 'Finished Fantasy I'...
If you are not a graphics whore, the earlier FF games are just as good, if not better and free as in beer if you can find an emulation site. plus you get to play them on your PC (and hack your stats when you get bored.) The story line of FF4 and the incredible set of character in FF6 will never be matched. Save your money and play the games when they were about the epic story telling and not the eye candy.
While I'm not denying Squaresoft's ability to write one hell of a story, the problem is that I play these games based on how well it battles as a primary trait rather than a bullet point on the box.
ATB has long been the bane of PSX FF games. It was a relic of the limited integer processing capabilities of the SNES's processor and should be left firmly on that platform. It's about time they ditched it altogether and went for something more plausible like Grandia 2.
If you've ever been lucky enough to be graced with this game's precense, you wont be sorry until you complete it, roughly 30 hours later. For those who'd rather get back to the old school days where battling was the game rather than watching an FMV-athon (FF8 ugh!), I'd heartily recommend this game.
The battle system works by having a bar. At the left, you have WAIT. About two thirds of the way across you have COM. On the very end, you have ACT.
The time between WAIT and COM is about as close as you get to ATB. From there, all hell brakes loose. The time between WAIT and COM is purely based upon character speed. The faster your character, the less time until it gets to choose its move.
At COM phase time all time stops. You get a menu of possible actions.
Combo attacks are quick to ACT but also require positioning, a swing and then a retreat. This can take much longer than a well powered special move and may not be appropriate for every situation. On the plus side they do between 2-4 hits depending on items equipped by the character.
Combos will also keep a character pinned. Their icon on the COM-ACT bar will stop momentarily while being slapped down. Yes it is technically possible to keep a bossed pinned using normal attacks until you can Cancel them. More on that in a sec.
Cancel attacks work by basically dragging a character back in the COM-ACT bar. The further advanced along their attack is, the greater amount you drag them back into the WAIT-COM portion. If you hit them before COM you will drag them back about 10-15%. Many a time it has been nailbitingly close to cancelling someone right after they get into COM. They are slower than combo attacks and only hit once so be careful how you use them too.
Both these types of attacks can also Counter. If an enemy is at ACT phase and about to hit, a character can counter that enemy by using a faster initiative attack. Using something like a combo attack on an enemy about to dig into your healer is not only a brilliant way to save the healer but it also does extra damage! If you can time it perfectly, you can even cancel them, not only doing extra damage, but dragging them right back into the WAIT-COM phase.
Last but not least is the special attack. These take the longest to charge but instantly start when you get to ACT. Some specials may even cancel. One of the cheapest moves in the game is to power up Ryudo to max ACT and then use his Tenseiken Slash to cancel a boss attack in process. This actually happens in under a tick when you have enough act and 5 star special. Specials also include magic so theres no need to explain that.
While I havent begun to scratch the surface on the underlying mechanics of the special and magic egg system, I hope that this little explanation will tempt you to go out and grab it. With Dreamcasts being as cheap as they are, you could probably grab one and Grandia 2 for maybe $80 if your lucky. Even less second hand.
Anyway, it'd be nice to see some alternatives reviewed rather than just overrated mainstream hype machines (IMHO anyway, but then again, I live for the battle so YMMV). Oh well, I hope that FFXI will outshine G2 and FFX by a long, long way.
Also, if you are planning to complete this game, it take a few hours from getting the final weapon to seeing the last of the ending. Plan for at least 2-4 hours depending on how well you are along. I must warn you, the final boss is sheer endurance. He has an insane amount of hitpoints >:)
Don't get me wrong, I enjoy FF, but it really does seem like a candidate for an annual subscription and "Software as a Service"... ;-)
If you were blocking sigs, you wouldn't have to read this.
I may very well get flamed for saying this on slashdot, especially this thread, but I NEVER PLAYED a single FF game, NEVER.
I bearly watched someone else play... total time logged watching = 13.3 min. I played RPG's before, both console but mostly PC-RPGs. I definitely go for the story more than anything. Well, under tremedous peer pressure, and the desire to join the majority, I've decided to start playing FF. But I have the following concerns, and hope some of you can help me out.
1) Since I have ZERO knowledge of FF (did watch the movie tho, and it's below my expection), I dont know which one I should start with. Should I start with FFX, or is there any chronological order to the series (Ultima comes to mind).
2) Which FF is the BEST, in terms of
a) Story
b) Character development
c) Original Gameplay (magic/combat systems, etc.)
d) Total enjoyment / amount of time needed to beat game. (Important ratio for someone with little free time)
e) Graphics
3) And which is the WORST FF game? I heard FF8 sucked due to its real-time rendering. So is there any FF that I should NOT touch?
Hope someone will give me a start on the FF serious.
And please dont flame me, or I might just to buy "Summoner" instead.
I haven't enjoyed a FF game since FFIII (US). They are too linear for me. It's not that I don't like an interactive story, but I'd like some control over how the story goes. That's just my opinion, but I'm obviously in the minority. I just never understood the popularity of the FF games.
*Most* of the graphics in FFX are amazing. One problem I have with the game is the player character graphics. When the camera is within 10 feet of them, they look absolutely beautiful. Get any further away than that and they look worse than the player characters in a PS1 Final Fantasy. They end up being all jagged, pixelized and blurry.
Also, there are a couple times when you get too much action going on around the screen and the system lags for a split second. Not much of a problem because it doesn't last long, but I've already seen people complaining about it.
