My Top 50 Most Memorable Final Fantasy Bosses: #30 to #21

Hey again and thanks for reading the third of five parts in my Top 50 Memorable Final Fantasy Bosses listing. Yesterday we covered from #40 to #31, and the day before we started from #50 to #41 so today we’ll countdown the next 10!

Remember, this will list will talk about spoilers, so if you’re worried about that, then don’t take the chance! Anyway, enjoy!

#30 – Jenova-BIRTH

Game: Final Fantasy VII

Other names: Jenova Birth

When do you fight him: Around halfway through Disc 1 (of 3)

Location: Cargo Ship en route to Costa Del Sol

HP: 4,900

Difficulty: 5

Jenova-BIRTH isn’t really one of those battles on this list because of how difficult they are, but certainly about how memorable they were from a storyline and visual perspective. Basically Jenova is Sephiroth’s mother, and you’re running after Sephiroth throughout the first half of the game. You know Sephiroth is bad news and that he’s incredibly powerful, so you know when you first see him it’s going to be something special.

This is the moment you see Sephiroth for the first time (or so it seemed, but that’s a tangent I’m not going to go down, if you know the story then it doesn’t need explaining). So you see THE Sephiroth on this Cargo Ship, after he has slaughtered all the men on the ship (which, thinking about it, is going to be INSANE in the remake). And you’re here face to face with him finally and he attacks you. And you’re like, here we go! And instead of fighting him, you go against Jenova, in a blue grotesque alien-like form. But it’s still an epic fight, going against Sephiroth’s mother for the first time, and hearing Jenova’s theme is also glorious. It’s just an amazing moment in an amazing game, and you’re really pumped for it when it happens, the first time round at least anyway.

#29 – Ultros

Game: Final Fantasy VI

Other names: Orthros

When do you fight him: Four times all on the World of Balance, so all in the first two thirds of the game

Location: First on the Lethe River, then at the Opera House, then in the Esper Caves and finally on the airship along with Typhon

HP: 22,000

Difficulty: 6

Note: You go against him four times, and his health is different each time. Above is the highest his health gets to, which is actually at the Esper Caves, the third time you go against him.

Ultros is also in my Top 50 Favourite Final Fantasy Characters list, getting to #14 which is pretty damn high. Fighting Ultros was just fun. So much fun. He’s one of the best comic relief characters in video game history and despite the fact that he is for the light-hearted parts of FF6, he can pack some punch if he wants to. But it’s his hilarious one liners, mid-battle and out of battle that makes him so memorable. His love for women, his hate for Sabin and just generally his tenacity in following your party to try and eat you and only to fail each time.  Back in 2010 when I did my Top 50 Final Fantasy Characters list I said that he needs to be used in other games in the series, similar to Gilgamesh is. It turns out he has started appearing in He truly is a memorable boss in the series.

#28 – Cagnazzo

Game: Final Fantasy IV

Other names: Kainazzo

When do you fight him: Probably about a third into the game

Location: Baron Castle

HP: 5,312

Difficulty: 6

When I played FF4 I was in my teens and had played quite a few of the more recent games by then. I had my doubts about the King of Baron being a protagonist but I could imagine those who played FF4 as a kid for the first time being fooled by him. When he turns into Cagnazzo it’s still quite something. Sometimes confirming your suspicious on a plot twist early can ruin the surprise, but Cagnazzo is a horrible creature, and visually he’s a heck of a monster. Battling him is not that hard, he goes down relatively easy, but regardless, when I think of FF4 and the memorable moments in the game, Cagnazzo disguising himself as the kind and the reveal of that moment always sticks with me. I always think back to how I’d have taken it, had I been around 8 or 9 years old, I probably would have been shocked, and that image just sticks with me.

#27 – Sinspawn Gui

Game: Final Fantasy X

Other names: None
When do you fight him: Twice straight after one another, around a third into the game
Location: Mushroom Rock Road
HP: 12,000
Difficulty: 7

I mentioned earlier that Seymour Flux is the true test to whether or not you’ve grinded your character’s stats well enough by Mg Gagazet, but Sinspawn Gui is also a major test far earlier in the game. The difference really is that Sinspawn Gui doesn’t offer the same threat that Seymour Flux does.

What he does offer though is a VERY long fight, if you’ve not levelled up quickly enough by that point. He’s a major step up from every other boss fight up until this point in the game, and it can take a good 30-45 minutes to take him down if you’re not advanced enough. I remember the first time I went against him, it did take this long, and it’s a heck of a slog. Not to mention the fact that after this fight you have to fight him a second time, it becomes a very memorable fight. At least the second time round he has half the HP and Seymour helps you and kicks ass with his spells! But yes, Sinspawn Gui lives long in the memory as a boss that’s tough to take down, and gives that true first test of FF10 in terms of boss fights.

