Final Fantasy

My three favorite categories to click together when starting a post are "Anime", "Movies", and "Video Games." With this one, I get to add "Final Fantasy" as well.

Odds are, if you stumbled across this blog, you've already heard about Dead Fantasy, the fan made movie crossover of the Dead or Alive fighting games with Final Fantasy characters. Most of the work is done by one guy, Monty Oum. He first gained popularity with the intense and slightly yuri Haloid, a mash-up of Halo and Metroid. Then he made this:

featuring Yuna and Rikku from FFX and X-2 and Tifa from FFVII fighting Kasumi, Ayane, and Hitomi from Dead or Alive 3.
He followed with this:

which really ramped up the quality and complexity. 2 also added Rachel from Ninja Gaiden to the DOA team; and Rinoa from FFVIII and Kairin from Kingdom Hearts to the Final Fantasy team.

A common complaint at the end of 2 was that the Konami team seemed to be completely outmatched. I would point out that it's the Square team that has to keep getting rescued and restored. Also, it appears that Oum has compensated for the Square team's magical abilities by giving the Konami team increased physical strength (especially Hitomi) and incredibly fast recovery. The Square team can only recover quickly via the use of potions and ethers.

Part 2 ends with Rinoa summoning 4 portals, with the intent of pairing the other 8 combatants off in other arenas. Unfortunately, Kairin is dodged by Rachel, who attempts to tackle Rinoa. Rinoa opens another portal on herself, thus teleporting all of the characters.

Recently, part 3 was released:

This shorter video features Tifa and Hitomi's solo battle. It also features new character designs, which I'm not so thrilled about. Well, Tifa's design anyway. She looks insane. Spoilers below the fold, and that's ALL there is below the fold, so if you don't want to know what happens, DON'T CLICK THE READ MORE LINK!

And now part four has been released. On one hand, this video did some awesome and unexpected things...on the other hand, the new character designs are on full display and I REALLY DO NOT LIKE THEM. I've always felt that Yuna and Kasumi were two of the more attractive female game characters without being ridiculous (like Rachel), but...well, just look how they're being animated now:

Don't look at me with that face! Ugh! But other than that (below the fold...I'm warning you, it's spoilers and only spoilers)

Apparently, Monty actually has a story going on, too. That will be interesting. And honestly, aside from the model redesigns, I'm still really loving this series.

There's been a lot of talk on Monty's deviantart page about which characters may appear in the future. Of course, that debate has opened up a bit because of what happened in four. Monty himself has said that he's primarily interested in adding characters from FF7 and FF10.

Part Five is supposed to be posted in a week or so, and should feature Rikku vs. Ayane.

UPDATED:

A handy reference; the mysteries of the story that haven't been explained yet:

1 ) How did Tidus arrive on Spira from a Zanarkand of 1000 years ago?

2 ) What is Sin, and how and why is it constantly destroying Spira?
A ) Why is Luca spared the rampages? (For real, not the crusader thing)
B ) What does this have to do with Tidus, Auron and Zanarkand of 1000 years ago?
C ) Why are the crusaders able to battle Sin, but seldom accomplish anything? Is Sin that powerful?

3 ) How do Summoners manage to "defeat" Sin temporarily every now and then? Why doesn't Sin stay defeated?

4 ) Who is the kid in the robe Tidus keeps seeing in his flashbacks? (I haven't talked about that much...it won't get important until later in the game.)

5 ) Was Tidus really that big of a crybaby?

6 ) What does blitzball have to do with anything?

7 ) Why can blitzball players and Al Behd breath underwater, or alternatively, not need to breath underwater?

8 ) Why does Tidus yawn and stretch so much?