On an off-topic note, I have to say I'm very disappointed with the introduction to the blitzball mini-game (tiny spoiler ahead for those who haven't gotten past the first blitzball game). Why would a game designer introduce a mini-game by using a version of the game that is almost impossible for the player to win? Do they think that makes me want to keep playing the mini-game throughout the rest of the game? Luckally I think blitzball is kind of fun, so I'll end up playing it from time to time. I still think it's bad design.
I wasn't sure, but what the heck, after reading your review I will give it a try.
>>>please remove "nospam" from email address
It is truly a beautifully done game. It does suffer from one huge problem: aliasing. Most all PS2 games have this problem worse than Gamecube, X-Box, and even Dreamcast games. I do wish Sony had provided some form of Anti-Aliasing. PS2 can certainly push the polygons, put the polygons are just too low res. Particularly with how much FFX pushes things, at distances things become really jagged, and if a textured surface is in movement, I don't know the world for the effect, but the texture kinda flickers as pixels of the texture move between viewable, non-viewable, and viewable again between pixels, if that makes any sense.
Nonetheless, it is a truly remarkable game, really engaging story and the graphics are really detailed in terms of both texture and geometry, but the available resolution and lack of AA unfortunately detracts from the otherwise stunning game. It's better than the PS1 FFs in this respect, (except that shimmering effect I notice...) but with that level of geometry it becomes more disappointing..
XML is like violence. If it doesn't solve the problem, use more.
That would be Anti-Monet graphics. =)
I'm really failing to see what's wrong with a board game, though. *IS* there something actually wrong with a board game? I love a good board game. In fact, I think I'd rather play a good board game than just about anything else that comes out for computers.
In honesty, the real options I see available are pointless driving games, mindless sports games, senseless action games, and the on-and-off release of yet another RTS game that is hailed as the next big thing but which, when looked at critically, is basically Command and Conquer with a different interface (which is itself Dune 2 with a different interface). Compared to this pile of tripe, even the most repetetive CRPG is at least mildly interesting. Exciting ones, like The Legend of Dragoon, are nothing but stunning.
Ugh...I'm rambling. The point is that I don't mind a board game. Managing a Final Fantasy combat is far more mentally engaging than a lot of the garbage in computer gaming, and I won't deny the "board game" analogy. Most of the enduring board games are mentally engaging, fun, and constantly interesting. Given that FF is now the longest running CRPG series ever, I think that's a sign that it's obviously a damned good board game.
(Although it's still not nearly as much fun to play as, say, Kessen or Kessen II)
My favorite battle system has always been the one used in Legend of Dragoon. Not only does it have a lot of neat little touches to it that I've seen in other games (defending healing a character, for example), but it also has a lot of little arcade-like hooks in it that keep the pace moving along and really clear up the "boring battle blues." The most notable is that all characters (except one) have the ability to perform multiple strikes in the same attack, and their efficacy of hitting the target (and getting the chance for the next strike) is based on little timing tricks in your pressing the buttons. It's a very engaging system, and I really dig it.
What?? A FFn story that's NOT by CmdrTaco ??? Tell me it's not so.......
Linux 2.4: Made from 90% recycled code
...
Something I've wondered...
I've played FF1, FF2, FF5 (I think...didn't that come out for the American SNES?), FF7, FF8, and I'm working on FFX now. Every one of them has been interesting (as far as CRPGs go), but I've never really seen what defines them as a "series" per se. Is there some sort of general story line connecting them all, or are they completely disconnected and using the name Final Fantasy just for marketing?
I'm assuming that, if it's the latter, the FF movie was the same thing...random story, just using the name.
Of course you know why they are doing this. Sony has an almost complete monopoly on the console market (almost, but not quite, to the same level as Microsoft's Windows monopoly). They are now facing their biggest threat since the N64 (which failed to gain wide appeal; consider it the Macintosh of consoles). Of course they are pressuring their publishers to release early and release often just about now. As a moral point, anyone who believes that competition is a good thing and a monopoly is a bad thing should skip Playstation 2 titles, no matter how good, and get a Gamecube or XBOX instead.
Even Slashdot wants to hide some things
Can I pet him? Does he bite?
I'm AC, but I'm not that AC!
Final Fantasy 10, eh? I bet the crew that named this series never expected it to have so many sequals ;)
------
Let me give you the lowdown
My biggest problem with FFX is that so far, I've played about an hour and a half into it and I've had maybe - four battles. An hour and a half into it and I've been in control of the character maybe fifteen minutes. I like pretty CGI as much as the next guy, but this is suffering from Metal Gear Solid 2-itis so far and it's irritating me.
I wish there was a choice that said "Factually Wrong -1" when I mod.
You didn't mention blitzball at all in the review. The fact that while past games have had card games as side games, this one has sporting events as the side games. Thought it was interesting and look forward to trying to actually win a game sometime.
But then again, I typically enjoy sports games on console which a lot of people don't.
Tired of sitting at that karma cap? Start a flame war today! See just how low you can go!
You have to admit, a persistent MMORPG set in one of the Final Fantasy worlds (or a few of them, space / dimensional travel is cool) would be pretty damn awesome.
Jaysyn
There is a war going on for your mind.
