Welcome to Part 2 of 5 of My Top 50 Final Fantasy Locations list. Yesterday I gave you from #50 to #41 so today we'll naturally go from #40 to #31. Let's get straight to it!
Please note: This list will talk about
spoilers. If you have not played the game that each location represents
I'd avoid that entry.
#40: Northern Cave Game? Final Fantasy VII When do you go? Final dungeon Revisitable? No Description: A large cave. Simple. Well not really, there's a lot of history in this cave. Jenova landed here when she arrived on The Planet and for the entirety of Final Fantasy VII this is actually where Sephiroth is; it was Jenova using images of Sephiroth throughout the game. The cave itself isn't anything special until you get to The Planet's Core, where your final battles with Jenova and Sephiroth take place.
The fact that Northern Crater, the final chapter in the amazingness that is the story of Final Fantasy VII lacks so much in grandeur definitely knocks it down to 40th place in my list. Don't get me wrong, because I've played this game so many times I know every nook and cranny of this cave, but you can't help but feel a lack of inspiration for three quarters of the time you spend here. The payoff at the end is amazing of course The Planet's Core truly is a place of gruseome beauty, but Squaresoft didn't really pull all the stops to make you feel like you were going to enter anything other than a bog standard cave for the most part. Which is a shame.
#39: South Figaro Game? Final Fantasy VI When do you go? Very early on, towards the middle of the game and towards the end Revisitable? Yes Description: A regular Final Fantay VI town in some ways, but with lots of events happening here and with it being the first town you can properly visit, it's quite a memorable place.
You go here three times, firstly you go through it early on when you're on your way to the Returners Hideout, then you come here a bit later on and recruit Celes, and then lastly you go through here after Kefka destroys the world and are suspicious of a mane named Gerad, who is a badly disguised Edgar. I just love South Figaro, it's a pleasant FF6 town considering for the most part its under Empire law, and the fact that many cut scenes throughout the game happen here makes it an important place to go.
#38: Rabanastre Game? Final Fantasy XII When do you go? At the beginning, and many times throughout the game Revisitable? Yes Description: A very large city, probably to scale one of the biggest and most busy cities in the history of Final Fantasy.
You probably visit Rabanastre of Final Fantasy XII more than any place in the history of Final Fantasy, if we're not including airships and the like. You go here very often during the entire course of the game, it's arguably your 'home', if there was one. It's where Vaan and Penelo are from, two of the main characters of the game. It's just a very iconic city, everything about it, the size, the story line progression, the music, everything about it you'll not forget easily. Almost to the point where it's annoying actually, but I don't think it goes that far really, otherwise it wouldn't be in this list!
#37: Forgotten Capital Game? Final Fantasy VII When do you go? Nearly half way through the game, and towards the end Revisitable? Yes Description: A small mythical city completely in ruins, once belonging to the Ancients, houses still intact yet desolate.
It goes without saying that this place serves witness to one of the most iconic moments in video gaming, the death of Aerith. As a place it's not really that amazing in my eyes, as beautiful as it is, but the scene that will be mentioned over and over again as one of video games most horrific moments; when Sephiroth drives his long and slender sword through the back of Aerith, mercilessly, that happened here, it has to mentioned amongst my Top 50. It's a very short area yet some of the landmarks are just unforgettable, particularly the lake and of course, the Cetra castle and altar in which the above happens.
#36: Magitek Research Facility Game? Final Fantasy VI When do you go? Nearly half way through the game Revisitable? No Description:
A rusty, gritty, filthy research lab, where The Empire conduct life-threatening experiments on the Espers.
The Magitek Research Facility has one of the best in-game songs of Final Fantasy VI, and yes, that does form a big part of why I put it in this list. But it's also a big part of the first half of Final Fantasy VI, the infiltration of the research facility and going to Vector in general, marks the first time you're really taking it to The Empire. What you find happening here however was not what was bargained for; seeing six Espers being completely drained of life in test tubes is a pretty damn horrible scene, and not done justice in a Super Nintendo game (which makes me point to my article on Why I Want a Final Fantasy VI Remake). The Magitek Research Facility is definitely one of the more intriguing places in Final Fantasy VI.