#26 – Gerogero

Game: Final Fantasy VIII
Other names: Fake President Deling, Fake President
When do you fight him: Around halfway through Disc 1 (of 4)
Location: On the train (in Timber)
HP: 3,650

Difficulty: 6

Note: All enemies on FF8 have varying stats depending on what level you are. For the sake of this listing I’ll be putting down the maximum HP that the boss can have.

Gerogero is one ugly mother. Honestly, in my opinion when it comes to the grotesque monsters of the whole series, Gerogero is up there with the worst looking. It’s one of the reasons why he is so high in my Most Memorable Bosses list. Another reason is because he actually is quite a difficult battle, or at least he is if you’re not experienced with FF8. I’d rate him at a 7 instead of a 6 if you couldn’t just use a Phoenix Down on him and he’ll KO instantly! It’s a tactic I’ve never used actually but it’s worth mentioning. If you do go down the hard route then he has a lot of HP and his attacks can hit hard. He uses loads of status attacks like Silence and Berserk, and his “Brrawghh!” move can put your characters on Slow, Curse, and Blind. Using Esuna or Remedies makes these statuses go away but they do slow you right down. In a nutshell he’s a pain to deal with if you slog with him, but mostly he’s a really ugly, horrific monster that lives long in the memory as one of the most grotesque monsters in Final Fantasy history.

#25 – Guard Scorpion

Game: Final Fantasy VII
Other names: None
When do you fight him: First boss of the game
Location: Sector 1 Reactor
HP: 800

Difficulty: 6

For so many people – this is where it all began. It certainly did for me. So many people played their first RPG as Final Fantasy VII. Other people say this is the best RPG game of all time. No matter what you may or may not think, you can’t argue that you don’t know who Guard Scorpion is, if you’re a Final Fantasy fan. The first boss of the biggest FF game of all time.

Is he that special? Certainly not. He’s a big machine and he’s quite easy to defeat. But he’s certainly memorable because he’s the first one for so many people. Of course, the most famous thing about Guard Scorpion is the mistranslation that I, and many people fell for. "Attack while it's tail's up!", Cloud says. So I, and many people did. And a huge laser attack fell upon us, crippling our HP. I actually did lose this battle the first time I tried. Then I did the opposite to what they say, and low and behold, Guard Scorpion doesn’t attack me. It’s a strange mistranslation that caught so many people, but it doesn’t matter, it’s still funny. So it’s the symbolism behind Guard Scorpion that leads him to being halfway on my Top 50 listing, rather than the fight itself. Other than that laser he’s very easy to defeat.

#24 – Bahamut

Game: Final Fantasy VIII

Other names: None

When do you fight him: Completely optional, towards the end of Disc 3 or on Disc 4 (of 4)

Location: Deep Sea Research Center

HP: 90,000

Difficulty: 7

Note: All enemies on FF8 have varying stats depending on what level you are. For the sake of this listing I’ll be putting down the maximum HP that the boss can have.

Again this isn’t specifically about the boss fight as it is more about the enigma surrounding the boss fight. Getting to Bahamut is a task in itself, and when do you go against him he’s a tough fight. Basically you have the option to go to the Deep Sea Research Center, which is on an island on the corner of the World Map. You can only access it with the Ragnarok airship. When you get there the first room inside of the centre has a large blue light, and every time to step closer to it you have random battles. After a certain few steps, a voice asks you some questions, and if you answer correctly, you have to battle Ruby Dragons (which are very tough in themselves), if you answer incorrectly you have to start again. After three or four sets of questions, and you’re finally close to the blue light, you get to battle the mysterious creature asking the questions – which turns out to be Bahamut. It’s just very ominous and it gives you chills – it’s certainly memorable.

As for the fight, he is tough as I said, but if you’ve cleared the Ruby Dragons you should be able to deal with him as well. For the record I love Bahamut, he’s such a cool dragon, and FF8 Bahamut looks incredible, or at least, by 1998 graphics standards he did!

#23 – Gi Nattak (and two Soul Fires)

Game: Final Fantasy VII

Other names: None
When do you fight him: Around two thirds through Disc 1 (of 3)
Location: Cave of the Gi
HP: 5,500
Difficulty: 6

Like Gerogero, this is an undead boss that you can defeat in one hit by using a curative item on him. So again I’d rate the difficulty 7 if it wasn’t for the fact that an X-Potion will do the trick. But! BUT! I didn’t know that for a long time, so he’s definitely a memorable boss for me. In fact, in terms of FF7 bosses, he was a massive stumbling block that I struggled to get past. I don’t know why but I really did struggle on him. It’s probably the combination of him and the Soul Fires together. The Soul Fires constantly cast Fire2 on you, and sometimes possess your characters and use it on them multiple times. Gi Nattak has a strong physical attack too which can easily take out a character if they aren’t healed up. There’s nothing specifically special other than that, but for a novice RPG player playing his first Final Fantasy game, he gave me a heck of a challenge and thus is very memorable in my eyes.