The FF games have been slowly getting more non-interactive, and FFX is the culmination of that trend. In the first hour of gameplay, you have control of your character for maybe 20% of the time, and that's being generous. Sometimes you go for 10 minutes just watching movies. The combat sequences--the actual game parts--are much less impressive than the non-interactive sequences. The parts where you have control of your character are almost completely linear, and you just walk forward much of the time.
Bottom line: Amazing visuals? Yes. A game? Sorta, leaning toward no.
Yes, I live in Hongkong and was lucky to grab a Japanese release a few months ago. I'm a big fan of FF since FF I, but FFX was a great disappointment to me. The graphics were stunning, the music was emotion-tearing, but the flow of gameplay? Sucks. Every an hour or so a cut-scene pops up, yes, you'll say 'wow' when you first saw one, but after 10 or so, you'll feel fed up. And each cut-scene is about 5-15 mins. long, gave me a feeling that 'Hey, who the hell is playing the game? Me or the characters themselves?'
;)
Maybe Square wants to redefine RPG-- Roles Plays the Game, not you
And I resold my copy after about 15 hrs. of gameplay.
This is the funniest signature I could ever think of.
I thought it was pretty cool how the battles and animated scenes flow together. Such as the battle with Sin on the boat at the beginning. It felt more realistic, because in real life, you just don't stand there trading punches till someone dies, there's actually movement and such. If you'd hit Sin a few times, the camera would pan around to the other side and he/she would be pulling left and right to try to release the harpoon.
But.... Why didn't they just attack the harpoon cable instead of fighting Sin? It would have been easier. Especially since Waka warned the guy that if you harpooned Sin, Sin would just pull the boat under. So why attack Sin, when you could cut the cable?
My money is on this title.
Final Fantasy: The Bankruptcy Within.
https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.html
Solution: Emulation. Since I actually own the game (the monster chart is always cool to pour over) it is legal, and save state on the PC has helped me time and again. Plus infinite Game genie codes, so you can triple your Black Belt's luck, and good old OOTPOV (32768 exp after every battle).
Cheers mate, emulation isn't stealing, it's playing roms you don't own. Just like making MP# files from your CDs isn't illegal. I just don't happen to have a nintendo rom dumper sitting around so I rely on others.
You mean like this?
;)
DennyK
How can you make a single player role-playing game?
What's the point in acting (yes, that's what you are supposed to do in a RPG...) alone? And no, character development != levelling...
Step 1: do not make eye contact. you do not want to challenge the grizzly...
Unfortunately, interesting character design and nifty effects only go so far. The cool gameplay elements are really few and far between, and more often than not turn out to be less fun than you'd think. After thirty hours of step, fight, step, fight, step, fight I just got bored. Well, more accurately, the games each got to a point where I wasn't entirely certain what I was to do next, and I didn't really get the opportunity to find out because of all the freaking battles I was getting sucked into.
Then again, Chrono Cross didn't have that problem, and I pretty much got tired of it after a while, too. Maybe it's just the formulaic gameplay. With the rare exception of a handful of puzzles, these "RPGs" seem to consist entirely of nearly-identical battles broken up by cutscenes that present you with excruciatingly long chunks of bland melodrama. And the game goes on forever in this manner. I have incomplete savegames for each of the aforementioned titles.
That really sucks, too, because the Final Fantasy games are always so pretty. I'll actually probably end up buying FFX just so I can summon me some badass Ifrit or something. Sigh.
Square did one better with Chrono Cross (the best PS1 RPG, IMHO) — every person and every "spell" (they called them Element Attacks) were assigned a color. The battlefield was made of circles, and for every spell that was cast, the low-level circle changed to the corresponding color of the spell. When the next spell was cast, the first color moved up one level. There are three levels on the battle field, an on the fourth spell, that color disappeared.
So, what does this do? Well, if you had a character whose color was red, they were stronger in red circles (attack, defense, even magic) and weaker in blue circles (the opposite color). The Bad Guys were the same as well. Also, you could only use summons if the the entire battlefield was the same color as the summon element.
Sounds kinda silly, and hard, but quite powerful when you had to be careful what colors the battlefied was and you just couldn't cast the same spell over and over again . .
He's posted articles before.
It's just been a while.
Final Fantasy.
Not to "mix my metaphors," but how about The Increasingly Misnamed Final Fantasy.
BTW, for those of you who hated some of the game within a game sideplots (e.g., breeding chocobos, trading card games written in hex, etc.), this one will really drive you batty (read blitzball). Fortunately, it appears to be mostly optional in this one.
The subtly tweaked combat system is sweet. The FMVs are incredible. Over all, two thumbs up.
D'oh -- the stuff that buys me beer! Ray -- the guy who sells me beer!
Why the HELL was that modded up? Maybe I am tired or just plain stupid, but I read that more as a troll or at the very least bad decision making. Surely it wasn't very Insightful.
First off: although I don't have solid numbers or anything in front of me, I am fairly certain that Microsoft has more of a stranglehold in the Desktop OS market than Sony does in the Game Console market.
While the N64 may not have been nearly as popular as the PSX, it did have its niche as Nintendo targeted most of their games at children. Maybe that hurt Nintendo a bit, but I don't think that makes them any where near as close to death as Apple was a few years back. Nintendo also makes this nifty little handheld product called the GameBoy Advance. The GameBoy series of handheld systems HAS held a virtual monopoly in that market since its original green tinted monochrome release over 10 years ago if I recall correctly. I think that would count as more of a monopoly than Sony has right at this very moment. Would you suggest we all go out and a Sega Game Gear or somesuch in order to rebel against the establishment?