#35: Moonflow Game? Final Fantasy X When do you go? Approaching half way through the game Revisitable? Yes Description:
A large river that separates Spira into two halves; you cross the river to get to the Northern parts of Spira. A huge surge of pyreflies make the river glow at night, creating a beautiful scene that many of the people of Spira hold in high regard.
The Moonflow is another one of those places in Final Fantasy that are just so damn beautiful. Squaresoft/Square Enix truly know how to pull of imaginary places and make you wish so bad that they were real. You don't spend that long here in Final Fantasy X, but a few things happen, you recruit Rikku permanently (one of my favourite female characters), you see Shoopufs and Hypellos for the first time, (and I loves the Hypello yesh yesh) and Auron tells you of an awesome story about when Jecht came here for the first time. It's just a good little place storyline wise, and scenery wise, it's damn gorgeous.
#34: Lake Bresha Game? Final Fantasy XIII When do you go? Very early in the game Revisitable? No Description: Once a lake, when the party land on Lake Bresha it is completely crystallised due to the fal'Cie Anima, landing here, defeated by you previously.
You have to walk on this crystallised lake to reach the Vile Peaks, but more importantly than that is the storyline that occurs here. It's here that your party realises they're branded l'Cie and will turn into monsters or crystal. They all bicker and fight, taking out their frustrations on each other before taking it out on the PSICOM soliders who are trying to capture them. Snow stays put, having found his girlfriend, Serah, turned to crystal. All of this happens on Lake Bresha, which in its crystallised state, is a damn beautiful sight.
#33: Iifa Tree Game? Final Fantasy IX When do you go? Towards the middle of the game, and after the final battle Revisitable? Yes Description: On appearance it's a large tree but in actuality it's the source of all the Mist in Final Fantasy IX, and is the filter of the souls of Gaia.
The Iifa Tree is such an important part of Final Fantasy IX. So many things happen on the Iifa Tree, in the Iifa Tree or because of the Iifa Tree. It's an ugly thing yet there's that certain weird beauty about it, it's fundamental in FF9. So important in fact that you find yourself back here when you deal with the final bad guys. It's just one of the true landmarks of FF9 and its look stands out so much.
#42: Shumi Village Game? Final Fantasy VIII When do you go? Completely optional, from half way through the game onwards Revisitable? Yes Description:
A village built 323 meters underground that is host to the species of Shumi and Moombas.
I love the Shumi Village. It's so quirky and random that you can't help but like it. Most of the stuff that happens here is pointless, bar some small hints that Laguna once visited here, but the Shumi Tribe are lovely people and of course, Moombas are the cutest Final Fantasy creature never to appear in a second major FF title (bar its cameo as one of Lulu's dolls in FF10). You just can't help yourself, admit it, the Shumi Village kicks ass.
#31: Gold Saucer Game? Final Fantasy VII When do you go? Twice, towards the middle of the game Revisitable? Yes Description: An enormous amusement park and a huge tourist attraction, it's built directly over Old Corel, where Barret and a few other characters where born.
Ah, the Gold Saucer. So much happens here and it's so flashy and awesome that you just can't ignore it. Some people love it some people hate it. I lean more towards the former, I love playing a lot of the mini games here and the storyline progression here is pretty good, not to mention the awesome combination of dates possible with Cloud on the Gondola! It's just a great part of the game, the two times you come here, at least I think so.
And... that's enough for today. Part 3 of
my Top 50 Final Fantasy Locations listing will be posted tomorrow. Until then have a good night.
Click here for #30 to #21. Click here for #20 to #11. Click here for #10 to #1.
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Overall,
Final Fantasy 13 is a great game with a complex yet rewarding storyline and an awesome battle system.
Final Fantasy XIII was released nearly two years ago here in
the UK, in March 2010, and was released on both the Xbox 360 and the
Playstation 3. It is naturally, the thirteenth major chapter in the critically
and commercially successful Final Fantasy series. The game’s official sequel,
Final Fantasy XIII-2, is to be released next month.
Just in case you’re not too familiar with the series, Final
Fantasy games have been released since 1987, twenty five years ago, and are a
set of RPG games that have for long periods of time become the most influential
and widely celebrated role playing games of all time. Many recurring themes in
the series are the using of magic and summoning monsters, the use of airships,
travelling across a world, characters dealing with love or loss, characters
defying the powers of fate, religion or apocalyptic circumstances and the
inclusion of chocobos and moogles, two creatures the game series has made
popular. The highest point in the series was arguably the release of Final
Fantasy VII in 1997, which was released on the Playstation, which was met to
universal acclaim and has sold more than any other game in the series, at over 10
million copies and is only second to Gran Turismo on the console. Since then
the sales and reception of the Final Fantasy series has changed; some games
sold more than others and some games were better received. Final Fantasy XI
marks the first online RPG in the series, and was followed up by last year’s
release of Final Fantasy XIV.
