Required Gaming-September 2nd, 2007 Final Fantasy X

Each week Required Gaming presents a game that any gamer should know and love. Like required reading lists, but for games! If you're a new gamer, or have been around the hobby for a while, hopefully these will introduce you to some overlooked classics, or make you want to replay an old favorite you had forgotten about.

Being the most recent Final Fantasy completed, and also one of my personal favorites, I've chosen Final Fantasy X as this week's recommended, must play game.

I hear this game is wildly popular in Japan, but it doesn't get much talk in the US. We're all about the dudes wielding 7 foot swords and popeye arms here. FFX is noteworthy for being the last FF we'll likely ever see that sticks with the original series formula, and the original series creators. Since FFX, we've had an MMO, and a FF with a MMO's battle system. It's fortunate then that FFX is the best and most refined example of a traditional Final Fantasy.

For a Final Fantasy game, FFX has a reasonably believable and devoid of nonsense plot. In the world of Spira, Summoners go on pilgrimages with the goal of becoming powerful enough to defeat Sin, Spira's token force of destruction and chaos. The problem is that summoners sacrifice their lives at the end of a pilgrimage, and Sin inevitably returns.

I always thought this plot was an interesting parallel to the Final Fantasy series formula: a party of heroes travels throughout the world, becoming more and more powerful to ultimately defeat a final foe, followed by a sequel with completely unrelated characters going through the same basic premise. FFX's group of heroes realize this repeating cycle, and desire to break the cycle. With FFXI being online, and FFXII turned over to a completely different team, X's writers seem to be telling us that this pattern has come to an end, and the series would not be the same after this game.

FFX lacks a strong antagonist Almost completely at the end of the game, you learn that the person behind sin and all of spira's troubles is a summoner from long ago which is hardly mentioned at all in the 40+ hours previous, nor is he very well explained after being introduced. Also the main character Tidus's secret past is underdeveloped and confusing.

However, I found the relationships between characters to be stronger than in any other game. The mixture of dread and duty that the party faces as they travel is felt very clearly. This is the first Final Fantasy game to use voiced dialog for the characters. While overall very enjoyable, there are awkward moments and Yuna's voice in particular sounds very dry and flat. The game also shows it's experimental nature in the way characters emote and act. The animations repeat far too often and are not synced with dialog. The detail on those characters is very impressive for such an old game, and still holds up today. Overall the visuals are very impressive, with bright colors and attractive character/enemy designs.

Battles are turn based, and give you a complete layout for the turn order characters and enemies will act in. FFX's battles are much more strategic, rather than the tactical nature of the Active Time Battles in every game since FFIV.

Each enemy has a clear weakness and character which can deal more damage than others. And since in FFX you can swap out any character at anytime without losing a turn, you're able to exploit those weaknesses without battles dragging on. This turns random battles from what was just repeated mashing of the A button and Fight command into something you actually have to think about a bit to finish them as quickly and effectively as possible. It also promotes using a variety of characters throughout the game.

One more think worthy of noting is that unlike other Final Fantasies that had a large world you could explore freely, FFX leads you through a linear path from area to area. It makes sense in context of the plot, but some might miss the freedom of older games. The leveling system is also drastically changed, using a board of interlinked spots, each containing some sort of stat boost or ability. The new system allows you to move characters along whichever path you wish, affecting their strengths and weaknesses.

FFX is the best example of a traditional style Final Fantasy game. Its visuals stand the test of time better than any before it, and it's much more accessible due to the voice acting and linear nature of the game. If I had to recommend anyone new to the series one game to play, this would be it, with FFVI a close second.

It's quite a long game, around 60 hours to get a moderate amount of sidequests and finish the final bosses with ease, although you could finish in 40 and barely escape with your life, if you so wished. Probably not the kind of thing anyone could play in a week, but still very recommended. You shouldn't have any problem locating Final Fantasy X, for under $20. Some stores even have new copies still in stock, if you don't like playing someone else's games. Just don't pay the high prices some big box gaming stores have decided used copies are worth.


Next week I'll be talking about a classic FPS that breaks genre traditions and uses horror to great effect.