Do I really need to get into Microsoft? I personally use Microsoft products, but arguing that ANYTHING put out by them is an ethical alternative used to fight the big bad "monopoly" is even beyond some of the spin doctorying they have been guilty of. Though I am sure they would see it as an innovative approach and be glad to steal the idea from you.
I am all for making sure there is an alternative, but telling people to steer away from Sony and buy a Microsoft or Nintendo product instead is about the equivilent of steering people away from the vocal stylings of Briteny Spears and saying the more rational decision is to buy Backstreet Boys or N'Sync music instead.
So stop pretending this is another David vs. Goliath or Linux vs. Microsoft situation, because it plainly isn't. Go out and buy the system that has the games you want to play, or buy none at all. Spending 400 dollars to show how anti-establishment you are isn't going to fool anybody.
(on a side note Square probably had enough incentive to push a proven product out quickly in order to make back some of the large amounts of money lost in the making of the flop Final Fantasy movie. Did there president or CEO or whatever not just step down due to just that? If Sony DID twist their arm to ship quickly, they wouldn't have had to twist very hard.)
Try Fallout/Fallout II for the PC...
Real RPG action, one player.
You have complete control over your player's
actions. (not dialogue, but there are enough
good/evil choices to let you work through)
The choices your character makes opens/closes
doors for you later in the game and makes the
outcome different. I have already played several
runs through each game, and have made distinctly differing
characters. One a goody two shoes who is a weak
fighter, with a charming smile, who has been
successful in getting others to do his fighting for him.
One closed minded sharpsooter who has a chip on
his shoulder and has been known to kill shopkeepers who have offended him.
ANyway, Not to drag the conversation otherplaces,
but I think there are single player RPG's
I don't have the game right now and I've quickly looked over various forums, but is there any hint at all that the US version of FFX will be able to use the future hard drive for the US PS2 in the manual/game? I heard that improved the game somewhat in respect to loading times and whatnot.
Square Soft today released Final Fantasy XXX, entitled 'Dirty Tricks with Mana' , after a short development period of 9 months. Read on for some game high moments.
Final Fantasy XXX features dozens of new 3D modeled characters, most of them based on real actors from the movie industry. "We mixed experienced and amateur actors, but they all had a good time", says Christina Saynt, main head developer. Ronald Rocco confirms: "Christina is just incredible. Her way of work still blows me everyday". When asked to give more impressions about the development process, Rocco always remember how much cigarrete smoke was in the office, with a little smile. Another developer says: "The team of FF XXX was the most excited I have ever worked before", words of Johnny Longdong Silver, lead actor for the game 3D characters. "We spent night after night looking for holes on the gameplay".
But the most expected feature is Square's new acessory for PSX 6.9, the "Sword of Protection", which let players interact with others on the multiplayer mode. "It's a real simple toy", explains Iamatsu Kokuma, chief programmer. "... and after it's equiped, you still have your hands free to enjoy FF XXX."
Registration for multiplayer gaming is really easy. All the player has to do is send a letter to Square's headquarter, with personal info, a short bio and a photograph. After it's approved by Square's quality control department, the player information is shared with others. Altough unusual these days, you don't have to connect to the internet to play FF XXX multiplayer mode. Instead, all players meet live, face to face, generally on weekends, depending on the number of other players in your area. This really increases overall experience, and we're glad Square revived old concepts. If the player's personalities match, gameplay could go on almost forever.
FF XXX's license agreement includes a clause denying any responsability on these decisions, tough.
PS:
See Miguel, I told you I had your text, huehauheuahueh. You own me some beer now, pal
Buy a Nintendo DS Lite
...as someone who has played Final Fantasy I through X (yes, the Japanese versions, too), I can honestly say that the FF-formula has always been: good graphics, good characters/storyline, good "world", and an always-changing magic/battle system.
Of course, the magic/battle system wasn't always perfect, and made some games painful to play. (FF II in Japan, where you couldn't save in 3-hour dungeons, or in FF VIII, where all you did was steal magic all day in combat)
With those things in mind, I will say that X's gameplay "feels" like the original FF I -- in a good way! The battles are quick, not overly complicated, not insanely difficult, and you aren't forced to summon Shiva 12 times to beat the common mob. Experience and cash flow without "crunching" (playing *just* for xp/cash). It's unfortunate that I am unable to select the "Japanese voice track," as the English voice acting is quite horrible compared to the Japanese voice acting (which I enjoyed on my friend's import PS2 + import FF X).
Most of all, for the first time in YEARS, this Final Fantasy game will actually allow you to play about 15-20 minutes at a time and SAVE. (other than the PC versions of VII and VIII which allowed you to save anywhere) The cutscenes happen often, but are short enough that you can bear, and you can actually pause them (unlike MGS2).
The 3D world presents a problem when you need to look for doors and treasure chests, as they become hidden. FF VII's simple graphics made it easy to find things, but in FF VIII and IX, I often found myself trying to find the door that opens. X solves this by giving you a overhead map with doors and goals highlighted.
Okay, so all of this sounds like X is stupifying the game -- but it's not. If you have 18 hours a day to spend on a game, maybe this game is too smooth-flowing for you. But for folks like me who have about an hour a day to goof off playing games, FF X's no-load-time, quick-save, fast-gameplay, short-cutscenes are a treat.
Happy Holidays, ya'll!
