Final Fantasy X

[Nekofrog]

So having nothing to do this week, I decided to try and play through Final Fantasy 10 for the first time ever. Missed it the first time around, and never really cared to pick it up years later when I finally did have a PS2. Now that it's sitting here on my housemate's shelf, I couldn't find a single good reason not to pop it in and give it a whirl.

First thing's first, I'm an old-school FF guy, my first FF being FF2 on the SNES (though I had played RPGs as far back as the NES days with Ultima and whatnot). I grew up with Final Fantasy, and around the time 8 came out, I swore the series off out of sheer and utter disgust (yeah, 8 is an awful game).

So that's where I stand. I had never given a modern Final Fantasy a try (though I DID buy 12 around 8 months ago, never got around to actually playing it) until now.

My thoughts?

Wow. This is pretty shitty. The soundtrack alone is beyond boring and generic. Instrumentation is dull, melodies are almost entirely lifted from previous Square efforts (I hear Xenogears melodies as well as other FF melodies) and generally just plain not good.

The Wonder Years narrations -- seriously, not only does he SOUND like Daniel Stern as the grown up Kevin Arnold, but he starts his narrations just like them -- "I didn't know it that day, but our lives had changed forever..."

Tom Kenny. He's doing practically all of his voices from Rocko's Modern Life in this, most especially Really Really Big Man. I keep expecting Heffer and Rocko to waltz past the screen.

Turn the page, wash your hands...

Please tell me this game gets better. I just beat the Sin thingamajigger that kills a bunch of people after destroying the machina cannon that fired at it. You know, the one where you fight the thing again with Seymour in your party. Speaking of faggots...

[Cerrax]

I liked the battle system...?

[olie!]

FF8 was f*cking awesome.

[FR]

X is...The battle system is a great!!!

Seriously, it's one of the or the best 3D FFs.

I started playing FF with 7 so when I played X I thought is was amazing.

Now that I beat FF4 and am in the middle of FF5 I can see the FFX wasn't as good as I thought it was.

8 is an awful game

I concur.

[Malaki-LEGEND.sys]

Sorry Neko, but after the awkward plot twist at the near beginning of the game and the "laughing scene"... it just doesn't get that much better. For it's time it was definitely a pretty game and it had some great moments that I can't mention due to spoilers(although I doubt you care at this point), and a battle system that was kinda cool, but overall I see it as the weakest link in the series.

If I were you, I'd go back and revisit FFIX, then hit FFXII(I thought you played that one already though...). Maybe try out X-2 if you're feelin' it(I liked it a lot although I'm in the minority).

[FR]

just play 5 and 6 over and over again until 13 comes out

that's better then playing 12

9 is iffy

X-2 is good if you like the job system and can stand a girly trio doing girly things for 40+ hours

[Demonstray]

KEEP PLAYIN'

KEEP PLAYIN'

Soon there's metal comin' outta every orifice! It's AWEsome!

[audio fidelity]

you really don't like zanarkand?

i'm speechless

[Vivi22]

just play 5 and 6 over and over again until 13 comes out

that's better then playing 12

9 is iffy

X-2 is good if you like the job system and can stand a girly trio doing girly things for 40+ hours

Anyone who doesn't like FFIX or XII has no taste whatsoever. And surely you're joking about waiting for FFXIII to come out? Frankly I'm not that impressed by it thus far.

[Palpable]

I liked 10 a fair bit, but I never played 7 or 8 so I can't compare to those. (10 doesn't hold a candle to 6 though.) It was better than 9 or 12, and way way better than X-2. The battles move quickly, possibly best system in the series, the story and characters are good, and the graphics are real nice in some places. Voice acting is mixed (John DiMaggio adds a LOT, love that guy) and the linearity of the game was disappointing. Wasn't a fan of the soundtrack either, I remixed the only song I really liked from it haha. I'd say the game is still worth playing through.

[Gollgagh]

I beat it once a while ago

I haven't been able to stand more than 15 minutes in a row on subsequent plays though

I appreciate how fast battles can go, but everything else is boring boring boring

I honestly prefer XII's battle/license system though. I really hate how you have to move around on the sphere grid

I

I

I

[FR]

I don't think I can play 12 because of the battle system

probably because I never gave it a chance

even though I played 10 hours into the game

Anyone who doesn't like FFIX or XII has no taste whatsoever. And surely you're joking about waiting for FFXIII to come out? Frankly I'm not that impressed by it thus far.

also, I've played 9 up until the sand castle place in disc 2

twice

the game is appealing but I don't know I just never fell in love with it I guess

frankly I don't give 3 shits about 13

gonna play it regardless

[ZealPath]

I found 10 to be a decent game, in hindsight, some of what made it seem like a good game were the features new to PS2 games, like the full-on voice acting and very high quality graphics. The battle system was probably it's strongest point, the turn based system had some dynamic elements which added a layer of strategizing that isn't present in most FF combat systems.

The sphere grid was an interesting character development system, like virtually all FF development systems, if you took it too far, everyone could do everything but, but achieving this would take a lot of time. As always I'd have preferred something that didn't let you buff characters to the point of trivializing many things, but that is hardly a new thing in FF games.

