Really?! ASequel to Final Fantasy X-2?!!

It looks like the creators of Final Fantasy X were not happy with the closure brought by Final Fantasy X-2...

The link below is to a summary of the novel which is a sequel to X-2.

https://finalfantasy.fandom.com/wiki/Final_Fantasy_X-2.5_~Eien_no_Daish%C5%8D~

Final Fantasy III completed- a giant leap from its predecessor

Back in 1998 I got introduced to Final Fantasy VII. After playing it through I was lucky enough to experience the improved graphics and gripping story of VIII. The rest is history.

By now I am sure everyone who knows me knows that the Final Fantasy series of games is very close to my heart.

Last year I told you about my playthrough of Final Fantasy II. Strange thing is- we grew up with a game console like the Famicom (In South Africa it was the Golden China), but I never saw the big names like Metal Gear and Final Fantasy on it. To be honest- I wonder if I would have enjoyed it if I was not able to save my progress the way we do nowadays...





Nonetheless- I am really happy to be able to download these old games on the PS Vita. In this age of 500GB sized games it is nice to see how much value Final Fantasy actually delivers in their low-priced 200MB downloads.





I am really happy to get these looks into the past to see how we got to the epic adventures that we have in VII, VIII, X, XII and of course XV. Some of you may have other favourites. I totally understand.




I realise that the game I have played is a remake and I had the benefit of much nicer graphics than what players had in the original NES version (NES and Famicom are actually the same thing. You might know it as one thing in the West and it was known as the other in Japan back in the day). Still- in this game I saw the foreshadowing of the chibi-styled characters that we got to know in Final Fantasy VII, with the Playstation graphics.




Final Fantasy II had the kinds of magic and Cid that became a prevailing theme in later games along with the world map and battle system that we saw prevailing all the way up to X as far as I have played. I have not played XI so I welcome anyone to tell me about it.

III introduced us to 2 of my favourite things that I loved in later games- Chocobos and Summon Magic!

I must say- Square has really improved on that over the years...


I have always loved Shiva. She was not that awesome in the beginning, though. The summons of Final Fantasy 3 each have two possible moves whenever you use them and you don't get to choose.

Shiva had her Icy Stare which is actually much weaker than her Diamond Dust attack in VII, but that is the better of her two moves. If you are unlucky you end up with a status attack that is completely useless against boss characters.

And Bahamut- sheesh!

The badass master of the Mega Flare turns out to have only a status booster and an instant kill attack to its name. As we know, however, in Final Fantasy games- bosses are immune to instant kills.

The best of the summoned buffoons turned out to be Ifrit. He had his Hellfire attack right from his first day. Actually- I liked this version of him because it accidentally heals your party to 100% whenever it slips up. Now that is a mistake he is welcome to make in any battle- I am sure you will agree...   






I have always thought that the dresspheres in X-2 were a novel idea for the franchise. III showed me, however, that they were in fact only a new version of the job system, that was introduced in this game if not in the very first. It was not in II.




One of the weirdest things I have found in this system is that the Monk- class actually gets weakened by the addition of its weapons rather than enhanced. In my case Luneth was a monk and his bare fists were even more powerful than the 2 most powerful warrior-class weapons combined!




As you progress in the game you get blessed by each of the 4 light crystals and with each blessing new jobs open up.

The job all 4 of the main characters start with is that of Freelancer.


Later on we get the following classes:

Warrior Class:                      Mystic Class:          Martial Artists:

Warrior                                 Black Mage             Monk

Knight                                  White Mage             Black Belt

Onion Knight                        Red Mage                Ninja

Dark Knight                          Geomancer             

Dragoon                                 Scholar           

Viking                                    Devout

Ranger                                    Sage                           

                                               

With these jobs the newest are not necessarily the best. I have chosen the following jobs for the final battles: Monk, Dragoon, Sage x2.

My reasons for choosing the Monk were 2 things- Strongest attack power of all classes and the ability to counterattack. You meet some boss characters that get up to 3 turns to attack. Those counterattacks help even the odds in these instances. Sure- the Ninja looked cool and could throw stuff, but in the end I needed someone that could finish the fight.