Does it have 2 player battles like some of the previous FF's? Where the second player can control some characters during a fight?
But so much the better. I did a multimedia presentation for a class a couple years ago based on the Final Fantasy series. These are my thoughts:
1. Start with Final Fantasy. As in, the first one. Download an emulator and find the ROM. It's an 8-bit NES game, so it would appear dated by todays standards, but it has elements that none of the other games do- it's still one of my favorites. It's also turn based. The series has no chronology or "order" to it, unlike Dragon Warrior. Each FF is a complete story without ties to the others.
If you can't find it, then get your hands on FFVI - six is easily one of the best RPGs ever, and has possibly the best translation/story of them all. It's also the last "traditional" FF - after that, they *really* started to experiment with things.
2. In order:
A. Six.
B. Six.
C. First, then Six. Though if you value prettiness over actual gameplay mechanics, then Seven or Eight. A good friend of mine swears by Nine, but IMO it's like comparing War and Peace to PeeWee's Playhouse in terms of graphic design.
D. SIX. In a heartbeat. The only final fantasy to suck up more than 70 hours of my time.
E. Eight.
3. The HARDCORE are going to tell you that FF8 sucks wang. They are wrong. FF8 isn't really so much a Final Fantasy as it is its own animal- aside from parts of the battle system and the title, it bears no resemblance to any other final fantasy game. This is not a bad thing- people simply fear change and were likely expecting another Six with better graphics. Had they called it something other than "Final Fantasy VIII", it would have done gangbusters. Since Square DID call it a Final Fantasy, it has to measure up to 6- and doesn't. It's still really cool..... but it's *not* a final fantasy. It's in the same category as the movie, which isn't really a Final Fantasy either- both of them are really missing the "Fantasy" bit to some extent.
In terms of enjoyment, I'd rank 'em as follows:
1. FF 6 (still have the box and manual!)
2. FF (I own two copies, because you can only save one game on the cartridge)
3. FF 8
4. FF 5 - if you liked Tactics, this is where the Job System started.
5. FF 4 - the only FF with a cheat code.
6. FF 7 - I really cannot adequately explain the derision I have for 7. Mainly because, in my opinion, it took everything GOOD about the previous FF games and took a shit on it. There aren't enough challenging or difficult enemies, which makes your characters difficult to build. Cloud is an apathetic little bitch, which makes him impossible to really care about- which is even worse, as this is the first FF where you're stuck with him as lead for most of the game (technically, FF2 as well, but you could change your screen icon to whatever member of the party you preferred). The Materia system strips characters of the things that made the FF6 cast so unique- special abilities like Steal and magic casting became portable. Not only that, but with no way to skip a summon spell, I stopped using them in favor of regular magic. I like 8 in terms of story, but the summons in that game are five times WORSE - it was the first thing I asked about and the answer sold my playstation to the highest bidder.
7. FF 9 - being a person very much preferential to both 8 and Parasite Eve, I was inclined to view 9 as a venture into a childish, Barney / Telletubby aesthetic. Every FF previous to this one hooked me on graphics, story AND gameplay. I didn't realize just how important the graphical look and feel was until I played a sample of this and realized the cartoony crayola approach was making me sick.
8. FF 2 ( NES, played a Japanese ROM of it. No fun if you can't read Japanese)
9. FF 3 (Ditto 8)
I haven't played X and have no plans to do so- not only do I not have a PS2, I can't afford one and after VII destroyed my expectations for the series, I got out of video games and became a spectator for 8 and 9. I was a serious conniseur of video games throughout my teen years, and am firmly of the opinion that Square- and at large, the entire industry- simply doesn't have what it takes to make another game as >complete as FF6, and divested myself of my playstation on the strength of that conviction.
Take it from an ex-fan: Final Fantasy 6 is not only the best in the series, it's likely one of the best RPGS *EVER*.
Peer pressure is the worst possible reason to get into anything- you should only make the time investment in these games if you're into RPGs or think you might be... then look over plot synopsises of the titles in the series and start with the one that resonates with you the most. From my standing, The Majority spooged in their pants over FF7, which was an inferior waste of my time compared to FF6, adding fuel to the conclusion that the majority of people are retards and easily cave to advertising and trends. FF7 was so goddamned hyped that it didn't HAVE to be good to sell- just like Star Wars Episode One.
The earlier games were vague enough, flexible enough, and broad enough for any RPG enthusiast to have fun with them. FF6 came out and tightened this down a bit, but maintained a large cast of interesting and well developed characters. Then FF7 tried to continue the tradition... and character development went flat. The characters lost their "life", for lack of a better term, and became polygons. Square is becoming progressively more and more focused on character driven stories as opposed to concept-driven stories- FF6 being the transition point, in that it had enough of a variety to offer something to everyone.... something the proceeding games lost. I didn't like Cloud, Barret or Red 13- hence, it's next to impossible to actually LIKE FF7. My issues with 8 were entirely with the battle system. 9 was too childish in design to get my interest in the least.... and everything I've seen about X points to it being a story that really doesn't interest me. There was a point where RPGs were still games- these days, they're interactive movies and novels.
I like the games. If you do as well, then play the earlier parts of the series, as you're likely to enjoy them much, much more.
That battle system sounds just like D&D as implemented in the Baldur's Gate games. (Except for the mana part.)
And (of interest to Slashdot readers) in Baldur's Gate you can write your own AI scripts for your party.
