Final Fantasy X - A new era?? (Final Fantasy X (PS2))

Member Name: davecr

Product:	Final Fantasy X (PS2)
Date:	23/05/01 (309 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: made by squaresoft, great graphics, excellent storyline

Disadvantages: have to wait till 2002 for release

I, II, III, IV, V, VI, VII, VIII, IX......

Many years ago, Squaresoft released final fantasy believeing that it would be the first and, living up to its name, the final fantasy. However over 10 years later they are now on the verge of releasing the latest installment in what is hailed by many as the greates computer gaming series ever.

in 1990, the first final fantasy game was released. This being one of the first ever RPGs to be released, the storyline was original with many trademark final fantasy sidequests. 2 more final fantasy games, originally titled, final fantasy 2 and final fantasy 3 were released on the NES over the next few years and then in 1991 final fantasy 4 was released. The first final fantasy game to feature on the super nintendo entertainment system, home to some of the greatest games ever. The characters were colorful and the monsters were big. The magic spells were much improved and the scenery and maps were excellent too.

In 1993, final fantasy 5 was released. This was only released in japan and is a strong contender for the best FF game ever. However following the success of final fantasy 7 and 8 on the playstation, final fantasy 5 and 6 were released on the playstation with slightly improved graphics and some amazing computer generated movies. Final fantasy 5 saw a completely different view to the game, instead of the usual, 'save the world from a bad guy' theme, there were four crystals representing the elements and as these crystals broke, caused chaos in the world. This game also featured a new combat system, where characters would all have specialised skills.
1994 saw the release of final fantasy 6, the last final fantasy on the SNES, and what a way to finish squaresoft's nintendo career. This game had everything, great graphics (at the time) a brilliant soundtrackcomposed by Nobuo Uematso, 14 main characters, all with their own storyline and background. This was the first final fantas
y to have a REAL evil bad guy in it, KEFKA! This game revolves around a blend of magic and technology, and in this game squaresoft let everyone know the power of summons, which were creatures summoned by characters to inflict huge amounts of damage on monsters.

1997 - final fantasy 7, to me the greatest computer game ever!! the leap from SNES to playstation also meant that this was the first final fantasy game on CD. This game was so immense that it featured on 3 CDs. After its predecessor had so much success, squaresoft had a lot to do if they wanted final fantasy 7 to be as popular. Howver Tomoyuki Takechi knew exactly what he was doing! This was the first final fantasy game i played and fell in love with it instantly from the second i saw the beutifully rendered FMV sequence showing Aeris Gainsborough in the Midgar slums. In this game u took control of a man called Cloud Strife who was an ex member of SOLDIER, an elite mercenary group who becomes a bodyguard of a rebel group called AVALANCHE. His intentions were to do one job only for this gang to get money, however he encounters some mysterious and powerful allies who help him fight against the deadly creatures 'Shinra' has created to protect its empire. The graphix for this game wee outstanding and throughout the 60 -70 hours needed to complete this game, EVERYTHING happened.

With the huge success of FF VII a lot was expected of final fantasy VIII. However final fantasy 8, despite its huge improvement in graphix and sound, failed to live up to the greatness that was final fantasy 7. Altho teh game had a good storyline, it lacked a proper enemy, the enemy was a witch who really didnt make u feel as if u hated her unlike Sephiroth in FF7, anyone who has played teh game will know what i mean! The game has many upsides, such as excellent graphics, an improvement in summon monsters known as guardian forces in FF8 but the main downside is that unlike the other FF games, you never rea
lly found out about the characters past, it was only briefly touched upon. If this game had those little things it missed, it would have been better than final fantasy 7.
In the year 2000, squaresoft released what was to be the last final fantasy game on the playstation. Final fantasy 9 included everything that 7 and 8 missed. The characters all had explained backgrounds, the interaction between characters was excellent and the storyline was amazing. This game went back to the roots of final fantasy and went back to a more fantasy styled game rather than the technological worlds of 6, 7 and 8. I found that this was a bad step as i throughly enjoyed the futuristic style of those games. however the game was not a let down at all, with over 60 hours of gameplay to complete the not including sidequests and secrets, this game with huge twists in the storyline everynow and then made up for the slight failure of final fantasy 8, and has rightfully made Squaresoft the Gods of the playstation!