The Sage is simply the best magic user. It can summon and use black as well as white magic. While I enjoyed seeing Refia in that cute Nekomimi outfit of the Devout class it was time to get serious. Those bastards in the final battles tend to target your white magic specialists, so it is nice to have two magic users that can both recover and attack.

Then- off all those classes in the Warrior category I chose the Dragoon. Thing is- all of the classes in this category are strong and heavily armoured (if you buy dilligently), but the Dragoon has this awesome ability called Jump. With Jump the Dragoon leaves the battle and stays out of harm's way while the other party members get injured and afflicted with status ailments. Then- while everyone is tied up dealing with all that- the Dragoon drops in unexpectedly and deals up to 9999 damage! Btw- one of my Dragoon Ignus' weapons was the Blood Lance that drained HP from enemies. In this game it drains generous amounts and I almost never needed to use recovery magic on him.


We further have not one, but 2 princesses in this game. The one being Sara- the love of Ignus' life and the other Aria- who would later get copied by another famous Final Fantasy lady in a later game by...

Okay- let's not spoil it entirely for everyone.






 






It is strange that all Final Fantasy games that I have played before this one (to recap- they are II, VII, VIII, X, X-2, XII and XV) one mostly had 1 airship, with VIII as the exception if you count the space ship. In this earlier game you had 4!

The first is Cid's airship that gets destroyed when you use it to ram a giant boulder out of the way.

The second starts out as a seafaring ship that you get from the Vikings. This gets modified by Cid later on to become an airship that can only land on water.

The Nautilus flies as fast as a jet plane. It can also move under water.

Then- lastly- you have the Invincible that does not land, but which can be exited. This ship also has shops and beds which make grinding a lot easier.


These were all the cool things about the game.

What had almost caused me to quit this game, however, was that the final battle is by no means a final battle. Set at a point where saving is not possible the first of the 6, yes SIX, final battles gets preceded by a rather long cutscene in which you have to press X just to get the dialogue to move along. You can't skip the animation, though...

I have died a couple of times, so this got on my nerves very soon.

After the first battle you enter the World of Darkness where you have to fight 5 compulsory battles. and 4 optional ones. The four optional ones are triggered by chests containing ribbons. Those of us who know our Final Fantasy know that ribbons ward off all status ailments. So- these battles are worth it as the final FINAL boss likes to turn people into toads like another boss character that we know from a later game...

Apart from that- this game's predecessor had a final boss that was ridiculously easy to defeat if you have battled Sephiroth in VII beforehand. III has final bosses that actually compare really well with those of VII. Be warned. I have died 4 times and you have 6 battles to go without saving in between...

This game is miles away from its predecessor. I can imagine it being the cause of a lot of game controllers having gotten broken during the 90's...

Speaking of status ailments- I have never thought that I would ever WANT to cast MINI or TOAD on myself, but the debut of these two kinds of status magic are actually as key elements that enable you to access important parts of the game. In some places you need to be a toad to swim under water and in others you need to be small enough to fit through small openings or to enter the Gnome Village.

All in all, however, I am glad to have finished the game and to be able to tell you about it.

We are now spoiled with high resolution graphics and realism and often criticise the games of this age for... I actually don't know why... I am actually still in awe of the games of this age because I can only imagine how much work must have gone into them.

Final Fantasy III proved to me, however, that although it was made in a time of consoles with 8bit graphics and no save features it did not prevent its creators at Squaresoft to squeeze as much of their imaginations into it to create a game that had me busy for days. 


I will, however, appreciate a patch that allows for saving between those final battles...

FFII: Playing through a piece of history- before the days of Playstation

Hello again.

I am glad to record that I have finished yet another Final Fantasy game. This is always an awesome experience. This time, however, it is not any of the games that came after 7 (for the record I have completed 7 and Dirge of Cerberus, 8, 10, 10-2, 12 and 15), but 2.

