Disclaimer: The opinions expressed within this column are those of the participants and the moderator, and do not necessarily reflect those of the GIA. There is coarse language and potentially offensive material afoot. What about second happy hour? Don't say we didn't warn you.

Before I say anything....

Blarg! I just wanted to thank GIA and Andrew Vestal for linking to Save Thor Antrim. You even called Thor friend. Thor love you GIA. Thor... er, I also want to thank everyone for their generosity. I'm happy to report we're over 3/5ths the way there! We also appreciate those who could only write in expressing their concern and those who promised to donate after the holidays. Eventually, you're all getting cards. Big fat teary thank you cards. With *bunnies*! My family has been homeless for over two years, but thanks to gamers, we finally have hope. Somebody print this and send it to the next congressman who claims videogames turn children into raging lunatics. Lunatics, sure, but raging? More like "badass". In closing, were there ever a big RPG website gangland rumble (Moogle goons in accessorized costumes, wielding broken cure potions and switchgunblades) you can bet I'd watch your back. - Thor Antrim's new year's resolution is to get his family indoors. ===== - Thor Antrim (thorantrim@yahoo.com) http://thor.mirtna.org

I'm sure I speak for the masses when I say... "No problem, dude."

Damn you, Agent

Dear Agent: (to the tune of Auld Lang Syne) The tenth fantasy has been cast And verdicts ring it high But for some the joy will not last No PS2 does lie. So for all students who must fast Moan and weep and sigh To those with this newest blast May your Dual Shock up and die. Happy New Year you bastards. the insane bovine Daniel Nelson

To poor college students, victims of the PAL barrier, and anyone else who hasn't yet sampled FFX's goods (Ah, Leo. Only you could pull off a line like that without it sounding 400% perverse): I'm really very sorry, but the time is ripe for discussion, for as you all know, a Final Fantasy release is a meteoric high point in the gaming year and begs discussion ASAP. I appreciate your hate mail, but for the time being, avert your eyes while the rest of us partake in a spoilerific orgy of a discussion.

For FFX is our flavor of the day: warm, full and fruity with a bittersweet finish, this column is 12% alcohol by volume, and 88% spoiler. If you haven't finished the game yet, by no means should you read any further .

The Church of Latter-Day Blitzballers

Erin, Let me just say that I pre-ordered FFX, and got it the day LOTR came out. I was torn to pieces as to what to go/see first. Okay, this isn't FF6. Or FF7. This is what FF8 should have been. It is, without a doubt, the most -colorful- game I have ever experienced (in a good way). The "switch" system, while a good excuse to justify everyone actually being there in battle, is a big downer to me as it destroys the replay value for me. I always liked choosing my favorite of the presented characters and using them exclusively; maybe so the characters I like can kick the characters I don't like's asses. The storytelling system, while original, makes the game far too linear, which is my largest complaint with the game as a whole. The battles are fun, although it sometimes feels like a game of rock-paper-scissors in that enemies either die in one hit or none at all. It has some great characters, like Lulu and Rikku, who has some of the greatest voice acting ever seen in a console game. And then we come to Wakka. For the first part of the game, Wakka was to me the prototype, even the epitome of the person I dislike the most: the fanatic. In this case, the religious fanatic, but a fanatic nonetheless. I simply can't stand anyone who won't listen to reason because THEY have made a decision about something and refuse to change it or even listen to anyone disagree with it. They go so far as to brand everyone who disagrees with them as a "heretic" and dismiss them as inferior and dangerous without any regard to who they are as a person (Rikku). However, as the story progressed I realized that Wakka's beliefs were deeply rooted in the trauma with his brother, and was more a defense mechanism than actual fanaticism. Overall, I'd give FFX a 4/5 or a 7.5/10. I just like games where I can make some, any choices about my characters/plot/battle strategies. This seems like the manifestation of a fault that many accused the PSX FF's of having - seeming a lot like a cinematic movie with strewn-in battle scenes. I felt at times that the battles were secondary to the CG and the plot sequences. Kind of like MGS2, but without the gameplay to make them worthwhile. I can't detract from its great story or interesting characters, though, and it is definitely is one of the best, if not the best, RPG's on the PS2 so far. But the lack of gameplay is all right, since I just got Wizardry: Tales of the Forsaken Land, which just HAS the gameplay that FFX lacks. But it isn't as obviously colorful or beautiful, and so they balance each other out in a strange sort of karmic way. -Xaen, who says that if you didn't like the US Persona's random battle volume, never even lay eyes on the Japanese version.