Final Fantasy XIII follows Final Fantasy XII (that being
said, none of the major games are connected officially and are set in their own
styles and game universes), which was met with a decent response, with the main
criticism coming from the fact that the world was expanded across an immense
terrain with in some cases very little linear direction and large amounts of
battles followed by short spurts of storyline progression. What did Square-Enix
do with Final Fantasy XIII in response to these criticisms?
"He's behind you!" Ah... I love pantomimes.
FF13 (I’ll now abbreviate to numerals) in comparison to FF12
does exactly the opposite in terms of the world terrain and linearity. The game
is linear, to the point that you cannot travel back to previous areas at all,
nor is there varied places to explore in each area. The game, it feels, almost
holds your hand throughout your journey, which is completely different to FF12,
a world where you can go to so many areas so early in the game, even if the
storylines don’t require you to go there. FF12 and FF13 are complete opposites
in terms of how the rails of the story go; FF13 glues your hands to the rail
where as FF12 shatters the rail completely.
Moving onto the story, before I explain what the plot is,
I’d like to just say that the storyline is very confusing and hard to follow
first time round. It doesn’t help when you’ve entered a game in a fantasy world
that uses three different terms in fal’Cie, l’Cie and Cie’th all the time and
you barely have time to digest the terms and learn their meanings. It confuses
the plot from the off and it makes the story hard to follow at times, unless
you click straight away, something I personally didn’t do on my first run. The
second run through the game was a lot easier mind, and the story on this run
was much better to follow.
The story follows the theme of fate, and how these six
playable characters are chosen as servants of the fal’Cie, the game’s
equivalent of gods, to complete a task (called a ‘focus’) to destroy the world,
and how if they fail in their task, they’ll turn into grotesque monsters
(‘called Cie’th’). If they succeed and complete their ‘focus’ their fate is
potentially just as bad, as they will be granted crystal stasis, for as long as
eternity. The name given to these servants is the ‘l’Cie’, and they are capable
of using magic, and therefore the general citizens of the land of Cocoon are
afraid of them. It’s a harsh fate that is given to these six individuals, and
it takes them all on an emotional journey of deciding to give up on their task,
to embrace their task, to run away from it and try to shake it off, or try
even, defying it. It’s a great storyline once you understand it, one of the
best storylines in recent Final Fantasy titles in my opinion, and one I’ve
enjoyed more than any storyline since FF9.
These six characters naturally all have different
personalities and views on their situation. The main protagonist is Lightning,
who’s sister Serah became a ‘l’Cie’ before the game begins, and at the start of
the game turns into crystal stasis, having completing a focus that is unknown
in task. Lightning, an ex-soldier, is seen as a very harsh character whose upbringing makes her take a bold and frank approach to these dire circumstances and often has
the party she accompanies upset. Serah’s boyfriend, Snow, also is a main
character, and only met Lightning days before the game starts and had a frosty
reception from the ex-soldier, which leads to Snow often, get the brunt of Lightning’s
frustrations. Snow himself, sees himself as a hero of Cocoon and uses his large
stature and loud voice to carry him through his troubles of losing his
girlfriend to crystal stasis and his refusal to accept his focus of destroying his home land. In an attack at the beginning of the game, Snow attempts to save a load
of prisoned victims and the death of one particular person
has significance to the plot. That is because it’s the mother of Hope that
dies, who’s another main character. Hope has had a normal life on Cocoon and
lives a life where Cocoon’s political pressures brainwash most of the citizens,
especially when it comes to ‘l’Cie’ being hostile and basically, evil, so the
despair that Hope goes through not only to accidentally become what he was
thought to as evil, but to have to live with knowing who was arguably
responsible for his mother’s death in Snow, leads to an interesting extension
of the story.