....X

So, after 9 games with pretty much teh same title, what could squaresoft possibly do to top the success of all their old games.

Well, for a start teh graphics will be much improved as final fantasy X will be released on the PS2, (early 2002 i think) on a single DVD disk featuring movie quality sound and images. This is going to be the first final fantasy with speech in the game, as well as text, and also teh first final fnatasy game to not have pre rendered backgrounds since FF7, the game will have fully 3D backgrounds that move around as the character moves. Final Fantasy X returns to the graphical style of Final Fantasy VIII. But Final Fantasy X won't have the modern environments of VIII, aparently FF X's world reportedly has not reached the industrial era, although u can expect stunning visuals of summons and the rest of it. Final Fantasy X is set in a post-apocalyptic world -- the world is nearly submerged in water 1000 years afte
r "a great terror arose from the deep." In the present, a "journey home" across the seas begins with the heroes apparently bound for "the kingdom of the sun."

Another important aspect to the story is Sin, a malefic force of nature that manifests itself as natural disasters. While Sin is represented as a ball of fire in the FF X logo, it is not actually a corporeal being. Sin can only be defeated by the "Ultimate Summon" spell possessed by the summoners from 'Ebon'. At the center of the adventure is a cheerful sword-slinging youth named Tidus (pronounced "Tida"). A star player at the underwater sport Blitzball, Tidus teams up with his staff-wielding love interest Yuna to confront Sin. The daugher of the famous summoner Braska and a summoner herself, Yuna has been haunted by strange dreams as of late. Believing Sin to be the cause, she swears to defeat it, and perhaps emerge from her parents' shadow in the process. Interestingly, Yuna has one blue eye and one green eye, though whether this is important to the game or not remains to be seen. Other playable characters include the thief Ryukku, the sword-wielding Aaron, blitzball player Wakka, magician Lulu, and beastman Kimari, who is described as Yuna's guardian.

As in the world, there will be many different cultures in FF X, for example Yun ais from an Okinawan background which is a traditional japanese background, maybe similar to wutai in FF7. And Tidus is from somewhere completely different, so expect a lot of misunderstanding between characters which could lead to some comedy. Unlike FF 7 - 9, FF X sees the introduction of fully 3D backgrounds instead of pre rendered backgrounds, whihc follow the character around as you move, and the world of Final Fantasy X will also be one continuous area meaning towns and dungeons will be built right into the world map instead of appearing as mere icons, which could mean a HUGE world with
many many towns. Oneof teh main things that bothered gamers was teh random battles when u were quite happily running along in the previous final fantasy games, this did not really bother me at all but in FF X, most battles are fought on the same screen as teh charecter is on instead of teh screen swirling taking u to a different scenario.

Also, one of the main thigs that may make this the greatest final fantasy ever is the introduction of voice acting. Nearly every important story scene, as well as many other scenes, will feature voiceovers. Characters' facial expressions will also change as they speak. Text will still be available and gamers have the choice to choose text/voice/both.

Nobuo Uematsu continues his role as composer of final fantasies music, and it its rumored that there is going to be a rock concert in this game as well as the more classical music he composes. Also silence will be used a lot to build up tension in the game. The battle system is also improved. Only 3 people per party now as in 7 and 8. The battle is expected to be more flowing now so that something is happening all the time, so now people who complaied they didnt like waiting in turned based battles can't say a thing about it now :) There are a lot of minigames in this game too, mainly Blitzball which is a mixture of rugby football (soccer) and basketball, this plays a huge role in the game.

The final fatnasy film: the spirits within set for a release this summer at the cinemas will show a trailer of teh game and wen teh film comes out on DVD later his year, it is expected to have a PS2 demo of FFX with it.

Spring 2002 - 'A great terror rose from the deep'




(extra info is predictions as game is not released)

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