I love Wakka. An it were possible, I'd bear his children.

Let me tell you why.

When I initially "met" Wakka, my impression was "Here is a guy living a simple, happy life despite his unfortunate residence in world where people have learned to accept having everything they hold dear periodically destroyed by a chaotic leviathan. He's laid-back, roguish, but a good person who's soaked up the traditionalism of Spira."

Then Wakka and I became better acquainted. He wasn't just some casual worshipper; he was a zealot who blatantly denied any challenge to his beliefs. And I, too, have a problem with such people.

But as the game wore on, I watched Wakka's beliefs shattered - and even as he clung on for dear sanity, it was becoming pretty obvious that this simple Blitzball player's innocence was being permenantly rent asunder. I felt sorry for him, and I admired his pressing-on despite his world collapsing all around him.

The point of all this being that Wakka was consistently more than meets the eye - a complex character long on conflict and short on melodramatic exhibition. The kind of character I don't mind spending 60+ hours with - even if he does insist we stop every five seconds to praise Yevon.

Scrutiny reveals it to be a deep and multi-faceted appeal...

Erin, Final Fantasy X is a lot more than just Lulu's breasts bouncing... if you look closely enough, Rikku's breasts also jiggle a little. -Lee

Hell. Does Rikku even have breasts, you pedophiles...?

Oh what the hell. She's a load of polygons; moreover a load of polygons who's perfectly legal in her native country. Cherish your wet dreams.

Isn't it wonderful...?

Yo. FFX, is, in my own humble opinion, the greatest game ever to bear the name Final Fantasy. Strong words? No doubt, and I'm sure millions of the so called "old-school" Final Fantasy gamers, who long for the days of spoony bards and Magitek armour, rose to their feet in protest upon reading that (and quickly sat back down, panting heavily, in the immortal words of Penny Arcade). However, this game manages to bring all the elements that made Final Fantasy great in the past together into one tightly-knit bundle of joy and goodness that is in the process of blowing my mind as we speak. I haven't quite finished it yet, but I have heard from a certain dude (whose name, I think, is Mike) that the ending is "sad" (yeah, it's a minor spoiler, and I'm not going to ask you to mark those in future, but there are obsessive spoiler-haters like myself who cringe at such minor revelations. No hard feelings.). The plot? Worthy of Squaresoft, and that says quite a bit. This is the company that brought you Xenogears and FFVIII (oh, admit it, you liked it), and FFX does not dissapoint. The characters? All of them are likable. ALL of them. There is not a single throwaway character in the set, and I can't remember that last time I've felt that way about the cast of characters in an RPG. Chrono Trigger, I suppose. ("Gasp! He's comparing it to Chrono Trigger! Blasphemy!") The battle system? Hands-down the best ever, I think. The sheer depth of it, combined with the strengths and weaknesses of each character (particularily near the beginning of the game), make it so that even the most random and unnecessary of battles is a joy to watch unfold. The voice acting? Probably the single greatest departure FFX makes from its predecessors, I enjoyed this aspect of FFX immensely. All the VA's were well-cast, and, for the most part, acted well. Hedy Buress made a good Yuna, and her steadfast desire to lip-synch the Japanese model would, in most cases, be commendable. Here, though, for the most part, it makes each word come out like a separate sentence: You. Promised. My. Father? The scenes where they actually modified the lip movements to match the English track (they're there, albeit few and far between), she comes through in spades. The minigames? Hah! To think we were all slavering over the Chocobo breeding from FFVII. Blitzball, if made only slightly deeper, could stand on its own as a solid PS2 title. As it is, it's a more than adequate diversion from the emotionally charged storyline that FFX offers. Finally, the graphics. I don't think I have to get into this too deeply (sighs of relief all around). Stunning, beautiful, and new standard for RPGs are the words that leap immediately to mind, and I don't think we expected anything less from Square, did we? And, with that, I'm done. Sorry about my long-windedness. - Northwind, who wants more character development for Lulu and Wakka. They're just so damn cute together.

