Final Fantasy discussion

[DonDaddyD]

There is no greater game Final Fantasy X

Most who know me know that the one game I live for is Final Fantasy X I know of no greater game.

The Final Fantasy series has made its name on originality, in that there has been thirteen main titles (one on the game cube but that doesn't count it was shit) and all of them are different games in different worlds based on the concept that the gamer will be playing an RPG and living out a story. This was true until the fan service that was Final Fantasy X-2 the first and arguably only sequel in a series that started on the Original Nintendo in 1987.

There are some constants between versions like character name and special moves but if your not a fan of the series I won't plague you with an explanation.

To some people a persons favourite Final Fantasy is as important as there political leanings. I'm certainly one of those people as Women are instantly more attractive if they enjoy my personal favourite and if they happen to say it is there favourite as well the words 'potential wife' scroll in front of my eyes.

That said here it is my Favourite Computer Game:

I want all to know that choosing this was not easy, I had to wiegh this up against Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas which, took me a second to decide but most importantly the Legend of Zelda, Ocarina of time. Even though I've decided, I've posted and I know in the very core of my soul I prefer FFX (Final Fantasy X), I still am not sure that I will always question that thought, that is how much I torn. - It's like choosing between two Identical pieces of chicken and knowning that they taste as good as each other in different ways, but ultimately one has to be better than the other.

That said lets discuss Final Fantasy and (possibly other RPGS):

 

[DonDaddyD]

There is no greater story

One Thousand years ago in the World of Spira a war raged between two cities; Zanarkand and Bevelle. The war was fought between Zanarkand’s Summoners and Bevelle’s machina (Machine’s).

- Zanarkand and Auron standing over Zanarkand

- Summoner Yuna performing the sending of the dead.

Among other religious practices, the Summoners could call upon mystical beasts known as Aeons to defend them, these beasts however were the physical realisation from the dreams of Humans (encased in stone) who had sacrificed themselves to become ‘fayth’ and who served as the power behind the Aeons.

– The Aeon; Anima.


The Summoners were no match for Bevelle’s machina army. With defeat imminent Zanarkand’s ruler Yu Yevon decided that his people should sacrifice themselves to all become “Fayth” and as such the collective souls created a summoned version of Zanarkand, much like the Aeons this was also the realisation of their dreams only this time not physical.

– The Fayth of Zanarkand.


A thousand year later; Zanarkand’s non existent, surprisingly Yevon is the religious belief running throughout Spira and has ironically banned the use of all technology. The adoption of Yevon was done in part because of the mysterious creature, they called it Sin.

– Sin

Sin has plagued Spira for one thousand years. The only thing capable of defeating Sin are the Summoners of Yevon and even then a Summoner would have to call upon the final summoning in order to defeat Sin. The destruction of Sin has happened before but Sin always returns ten years after its defeat to plague Spira once again. The ten year period is known as the “Calm”.


In order to gain the Final Summoning, the Summoners accompanied by a guardian go on a World wide pilgrimage in the hope of reaching the ancient and ruined City of Zanarkand where they meet Lady Yunalesca (Yu Yevon’s daughter) and call upon the final (most powerful) Summoning. Ironically there is no Fayth to power this Aeon and the Summoner must choose to sacrifice the life of their Guardian (or one of their Guardians) to become the Fayth of the Final Summoning creating an Aeon powerful enough to defeat Sin. In the most brutal twist of Fate it is that Aeon that will eventually turns into Sin. It is Yevon that provides both the answer and the sin itself.

– The ruins of Zanarkand

And there we have it the Plot of Final Fantasy X, a World dedicated and torn apart by War and its devotion to religion.

What I like the most is the poignant terminology such as the; the Fayth, humans who have sacrificed their lives to support the religion could there be a greater show of Devotion and the fact that the motivation of the Game is to defeat Sin that is ultimately born out of the religion aimed at stopping it.

The twists and turns of the story, the heart wrenching narrative forces you to forget that you are in actual fact playing a computer game.

In the game you play Yuna a teenage girl and talented Summoner. She is accompanied by six Guardians who you also play. Yuna’s father; Lord Braska, Auron and Jecht went on the same journey ten years before to defeat Sin and Lord Braska was successful.

Each character has there own emotional story to tell that adds too the main narrative and in turn forces you to grow attached to them as though you were there with them.

However
There are two characters in this game that stand out as my favourite characters of possibly all time!