#22 – Sin

Game: Final Fantasy X
Other names: Jecht, Braska’s Final Aeon, Overdrive Sin
When do you fight him: Technically throughout the game, the epic battle happens towards the end of the game
Location: On the airship
HP: 140,000

Difficulty: 6

Note: As stated you technically go against Sin, or at least parts of him, multiple times. Above is the highest his health gets to, which is the final time you fight him.

This article is mainly about the boss fight rather than Sin in itself. There’s so much to talk about when it comes to Sin you might as well just play the game if you weren’t aware of it. But in a nutshell, you see Sin throughout the game and he wreaks havoc across the world of Spira, and has done for 1000 years.

When you actually take the fight to Sin towards the end of the game, it’s pretty damn epic. You first have to take apart his arms, one by one, and then that’s when the real fight begins. He has so much energy that he literally, draws your airship towards him and threatens to blast it away with a gigantic ball of energy. That happens over a period of time and until that actually happens, you have to defeat him. If he blasts that ball of energy, it’s Game Over. So it’s a race against the clock and you literally have to throw everything including the kitchen sink at him before he opens his mouth.

Depending on how much grinding you have done, 140,000 is a lot of HP to take down in a short space of time. I can’t say I’ve actually lost this battle however, every time I’ve gotten to this part of the game I’ve been strong enough to deal with him, hence the 6/10 difficulty rating. But it’s still epic, and seeing him defeated is a memorable moment in itself, and to be fair, considering how much you’ve wanted to take the fight to Sin throughout the game, the payoff is well worth it.

#21 – Elvoret

Game: Final Fantasy VIII
Other names: None
When do you fight him: He’s the third boss in the game
Location: Dollet Communication Tower
HP: 3,523

Difficulty: 7

Note: All enemies on FF8 have varying stats depending on what level you are. For the sake of this listing I’ll be putting down the maximum HP that the boss can have.

You’d think that when you play FF8 for the first time, you’d play some storyline, go against your first boss, progress a bit further and go against the second boss and it’d be relatively easy up until that point. But no. That’s not the case.

Elvoret is a Grade A bastard. Why Squaresoft decided to make the second boss in the game so hard I really don’t know. It’s not necessarily that he’s super dooper hard, but he packs some punch. His Storm Breath attack cripples your party’s HP. It’s just harsh. I mean you can deal with him relatively well – luckily you can Draw Double magic off him so you can use Double spells on the party and against him.

But on top of his harsh Storm Breath attack is his HP. Why on earth did they give him so much HP for only the second boss of the game?? It may not look like a lot but when you’re attacking for around 80HP per attack, and your GFs are wasting around 300HP, he can take a while to bring down, when you’re constantly healing on top of that too. It’s just a harsh battle, so early on in the game. It took me ages to take Elvoret down the first time I went against him, and it takes even longer if you’re trying to Draw 100 Doubles for every character too. It’s just harsh, unnecessarily harsh, but it certainly is memorable. Bastard.

30 down, 20 to go. Join me tomorrow for Part 4 when we reveal what memorable bosses I rank from #20 to #11!

Click here for Part 4, counting from #20 to #11.
Click here for Part 5, counting from #10 to #1.

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My Top 50 Final Fantasy Locations: #20 to #11

Welcome to Part 4 of 5, of My Top 50 Final Fantasy Locations listing. Sorry I didn't post this yesterday, I had completely forgotten to do so!

We're approaching crunch time now. These places before you are places in the Final Fantasy series that are absolutely amazing, in a variety of different ways. Today I count from #20 to #11, if you've missed them click here for #30 to #21, here for #40 to #31 and here for #50 to #41. Let's do the Top 20!

Please note: This list will talk about spoilers. If you have not played the game that each location represents I'd avoid that entry.

#20: Giruvegan
Game? Final Fantasy XII
When do you go? Towards the end of the game
Revisitable? Yes
Description: An ancient city, completely out of vision due to large quantities of Mist covering the place. It's completely indoors and is basically a large pit, and at the bottom is The Great Crystal. However this pit is in darkness, and has many lights and designs that bright up in its black surroundings.

I don't know if it's just me; no one else really talks about it, but I find Giruvegan absolutely stunning to look at. I remember playing hours and hours of Final Fantasy XII, boring as hell as it is at times (Don't deny it, FF12 can be boring for long periods of time) and then getting to Giruvegan and just being taken aback by its beauty. Just panning the camera across the terrain, looking at its darkness, its lights, and I had to take a moment to take it all in. It's just damn beautiful. The Great Crystal is pretty cool too, but when you enter Giruvegan, seriously, look around you. Look at what you can see. You'll appreciate it. For some reason not many people talk about this place as much as me, which is a damn shame as it deserves a big mention for being as awesome as it is, in my eyes anyway.