The soundtrack I actually like a lot, although I will agree that it is for the most part "detached." It is very atmospheric, and a major departure from any of the previous soundtracks (Uematsu was involved, but so were 2 other composers whose names I do not recall atm). I find the music to be much less in your face and just good as background music, which for me, I actually prefer. The combat songs are among my favorite of any FF game, although even they are a little less in your face (with some exceptions, hello Seymour Battle).

One thing it does not skimp on is optional content. The "Final Weapons" quests are extremely difficult, and there are enough optional side bosses in the arena to make having them worthwhile.

If all you're going to do is play through the game for the story, then yeah, I dunno how impressed you'll be. If you end up enjoying the combat system, and like hunting around to get every little thing, there is a fair amount here to keep you entertained.

[Hy Bound]

Well, here is my personal FF ratings:

FF7, followed, very closely, by FF9.

Then, i guess FF4, though i didnt get very far into it...

Then 12, then 10, then 8.

So, as far as most people are concerned i have no taste in Final Fantasy.

Keep playing though, it gets decent towards the end, but the only real reason to finish is just to say you did.

[Gollgagh]

I probably have even less taste since 8 is one of my favorites

[Nekofrog]

I probably have even less taste since 8 is one of my favorites

Yeah you're pretty much an awful human being to be honest.

[FR]

I probably have even less taste since 8 is one of my favorites

To be honest FF8 isn't that bad...

It has a great intro!

[Brandon Strader]

You have 'nothing to do' this week... Did you finish that DKC2? I can't wait to hear how it sounds after to finish it + mix the vocals.

i never played 7

What are you?

By the way... I loved every FF I've beaten, which is 1, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10...and then Blue Dragon and I'm working on Lost Odyssey. Yeah, FF after FFX don't count as final fantasy to me.

[ambinate]

Man, this game really does suck. In 2001 I thought this game was incredible but most of that was because it was a big step forward in terms of technology. I watched my friend try to play through it a few months ago and he got about 20 hours in before he just said fuck it and dropped it. I don't blame him. The battle system is very cool and I really dig the Sphere Grid, but the story is just stupid and the voice acting is pretty embarrassing. I'll be honest, it doesn't get any better. In fact, it gets - how do I say this nicely? - a lot fucking worse. It almost hurts to say all of this because 8 years ago this game was a hot piece of ass, but it hasn't aged as well as some of the others in the series.

FFXII wasn't incredible but I really liked Square's attempt to change things up with the battle system. It wasn't perfect, but it was nice to see some legitimate changes in the core mechanics of the series. Presentation-wise, it's probably still one of the best RPGs out there. The graphics are aging but the art is still beautiful and the voice acting is definitely some of the best I've ever heard in a game.

XIII hasn't really excited me yet but I'll buy it anyway because I'm a lemming.

[avaris]

FFX was a decent game to sit down with back in the day. I thought compared to modern day offerings it's good points were the battle system and the soundtrack. (zanarkand is awesome IMO)

FF8 is prob by far the worst FF IMO. The intro and first mission are downright f'n amazing. But everything after that went downhill fast both literally and figuratively.

You have played the original FFTactics right? (that's something addictive with old school flavour to sink ur teeth into)

[Necrotic]

I probably have even less taste since 8 is one of my favorites

I like the all the different systems in FF8 like Junctioning, Drawing, GF's, and setting GF Abilities. It's one of my favourites because of that. It was the first FF to try and really break away from FF's regular old battle system in every way and reinvent it with something way cooler while still making it feel like an FF game. FF12 was the second game I've played to do that.

I've never played 10.

[LuketheXjesse]

I like both FF8 and X

Screw you guys >:[

[Brandon Strader]

I loved FF8 and 10. I rank 10 above 7. Also 9 was incredible. It got a little lame after the whole "every main character we ever make is created in a test tube" angle. They kept it for FF10.. Hahah. Wait, was Squall made in a test tube? I think he was just an orphan. That's what is cool about FF8. It breaks away from the typical "test tube baby" final fantasy style.

[Scufo]

I thought 10 was pretty much the greatest thing ever when I first played it at like age 13 or something.

Even through nostalgia goggles it doesn't hold up as well now. I still think the sphere grid is really clever, though.

When I first played it I thought the story was fucking incredible. Now it's...well, it's still pretty good, even if a lot of the dialogue is cringe-worthy.

8 was another game that I thought was the shit when I was a stupid teenager. Playing it more recently I found myself endlessly drawing magic and never using it to give all my characters awesome stats. It gets old.

X-2's battle system is awesome.

[Fishy]

Neko; I get the feeling FFX is lost in translation. I think its a great game and the system is pretty cool, but the awkward scenes and voices ruin it a little bit. I think the game generally speaking gets better from where you said.

I think you perhaps would've enjoyed IX instead of X though. IX is a lot more old shcool; brings back the theif/warrior/mage job archetypes in a more medieval setting; Nobuo says its his favourite ost; its got a good mix of light and dark moments too.