Auron

The warrior monk; ten years before the start of this game went on the same journey with Lord Braska, though Braska was successful Auron appeared bitter. Eventually we learn that Auron is in fact an unsent dead soul determined to stop the entire process of Yevon and Sin. When Yuna succeeds she performs the sending and Auron is sent to the ‘Farplane’ to finally rest.

He is the coolest and my favourite character of all time.

Tidus

Arguably the hero of the game; Tidus is in fact a being from the Zanarkand – not the original, the one created by the Fayth – in essence Tidus is a dream. His father who he hated most of his life is in fact Jecht, the other Guardian of Lord Braska and ironically the person Braska chose to sacrifice to become the fayth and defeat Sin. So Sin is in Fact Tidus’ Father.

In my personal opinion there has been no better version of Final fantasy or a
This game truly bought a tear to my eye.

CUT SCENES FROM FINAL FANTASY X
Yuna Perfoming the Sending
Auronhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ixXI4kb-qFo&search=Tidus
Tidus meets Kilmari

Music videos created out of Final Fantasy X
This one is all about Final Fantasy and practically tells you the story
All about Auron
Tidus and Yuna

But above all else if you have looked at this post YOU MUST click this link and watch this Cut Scene from Final Fantasy X2!
1000 Words - X2

 

[Arkaine]

I'd actually fully disagree with the statement that Final Fantasy X is the best in the series. Far from it actually. It should be noted that, yes, I'm a VII fanboy but even still I think there have been better FFs out there than X other than VII. VI, VIII, and IX are all better in my humble opinion. The reasons:

Final Fantasy VII: Ahh, my original foray into Final Fantasy and RPGs in general. The only thing that plagued this game was a very bad localization team that messed up a lot of dialogue. In truth though, who didn't love the story? It housed the most emotional impact of any FF game (the death of Aeris is still considered to be a pivotal role in FF history) and had, in my humble opinion,. the best gameplay. Even the optional Uber-Bosses (Emerald and Ruby Weapon) were far greater than any other of the FF's optionals which required a boring regiment (Penance) or sheer and utter god-damned luck (Omza).

Anyway, I could go into the whole storyline of VII for those who have never played it but it's far too complex, relying on a lot of backstory. Just be safe in the knowledge that the game itself rocked. The Materia system, once mastered, has undoubtedly as strategic as it was fun and the characters were the most human of all the FFs.

Final Fantasy VI: Final Fantasy VI, what can I say? Despite the sprites *still* a classic. Boasting the most characters in an FF game (I think roughly 12.. lemme count: Terra, Celes, Locke, Edgar, Sabin, Shadow, Relm, Strago, Mog, Umaro, GoGo, Setzer, with guest appearences by Banon) its strenght was the fact that all these characters, some optional, all had their own backstory. Shadow was the father of Relm, and Sabin the rebel brother of King Edgar. It all just made sense in a beautiful way. Plus it has the best badguy in any FF: Kefka.

Final Fantasy VIII: Interesting world. Not my favourite FF so I'm not going to delve too deeply but I enjoyed the Seifer vs Squall rivalry.

Final Fantasy IX: Ok now *THIS* was the most under rated of the FFs. The world was that of a medieval society and most of the "middle" fans were put off by this. However, despite some turbulence toward the ending, it really managed to successfully blend humour, fun, good gameplay, and a great storyline along with a plethora of fantastic minigames, into one title.

I don't think I have to post about FFX but I think its biggest fault was the fact that the game always seemed unfinished to me (and I maxed every character's stats and made their Ultimate Armour (Ribbon, Auto-Life, Auto-Haste, Auto-Protect) which takes a LONG time. I think it was the factt that the game seemed so linier due to lack of world map. You could walk in a straight line through Spira which bugged me quite a bit plus the quest for the Ultimate Weapons? Jesus Christ they were frustrating and annoying. It was like they decided to throw in some seriously dodgy quests just so it would take you some time to beat them JUST on luck rather than skill or strategy. I mean, the birds hitting the chocobos didn't even make sense. WTF would birds be ramming into chocobos for?! What crack were they on?!

 

[Mat]

I've been a FF fan since the Nintendo days. While I appreciate the graphical enhancements that the new generation of videogame consoles brings to the series, I'm not very happy to see every sword-wielding hero wearing a half shirt...

That said, here's my personal opinion of the various games in the series.

FF1 - The simple game design allowed the player to use his imagination to fill in the rest. For the most part it was just a level grinding strategy RPG, but it had an epic feel that few other games at the time had (Dragon Warrior and Zelda being notable exceptions).