9 ) What happened to Chappu, really? What does it have to do with Wakka and Lulu's current antagonistic relationship? OK, we finally got a bit of an answer here, but it was kinda of anti-climatic. Chappu and Lulu were dating; in fact Chappu had commented to Wakka that he was going to propose to Lulu right after the Aurochs won the championship. Instead, Luzzu talked Chappu into joining the crusaders in order to "protect" Lulu from Sin. Chappu refuses to take the sword Wakka gives to him when he leaves and also refuses to pray when he leaves. Chappu uses an Al Behd weapon and gets himself killed, making Wakka very angry with the Al Behd and un-religious people. You also seem to pick up that Wakka was in love with Lulu himself, and resents the hell out of Chappu's death denying him the ability to court Lulu. Cuz that would just be creepy and wrong, apparently.

10) Why does everyone fawn over Yuna's beauty and ignore Lulu?

11) What are Ronso? Are they important? What about the Guado? Those guys are creepy. Where did they come from, because they apparently weren't in Zanarkand 1000 years ago.

12) This whole Yevon thing seems silly. What's the deal with forbidden machina? Is that really why Sin appearered?

13) What's the deal with the Al Behd? Are they human? What makes them so different, and why do they speak a different language, when no one else does?

14) Apparently, this whole "sending" thing and the Farplane didn't exist 1000 years ago, either. Where did that come from?

15) And seriously, for the final time, *what's the deal with water in this game*?

16) Why does Auron hate everyone?

17) Who are Lord Zaeon and Lady Yunalesca?

18) What kind of person is Seymour Guado, anyway? Does he creep you out, too?

19) The church of Yevon excommunicated the crusaders for operation Mi'ihen, yet the operation was led by two Maesters of Yevon, Seymour and Kinoc...what the heck is going on?


I'll update this as we go through the game, and I'm sure I'm forgetting some things that have come up.

AS USUAL, THIS COMMENTARY CONTAINS SPOILERS IF YOU HAVEN'T PLAYED THE GAME!!!

The following morning, you get to meet Rin, the owner of the hotel. Tidus discovers he is an Al Behd, and while trying to exchange a polite greeting with Rin in Al Behd, you "officially" receive the Al Behd Language Sphere quest. To get you started, Rin gives you Al Behd Language Sphere #8. You have picked up seven so far, right? I hadn't.

The conversation is interrupted by shouts from outside. You exit the shop to find out that the Chocobo Eater is in the Chocobo Paddock. Tidus runs to the paddock, and you fight the Chocobo Eater. This boss battle isn't very hard, but it also has a twist: You can defeat the Chocobo Eater by an outright kill, or you can hit it hard and fast enough to push it over the edge of the nearby cliff. After defeating the monster, Rin will tell you about renting Chocobos to ride down the road.

As I mentioned earlier, riding Chocobos is definitely faster and safer, but you miss out on random encounters which will be useful for leveling up this early in the game. Regardless, even if you travel the road by foot for the leveling, you will want to travel right back on foot and rent a Chocobo as there are several areas in this section that can only be reached by Chocobo. Look for small, yellow bits on the ground, which are Chocobo feathers. If you approach and examine the feather while mounted, the Chocobo will leap to another small area that usually contains a treasure chest.

There is also a side area in this section that contains an NPC that I didn't mention when he first appeared in the game. O'aka (prounounced OH-AHka in the English) is a new traveling trader who first appears on the boat to Killika. He doesn't have anything to trade at that time, but he asks for "seed" money so that he can start purchasing supplies. You have the option to give him any amount of money you want, or brush him off. O'aka is one of two "prestige" traders in the game who will have some of the best equipment and harder-to-find (but not rare) items late in the game. The trick with O'aka is that the more money you give him in the early stages of the game, the better his prices will be later in the game. Several faqs recommend just giving him all your money when he asks. I don't know what the mathematical formula used is, so I can't comment on whats necessary or useful...I gave him 1000 gil at our first meeting. Anyway, you run into him again down here, and he again hits you up for money.

UPDATED

I was sufficiently entertained enough by Final Fantasy X that I picked up Final Fantasy IV, V, VI (Super Nintendo games touched up and re-released in special packages for the Playstation) VII, VIII, and IX (all original Playstation releases). I was most interested in playing the three Playstation games, as 7-9 most directly impact the current status of cRPGs and modern Final Fantasy games.