Ah, but part of the allure of Lulu and Wakka was that barely-hinted-at implication that, much like Chow Yun Fat and Michelle Yeoh's Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon characters, they badly wanted to get together, but out of loyalty and respect for the dead, dared not act on their feelings. Their very lack of discussion on the matter, I thought, said more about their characters than any amount of wordy emotional exploration.

'Course, that could just be me reading entirely too much into things again....

Anyway, I'm intrigued by your comparing it to Chrono Trigger.... Because one of the ways in which I've lamely attempted to describe the game to my boyfriend who hasn't yet had the privilege was just that: "It's like Chrono Trigger, somehow. The people, the plot ... just has that feel."

This is the Good Stuff....

Erin, So, after months of speculation, sphere system bafflement and endless 1337 fanboy whining about how much the voice acting in FFX would suck and how Tidus looks like Meg Ryan and so on, what do we get? The finest damn Final Fantasy game since VI. The voice acting? Good, for the most part. Auron, Wakka, Lulu and Rikku are excellent, and no wonder; Wakka (and Kimahri, too) are voiced by John DiMaggio, who plays Bender on "Futurama;" Auron and several other characters are played by FF:TSW alumni. Isaaru is Quinton Flynn, the much-debated Raiden from MGS2. Maechen is Dwight Shultz, AKA Lt. Reginald Barclay from Star Trek. Only Tidus really hits a sore spot, and then only when he gets excited. Jecht is good. Seymour is okay, if a bit too soft-sounding, and almost all the incidental characters are great. So, what else? The visuals are gorgeous, of course, with good character and great environment and monster designs, though the incosistencies between in-game and FMV cutscene visuals were a bit obvious, and the lip-syching was shamefully off much of the time. The battle and advancement systems are quick, fluid and streamlined while still having a great deal of depth and allowing for great customization of characters without making them copies of each other or setting them on rails. The music is pretty much perfect; well-composed and appropriate to the situation in all cases, and NOT ONE TRACK gets annoying. Even the by-nature overuse of the main battle theme is bearable, since it's a GOOD one. I actually would run away in FFVII and IX because I was sick of the battle music. Not so, here. The quiet guitar and synthesizer-laced tracks are the real winners here. Finally, the story. This is the Good Stuff, I think. Very well-told and a good idea behind it, and it made me really CARE about the characters. There were only a few annoying plot holes, most notably how Auron "rode" Sin into the Fayth-dream Zanarkand, and how he rode it back with Tidus, since Sin supposedly didn't exist in the dream-world. Any theories? The ending, too, was great. I haven't been really satisfied with an FF ending in years; this one leaves a few questions but ties up the story well, without being as esoteric as VII or VIII or as pat as IX. Again, good stuff. So, in sum? The best Final Fantasy since the jump to Sony, and possibly the best yet. A great game, and foretells great things about what FFXII may offer, as Square will have more experience on the PS2 by then and improve, especially graphically, just as they improved IX over VIII over VII. And that, as they say, is that. Mud Pepper

Yes, for all the fanboy fears that've been ricocheting around the net since we first learned X would feature voice-acting, Square pulled the jump to the PS2 off in much the same stellar fashion as the they led the franchise onto the PSX.

And Matt McKenzie's Auron ... pure badass.