FF4 - Kain Dragoon is the biggest badass character in all of the Final Fantasy series. His kickass dragon armor and spear, his complicated and doomed love triangle with his friends Cecil and Rosa, his betrayal and code of honor make him the best-written FF character *ever*.

Okay, fanboy moment over.

Loved this game more than any other at the time. Someone used-to only the new games wouldn't think much of it, but it was the first Final Fantasy game to have strong, well-developed female characters and that's another plus in my book. Go Rydia!

FF5 - Locke and Celes romance was top notch. Most people think this was a lot better than FF4, but I just couldn't get into it as much as it's predecessor.

FF7 - This is my favorite of the "new" FF games. The memorable characters, cool FMV sequences, badass villain and storyline were just so friggin' awesome that I spent an entire weekend playing it nonstop. I call that time period my lost weekend because I actually didn't shave or shower <cue girls saying "gross!">. It was a little sad that I spent that much time on a game, but it was nonetheless awesome.

FF8+9: Hated them both. That is all.

FFX : The first FF game with voice acting did almost everything very well. The mini-game blitzball was a blast, the characters were all very unique and fun to play, the storyline was genuinely creative and it seemed the first real successor to FF7.

 

[DonDaddyD]

Ok after reading these I must now defend Final Fantasy as though you were trying to harm my child.

Personally Final Fantasy X for me had the best character of all time; [URL="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qgyg-9jQmmc&search=Auron"]Auron[/URL]. In fact Final Fantasy X had such an impact on me it took me two years to bring myself to play Final Fantasy X-2 (I owned it all that time) because I didn't want to disrespect my memories of Final Fantasy X.

Then I found this; 1000words whislt playing that game and I was moved and fighting back tears.

Back to Final Fantasy X, I honestly feel that the game play was the most strategic in any RPG I've played simply because the layout made it a certainty you knew who was coming next.

I cannot go over the story enough, just to say that I think it is without a doubt better than many fantasy movies out there. The actual game also had some of the most moving moments ever; Tidus and Auron dying, the whole deal with meeting Jecht, the Sending, all of those moments personally touch me deep within the core.

And Cloud sucks compared to Tidus - there I said it. lol

 

[Arkaine]

All Final Fantasy protagonists with the exceptions of Cecil and Zidane (perhaps, just maybe, Terra) suck to be honest. Tidus I couldn't take seriously at all. He'd just.. blah I dunno. He seemed too 1-dimensional for my liking.

 

[Mat]

Cecil was probably the best. His transition from brooding dark knight to champion of light was something to behold.

 

[DonDaddyD]

You guys wound me!

I actually intended to post about Final Fantasy X-2 when I started this thread and simply posted about X thats how much I like FFX!

What do you guys think of X-2?
How excited are about Final Fantasy XII coming out?
Which Final Fantasy game do you feel had the best world and the best story?

 

[Mat]

You guys wound me!

Sorry man. No harm intended. I guess the old school gamer in me just doesn't like the direction the newer games have taken with the series.

When Yuna does her first sending, though...well, I can see how you'd fall in love with the game (if not the character herself!).

I thought FF X-2 did a nice job of wrapping up the storyline from the first game. It was kindof a girly game and not really my thing, though.

The best world of any FF game was Ivalice from Final Fantasy Tactics. I think Tactics actually had the best storyline of any FF game and the fact that the next FF game is going to take place in Ivalice could be either a good thing or a bad thing.

I'm not exactly pumped for the next game because I know nothing about the main characters right now. Are they going to be carbon copies of those in other FF games, or are we going to get some originality?

 

[DonDaddyD]

I'm not worthy, I'm not worthy!

Have you played every Final Fantasy Game ever?

 

[Arkaine]

I have yet to play Tactics. I own the game and fully intend on getting into it, I'm just not sure I like the sound of the style. I do love the differing job classes, however, even from way back in FF5 (I'm aware they started in 1, but they peaked, IMHO, in 5).

My favourite FF world, from the games I've played would probably be Final Fantasy's Gaea. I think it had a lot more depth with its locations. The most developed was probably FFX's but only due to the fact they had a PS2 technology to work with and two full games.

X-2 was fun but annoying. I disliked the "chapter" style. Felt very linier when compared to the other FFs. I did enjoy some of the classes however. My favourite being a combintion of 2 Dark Knights and 1 Alchemist: Darkness, Darkness, Mega-Potion made the game so simple.

I'm gonna wait to play XII before making a comment.