The other three characters also have great story arcs; Sazh
is a father whose son had also become a ‘l’Cie’ prior to the game’s beginning
and has other issues too, but deals with them with a heavy heart but a happy
smile. Sazh is an excellent character, definitely my favourite, and is probably
the funniest character in the game. Fang is as forceful as Lightning is, yet
shows a softer side to her much more often than the main protagonist does. She
will do anything and everything she can to protect Vanille, who come from the
same location in game and have a history together. Vanille is the hit-or-miss character of
the game; she’s cute and bubbly and has all the traits of similar characters in
Rikku of FF10 and Selphie of FF8, so you’ll probably either love her or she’ll
probably either annoy you immensely. Vanille also operates as narrator of the
game, and her significance to the plot is discrete but ultimately vital when
the puzzle pieces all align. Without mentioning the main villain by name, the
main antagonist in FF13 is absolutely fantastic, a much better villain than
Vayne from FF12, and my favourite Final Fantasy villain since Kuja from FF9.
"RUN VANILLE! They're going to asplode!"
The game play has also dramatically changed this time round
in comparison to FF12. We once again return to the ATB (Active Time battle)
system used in most of the FF titles to date, but it’s a much-changed variation
of it. The best way to describe this system is that it’s like the one used in
FF10-2 but with much more action involved. So much action in fact, that you
only control what is called a ‘party leader’, meaning this is the first Final
Fantasy title where you can only control one character in battle, rather than
the entire party. A usually very competent AI controls the party in support.
Basically you can either use the battle system manually, where you can choose
your actions, or you can use the very useful “Autobattle” command, which
selects an option to you based on your enemy and any potential weaknesses, or
in turn, any healing you may require if you are of the party support systems.
But unlike a lot of the old traditional Final Fantasy titles, you have combos.
You choose your commands either manually or automatically, and you can build
your combo up to do multiple attacks in one go, in turn leading to a more
smooth and sophisticated system which also looks good to watch and play. Your
combos increase as the game goes on from two to six.
There’s more to add to this battle system. There’s something
called a “Paradigm” system, where you can chop and change battle formations
with different job titles. There are six different job titles, Commando, which
uses mainly physical attacks; Ravager, which uses damage dealing magic, a
Medic, which primarily uses healing magic, a Saboteur which weakens and debuffs
enemies, a Synergist that buffs allies and the Sentinel who absorbs damage and
protects allies. Towards the beginning of the game the characters start to
acquire access from one to three of these titles and towards the end the
characters can gain access to all six, although the three titles they acquire
later can only be strengthened minimally. When the game is complete, you have
full access to all six titles and can be strengthened fully. So the “Paradigm”
system means you can mix these job titles to work in your favour, for instance
if you have three characters you can have a Commando, a Medic and a Synergist;
one character physically attacking, one character healing and one character
strengthening the party. You can then change to a completely different system
with the “Paradigm” system, to a defensive one, for instance having two Medics
and a Sentinel gives you a lot of healing power and some defensive cover too.
The “Paradigm” system really does battle tactics in a Final Fantasy game in a
way that’s never been done before and I think it’s fantastic.
While you have these six job titles, naturally you have to
strengthen them and strengthen your characters. This game doesn’t use the
traditional levelling up system like most Final Fantasy games do, and instead
lets you increase your character’s stats on something called the “Crystarium”.
After battles characters earn Crystarium Points, or CP, and you use CP in the
Crystarium to activate nodes that give you character abilities or stat
enhancements, not too dissimilar to FF10. After certain segments throughout the
game, you gain access to another level of the Crystarium, further advancing
your characters abilities and stats. So you have the six job titles, if they’re
unlocked at that point in the game, that you can increase your characters stats
and abilities through, and in turn they make your characters stronger.
Final Fantasy XIII’s graphics are absolutely gorgeous. The
motion videos are as great looking as any game on the new generation consoles
and the landscapes of Gran Pulse, the other location other than Cocoon, in
FF13, are utterly stunning. The characters look good, the enemies look even
better and some of the bosses in this game, particularly the ones very
significant to the plot later on, look tremendous, particularly the designs
main antagonist. The sound in FF13 is as good as the series has always been and
while the quality of the soundtracks of recent Final Fantasy games don’t match
the amazing tracks of FF7 and FF9 in particular, FF13 does a decent job of
getting the mood set for each location and event that occurs. I once again,
prefer the soundtrack of FF13 than that of FF12, to compare.