Some of the really enthusiastic fans would know that Final Fantasy I was the last desperate kick from a doomed Squaresoft in 1987 that was on the brink of closing down due to bankruptcy. If you don't know yet who Hironobu Sakaguchi is you should really get up to date as this is the man who has not only saved a dying company with the first installment of this awesome franchise, but who has made it the greatest producer of RPG's in the world. This guy's the George Lucas of games. If you want an idea of what he is capable of take a look at what he did with Super Mario...

The game under discussion now hails from 1988. It was made for PC and the first version's graphics were really not anywhere near what we see today.

This game, however, was proof that Square was indeed saved by FFI. It also shows us in this day and age the Square had already formulated their winning recipe, long before technology would allow them to make bigger maps, get better music and get amazing cutscenes. 

I honestly wonder whether any other video game manufacturer had made as much effort back then in writing a story.

Final Fantasy II has shown me that although the producers were limited by technology, there was absolutely no limit to their imaginations.

It was also interesting to see that- besides the turn based battle system and levelling up, the makers of Final Fantasy had already come up with the following iconic features that we see in  FF games today:

1. Vehicles: Final Fantasy 2 has a world map with areas that are inaccessible at first, but as the story develops you start by getting a canoe with which to cross rivers and later on ships with which to cross the seas and last, but definitely not least- the Airship! 

2. Cid: I have mentioned the airship, right? Well- guess who the owner of that airship is...
Nowadays it is hardly surprising. It  is a nice coincidence to see that Square had introduced a Cid with the same coarse personality as the one in this game later on in Final Fantasy VII. The Cid in FFVII is playable, though, as opposed to his FFII counterpart.

3. Dungeons: No matter what Final Fantasy I play I find the dungeons therein troublesome and a nuisance that is hard to tolerate. FFII is proof that Final Fantasy's makers were every bit as sadistic back then as they are now. It may be an 8 bit game, but its dungeons are murder. Well- at least in FFII you are able to teleport out of most of them if you get tired of getting lost for hours.

4. The story: It may be the fact that Square had overcome insurmountable odds with their first game themselves that has inspired the tales we live today. Final Fantasy stories so far have always involved a small group of individuals taking on an entire army to save their kingdom or the world. This story is no different. The main characters start off being found in a forest after having been beaten senseless. Well- after recovering at the hideout of their benefactor, Princess Hilda, some levelling up and a couple of adventures later they end up defeating the Ruler of Hell himself. Amidst it all friends die, estranged siblings meet and of course- love is in the air. 

5. Those Orko-like mages: You guys know Orko from He-Man, right? Well- bear in mind that this game had come long before Final Fantasy IX and it has an entire village of sorcerers that look like Vivi! These mages look a lot like Orko, who was also at his prime back in the 80's...

6. Magic, Money, Items and Inns: Final Fantasy games are never just about moving from one plot point to another. Money is raised in battle and spent on items in each town you visit. The power of Fire, Ice and Thunder is already found in this game and yes- it has Phoenix Down and Life Magic as well...

   

7. Colourful characters: It is really a pity that Square did not have the technology to visually render their characters better. A lot of imagination went into these characters. My favourite is Leila- the sexy pirate captain. She reminds me a lot of Yuffie in FFVII. 






One sure sign that Square still had a lot to learn is the ease with which this game gets beaten if you just grind half as much as you would do in the games of today. As a proud Jenova War Veteran I made sure that I got strong enough to effortlessly defeat the enemies of every area I visit and rich enough to buy the best weapons and magic. This got me to defeat an Adamantoise in one move and I have also made short work of the final boss.






Bosses like Paragon (FFX-2) and the Weapons (FFVII) show us that Square got onto us later on and made sure that grinding did not get us everywhere in the game so easliy again.






Now... I am going to download FFVIII to relive some memories and I am waiting for the FFVII remake. Hope you get hold of it as well.

Another Epic Final Fantasy behind me. Final Fantasy XV!

I feel like I should start every post I write about a Final Fantasy game from now on with a big thank you to everyone who had a part in making this awesome game.