Give me an XBox with Halo and Amped and I'll be happy. Just slip the coffee intravenously for those (many) midnight runs.
And it's funny how the Japanese think it's cool when things use English text/voices =(
- courtesy of someone who wonders how that managed to get to be -1.
*cough* plan for ffxi/xii *cough*
You idiot.
BTW, I like flight simulators as well, but if they add a role playing element then it will be obvious that it is a 'flight sim with added role playing elements'. Unless I can choose the skillset, ethos and attitude of the character and unless I have full freedom to make decisions that tree down to multiple outcomes and truly create my own existence, then it is not a role playing game.
i was surprised, too, but you can even download a beta version from this site.
I'm about 5 or 6 hours into the game, and besides the obvious graphics/voiceover stuff, here are the three things about gameplay that struck me most about this FF versus the previous three:
1) More linear and movie-like. Believe it or not, I haven't had that much opportunity to just wander around and fight things; most of the time I'm watching cutscenes. Even the boss battles literally tell you what to do if you don't have the right idea, and the arrow on the map just plain points you where to go (and without the map, good luck finding anything in the dark), so it's like you're just "pushing X when it tells you to push X" a lot of the time. I expect this to get better once the world map opens up to me, and when the Sphere Grid stops being linear, but it's not a good first sign.
2) Less need to heal constantly & more desire to use magic. This is a good thing. Except for tough boss battles, I haven't healed much at all. Why? Because there are save points about every three feet, and they automatically restore your entire party's HP/MP. Also, when one of your characters is near death, you can just swap in another! This also lets me use magic a lot more than I did in previous FFs, because while before I felt a need to conserve MP for when I might need it, here there's a practically never-ending supply.
3) Control over overdrive! No more "use it or lose it" on the Trance. Once your bar is filled, it stays filled, even across battles, until you're ready to use Overdrive. The little overdrive mini-games are kinda fun too, if relatively easy so far.
Alex
Read the words "mostly optional" with some skepticism. There is a point in the game where you are forced to play blitzball for about 5 minutes. It seems to be largely derived on football, with a little soccer and basketball mixed in.
One thing I don't understand: in the beginning movies, blitzball is played 3-dimensional. In the minigames, you are forced to play it 2 dimensional.
For additional insight into the game do some background checking on the names they use in the Final Fantasy (Square) games. There is a lot of Kabbalistic and cultic refrences. Names like Crowley and Stellazo creep up. Also references to classical literature (The Rape of Lucricia I belive is a Shakspeare play.) Half the fun of Final Fantasy games for me is digging up the story behind the names and refernces. Case point: Sephrioth (and the variants on it's spelling) is a Kabbalistic reference to the 12 sephrioths you master to become a god. (I am no means an expert on the topic but that is what I found.) Also the 4 elemental bad guys in the Final Fantasy 2 (US) like Rubicant were refences to creatures from Dante's Divine Comedy (Inferno). There is tons of little stuff in there that makes the games even more enjoyable. Just my comments. Later all.
-=[ Who Is John Galt? ]=-
What kind of name is Tidus? Well.... I guess it's better than FFV's "Butz." ::resists urge to make goatse.cx reference::
Or perhaps - I would even recommend this game for those who may not be fans of the RPG genre?
I see what you're getting at, as all games are in a way RPGs, but clearly he met the genre of games that are classified as role playing rather than action, shooter, etc. games.
Most people would die sooner than think; in fact, they do.
Does anyone know when FFX is going to be coming out for the PC?
--Frank
"Neither life nor happiness can be acheived by the pursuit of irration whims." --Ayn Rand
...he's a terrorist! Get him!
RPG's are not hack and slash. Diablo is not a RPG. Elves, magic and Gaedlich accented dwarves do NOT an RPG make. I get annoyed when I feel like I have absolutely no control over the game except like a rat in a maze... there is only ONE cheese and ONE exit.
I am glad I have a life and do not spend my years moderating down things to make up for my pathetic existence
she didn't like that, but I figure it was because well... nevermind
you are cool man, let me shake your hand
Yeah we all love the FF series but there are other rpg's out there. although most of the other rpg's out there don't have the vast amounts of fmv or experience to back up their games but there still great. tales of phatasia for the PS was a decent game but the selling point to this game was it's fighting system. the active fighting system was really neat, with all the extra special attacks you can find for your charaters. You had the abilty to buy food and Cook them to make a dish that would heal your party evem more. would of been great if they included a iron chef mini game i would of played that for days. this game had it's own unqiueness that makes it stand out from the rest. i know people tend to look down on 2d sprite based games these days but that doesn't stop me from firing up my zsnes and play another game of chrono trigger.
Me and lunchbox here are going to kick your ass.
Tried FF V. Didn't like it much. Watched someone play FF VII. Wasn't super impressed. In no hurry to try again. Don't feel obligated to play because of the hype. Play Summoner instead.
Loved the movie. Very nice, for anime. Then again, Summoner Geeks was more memorable.
sounds like bad z-buffering...
Final Fantasy 10: You've seen it all before, but now it's better. Really!
I would rather think of FFX as FFIX 'Upgrade Version' rather than a new game...
Large print giveth, and the small print taketh away
As far as I'm aware it's something like:
The Playstation 2 can do polygon *edge* anti-aliasing, but it can't do *full-screen* anti-aliasing like the Xbox and Gamecube.