Giruvegan is the fourth and last entry from Final Fantasy XII in this list.

#19: Dali
Game? Final Fantasy IX
When do you go? Very early on
Revisitable? Yes
Description: A very small village, which its main landmark is its windmill. It looks like an ordinary village with normal villagers, but underneath the surface all the men in the village are producing a Black Mage Army for Queen Brahne to use to take over the Mist Continent.

I love Dali. It's such a cute little place, and the first place that seems to make Vivi even remotely happy, until of course, he's mistaken for one of the Black Mages that are being made for war. Vivi loves windmills. What makes Dali so amazing is its lovely music; it's so nice and warming, you wish music like that was played in your house when you go home. Well I do anyway. And I really wish in a certain way the horrible things that do end up happening in Dali never happen, as it's just such a nice little place. But this is Final Fantasy after all, so it would have been wrong if every thing was nice and perfect here. Man, I love Dali.

#18: Esthar City
Game? Final Fantasy VIII
When do you go? Completely optional, from half way through the game onwards
Revisitable? Yes
Description: Possibly the biggest, highest technological city in the history of Final Fantasy. A monstrosity of a city filled with large blue buildings, super fast cars and large surface roads.

What's the opposite to Dali? Probably Esthar. Remember I said earlier that Rabanastre to scale is possibly one of the biggest places in all of Final Fantasy? Well this, I'm almost certain, is the king. Esthar is just a beast. It covers such a large area, I've never seen an area in a Final Fantasy world map cover such a large patch. Just look at it! It's big and blue! So big. It's got to be bigger than Rabanastre, than Eden, than Zanarkand, than Midgar. It's just untouchable. And it also has the coolest president in the history of Final Fantasy too, in Laguna. You just can't beat Esthar.

#17: Calm Lands
Game? Final Fantasy X
When do you go? Approaching the end of the game
Revisitable? Yes
Description: A huge plain of grass that's usually used as a place of celebration for the world of Spira for when Sin is defeated. It has an iconic 'scar' towards the end of the plain where Sin fell in a climatic battle with one of the Final Aeons many years ago.

The Calm Lands may not look like much but it says something that they made the Archylte Steppe after it, only three games after the original. Its concept is simple yet effective, it marks the beginning of the end of the story of Final Fantasy X. The Archylte Steppe's purpose is pretty much the same for FF13. But you can do so much here; you can grind your characters abilities well here, you have a lot of side quests that stem from here, amongst other things. You come to the Calm Lands in the story only once, but chances are you'll spend a lot of time here as it has such a good purpose and is so big, that there's so much to do. It's a truly grand Final Fantasy location.

Calm Lands is the fifth and last entry from Final Fantasy X in this list.

#16: Memoria
Game? Final Fantasy IX
When do you go? Final dungeon (unless you count The Crystal World seperately, then it's the penultimate location)
Revisitable? Yes (when retreating from The Crystal World anyway)
Description: A load of locations meshed into one, formed from the memories of all the characters, and that of time itself.

Memoria is one of my favourite final dungeons. I see it as the final dungeon of Final Fantasy IX, the Crystal World is so short it's hardly a dungeon is it? Memoria is an amazing place. I love the fact that you have this amazing story of Final Fantasy IX, that all of the characters take part in, all of the locations, the dreams, the experiences, everything, and it's all meshed into one location at the end. You have some very significant places in Memoria, some that you will recognise instantly, others are quite discrete. It's a fascinating area and I love it.

#15: Narshe
Game? Final Fantasy VI
When do you go? Right at the beginning and a little later on
Revisitable? Yes
Description: A coal mining town, trying to maintain neutrality in the game's tensions between the Empire and the Resistance, but leans towards the latter discretely. An esper is discovered here and its appearance sparks the beginning of the game.

Narshe will always hold a strong place in my heart, it all begins here and it's a cool little town. As Final Fantasy VI towns go they don't look that great, primarily because the graphics weren't as good back then, but Narshe's blue roofed buildings make it stand out more than the others. All of the steam coming out from the chimneys, and the coal mine to boot, it's distinct in the context of the game. You can come back here in the World of Ruin but it's just lifeless, which I suppose is fitting of the time of the game when its in utter chaos. Either way Narshe is a cool little place, and if you ask anyone who has played Final Fantasy VI, chances are they'll agree with me.

#14: Cosmo Canyon
Game? Final Fantasy VII
When do you go? Towards the middle of the game and towards the end of the game
Revisitable? Yes
Description: A pilgrimage site for those who seek to learn about The Planet and its cycle, it's also the hometown of Red XIII and his 'grandfather', Bugenhagen.

