“Christianity in FINAL FANTASY VII: ADVENT CHILDREN”

I am among those fans of the FINAL FANTASY series whose devotion is more akin to serial book reading than game playing, which is to say, I keep going back to the installments because I’m expecting good literature. Not just good literature, but modern contributions to age-old themes, retellings of Biblical and classical archetypes made accessible to a variety of audiences. That “variety” is only hampered by the medium, although gaming is slowly becoming an accepted art form and attracting interest from a broader spectrum of users. And while the FINAL FANTASY series isn’t likely to enter the mainstream in full, this is also an indication that it retains the thought-provoking, possibly loaded features that qualify it as literary.

One attempt to expose the literary side of a FINAL FANTASY installment is the CGI movie sequel to FINAL FANTASY VII (or FFVII). This is largely considered to be one of the best games ever made, and certainly one of the bestif not THE bestof the FINAL FANTASY series. It still came as a pleasant surprise, however, when I found out that the story would be revisited through an animated movie.

After a long wait, FFVII: ADVENT CHILDREN hit shelves in April 2006 and I picked it up right away. Like many PG-13-rated animated movies appearing these days, ADVENT CHILDREN skipped a theatrical release and went straight to DVDunlike the earlier FINAL FANTASY movie attempt, THE SPIRITS WITHIN (2001). After an initial viewing, it was clear to me that the two should have traded places; while SPIRITS WITHIN had failed in theatres, it seemed to me that ADVENT CHILDREN might have cleaned up much nicer.

That comparison aside, ADVENT CHILDREN faced a lot of internal challenges as far as I was concerned, mainly in living up to expectation. While FFVII (released 1997 for the original PlayStation) was a story told in anywhere from 30 to 60 hours through interactive game-play, ADVENT CHILDREN was attempting to follow-up on that story in a mere hour-and-a-half. Granted, the hours one puts into a game go in good portion to the game-play itself; but even if you were to piece all the dialogue and story scenes from FFVII together and leave out the player’s role, you’d still be left with a massive amount of plot. Consider also that most of that plot went toward character development, so that when something happened to a character as part of the storylinetake Aerith’s death for a classic examplethere

Final Fantasy X-2. Not as bad as some people might have you think, but not that fantastic, either.

Following close on the coattails of its bigger budget brother Final Fantasy X, X-2 was a first for the Final Fantasy series: a sequel. A sequel to a pre-existing story. Final Fantasy games had previously been known for discarding past story lines and starting fresh, so it was an interesting twist to see Square go back to the world of Spira for another go.

At the start of X-2 a lot has happened, too. With the departure of the world-ending monster Sin Spira has settled into a time of civil unrest: the official church is under attack by outside forces, people are squabbling and an ancient grudge is ready to resurface and wreak havoc. And sitting at the middle of it all are three girls – Yuna, Rikku and newcomer Paine – and their motley crew of sphere hunters, collectively known as the Gullwings. Yuna’s desperate for any hints that will lead her to the side of previous hero Tidus, who disappeared at the end of Final Fantasy X.

What irked most people – and, I’ll admit, me too to an extent – is the tone with which this new story is presented. X-2 reeks of ‘girl power’: the three female leads strike poses wherever they go and are backed up by trendy pop music quite unlike the subdued doom-and-gloom music from Final Fantasy X. It’s true that half the Gullwings’ mandate is to enjoy life, but given the serious plot that waits beneath their adventure the aesthetic choice to turn Yuna from a shy summoner into a gungho cowgirl just didn’t work for me. Happily the depth of the characters hasn’t fully disappeared, and the new entrants to the world of Spira don’t disappoint.

Nor does the method of presenting the story. Unlike Final Fantasy X’s strict chronological adherence to events, X-2 features a series of sub-quests that can be done at almost any time. There are a few key events that string the narrative together, sure, but to get the full story behind what’s happening you need to stray off the beaten path and do some independent exploring. And since you have access to an airship from the very beginning that’s not hard to do, as you can go virtually anywhere right off the bat.

Unfortunately X-2 took a major step back when it came to its mechanics. Spira looks almost unchanged since Final Fantasy X. And I suppose that’s a given, since X-2 takes place only two years later. But many of the areas are reused, and now their age shines through just a little bit more. There is new material, mind you, but more variety in the world would have been nice. Constant rehashing of old characters and locations struck me as rather lazy.

Nor did I much appreciate the return to the Active Time Battle system. Not that I have any huge problems with ATB per se, but I thoroughly enjoyed Final Fantasy X’s unique turn-based combat to get through battles. X-2 also eschews the Sphere Grid from Final Fantasy X, utilizing a dress sphere system that’s virtually identical to class changing in, say, Final Fantasy V. It’s not a horrible system, but it’s not terribly daring, either, nor is it very challenging – the final boss is almost embarrassingly easy to defeat.

Final Fantasy X-2 is a decent game. I might even say it’s good. But a combination of aging graphics and reused territory makes X-2 seem like a bit of a rush job as compared to its superior predecessor. Players eager to find out what happens next in the story should definitely try X-2. Just don’t expect the same experience as Final Fantasy X.

The Final Fantasy series does not do sequels, ever, not in the same format as the original. Which means it came as a huge surprise when they released this: the sequel to Final Fantasy X.

The game commences 2 years after the end of events in Final Fantasy X (funny, about the same time as had elapsed in real life). Everything has calmed down, but Yuna and her new gang, the Gullwings still have to beat up thousands of monsters (which can also beat them up).