I've now put in 15-20 12 hours with Final Fantasy VII. While still too early to form conclusive opinions, here are the things I've observed so far.

1) Maybe VII opens up quite a bit more later in the the game, but so far it's just as linear as Final Fantasy X. Although there are fewer cutscenes, so that's a plus.

2) The Active Time Battle system takes a bit of getting used to if you haven't played it recently.

3) The story doesn't make much sense, although I'm sure the game will explain most of it sooner or later. Even then, the dialogue just doesn't flow very well. Of course, this game still communicates via dialogue balloons, so everything needs to be a bit "comic-booky".

4) The previous-generation graphics really aren't a distraction. They're even quite good most of the time. The cut-scene graphics are really good, especially considering when this game came out. I had heard repeatedly that Tifa was know for her "breasts" but I didn't really get it until the cut-scene escape from Shinra in which you can see her breasts bouncing with each step. I also love Aeris' battle animation; everyone else runs up to the enemies to attack them, Aeris leaps through the air in a single bound to deliver a whack on the head with her staff.

4b) Speaking of which, I also finally get why so many people really like the Aeris character. She has an incredible amount of personality; it's very easy to get attached to her. Plus the awesome attack that I mentioned earlier.

5) The game doesn't give very good indicators of where to go next to move the plot along. You frequently have to stumble onto the proper sequence of events, movements or locations.

6) The primary heroine has already been kidnapped two or three times. Might be a Final Fantasy thing.

7) Not sure I like the uncontrolled nature of the limit breaks. They charge up, when they're charged, you have to use them instead of your attack. Of course, you can still perform other actions, like use magic or an item, or defend. I would rather have the ability to store the charged attack until I needed it, ala FFX. From what I've read, many people consider managing the limit breaks one of the challenges of the battle system; learning when to not attack and avoid damage in order to control the charging. Maybe.

WARNING WARNING WARNING***SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS***TURN BACK TURN BACK TURN BACK***

Following the win (or loss), Wakka floats on his back in the middle of the water sphere.  Tidus swims towards him.  Suddenly, sinspawn attack the stadium.  Tidus and Wakka find themselves in battle.  Following a series of easy battles, the camera switches to Lulu, Kimarhi and Yuna, wondering what's going on.  A short movie shows Auron battling and defeating a sinspawn.  Auron then joins Tidus and Wakka; a short conversation at this point confirms that "Sir Auron" is the same person that Tidus has known for many years.  The three of you fight through another battle then enter a boss battle.  This boss battle is possibly the hardest in the game so far, as this boss uses party hits as regular attacks and counterattacks automatically, regardless of Slow, Haste or position in battle line.

After this battle, more monsters appear...in fact dozens and dozens.  Rather than having to face them all, though, the game decides to show you a bit of Seymour's power.  Seymour is apparently a Summoner himself, and he summons this...thing.  I swear his aeon is one of the creepiest things I've ever seen in any game:
This thing even wails and moans like a soul in torment. Of course, my first thought is "Oh my!"; my second is "What kind of person is Seymour?!?" I guess we'll find out later. Anyway, Seymour's aeon pretty much wipes out every sinspawn in the arena.

After you finish the blitzball tutorial, Yuna enters the locker room, without knocking but with exciting news: she overheard someone saying that Sir Auron was in the cafe. Tidus is shocked, and agrees to go find him with Yuna. He promises Wakka he'll be back in time for the game. On the way, Yuna explains that Auron may know where Sir Jecht is, as they were both guardians to her father, Braska. Tidus narrates that only later did it occur to him that the Auron Yuna is referring to may not be the same Auron he knows. Of course, we know better, don't we? It HAS to be the same guy.