Want to know if someone actually is legitimately someone who likes Final Fantasy VII? Ask them about Cosmo Canyon. Lots of things get mentioned about FF7, the death of Aerith, One Winged Angel, Cloud's spiky hair, but nearly all the true FF7 fans know and love Cosmo Canyon. And what do proper FF7 fans love more than Cosmo Canyon? The amazing theme for Cosmo Canyon! What a song. That being said Cosmo Canyon is so cool, the storyline progression that happens here is so cool too, and most importantly, Buganhagen is too cool. That man is just a legend. Cosmo Canyon is not a place that I'd like to live if I could, but would I love to visit here if possible? You damned right.

#13: Oerba
Game? Final Fantasy XIII
When do you go? Very late on in the game
Revisitable? Yes
Description: What was once Vanille and Fang's hometown, described by them as a lovely place to go to, is now a dead, desolate abandoned village. Oerba is so lifeless that it snows crystal dust.

I admit, even playing Final Fantasy XIII as an adult, I bought into Vanille and Fang's story that on the other side of Gran Pulse would be a bustling town full of people to greet and welcome the two best friends home. I was naive. I should have expected Square-Enix to dash the character's hopes of returning to the place they called home and make it horrible. But I never did. And when I saw Oerba, my heart sunk. It's horrible. It's an absolutely horrible place. WHY SQUARE-ENIX WHY?! WHY DO THAT?! It's so mean! Oerba is an amazing place, it's what Zanarkand should have been really. Yes I think they did a better job of Oerba than they did Zanarkand. Oerba is so dead, so lacking in anything that it even snows crystal dust. That's just horrible. But under all that horribleness is what was once a town. I think that's the hardest bit. The fact that you can see pretty much everything in its natural state, just rotting. It's not destroyed by a fire or sucked up, or a pile of rubble. It's like everyone just... disappeared. I love what Square-Enix did to Oerba, love and hate it. It's an amazing place.

Oerba is the eighth and last entry from Final Fantasy XIII in this list. 

#12: Zozo
Game? Final Fantasy VI
When do you go? Towards the middle of the game
Revisitable? Yes
Description: A town that's completely overrun by thieves and criminals. One of the few places in the entire series where it permanently rains. Everyone in the town are incapable of telling the truth and random encounters happen everywhere, a rarity for a Final Fantasy town.

As horrible a place Zozo is, it's also pretty damn cool. I love coming to Zozo, even the random battles don't bother me. I think it's the music again. Music is so important in a video game as it really sets the tone. I love the fact that everyone lies here, it makes for an interesting experience. I don't really know what else to say other than I love Zozo.

#11: Conde Petie
Game? Final Fantasy IX
When do you go? Half way through the game
Revisitable? Yes, until it is blocked off by Iifa Tree roots when Mist surrounds all over Gaia
Description: The village of the dwarven race. A single building across two of Iifa Tree roots, it's a passage from the Black Mage Village to Madain Sari and the Iifa Tree itself.

I can describe this place in a single word - Rally-ho! Rally-ho! Rally-ho! I love this place. It's such a brief blip that you actually spend here, but in that time the amount of comedy Squaresoft stirred up is just magical. I love the dwarves, who refuse to let you in unless you say Rally-ho!, I love their way of speech, which is almost spelt like how people in Scotland speak, I love the fact that the only way to get to the other side of the village is by getting married, and how Zidane reacts when Dagger agrees, and I love the fact that Quina doesn't understand the logic of having to buy food. But the best moment in the 15 minutes you spend here is the option of getting Vivi and Quina married. It's just one of the funniest moments in Final Fantasy history. I mean it. It's just classic. I so happy...

And we've arrived at the Top 10. I hope you've been enjoying going through these locations with me. I've enjoyed writing about them that's for sure. One more part left to go. What will I crown #1 in my favourite locations of the Final Fantasy series? Find out tomorrow. Have a good night! 

Click here for #10 to #1.

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The Mercy Side: Why I Want a Final Fantasy VI Remake

Before I start this article, I thought I’d announce on my site that I’m currently working on another project, which is listing my Top 50 Final Fantasy Characters. That, fingers crossed, should be starting in a week or so if I can get it finalised and put online, we’ll find out in time. I don’t want to talk about it too much; I’m very excited about this project, and hope any Final Fantasy fans out there will like it too. Now onto the article.

Why I Want a Final Fantasy VI Remake

Warning: This article WILL contain many spoilers, as the content I wish to discuss in detail will have plot and character information. If you are interested in Final Fantasy VI AND VII are not familiar with it, just be aware there are spoilers and therefore, I recommend you don’t read it. Let’s move on.