All the three main characters (not including the other members of the ‘Gullwings) are female, which leads me to think that this is also aimed more towards the males.

The battle system has changed dramatically from the one in Final Fantasy X, from the slow CTB (conditional turn based)system to a ATB (active time battle) system, which is similar to the one found in good old Final Fantasy VII, although a lot quicker. Having an ATB system means you can’t think out what you will do for too many turns in advance, else you will probably be dead by the time you put the plan into action.

The game is also very non linear, there being a multitude of side quests (in fact, if you only do the main story line, you will only complete 50 percent of the game). You can access most areas in the game, very soon from after the beginning, the airship system being very much like the one in Final Fantasy X. Unfortunately, that means no world map, which means you won’t spent as much time as you should leveling, which in turn often makes you underpowered for the challenges that you face.

The musical score is very good, in the tradition of Final Fantasy games; I did not once get sick of the ‘Airship’ theme, or any other music in the game.

The graphics haven’t improved that much since the prequel, but that does not really matter, since they were very beautiful in the first place. It is easy just to imagine that you are actually there, in Spira, from the graphic’s excellence.

There has been quite a lot of speculation among fans, that this game (and therefore, Final Fantasy X), are in the same world as Final Fantasy VII. Shinra (one of the male members of the Gullwings, also the same name as the secondary antagonists in Final Fantasy VII, talks about extracting energy from the lifestream for use.

The characters are all very good, and there is an addition to the main group of Paine, a mysterious, dark woman, whose past is shrouded in mystery.

Overall, a very good game, and a sequel in the Final Fantasy series (which is an achievement in itself).

What makes a good RPG? Is it story? Battle mechanics? Spell combinations and variety? For every gamer, there is that one nugget in a game that keeps you coming back. To RPG lovers everywhere, you latch onto a game that has multiple nuggets hidden throughout.

In my opinion, the Playstation has numerous nuggets of gold scattered throughout a variety of titles, some very well known such as the Final Fantasy series, and some not so well known such as Breath of Fire 3 and Ogre Battle. These nuggets will gleam more brightly to each gamer in the light of their own personal preferences. To me, a combination of story line, sub-plots, battle mechanics and strategy build a great game. With all these pieces in mind, the first few recommendations should not come as a surprise.

The number one RPG on the Playstation in my opinion is Final Fantasy VII. Not only does this game offer significant battle mechanics over many others of its class, but the interaction the player has with mastering materia usage, breeding chocobos and following through countless side quests give hour upon hour of satisfying gameplay.

If you prefer a more direct, action oriented RPG, you may find Legacy of Kain more to your liking. This game offers a very unique, involved and intriguing story line. While much darker in nature than many other games available, Legacy of Kain is a great addition to any RPG collection.

When it comes to strictly strategy, there are plenty to suit your fancy as well. Ogre Battle and Tactics Ogre are wonderfully thorough games that immerses the user into a fantasy realm while allowing for fully non-linear gameplay. In fact, Ogre Battle offers up to 13 different endings to the game. Final Fantasy Tactics is an incredibly intensive strategy RPG as well.

While these specific games give you an overview of some of the great variety available to the Playstation RPG gamer, there is a nearly endless list of worthy titles to check out. Final Fantasy VIII, Final Fantasy IX, Xenogears, Tales of Destiny, Suikoden, Suikoden II, and Legend of Legaia name only a few. These great games alone represent nearly 800 hours of gameplay. If that doesn’t quench your thirst for Playstation RPGs, there are more where these come from.

The Final Fantasy series has stood out amongst almost every other RPG title to date as a must have title to add to your collection, and FFXII is no exception. After being introduced to the series by a friend who lent me a copy of Final Fantasy VII on the PSone (which in my opinion has one of the greatest story lines in any RPG game) I was amazed at the epic story lines, character depth and general playability. I was hooked.

After hearing that SquareEnix had changed its battle structure from a turn-based style to a real-time style originally had me thinking “Wow thats wicked” but after playing the game for a few hours I realized that the new system, although fun, had its flaws. Yes, you can move around freely avoiding any monsters, but when you do decide to use an “attack then run away to avoid damage then run back in to attack” kind of tactic, you’ll find that even though your character has run at least 3-4 scale meters away from the enemy (and the enemy has no ranged attacks), you will still take damage.

But on a more positive note, no more random encounters, which can get incredibly frustrating when all you want to do is get to the nearest save point and quit because its 4am and you have work in 2 hours. Yes, this game is definitely highly addictive, so you have to be careful with how much you play in one sitting.

As mentioned before, it is easy to get caught up in the lavish environments and epic story lines, and as expected FFXII delivers on cutting edge graphics, from vast deserts and ancient tombs to mountain passes and eerie forests, each with its own charming or demonic set of creatures to beat up for items and experience.

As always, SquareEnix like to change the leveling up parts of the game with each new title, and FFXII is no different. After each enemy is defeated you gain exp points and LP (license points) which enable you to learn new skills such as magic, weapon and armor proficiency by way of the “License Board”. This new system has its pro’s and con’s, the pro’s being that you can tailor you characters to use specific weapons, armor, skills or magic, for instance you could have an archer with light armor and uses white magic, a swordsman with heavy armor who can also steal, or a black mage who also uses a great axe, the combinations are endless. The con’s however is that after you have acquired, let say black magic lvl 2, you have to return to a shop that sells those particular spells, which can be annoying if you’re in the middle