Review: Final Fantasy X 256
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.
You know whose reviews I trust? (Score:5, Informative)
Gamefaq Error (Score:2, Informative)
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BLIZTBALL bugs?! (Score:1, Informative)
FF's Battle System is Overrated.. (Score:5, Informative)
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 >:)
About the graphics... (Score:5, Informative)
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..
Re:Older Final Fantasy (Score:2, Informative)
Jaysyn
Re:Suggestions for Total FF Newbie? (Score:0, Informative)
Re:Nice... (Score:1, Informative)
Good thing it took off, eh?
Oh, I'm gonna be late for work.... (Score:3, Informative)
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.