Satisfying all your gaming needs

Agent Erin, Been reading the GIA double agent column for quite some time, like a year and a half. Enjoyed it greatly, though i never wrote in. Here is finally my chance though, i've been waiting anxiously for you to begin this subject. You have no idea how many times i cheched the column during Saturday, Sunday, and Monday! I recently just finished the game myself about two days ago, and I got four words for you "A Dream Come True". The Explosive beginning blew me away with its cinematic style, and of course its great graphics. You gotta see it for your self, the pics that i have seen does not do justice for the graphics when you see it yourself. IMHO, I truely thought that Square has finally got everything down right. The music was fantastic, especially how "Otherworld" so perfectly fitted with the FMV in the beginning. The story was wonderful, filled with everything that I had hoped for. Well-developed characters, a in-depth story that included many attributes, such as: humor, sorrow, pain, love, friendship, and death. I, myself, was hoping for an opening like FF8, though that alright after i saw the blitzball scene and when Auron and Tidus got pulled into the other world. I was greatly surprised on how there were so many cutscenes in the beginning, and i was only able to control the character for a short period of time until the next story sequence. Though..that's just fine with me, i pretty much play RPG's for its storyline. EVery character in FFX was very much likeable, and had their own back storyline and how it affect their actions. (Spoiler) --->Such as how Wakka always hates the Al Beld because his little brother was using a machina weapon instead of the sword that Wakka had gave to him. The linearity of FFX was warmly welcomed for I hate it when it isn;t clear on where to go next to advance the story, and i was never wandering aorund like a crazy coot trying to find a way to advance the story. The map with its red arrows showing where to go next helped. I don't understand why people keep saying that Rikku and Lulu are when Yuna is hot too. She looked perticularly good when she is in CG form. (Spoiler)--->Her face really expresses the kindness of her personality and how she is willing to die for the people of Spira. The people of Spira were also very developed on how they were all united and dealt with the same fear of Sin, and their constant dreams of having a peaceful world without Sin. The world of Spira also consists of rituals (the dance which guides the unwilling souls to the farplane where they would not become fiends), sports(blitzball), religious beliefs (Yevon & the temples), and even the aeons (or summons) had their reasons to exist. And how could i forget, the "pilgrimage" These little deatils really helped to flesh out the world of Spira and made it a more realistic world. The voices of the characters were awesome, and I thought Yuna's and Tidus' voices were fine. Though i like Seymore's voice the most. Do you agree? I also liked the save sphere because it healed your party eveery time you touched it. And how status inflictments on the charcters in battles are gone when the battles are over. Hmm.. "The Spring" FMV was great and the song was also very well fitted with it. Why was there no traslation for it in English like "Eyes on me" and "Melodies of Life"? FFX satistfied my gaming needs after about 5-6 months of exhaustive schoolwork and projects. I havn;t played any games for that long, i don't even have time to watch television, Too much schoolwork. Bah, at leats i am getting straight A's so far..... "Happy New Year" & "Chuc Mung Nam Moi" (Happy New year in Vietnamese) Hieu Le (pronounced like "hugh")

It's very strange.... While I was actually in the process of playing FFX I didn't pay much attention to the music - even the latest FF vocal theme "Suteki Da Ne" just sort of faded into the background. Or was it that it melded so completely with the mood of the scene that it didn't quite register as a separate entity..?

Listening to or even recalling the game's tracks now I'm acutely, even painfully aware of their significance; their effectiveness within the game world. Suteki Da Ne conjures up the crushing sadnesses heaped upon one another at the story's end and - much as I dislike admitting it - brings an instant tear to my eye, while the ubiquitous, mournful Hymn of the Fayth is a reminder of Spira's acquaintence with death, of the eerie lost humanity of the Fayth themselves, of the last shreds of its own humanity Sin manifests sitting quietly near Macalania, lured and lulled by Shiva's song of prayer.

I was surprised and a little disappointed that more people didn't write in to critique the game's soundtrack - music is an important part of an RPG, particularly a Final Fantasy. And while FFX may lack the standout, universally-worshipped character pieces of VI and VII, its well-meshed soundtrack, IMO, more than did its share in realizing the world of Spira.

Now if you'll excuse me... I need a fistful of toilet paper - because I'm fresh out of Kleenex.