FF13 on the whole is absolutely stunning, particularly Gran Pulse later on.
Now I’m sure you’ve noticed but I’ve compared FF12 and FF13
a lot in this review. There’s a simple reason why – they’re polar opposites of
each other. Final Fantasy 12 concentrates a lot on the exploration of the world
map, and lots and lots of battles. The story lacks in FF12 and its basic
premises is stretched across the incredibly large open maps and battles. FF13
does the opposite. The game is so linear, and the cut scenes and story is to
the brim in terms of depth and development. Once you get over the confusion of
the storyline you’ll find a great tale to be told here, and while the ending is
not as good as other titles in the series, you still get the satisfaction
expected from completing a Final Fantasy game. But the linearity of FF13 is a
problem. There are a lot of places in FF13 that you go to only once, and never
to return. In fact, the game is split into thirteen chapters and you can only
revisit the places in chapters 11 to 13. 3 out of 13 chapters are capable of
revisiting. That’s pretty poor. And like FF12, there’s very few mini games, if
any, in FF13 although there are one or two decent side quests. The game does
open up replayability by giving you full access to each character’s Crystarium at
the end of the game, for you to continue to develop your characters and take on
the biggest and baddest battles in these side quests. And I said, you’ll
probably enjoy playing this game a second or third time just because the
chances are you’ll appreciate the great story more.
It is for these reasons why overall, FF13 for me is a great
improvement on FF12, and my enjoyment of it is probably on par with FF10,
although for different reasons. What keeps FF13 together is it’s great
storyline and decent set of characters, combined with an ultimately unique
battle system. Sure the game is really linear but in the end, you can get over
that, especially as the areas that are revisitable are probably the most
strikingly good-looking places in the game. Another flaw would be that I don’t
like the fact that you only control one character in battle, I like taking a
party of characters into a battle and using all of them to beat my enemies. But
overall Final Fantasy 13 is a great game, with a complex yet rewarding storyline
and a great battle system. If you want my recommendation whether or not to buy
or rent it, well, look at the general consensus of what I and most other people
have said, and make your decision from there. If you can get over the game’s
flaws, you’ll find a brilliant game in FF13, its’ one of the best RPGs in
recent years.
Rating: ****1/2 stars
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Right we are half way down the list now, I hope you’ve enjoyed it so far. Naturally, the second half of the list you will be seeing characters you are more familiar with, and I hope maybe you can make some guesses to who will be in this half, and who will be in the top 10. Just to recap, here is the list so far:
Now then, I shall continue with the list, here’s #25…
Please note: This list will talk about spoilers. If you have not played the game that each character represents I'd avoid that entry.
#25: Bugenhagen
Full Name (to knowledge): Bugenhagen Game: Final Fantasy VII Role in Game: Minor Protagonist Best Quote:"Ho Ho Hooo!" What a character. I don’t think anyone dislikes this man, in game, or any fan for that matter. This man knows and explains the world of FF7 like no one else, his knowledge on the planet and the cycle of life is unmatched. He is so well respected that Red XIII calls him “Grandpa”. And he does it with great swagger to add it it. It’s a very emotional death that he has in the game, because even though he had a great life, and even though it isn’t real, you know that the world of FF7, if it ever were to exist, would be a worser place with him gone. What a character.
#24: Irvine
Full Name (to knowledge): Irvine Kinneas Game: Final Fantasy VIII Role in Game: Major Protagonist Best Quote:“...Guns and women of course.” ( Irvine about his “department”) The womaniser is a character often played in the series and it’s most emphasised in Irvine . He’s not my favourite (you’ll see…), but he is very good at it. He “tries it on” with all three ladies in the game but comes closest to Selphie, but he’s just so funny when he does it. Irvine is the lone sharpshooter and lives his own made gimmick, but he struts it so well you can’t help but love the guy.
#23: Locke
Full Name (to knowledge):Locke Cole Game:Final Fantasy VI Role in Game:Major Protagonist Best Quote:“This better not have anything to do with that Magitek-riding, Imperial witch!!!”(about Terra, who was under the Empire’s control) Locke’s a great character, I consider him to be the major protagonist of FF6 but it’s a true debate. I like the correcting of him being a “treasure hunter” rather than a thief. He has charisma, and he was truly in love with Rachel, and held his guilt for a long time. He tries to help the two main women in the game, Celes and Terra, from falling to a similar fate, and you’ve got to give it to him for that. Locke is a very likable character, he’s not a debatably annoying character at all, and is a great character amongst a great cast in FF6.