What does this mean? It means that if you want to draw an anti-aliased scene on the PS2 you have to draw the polygons in back-to-front order yourself. Yes, this means software sorting every single polygon you draw - if you don't you'll get horrible artifacts around the edges of all your polygons when they get drawn out-of-order. This is a slow process, and in the case of FFX I can see why they were willing to compromise for the performance gains.
Xbox and NGC have full-scene antialiasing. Turn it on and: It Just Works. Behind your back the system will render to a 2x or 4x screen size back frame buffer and downsample for display on the front-buffer screen. This will, however, use more precious memory and sacrifice fill bandwidth because you've got to draw to a larger-than-normal frame in the first place.
Phantasy Star 4.
One of the few rpgs to come out for the Genesis. But DAMN is it ever good. Note that I played it without having played the first three, so I am aware that I missed out on some of the details that are in this one for fans of the series.
Allow me to first give a bit of series background. (Those who know better feel free to correct.)
In Phantasy Star 1, you were on the planet Parma, a technologically advanced planet in the Algo solar system. You had to fight your way to the Air Castle (big floating castle) and defeat the bad guy. Never played it, so I don't know much more than that.
Phantasy Star 2 was also on Parma (possibly with some travel to other planets) and featured the gaming world's then stock evil boss, Mother Brain. Ended in the destruction of Parma. Some ships from Parma escaped to the other habitable planets in the solar system, and others escaped out toward other stars as big generation ships. (Haven't played much of it.)
PS3 took place aboard one of the aforementioned generation ships. Got annoyed with this one real quick, so I know nothing about it.
Now, the real meat. Phantasy Star 4. WOW.
Tech Specs:
Genesis game. Go get Genecyst and the ROM. (I've had problems with it working right on other emulators, but the latest version of Genecysts works great.) Nice graphics for it's time. 2D of course. Fairly long.
Story:
I won't go too much into it, but it begins on the planet Motavia 1000 years after the destruction of Parma. The devastation caused by the exploding planet threw the other worlds into chaos for awhile. It was the downfall of civilisation. But now, technology is starting to make a comeback, both through research and the discoverey of old cities and machines left over from 1000 years before. (So you do get swords and guns, and who gets them makes sense from their backgrounds.) Your main character is Chaz, a swordsman and Hunter (read: mercenary/bounty hunter/monster exterminator) in training. At first, you're on the quest because you were hired. Then you look into a bit out of curiosity, then because you get really really PISSED. And then the game really starts. (This is a suprisingly long game.)
The story arc is very well developed, and very linear. there are side quests, yes, most of which come in the form of jobs from the Hunter's Guild. (Some are very cool, two are very annoying, and two are extremely usefull......) And a few little secret or side areas that are maily there for fans of the series. (Certain long-lived creatures which were characters in previous games, statues of previous characters dotting the landscape, etc...) And you can rush straight through without talking to anyone, or you can learn all sorts of interesting world details from the townsfolk. Most of them do say different things after major events in thier area.
Gameplay:
Again, linear story, in that you can't go to the next town until you've gotten item X or done event Y, but once you've gotten somewhere, you're free to travel back at any time. This also means that Weapon and Armor stores get better and better as time goes on.
Magic is essentially divided into two parts: Skills and Techniques. Skills are unique to each character, and are generally weapon techniques for your fighters, and powerfull healing techs for your healers. They have a limited number of uses, refreshed when you rest. The number of times you can use them goes up as you level up.
Techniques are more like the magic we are used to. You have these techs, and you use them as many times as you want while you have enough technique points to support it. Many of the basic techs can be cast by several people, though some are far far better at it than others. (Casting your basic Res (heal) with say Hahn might get 60 points of healing... While Rika's casting of it heals by 200. etc. As you level up, you get better at casting them.
You do not buy Skills or Techniques. New S&T are gained automatically through leveling up.
One last important but about the linear aspect: You don't get to pick your characters. There is no swapping. Charcters move in and out of the party as the story dictates, and most of them have good reasons for staying/leaving. Certain ones will stay with you to the end once you get them though. (I will give the example of Gryz, whose town is destroyed by evil baddie Zio, and when he hears that you are going to find Zio, he comes along so he can get his revenge. Once Zio is dead, Gryz leaves.) You can have up to five characters in the party, and they all get to fight.
One of the most important aspects of the fighting is that while you can beat the game just doing basic attack-cast in battles, you'll miss out on the cool (and powerfull) combos. Certain magics can be combined with each other or with skills for some devastating attacks, if you plan it right.
Ah, almost forgot about macros. The play is turn based, so you define what each person is going to do before the turn starts. This lets you do the combos. But they added in a very usefull feature that I haven't seen anywhere else: Macros. These are defined though the menu while outside of battle. They are just preprogrammed attack sequences that let you quickly tell all of your characters what you want them to do, and in what order. the 'A' macro is almost always used as a basic 'everybody attacks' macro for your basic fights. The others I generally use for quickly setting up defence in the first round of a boss fight, or for setting up delicate combos. (IE, set up the combo with the slowest person going first to reduce your chances that a medium-speed monster will interupt the combo in the middle.) A great time saver so you don't have to go through and say "you attack, you heal, attack, attack, attack" every time. You can just say "macro A" and watch the fight commence.