Final Fantasy VI, or in America , Final Fantasy III, was released roughly in 1994, on the Super Nintendo (SNES). It was the final 2D Final Fantasy game and it was the last on the SNES. It’s currently never been remade; however it has been ported on the Playstation and Game Boy Advance. The game was received remarkably well, citing the best points of a great character set list, a grand soundtrack and a magnificent villain in Kefka. 3 years later, Final Fantasy VII was released on the Playstation, and was not only well received, but is considered the best Final Fantasy of all time. By all means Final Fantasy VII trumped everything Final Fantasy VI did, and is seen as an “inferior brother” of sorts.

In 2005, when working on the Playstation 3, a “technical demo” was released for Final Fantasy VII. It showed the introduction of original game, the first FMV, done with the graphics of the Playstation 3. Fans went, to put it nicely, ape shit, and for the past 5 years, and probably going into the future, have done everything in their power to make their thoughts heard on a total remake. Square-Enix have many times in the past 5 years have said that it’s going to be very difficult; all the members who worked on FF7 are on separate projects and like true professionals, they have ruled out a remake until everyone is on board to see a project happen. As a side note, I’d like to praise Square-Enix for their responses, the last thing I personally would like as a huge fan, is a chopped and changed team, or worse, a separate team altogether, working on such a prestigious and wonderful game. However it really bugs me, no one asks for a full Final Fantasy VI remake. Why?

Before I explain further, I’d like to say I actually, believe it or not, prefer Final Fantasy VII to VI. But the main difference between these games, the thing that separates the three years between them, is the graphics. Between the years of 1994 and 1997, the world of gaming changed forever. Everyone wanted the next generation console, everything was going 3D. Squaresoft (at the time, they are now Square-Enix) were actually going to release it in 2D on the SNES, but with Chrono Trigger’s imminent release (another absolute classic), and it being a priority, the game got postponed. When work resumed, it was too late, 3D was THE thing, and in order to keep up with the market, Squaresoft would have to make the game 3D. After a few tests on some Final Fantasy VI characters (see FF6 tech demo), they realised that it would be better on a CD Rom. With Nintendo still wanting to use cartridges, Squaresoft had no choice but to move to the Playstation. Taking all this into consideration, you can easily see the differences between FF6 and FF7. There may be 3 years apart in time, but in those 3 years, EVERYTHING changed.

You see, Final Fantasy VII does need a remake. Because in 1997 the power of the graphics is nothing in comparison to now, it just looks blotchy and buggy, and, well, inferior. However what people forget, is that it was so close to actually being a 2D game. Can you imagine Final Fantasy VII being 2D? All that made FF7 so memorable was in 3D. Aerith’s death, Sephiroth walking through flames, Cloud on his motorbike. None of these FMV’s would be that great in a 2D game, not to look at anyway.

Now think about what COULD be an FMV in Final Fantasy VI, that wasn’t. What about the War of Magi, which was only referenced but never shown? That could be in FMV. Terra apparently destroys 50 soldiers when she was under control by the Empire – you could show her kicking ass. The opera singing scene with Celes, could be blown up in full FMV, it is after all, one of the most iconic scenes in Final Fantasy history. When Terra transforms into a full Esper, which could be done in FMV. How about the poisoning of the waters of Doma? That could be done in FMV. Most importantly, the end of the World of Balance could be done justice to how important it is, in full FMV.

This epic scene could be so amazing in 3D.

Final Fantasy VII in my opinion was before it’s time, but Final Fantasy VI was WAY before it’s time. The story and the events need a complete overhaul. What really annoys me is that some stubborn modern FF fans won’t even contemplate looking at FF6 because of the graphics. They are missing out on a lot, because of this. At least FF7 has been played by millions and millions of fans, now AND in ’97. Only the hardcore fans really have bought the ports of pre FF7 games. Final Fantasy VI is head and shoulders above the previous 5 games, and even in 2D, holds its head above water amongst the modern games. This is why Final Fantasy VI, in my opinion, should be a priory remake over Final Fantasy VII.

What I Want in a Final Fantasy VI Remake

If there is one job I envy in the world, it’s the people who create video games. I’d love to be a video game designer, but my problem is that I have an imagination, but no contacts, and no physical ability. My imagination is a strong point, but you need more than that to make a video game, you need to be multi talented. But I will give my thoughts to what I personally think a Final Fantasy VI remake should include, or in some cases, should not.

The first thing I’d recommend Square-Enix do is to cut some of the characters out of the game, not completely, but out of the main cast. There are 14 main characters in the game, some very important to the plot, some have very little if anything. Final Fantasy VI has the most main characters in a Final Fantasy game ever. They “boast” about this achievement, but I don’t think it’s a boast-worthy feat. The reason why no game since has had this many characters is because it’s too many characters to balance. Since FF6, there usually are two, three or maybe four core characters to the plot, and then maybe around four or five more characters that make a circle around those people. That’s the best way to build an RPG if you ask me, and it’s worked for Square-Enix since then.