#22: Brother
Full Name (to knowledge): Brother Game: Final Fantasy X Role in Game: Minor Protagonist Best Quote:“Not worry, me... take you there. No problem ya?” (Brother trying to speak English)
Brother’s another debatable character in terms of if he deserves a place in this list, mainly because of the controversy around his “affections” for his cousin Yuna. However I’ve always liked him, and furthermore in X-2, I think he’s funny and truly cares about Rikku. He’s also by far the best player in Blitzball, which makes him really useful. You may not agree, but I think Brother’s a great character and is my 22nd favourite character in the series.
#21: Cloud
Full Name (to knowledge): Cloud Strife Game: Final Fantasy VII Role in Game: The Main Protagonist Best Quote:Cloud: “All right, everyone, let's mosey.” Cid: “Damn! Again! Stop sayin' it like a wimp! Can't you say 'Move out!' or somethin'?” Cloud: “Move out!"
And BAM! Like that, you probably are surprised if you have been following this list properly. Yes, Cloud is as low as #21 in my list. In my opinion, that’s quite high, but because he is universally popular and a video game icon, you’re probably wandering why he is as low as this. The main reason, because I like other characters more, other characters from FF7 more, and other characters from Final Fantasy more. Cloud’s character is great, don’t get me wrong, his fucked up mind being dug into and twisted and eventually ironed out is one of the most entertaining things in FF history. However, the storyline and iconic image aside, what does Cloud actually do? He’s actually quite bland. I like him a lot, but because of the amazing storyline around him, he’s elevated to this fantastic FF mascot-like status, which is fine, but his character is still quite bland. That’s why he is #21 in my list.
Agree? Disagree? Let me know your thoughts in the comments box below.
Please note: This list will talk about spoilers. If you have not played the game that each character represents I'd avoid that entry.
#30: Lulu
Full Name (to knowledge): Lulu Game: Final Fantasy X Role in Game: Major Protagonist Best Quote:“You always said I looked grumpy, but those were the happiest days of my life.” (to Chappu, in the Farplane) Lulu is a very cool character from FF10, she appears as a very cold hearted person but it doesn’t take long to realise she really cares about the people around her. She just doesn’t express herself easily, but her very “matter of fact” attitude really makes her “own” Tidus many a time in the game, which provides great entertainment. There’s also enough sex appeal in there as well, I’d hate to think what she’d want to do with those belts though! Lulu is a good character, one of the better from FF10, and my number #30 in this list.
#29: Jenova
Full Name (to knowledge): Jenova (otherwise J-E-N-O-V-A) Game: Final Fantasy VII Role in Game: Major Antagonist Best Quote:“Because Cloud...You are a puppet.” (the only line credited to Jenova) Jenova is one fucked up character. Jenova is responsible for the majority of the crap in FF7 and has infected the planet to its in world state. Jenova is an alien and I’ve got to admit, I’d rather meet an alien in “Alien” than her, she’s that horrible. Her cells have created multiple monsters in the game, none more powerful and important as Sephiroth. It can be debated that she shouldn’t be in this list, I mean after all, she only has one line to her name. But her influence, her vile infected influence in FF7 can’t be avoided. Jenova deserves a place in this list, and #29 is where you will find her.
#28: Rikku
Full Name (to knowledge): Rikku Game: Final Fantasy X Role in Game: Major Protagonist Best Quote:“Memories are nice, but that's all they are...” Let’s get one thing straight. Characters like Rikku, Vanille and Selphie, are characters that people either love or hate when it comes to FF games. I actually quite like them, I love the energetic, happy happy, young female characters. They’re usually portrayed as being quite hot too, at least I think. But Rikku is the best, she really is cute, and you can’t help but feel sorry for her when her Home gets destroyed. Also, her intentions are right when she is trying to stop Yuna from completing her pilgrimage. I love Rikku, and I don’t care what you think!
