Video Games Reviews
FINAL FANTASY X - Video Game Review
by David Gordon
 Game
story telling at its finest
Though I generally don't buy systems for a single game,
Final Fantasy X was pretty much -the- reason I got a ps2
a few years back. After the outstanding FFIX, I was wondering
if they could top it. The short answer is "almost".
As you all know, you can't really say a certain Final
Fantasy is better than another (unless it's 7, because
that's the single worst one in the series). Most of them
have different fighting systems from eachother, none up
until recently have been sequels of eachother, and they're
just plain different altogether. Final Fantasy X sure
as heck is different in a lot of ways. For one, it did
away with leveling up more or less. I know, I was surprised
too. Even better is how it brought in the ability to switch
your characters in and out of fights at all times. Why
did it take 10 games for them to finally do that? Then
there's the voice actors for all the major and some secondary
characters, breath taking FMVs that still hold up 5 years
later, a great cast of characters, fun side-quests, no
overworld map, a freakin' sports mini-game, and one of
the most talked about endings in gaming history, and you've
got a sure winner.
Sadly, you take up the role of one of the sissiest rpg
characters to date- Tidus. It's not so much that he's
a sissy for dumb reasons- his dad never showed any affection
for him as a child, and left without a trace years ago.
But it's more in his voice. See, Tidus sounds like Michael
J. Fox if he were 17. Yeah, not good. But Tidus is a star
Blitzball player (think water polo and rugby combined)
who's in the middle of a big game when suddenly, out of
nowhere, comes a massive attack on his city of Zanarkand.
Everything around him begins to be destroyed, and he barely
comes out of it alive. After getting a sword from his
guardian, Auron (quite possibly the most bad-ass FF character
ever), the two begin to fight of monsters that are spawn
from Sin, a huge squid-like creature that's causing the
chaos. Soon though, the two are seperated via a portal,
and Tidus meets up with a traveling group known as the
Al Bhed. After a little while, they get seperated as well,
and this time, Tidus ends up on the shore of a calm island...with
Blitzball players. Where the hell is he? That's a good
question. Apparently, Zanarkand was destroyed many years
ago according to anyone that he asks. After making friends
with Wakka, the captain of a Blitzball team (who has never
won a game in all the years they've been playing no less),
he's taken to a town where a summoner is beginning her
pilgrimage. Yuna, the daughter of a summoner who defeated
Sin a few years ago to bring a calm to their world, is
going to try to stop Sin as well. She's accompanied with
her other guardians, Lulu and Kimahri. Lulu is a sexy
black mage who puts Garnet and any other rpg vixen to
shame, and Kimahri is supposed to be the strongman of
the group. I'll get more into him later on. They head
out, looking for Sin and helping those who have suffered
at its hand while Tidus looks for answers to his questions.
It won't be an easy trip- religion plays a key part of
the plot, and there are fiends everywhere. For once, a
Final Fantasy has a reason for the monsters: fiends are
spirits of the dead that refused to rest. We find out
early on that Yuna has to send the spirits away to the
Farplane in order for them to rest.
Kiss leveling up via experience good-bye, because it's
all a matter of Spheres now. After fights, you'll earn
a certain amount of AP that goes towards how many spaces
you can move on the Sphere Grid, a massive chart full
of bonuses and moves for your characters to gain. You
will use Strength, Magic, Speed, Luck and other Spheres
to level your stats up now. What's cool is that your characters
are all fairly balanced early on with their moves. Wakka
is the most accurate fighter, Lulu's black magic kills
fiends who are strong against physical attacks, Rikku
can steal, Yuna can summon and heal, Auron's a freakin'
sentinel, Tidus is fairly fast, and Kimahri...well, he
can be an extra target. But after you gain enough AP and
Spheres, you can have them all doing whatever moves you'd
like. Wakka could use healing magic, Auron could cast
Ultima, and Lulu could be as strong as the heavy hitters
physically. Many say that Kimahri is "the first real
customizable character", but I don't see it that
way. True, his placement on the grid allows him to be
anyone you want since he doesn't have any one stat he's
best at, but god, give the guy something better than being
closest to Rikku's side. If you manage to level him up
enough, he can steal an hour or two before you get Rikku
to join the party. At best, he's a poor man's Rikku, and
that's not much. Kimahri is a blue mage, being able to
use a select few attacks that enemies use. None of which
are useful, though it's funny how his strongest attack
is Self-Destruct, which has him blow himself up on an
enemy. And for added comedy, have Kimahri use an item
in battle. He uses it by scratching his caboose. The air
ship here is a hell of a lot better than previous ones.
Eliminating a true overworld map to wander on, you just
select your destination from the ship's map, and you're
there. Essentially, it does what previous ships did, but
minus the slow flying around and landing just right to
reach those strangely deployed buildings. You can also
customize weapons and armor to your delight. Do you want
more than 9,999 HP? Go on and do it. Want Auto-Haste?
Go nuts. Want to be cheap like me and have Auron's armor
consist of Break HP Limit, Auto-Haste, Auto-Protect, and
Auto-Shell? Be my guest. Overdrive attacks are toned down
a little bit in this installment, not being anywhere near
as cheap as a certain Gunblade move. Though Wakka is the
strongest character of the game, and quite possibly any
FF. His Attack Reels can hit the enemy for up to 12 times,
and if you have Break Damage Limit, that's a lot of damage.
Finally, I was surprised at how mature Square managed
to make X's story while keeping it light hearted for the
most part. The idea of a religion becoming corrupt and
nothing but lies is something very few games have approached.
When it was released, X was the top of the food chain.
The in-game graphics were unrivaled, and it took a lot
to happen on-screen at once in order for any slowdown
in the 30 fps. Backgrounds were beautiful, and some didn't
even look like they were pre-rendered. Character models
are all unique and have a vast supply of animations, and
spell effects couldn't look any better. But then there's
the FMVs. To this day, I haven't seen an FMV that matches
the sheer awesomeness of the one where Auron makes a comeback
and takes on a fiend. The sound is equally fanstastic,
consisting of a flawless soundtrack and mostly good voice
actors. Like I've already mentioned, Tidus' voice actor
could've been done better by Steve Irwin, the Croc Hunter.
I'd like to know how bad the others were that he beat
out for the part, because that must've taken skill. Everyone
else does great though. Wakka, the happy-go-lucky Blitzball
player is surprisingly voiced by the guy who did Bender
on Futurama. Yuna's voice matches her part, as do Rikku
and Lulu's. And Auron sounds perfect. His voice could've
ruined his character, but luckily, that didn't happen.
The supporting voice actors do great too, and I recognized
a few that I've heard on various animated shows.
X definately isn't for everyone. People are still making
fun of Tidus, complaining about the lack of an overworld
map, and I don't think anyone's settled on a definate
conclusion to the plot and how everything ended up the
way it did. But for those who can accept change in what
was becoming a stale series, it's a breath of fresh air.
About the Author
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Max Shooter XBOX & PS2 Keyboard
& Mouse Adapter Review
by Jeromy
The third and latest XBOX/PS2 keyboard & mouse adapter
to hit the market is the Max Shooter. Before this adapter
was released there was a good chance that the guy destroying
you in Halo 2 was using a regular XBOX controller and
not one of the previously released keyboard & mouse
adapters. Enter Max Shooter stage right. Now you should
be afraid, very afraid, as the Max Shooter basically turns
the console FPS into a PC FPS with all the accuracy that
that entails. After spending a good few days playing Halo
2, Socom II, and Unreal Championship 2 there is little
doubt that FPS games were mostly made to be played with
a mouse and keyboard.
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