Gaming Target - PlayStation 2: Final Fantasy X

Written by Adam Woolcott on July 09, 2001

First Impressions: The tenth УfinalФ fantasy, eh? Keep it comin'!

When you look back at the history of the Playstation game console, perhaps the biggest acquisition made by Sony was the exclusive rights to Squaresoft games, most importantly the Final Fantasy (FF) series. Not only did that assure that hardcore RPG gamers would be making the move to the PS (and drive some of them away from Nintendo), the corresponding pomp and circumstance was responsible for finally breaking the entire genre into the mainstream. FF VII became a major hit and spawned a couple sequels on PSOne, along with a bunch of other games for the console.

In the current era of Playstation 2 (PS2), Square is kind of on the ropes, both Driving Emotion and The Bouncer have disappointed most. However, one of the next games in line for the company is a return to their roots Ц the long awaited (well, no not really, since there's been 2 FF games in 2 years) FF X. While the online-only FFXI is also being developed, this УsequelФ to Final Fantasy is what's on the minds of all the RPG fans out there.

Of course, УsequelФ is a misnomer since none of the games are true sequels, but more or less installments of the series with an entirely different plotline. Even though the game is called FF, the fantasies never end!

However, the story for FF X is still rather enigmatic and vague; it's known that the main characters are the FF prerequisite male and female, but that's really about it, save for a couple secondary characters. Tidus is the male hero, who plays in an underwater sporting event called Blitzball, a combination of soccer and basketball. The lead female is Yuna, a girl with mysterious magic powers, inherited from her bloodline. Also, the theme of the story again deviates from the futuristic tone of FFVII and FFVIII, and more in the fantasy mode of FF I-VI and IX.

And that's really all that is fully known. Conflicting details about something called УShinФ have either claimed that Shin is the magic Yuna uses to summon beasts in battle, or Shin is the main antagonist. I guess we'll find out when the game arrives in the Land of the Rising Sun.

What's known, is the numerous changes and improvements the FF team has implemented into the game. For the first time in a FF game, there will be voice acting to help tell the story, along with the usual text-driven ways. However, another big RPG, Skies of Arcadia, had voice acting too, but it was sparse and repetitive, so obviously just having voice acting isn't a new thing. FFX probably won't be fully voiced, due to the insane amount of dialogue that an RPG carries with it. Perhaps the major scenes and cinemas will include the voices. This of course is somewhat worrisome for the US fans, considering the lackluster (but improving) voice acting that appears on most games. But you'll be able to turn off the voices and use text if it gets annoying.

Also, FFX changes the overworld map around, making it fully 3D, and basically the same as it would be during dungeon crawls and town visits. The cities are actually designed on the map, as they truly appear when you walk into them, giving you a view of what the town is going to look like before you enter. It's the small things that make the game seem so huge.

The only snag is the decision to stick with the random battle system that has been used in RPG's for ages. Instead of going the way of Grandia II and Square's own Chrono Cross, which had a system of allowing the player to bypass fights if you liked, the tried and true system stays in effect. For some this is probably fine and dandy, but those who get easily frustrated with a large amount of random battles won't be happy.

Then again, you might want to fight all the time, to see the immense variety of the incredible graphics. Besides the completely 3D world map, there will be incredible spell effects, and Square has used the Emotion Engine to create realistic facial expressions and movements, similar to what they did on The Bouncer. Basically, this is one of those games that demonstrates the power of the PS2 console, and one that proves that the PS2 is a force to be reckoned with. It's easily the best-looking RPG ever.

Unfortunately for us North Americans, despite FF X hitting Japan on July 19th, we won't see it until probably 1st quarter of 2002, due to the large amount of localization needed for the translation, especially with voice acting thrown into the mix. Importers who know Japanese won't mind, but the rest of us have a long wait. But it's almost assured that it will be well worth the wait, and then some.