Full Name (to knowledge): Cid Fabool IX Game: Final Fantasy IX Role in Game: Minor Protagonist Best Quote:Garnet: "The man who attacked you...was he the one who ran off with it?" Cid: "Good guess, but no... Actually... I met a lovely lady at the pub..." (referring to his affair) Cid has appeared in every single Final Fantasy to date, but only two make the list (I hope you know who the other Cid is, if not, then wait!), the first being from FF9. Regent Cid is the leader of Lindblum, and a great leader at that, however he mainly provides the player with comic relief, as he is in the game in three forms, first as an oglop, then as a frog, and finally as a human again. There are loads of moments that I love with Cid, the Hedgehog Pie, Steiner shouting “OGLOP!” and smashing him into his throne, turning into a frog, creating a barricade in the trams underground when Alexandria take over Lindblum. He’s such a funny character, and for a man with such authority he’s really really funny.
Agree? Disagree? Let me know your thoughts in the comments box below.
Morning everyone, I think this is going to be the last retro
review. I can't find any more at present, but if I do I'll post them in the
future. This is a review I did in 2006, so that would make me 17. It's a decent
read, I hope you enjoy it.
"A great game overall, but not the best Final Fantasy,
well at least I think not."
Introduction
If you are a video game fan and never heard of Final Fantasy
you are blind. I am serious. Final Fantasy is the most successful Role Playing
Game series of all time. It is possible the best selling series too. Final
Fantasy had reached its peak in popularity in 1997 when Final Fantasy VII came
out fresh on the Playstation. The series continued with Final Fantasy Tactics,
Final Fantasy VIII and finally Final Fantasy IX. Final Fantasy X is the first
FF game to come out on the Playstation 2. With the system's new generation
graphics, people were astonished with the graphics this game contained. But can
the gameplay live up to its graphics? Many think so. Here's what I think.
Gameplay
Final Fantasy IX went ‘old school' with their system,
changing their way of having three characters in battle to four. FFX reverts
back to three characters on screen, but with a little twist involved. You can
‘tag' a different character into the battle for one that you do not want to use
for the time being. For instance, if you have three attackers in your party and
they are starting to lose out on HP, you can ‘tag' in one of them for a healer,
and this character than use curative spells on your other party members. This
new addition makes gameplay a lot more fun and tactical, like what characters
to use and when.
Also the enemies in this game, as minimum in design they may
be in comparison to previous titles, have their own weaknesses. For instance, a
species that is wolf looking is very fast. It also has an average amount of HP.
A slower attacker like Auron will more than likely miss. A more accurate but
less powerful attacker like Wakka can attack it, but it takes more than one hit
to do so. So Tidus is fit enough to do the job; he can take them in one hit as
he rather accurate and more powerful than Wakka. Another example being little
birds and insects; these are even faster than wolves but contain less HP. So
Tidus' accuracy is too small to attack these, but Wakka can hit and kill them
in one hit. See where this is going? Auron is best to use against hard-shelled,
slow and high HP enemies, as Wakka and Tidus cannot hit these as hard where as
Auron will deal with them no problem. Magic flans cannot be attacked at all by
these, as their bodies are absorbent to weapons. Magic is used against these,
and Lulu does this her part here. So most of the basic monsters in the game
have their weaknesses, and these are a certain character that has abilities
that other characters do not posses. This little factor makes battling a lot
easier and a lot more fun.
Like previous Final Fantasy titles, levelling up is the key
to success. But there are no character levels in this game, a new sphere grid
system has been replaced. One level up that a character gets lets the character
move one step further into the sphere grid, and in the more the character goes
through the grid, more abilities the character can get. Most spheres contain
attribute point increases, like a “Speed +4” or “Vitality +1”. Abilities are
also accessible, like in Lulu's main pathway magic is learnt, and in Rikku's
thievery abilities are there to learn.
Summons on this game are also included, and are called
Aeons. These magical beasts are only used by one character, and that is Yuna.
As well as casting healing magic, she can call out these monsters. They get
stronger depending on how strong Yuna is. They can also learn their own
abilities by certain items later on in the game. However unlike other Final
Fantasy games, you can actually use your Aeon as a normal character; they have
their own signature moves but can also attack and cast magic too.
Limit breaks, trance… nope. Overdrives, basically the same
principle as previous titles, but in this case you can choose (as you progress
through the game) how you want your Overdrive bar to increase to its max. You
may want it to increase every time you attack, maybe every time you kill an
enemy or when they kill you. It is up to you this time, and this is definitely
a plus point in the game.