Even though Squaresoft got taken over by Square Enix all those years ago and Hironobu Sakaguchi does not seem to have a hand in the franchise anymore the team of Final Fantasy still does not fail to make a game that elevates the standard of RPG's world-wide.

You have not played the best that video games have to offer if you have not played a Final Fantasy game.

For first-time readers of my blog let me just tell you that I have completed Final Fantasy VII, VIII, X, X-2 (fans know why it is not called XI), XII, Dirge of Cerberus (FFVII spin-off) and then there is this game called Valkyrie Profile 2- also from Square Enix, which I have no idea why they did not just name it as part of the Final Fantasy series.

Needless to say- I am a huge sucker for leveling up, collecting weapons, working through an epic saga, exploring a vast made up world with creatures that defy belief and fighting villains of cosmic proportions. 

So- before I go on about the game I have finished last night: Thank you to everyone at Square Enix. You all deserve to become billionaires from this game. It has been the most awesome experience since Final Fantasies VII and VIII. 

Just a note- Hironobu Sakaguchi and his team have shown us from very early on that you don't need top notch graphics to create an immersive adventure for a gaming platform. A lot can be done with the right kind of imagination and the artistry with which to bring it to life. Now- that power has come to the PS4 and the time each level took loading on that I-forgot-how-many-terabytes machine of mine I realised that this time around they have pushed the platform to its very limit again. Hehe! Who else made a game for PS1 that used 4 discs? :D

Oooookay! So- Being a veteran I took the very first chance I had at exploring and battling right away and did not hurry through the story. A lesson hard learnt from FFVII. This approach rewarded me with a vast world full of treasures, side quests and rewards.

Parties in the previous Final Fantasies were mixed gender groups. When they went to inns or camped out you did not see what they got up to. This game, however, is dedicated to the bro's! Here you got to take part in not only training at camp spots, but cooking and talking bro-stuff with your friends. Noctis, Gladio, Prompto and Ignis are actually a fun group that have no squabbles at the beginning. Stick around with them long enough and you learn that Noct likes fishing, Gladio likes the outdoors and Ignis is the voice of reason who also cooks most of the time. In fact- this due is a regular foodie.

Prompto- you learn very soon on is a video game geek and judging by the tune he sometimes hums at the end of a battle and his hairstyle I suspect that he has played a certain game which we all know very well. 

Once again we find that the political unrest in their world is but a consequence of supernatural events that have to be set right. The one charged with that task is Noctis. Without spoiling too much I will say that another huge difference between this Final Fantasy and its predecessors is that this time around the Final Battle is between the main character and the Villain.

As for the villain- I won't spoil that bit either. It is part of the mystery that makes the story as riveting as it is. What I will say, however is: He's no Sephiroth. Seriously- it seems that once you have beaten Sephiroth all other Final Fantasy bosses that come after him seem pretty tame. Okay- except for Sin/ Jecht from Final Fantasy X...

Through it all Noct and his friends rode Choccobos, rescued people and choccobos in need, ran errands and had fun. Later on in the game Noctis got hit with one tragic event after the other. You know- Aeris' death in Final Fantasy VII had me in tears. Noctis had three deaths and a friend being blinded for life to work through. 

All in all, the ending and final scenes were worth all the time I have spent with my console. It was a lot of time, I will admit, but with a game of such beauty and emotion I regard it as time well spent.

The battles were really awesome and the gameplay is really something new and fun to me. No longer was the player in control of three or four members of a party, but controlled a main character who is supported by his friends. You did give some commands to your friends, but they pretty much thought for themselves as you attacked and defended as best as you can. A really skilled player can therefore find that he can defeat a level 30 beast while his character is only level 20. 

Then- although the bro feels were strong in this one. This game- as with all its predecessors had its fair share of awesome ladies. OH! And for the first time in a Final Fantasy game I found lesbian characters as well! lol.

So before closing this post I will quickly list my favourite girls as from bottom to top:

#6: Lady Lunafreya

The Oracle and Noctis' bride to be- Luna is very similar to Aerith and Yuna from the other games in the sense that she has the ability to commune with supernatural beings. In this case those beings are the Gods of their world.