Along the way, Tidus and Yuna encounter two Al Behd, who chatter excitedly about...something, possibly having to do with Yuna, as you can make out the word "summoner"...when Tidus and Yuna approach. Tidus attempts to talk to the Al Behd, explaining about his rescue by Rikku and others; the two Al Behd aren't impressed. Fearing they might get separated in the crowd, Tidus tries to teach Yuna how to whistle. It fails, but it's a plot thing, as you'll learn later. You also learn that, at least according to Yuna, Luca isn't attacked by Sin because so many crusaders are in Luca to protect the blitzball stadium. Right.

At the cafe, Yuna is disappointed by a certain lack of Auron. However, there are two Ronso here, picking on Kimahri. Now, Kimarhi is a pretty big guy, 7 or 8 feet tall and solid muscle. The two Ronso are even bigger; they certainly make you believe that Kimarhi must be a runt. Tidus tells Kimarhi to take them on, and Kimarhi lays one of the antagonists out. The barman yells for them to take it outside, the game is starting. Yes THAT game.

As the last commentary probably demonstrated, by the time the player reaches Luca, you've pretty much nailed down all of the basics of the game. You also have a good idea of how the game progresses: You're given a destination, there is one path to get there, you have a few random encounters on the way (unless you milk it and take your time), you reach the destination, you get video after video bridged by running from one point to another, you fight a few boss battles, you learn a little more about the world and the story, you're given a new destination. Repeat.

Now, gameplay is gameplay. Unless a game has really bad mechanics or engine design, most people will either be ambivalent about or like the gameplay. This is especially true in turn-based cRPGs, where the game's mechanics are practically set in stone. Final Fantasy games are generally well-known for taking the basic turn-based engine, tweaking it and adding functionality, and getting an impressive result. Of all currently released main-line Final Fantasy games, only FF8 is frequently singled out as having a poor control and management scheme. X has a simple, easy-to-learn and use interface, and there is very little challenge to the combat. Only boss battles will occasionally make you think a bit. Anyone expecting a challenge from this game may actually get bored.

The next morning, the Aurochs go to the Kilika temple to pray for victory, while Yuna and her guardians go in order to get Yuna's next aeon. Yuna also tells the group and Tidus that she wants Tidus to be a guardian. Neither the other guardians nor Tidus are sure this is a great idea, and Yuna drops the idea for now. While climbing the steps to the temple, "Sinspawn" attack. After defeating the Sinspawn, Wakka and Lulu explain to Tidus that Sinspawn are things that fall from Sin's body. If left alone long enough, Sin comes to reclaim them, so you have to find and defeat all the Sinspawn after a Sin attack. Following this conversation, Wakka questions Tidus about Zanarkand, explaining that he's been thinking that if Tidus actually came from Zanarkand 1000 years in the past, maybe it's possible that Sin doesn't actually kill everyone, it just sends them somewhere else. Which of course means that maybe those people will come back some day. Lulu interjects angrily that Wakka needs to accept that Chappu is dead. And while she's at it, no one can replace Chappu, or Sir Jecht, or Lord Braska for that matter. So, pointed accusations all around.

Tidus, bright lad that he is, deduces something happened between Wakka, Chappu and Lulu. Ya think?

Still traveling to the temple, you next meet a group of blitzball players from the Luca Goers (prounounced GO-ERS in the English). After a dick-waving match, Tidus reacts bitterly to the Goers' behavior, comparing their condescending comments with those of his father, Jecht. Yuna expresses surprise, "...Sir Jecht was a kind and gentle man!". Tidus doesn't buy it.

A visual aid. These are all of the main characters that join your party throughout the game. If you've been following along with the reviews, you may note that neither Rikku nor Auron are currently in the group. However, experienced role-players know that any character introduced with great detail early on will return, so I don't consider this a spoiler.

Obviously, this is an artistic rendering, rather than a game-engine rendering. But the in-game 3D models look almost as good (most of the time.)

NOTE: I didn't make the original collage wallpaper, I found it through Google. I just added the text labels. If you made this image and want credit, or want me to take it down, just let me know.