So what do you have with FF6’s characters? Well there are three major characters, that’s for sure. There’s Terra, Locke and Celes, who all in turns take the player through the game. The great thing about these three characters is the debate that fans make about who actually is the main character. Most would agree it’s Terra, but all three can make a claim. I say further this debate, by emphasising and concentrating on all three characters individually throughout the game. Terra and Locke are primarily playing baton in the World of Balance, and Celes is the clear baton holder in the World of Ruin, however I think that you should mix the three throughout both games. That’s obviously difficult due to the plot on the World of Ruin and that’s fine, however when (or if, of course) Terra and Locke join the party, maybe you could have cut scenes made which switches the game’s baton holder on purpose. I don’t need to make an example of what, it could be trivial, or something else that may add extra layers to the plot. But I think that it should be further emphatic that this is a game with not one, but three main characters and I think further fan debate would add to the game.

This scene is still considered a very memorable moment in FF history.

It can be worked on in a remake. I slightly touched on it before, but in the original you have a choice whether or not to recruit the Scooby Gang for the finale against Kefka. You have to have Celes, Sabin and Edgar with you; everyone else is up for grabs. I say cut this out completely, and force the player to find all the characters. It’s fun and required in the original anyway, so remove the choice and force the extra chapters onto the player, giving you more opportunities to do the above paragraph.

Now that the debate is over with regards to the three main characters, I want to talk about the other eleven. I said I want to cut some of them out, so who should be cut out? My answer is to cut out Gao, Mog, Umaro, Gogo and possibly Strago. Why? Well who out of those characters have a huge say in the plot of the game? Possibly Strago, but barely. Gao gives you a diving helmet in the Veldt, Mog and the other moogles help Terra and Locke out in the start of the game. That’s it. These characters, and some I actually quite like, need to be cut out of the main cast, so we can concentrate and prioritise the other characters. I’m not saying get rid of them, just let them be characters in the game, like everyone else. Gao can still give you the diving helmet, hell; you can include the scene where he meets his father, just don’t make it mandatory, and don’t make them into main characters. The same applies with Mog, in fact, I’d think a Mognet would be awesome in this game, and maybe Mog can be a moogle to help you save on the world map, both taken from Final Fantasy IX. It would make Mog useful in another way, and Mognet could add letters similar to the ones in FF9. The others barely have a thing to do in the plot, apart from Strago.

Strago is a difficult one, because of his connections with Relm. Relm is a character I’d like cut out of the game if I had my way, however she is far too important to the plot, particularly Shadow’s plot, and don’t ever make me think about getting rid of Shadow! However Strago could be cut out, if we change the plot slightly. If we make Relm “want” to join the party, and Strago not let her, similar to the original, only for Relm to run away, it can work. It’s the other way round in the original, Strago joins the party, and then Relm wants to. Cut the scene out where Strago wants to join, and you can add Relm in, when she runs away, and sketches Ultros’ portrait, showing her worth to the rest of the party. Have Strago reluctantly agree to this, and it works. If we get rid of all the above characters, that leaves us with 9 characters, which is still a lot, but it’s much more manageable than 14.

Another use of having less main characters to worry about is one of the major flaws in the original game, which is the balance of the characters. Characters like Locke, Celes and Terra, the main characters, are no where near as useful as players like Sabin, Edgar and Cyan. The latter three have very useful individual techniques that don’t require MP, where as the former three can do minor special techniques and magic. I think they should balance it out a bit, either by expanding the former’s techniques, or make the latter techniques MP based.

Speaking of battles, one thing I really want kept in this game is the ATB battle system. Just including the main series, it’s not been used since Final Fantasy IX, which is now 10 years old. I think adding or changing the battle system might make the game less playable, and it would be nice to include the old school ATB system, it’s still my favourite and cannot be beat in my opinion.

The one thing I don’t want disappearing is the multiple party’s function that appears in three parts of the game. I think that could work, even in a 3D FF6 game, and would be quite interesting. If it works out, then maybe we could add it in a future FF game, it’s a unique feature that FF6 carries that emphasises its individuality.

There’s three characters that I believe deserves an expansion in the game’s plot, and they are Celes, General Leo and Ultros. Celes is accused of being an Empire spy at one point in the game, and leaves the party. I think we should expand on this, by actually having Celes have a dilemma about doing what’s right, and her loyalty to the Empire. When Locke saves her, I think there should be a major hint of reluctance on her part to join him, because despite them torturing her, it’s all she’s known. Make her character more complex this way, because then when Kefka debates if she is an Empire spy, you could raise a further case for her to be one. I think Celes shouldn’t be entirely sure of what side she is on through the entire game up until she stabs Kefka on the Floating Continent and finalises her decision on whose side she’s on. I think it would make a great layer to add to the game.