She does not take part in battles, though and is not seen much in the game. 

5# Coctura

This cute and cheerful one is the chef at Galdin Quay's restaurant and bar. Although the restaurant has tables Noctis and his friends prefer to sit at the bar with her. I think I can see why.

#4 Cindy

The game had a very strong American theme. Along a road that reminds me a lot of Route 66 you'll find a garage at a place called Hammerhead. This garage has a hot blonde mechanic that gets a lot of motors running without even trying if you know what I am saying... ;)

I almost feel bad for having her here only on #4 as she is such a sweet girl. She does not battle, though and well- I don't think she is into guys, btw...

#3 Aranea

Funny enough. This game's Cid has a funny surname while the surname of Highwind went to this halberd wielding hottie. I fell in love the moment she lept at Noctis. That battle with her was awesome!!!

She does not seem to have a sweet side, though. Tifa was the tough girl in FFVII, but we saw that she was also a really sweet girl with a very soft side. Aranea is the tough warrior girl in this game and she is pure bad-ass!

Looks hot, though...

I imagine that she can keep Eos safe now that... SORRY! 

#1 Shiva

BAM! No matter in which FF game she is this ice goddess makes my temperature rise in her itsy bitsy outfits. This time around, however, she has a far more leading role to play than just being a supernatural ally to summon. Do play the game and find out her story. It is the best ever. I can also mention that she is one of my favourite 2 gods from the Final Fantasy series to appear in this game. The other one is Bahamut!!! These characters looked awesome!

Well- that is it. Once again thank you to Square Enix for the most awesome experience on my PS4. I hope to see more games in the series in future. As soon as the FFVII remake hits the shelves I'll be there to grab my copy!

Until then- it is time for me to move on in real life. :D

 

 

My Top 5 girls in Final Fantasy

The Final Fantasy series has never failed to capture my attention and to stir my emotions. The storyline of each game is epic, the characters really grow on you and the battles intense.

Then- of course- each game had its girls...

And more than once I have fallen madly in love with them. Here's my countdown of my favourite 5 girls in the series:

5. Tifa Lockheart

Tifa is strong and sexy. Apart from that she cares very much for Cloud- even though she knows that Aeris has already taken his heart. In my book- Tifa was the best girl next to Aeris. I'll always love a female martial artist!

4. Rinoa Heartilly

A kind, gentle animal lover- Rinoa is irresistible. Pure, virtuous and adorable to a fault- she made me very glad by not dying anywhere in Final Fantasy 8. That dance lesson she gave Squall showed me what an awesome girl- and friend- she can be.

3. Aerith/ Aeris Gainsborough

Sweet, brave, kind and pious to a fault- Aeris makes me so sorry about her not being my favourite...

When I only knew Final Fantsy VII she was the sweetheart in the group. I think the writer of the story was unnecessarily cruel to have Sephiroth kill her. I had a hard time fighting back tears for about a week after I have witnessed that scene...

2. Yuna

I have a friend like her-

A real ray of sunshine. Get to know Yuna and you will realise that her cheerfulness does on no account mean that she is a happy-go-lucky airhead.

She knows sadness and heartbreak. Still she overcame it all and showed us how to smile. 

One of the nicest things about Yuna is that she can also be kind to a freak like her cousin (YES, PEOPLE! IT'S HER COUSIN!) Brother. I know a lot of girls who would seriously hurt a lovesick puppy like that...

1. Fran

Final Fantasy XII did not make me cry. The bosses were not too difficult, because I don't mind playing for weeks on end until everyone in my party is level 100, and the story itself was also not as epic as VII.

All is forgiven, however, because this game had the Viera. A race of bunny girls who live in a forest where I'd galdly get lost and never return.

This girl is super hot! I don't know whether the people at Square Enix actually meant to make us super horny, but I know that it is exactly what they have done to me. Forget about Ashe! THIS GIRL HAS THE GOODS!

I know there are other games in the series too, but I don't know anything about them. If you want to enlighten me- comment to this post or email me. :)