Gameplay on total is great. But this is by far the easiest
battle system that the Square team have ever used (until later on in the game…
talk more about that later on) and some would say it is too easy. Battles may
get repetitive at times, even though its simplicity makes the game more fun, it
also makes it more boring in the long run to some people. Using Aeons they way
you wanted to can be like a dream come true, other titles have the summoned
beasts perform one attack on them and that is it. This is more of the way you
want to use them, which is great.
Gameplay: 9/10
Story
There is a great storyline in FFX. A young, overconfident
sports player called Tidus was playing Blitzball (the games favourite sports; a
mix between many sports, underwater) when a huge unknown creature called ‘Sin'
attacked the stadium and the city in its entirety. With the help of a strange
man named Auron, Tidus manages to escape the millions and millions of little
creatures that dropped of Sin's body. They cause a huge explosion that rips one
of the roads in two, Tidus struggles to jump up to the other part of the road,
which was by now being sucked into Sin's body. Auron asks Tidus if “he's sure”
if he wants to be helped up. Auron then lifts Tidus into Sin's body, and Tidus
finds himself in a completely foreign world, where he knows no one and the only
thing he wants to do is go home. He finally meets a party of people who are on
a journey to kill Sin. Tidus decides if he helps them on their journey he might
be able to go home if he gets near Sin again.
The fact that Sin being a big, demolishing creature who does
not talk or stalk your character does make the games main villain a bit weak.
Seymour being the second main villain is also not as good as previous, like
Seifer and The Turks.
It is not the main story that I like the most.
No spoilers involved, but what I do like is the complexity
around the theme of religion. A religion called Yevon is involved in this game.
I will say nothing more. Play it and find out =)
Story: 9/10
Graphics
This game came out around a year after the Playstation 2 had
been out. And when it did come out, not one game could compare to the power the
graphics in this game contained. The character designs were amazing; the
movements of eyes and mouths were almost top notch. But what was so amazing, so
fresh and beautiful about the graphics in this game was the landscapes. The
world of Spira, as fragile as it is, is a stunning world.
Graphics: 10/10
Sound
A great soundtrack was involved in this game. It is not
personally my favourite, but it is really good. The background music in the
game really blend in with the events and locations of the places. Weapon
clashes, monster squeals, you name it FFX has it. But what was new in this game
was voice acting. The voices that are included in the game fit almost perfectly
within each character.
Sound: 9/10
Controls
Almost the same principle as all Final Fantasy games,
controls work really well. The use of controls in special events like Wakka's
reels and Auron's overdrives add a lot of nice gameplay.
Controls: 10/10
Extras
It is not that there is a lot of extras in this game. It is
that the sidequests involved are so complex and long, that it makes this game
very good with its extras. The game's main sidequest is its Blitzball game. While
this is not as fun as Final Fantasy VIII's card game, this is a great game to
take your mind off the main game for a bit. Other sidequests like the battle
arena makes the game a lot better, as you basically have to catch all the
monsters in the world. This can be quite fun, even though some say that it is
repetitive. If you have the International version of FFX, you can also battle
the Dark Aeons. These monsters have over-the-top statistics and can probably
kill all your characters in one hit. You have to really level up hard to even
come close to being able to fighting them. This sidequest is a great challenge,
if you have the patience.
Extras: 9/10
Challenge
This is primarily a very easy game, of course the difficulty
increases as you get further into the game. But the fact that this game is so
simple and easy makes the game accessible to most people. Also for the people
who love a good challenge, the Dark Aeons are there for that. So this game is
great for almost anyone.
Challenge: 8/10
Replay
Like all Final Fantasy games, this will definitely jump to
the top of your pile of games standing up shouting “play me again!” Well maybe
not do that but you will definitely want to play this game again, give it a
year or two and you will want to play it all over again.
Replay: 10/10
Overall
This is far from my favourite Final Fantasy game, despite it
getting a really high score in the review. The game however is amazing; the
graphics put shame into other games, the side quests can keep you going for
hundreds of hours (literally) and that fact that its simplicity within battles
makes it for many groups of people. The storyline although on its own not the
best, the dark theme of religion makes this game one of the most debatable game
storylines of all time. A great game overall, but by far the best Final
Fantasy, well at least I think not. Overall: 74/80 = 93% - 9/10 For the latest updates on my work, follow me on Facebook and Twitter here!