Misc:
A few misc points: One is the talk function. This is VERY nice. It avoids two problems. The first is the "Where the hell do I go now???" problem, even if you've been away in a cave for a week and forgot what you were doing. The second is having the game constantly remind you of what it wants you to do. (Zelda 64 anyone? "HEY!" "HEY!" "HEY!" "All right you damn fairy, the next time you say hey, I'm getting the swatter out...." "HEY!") The talk function is just an option in the menu "talk" that makes your characters have a short conversation on what's going on, and where they should go next. It doesn't bug you, and if you know, you don't have to hit it. Nice.
Again, fans of the series who have played the previous games will see all sorts of references to the previous games, from statues of previous characters, to just the names of familiar places or spells.
Another aspect is that your characters all have lives outside of the story. They've all got hometowns, histories, friends, relatives, etc. If you choose to talk to the people in towns, you get to meet these people, and see how peoplke react to them. (Hahn isn't altogether welcome at home, while Raja is quite popular at his local bar...)
OVERALL:
I cannot recommend this game enough. Die-hard RPGers and newbies both will like this game. The story and the history really draw you in, the graphics are excellent (dated by today's standards, but still damn pretty.) It allows it self to be funny and serious, dark or fun, depending on what is happening. The character development is handled very well, and you have a good mix of wise, experienced characters, and naive, new to the world ones.
New players can choose to take it slow, take time out to fight and level up, while more experienced players can go straight through at lower levels. (The FAQ for this game says of the final boss: Be at least level 50. If that doesn't work, try 55. Then try 60. etc. My second play through got me there at level 30. It was a tough battle, but it is doable, and extremely fun.)
And oddly, whenever I play any other RPG, it starts to get a little tedious and I just start hankering for this game. I've left off in the middle of FF1, 7, and 8 just to go play this one. It really sticks with you.
Whatever your style of play, you will enjoy this game. Go get the emulator and the ROM now! (And remember to look in the Genesis section, because you won't find it in Nintendo.)
Note: I didn't play Phantasy Star Online, because from what I learned before it came out, it was not actually set in the PS universe nor did it have any reference to PS. It was just trying to cash in n the name... Gee... Sort of like all the recent FFs.... But as I recall, nobody else played it either, so I don't think there will be any comparison issues.
Anyone else remember this game as fondly as I do? Anyone actually going to listen to my recommendation? Am I just going to get bounced out of the forum because I wan't actually talking about a FF game, just one that kicks all of the recent FF games's ass? We'll see...
Mycroft
Though SquareSoft hasn't seen fit to translate FF2 and FF3, other people have. If you want to play an English translation of the games, obtain an orignal Japanese ROM and then head to http://www.zophar.net/newtrans/?op=show&type=nes. There are translation patches for FF2 and FF3 among a host of other games. You'll need something that can intrepret IPS patches, which some emulators do automatically, and static patchers are also available on the site.
The site also has translations for other game consoles and for other languages, though the English patches are by far the most commmon.
This game consists of you, playing the part of the mighty hero, Cumulonimbus, a young boy who, for some unexplainable reason, fights well with swords.
You'll travel across many lands, where items get more expensive the further away you are from home (Talk about inflation in some of those third rate countries!), and you'll meet many different creatures, which look kinda the same, but are different colors and attack with different gusto!
You'll then either rescue your girlfriend/mourn her death, after killing (insert a Biblical-sounding name) and saving the world! Yet again!
Smashing. Stellar. GO CUMULONIMBUS GO!
"Not Another Final Fantasy Movie"
hah. no.
ouch.. just like that ign review.
.. Seed.. he learned to lead others, but never depend on them.
:P :) he always tried to hold her at a distance though because either he'd fail her or she'd fail him or leave him and he'd be just as alone as he's been since his sis left.
Why do I get a totally different image of him?
Here's a kid... who was in an orphanage.. and he had a friend he called sis... and then she left him. He waited forever and ever for her to come back and eventually he decided she wasn't coming back. He learned to stop relying on others, that the only person he could trust was himself.
In the "school"
He met a woman and liked her (Rinoa is kinda hard not to like
He gives in later, lets himself love her, admits it to himself. Saves her. He also begins to trust his own decisions. He becomes a leader. He also ends up trusting others.
I think there was plenty of growth there and Squall did mature through the game.
I don't know why others don't see the same things in Squall as I did. My only guess is that people don't read the dialogue, they just skip half the story anxious to move on to the next piece of action.
There are English translations available.
I'll be happy to send them over if you so insist. =) Of course they're emulator-only, and might be illegal if you don't really own the Japanese cartridge (as if you can find any of those anymore). One of the ROMs even had "Do not play this game with NESticle (or other emulators)." Duh. As if you can play it with anything else.
Pet peeve: Profane people propagating perfunctory pedantry.
FFX isn't actually a game. It's a(n at least 12 hour long) movie. Sometime you get dumped at the end of a corridor and told to run to the end. You get to the end and then it's back to the movie. Have I missed something. Where's the game?
-- SIGFPE
Dubya was beginning
President: What happen?
Quigley: Somebody set up us Hainan.
Prueher: We get crash.
President: What !
Prueher: Illegal surveilance turn on.
President: It's you !!
PLA: How are you gentlemen !!
PLA: All your EP-3 are belong to us.
PLA: You are on the way to humiliation.
President: What you say !!
PLA: You have no chance to save face make your apology.
Prueher: President !!
President: Take off every 'diplomat' !!
President: You know what you doing.
President: Move 'diplomat'.
President: For great media circus.