General Leo is probably towards the top of a hypothetical list of underutilised characters in FF history. The great General Leo is a character sworn to do what’s right, he is a very honourable man and never shows any signs of evil. I think his character should be used much more, and have a very similar role to the game that Beatrix has in FF9. I also think General Leo’s death should be in FMV, showing a grave in the sequence at one point, I think his death is one of the most tragic in FF history. You just want to kick Kefka’s ass there and then when he does it.

And last but not least, I want Ultros to have more moments, and more to do with FF6. I don’t want him directly involved in the plot, he is purely comic relief in the game and want him remain that way. However I think he should be in the game more than he is, I want him to randomly appear out of nowhere to annoy the player, and he’s just brilliant at it. He is one of my favourite unimportant characters in FF history and deserves more recognition for being one of the best at his role in the series.

Ultros deserves a bigger role in this game - he's too comical and great not to.

I’d just like to quickly talk about Kefka. When I’ve ever thought about a FF6 remake, I’ve always been concerned about Kefka in full 3D. His cackle is so legendary, and his voice would always be difficult to do. He also, as a clown, looks very odd and doesn’t look like a major villain, more of a joke villain. However all these thoughts disappeared when I played Dissidia, I must give Square-Enix credit for their reincarnation of Kefka, and his full 3D and vocal debut, they did an absolute splendid job and made me want to see this game remade even more.

I now want to talk about making an impact with the scenes in the game. To do this however, I’d say make the game aimed slightly more towards adults, that’s not to say I want it an 18+ game or anything close, but borderline 15+, on the 12+ side. I want some graphic detail in the game, particularly in three scenes. Firstly, I think that an FMV of Terra transforming to Esper form is required, and I think that they should do a full motion sequence of the event. Make it very “American Werewolf in London ”-esque, just slightly less graphic obviously due to the age rating. I really want people to see the transformation; after all, when Terra does change, she can’t control her actions; similar to a werewolf is incapable. I think taking advantage of modern visual graphics would really make the scene quite shocking, and very scary, because in the original the scene doesn’t live up to how important and striking it really is.

The other two scenes in the game I’d like done more maturely have to do with Kefka. The first one is the poisoning of the waters in Doma; I think this could be done in FMV form and make it really bad. I’d compare it to maybe the ending of Blade Trinity, where the Daystar (the vampire poison) kills all the vampires, just slightly less graphic. Really make the player feel sorry for the Doma people, and make it Kefka’s first major crime in the game. I think it would straight away cause great impact, which is what I want more of in this game.

The final thing is the most climatic scene in the entire game – Kefka’s Apocalypse. Kefka is the first (and as far as I’m aware, no FF13 spoilers please, only) major villain to achieve Godhood, and he’s the only major villain to completely destroy the main world of a game. This is very important, and also very dramatic. Squaresoft have done the best they could with what little graphics they had in comparison to now, however they can make it even better. I really think that Kefka’s Apocalypse should be a very long FMV, maybe 5 minutes long, really show the player how big a deal it is. Show them the destruction of all the locations that are not in the World of Ruin being destroyed, think of Final Fantasy X where Sin destroys part of Kilika, just much, much worse. Really hit home the idea that this world will never be the same. I also think that when the destruction scenes are finished, turn the screen to pitch darkness for maybe, 20 seconds, just to give the player that horrible urge that it may be game over. I really think this would be one heck of an impact on the person playing the game, especially for the first time. It’s already an iconic moment in Final Fantasy history – but I think in full 3D in modern times, it could be an iconic moment in video game history, seen as possibly more shocking as Aerith’s death in Final Fantasy VII. Square-Enix have an opportunity to do this, and if I were them, I’d grab it with every chance. They could also make Kefka's final battle, all four forms, look even better than it did when it was 2D. In 2D it looked brilliant, but in 3D, it could be even better.

Conclusion
I want a Final Fantasy VII remake, like a lot of people do. But I want a Final Fantasy VI remake to be prioritised, not because I like the game more, as I said before, I actually don’t. I prefer VII to VI. But at the same time, the three years between these two games were possibly the most important 3 years in video game history. 3D gaming revolutionised the video game history, and that major change in video games made one of these games much more memorable than the other. Final Fantasy VII IS out of date and DOES need a remake. But Final Fantasy VI deserves one before, because it was way before it’s time, and scenes in the game could be much more memorable and effective in a 3D remake. Final Fantasy VII being remade would be nice, but it’s only going to be a crisper version of what it is now. This is a 2D game that deserves a 3D remake. Please Square-Enix, read this article and think about it very carefully. If you don’t, then in the words of Kefka, “I hate hate hate hate hate hate hate hate hate hate hate hate hate hate hate hate hate hate hate hate HATE you!”

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Retro Review: Final Fantasy X

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

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