Superfluous supervillains and other AMAZING schtuff

Agent, Part of my soul desires desperately to put but just one word in the body of this email. That one word would probably have to be : AMAZING. Yes, in all caps. Of course, my brain hasn't been used for so long that I think it needs the exercise of expanding upon that "AMAZING". I'm about 120 hours into Final Fantasy X, and two boss battles away from beating the game. Of course, the perfectionist part of me won't actually go see the ending of the game without beating three of the optional bosses that I've missed, or unlocking Wakka and Kimahri's Ultimate Weapons. The first is not so daunting a task, yet the second looms, foretelling hours wasted on a silly mini game much to the tune of Butterfly Chasing, a job I consider more onerous than Chocobo Racing even. However, after getting both Lulu's and Tidus' Sigils within a single session, I feel obligated to finish these final two sidequests. The story, for the most part, has been cliché. I saw about 90% of it coming, as the foreshadowing is so blatant. One thing took me completely by surprise (Auron), and another kind of made me go "Ah. Okay." (Tidus). However, even though the story is so predictable, it is not a bad thing. The one thing I don't like that Square insists on adding are the randomly insane bad guys. I'd put in a few names, but as you can tell, I'm still in the mode where spoilers are only kind of vaguely hinted at, even though I'm sure most of your readership is not going to be as kind. One of my favorite elements of the storyline itself is being able to go back near the ending of the game to every town and get even more history lessons and reactions from townspeople. The characters are wonderful. Much like FFVIII, they are all pretty much obligated by their jobs to be there, making the task of coming up with a reason for them all to want to fight the last boss together regardless of what life they may have led beforehand a moot point. The voices I don't find all that annoying, except Rikku's. I expected something Powerpuff-Girlish, but her's is... just a little too much for me. Despite that, she's my favorite character, which goes to show how influential the voices really are. As for backstory, Tidus, Yuna, Wakka, Lulu, Kimahri, Auron, and Rikku delve into their pasts at one point or another, giving you a real sense of what made them the person (or Ronso) they have become. Granted, for the most part, Kimahri and Rikku's pasts are ignored, I'm happy I spent five minutes with each of them in a storyline which only contains fifty minutes at best. Random battles haven't been a problem for me, save in Omega Ruins and the final dungeon. It makes absolutely no sense that monsters I can kill in one hit line up like that to have a swing at my characters. Even so, the battle system itself makes up for that. I'm really enjoying it, for obvious reasons. I've even managed to get used to and even like the Sphere system. Pathetic, isn't it? Enough fangirlish behavior, I'll let you go read the rest of your million letters. ~arc

120 hours? Good God, woman. How many consecutive bolts of lightning did you dodge?

Interestingly enough, Auron was one of the few twists that didn't take me by surprise - I thought his particular mystery was the most extensively hinted-at of all.

As far as the macro plot, it wasn't until the battle with Yunalesca that I realized the final showdown would not be with Sin, but with the man himself - that manipulative little doodle Yevon. After Xenogears, FFT, and now this ... one seriously has to wonder what the church ever did to Square.

Seymour was, I'll agree, a little superfluous - a last-second afterthought:

"Oh, crap! We forgot the bishounen psycho!"

"Oh, shit.... you're right.... Nomura, quick - draw something outlandish. Yeah, that'll do."

Nevertheless, I must admit I always enjoy a lesser evil - they always serve to round out the plot, add a few (admittedly often trite) twists, and at the very least add a few hours to the clock. And for those of us who lack the patience to put in the 100+ hours often necessary to complete all a game's diversions and sidequests prior to giving the Big Boss that finishing touch, a few additional hours on the clock are more than welcome...

The beauty of transcience

I find Im pacing myself for fear it will end to soon Really! I've owned it since the 19th of December and I only just got to the 3rd Seymour fight. What scares me is that, according to Walkthrus, FFX has only a small bit left to it. I'm only 31 hours in! I don't want it to end so quickly! I suppose that makes it more of good game though.. I breezed through FF9 in 4 days last Xmas and was fairly dissapointed. When I do beat Final Fantasy X it shall be a momentous occassion. I really like this game so far, I have only 2 minor complaints. The random fights , altough fun, get a tad bit repetative after you 200th sudden encounter with the same 3 enemies. Also , as much as I like the sphere board , I don't like the amount of freedom it provides. I find myself unsure of how exactly to raise Kimahri up, early on in the game I could have sent him on Lulus' path of evolution then Wakka's , then Rikkus's and now I'm getting the same problem with Wakka. To much freedom for me! I am also in something of a dilemma with FFX. I find that if I beat a final fantasy game without gettting much of the extra stuff I lack incentive to play through the game just to get it all. I did most of the extra quests in 7 before hand before completing the game, I did most of 8's extras before completing the game. I havn't played either in quite some time. I beat 9 having completed virtually none of its extras and lost interest in getting any of them. Should I try to beat FFX before or after I get atleast some of its sidequests done with? The fact I am bothering to ask a question like this only further makes me realize how much I'm enjoying this game. I love the soundtrack , the graphics, the new battle system. The story hasn't yet had a hiccup like the last 3 games, its all very well done and thankfully removes the overly melodramatic 'crap' found in FF8. Thanks for you time Erin!

I had... oh, 35 hours or so on the clock when I headed into Zanarkand. And while I'd deliberately avoided walkthroughs of any kind up till that point because I heartily dislike knowing what's ahead of me, I couldn't shake the gnawing fear that FFX was drawing to a close far, far too soon.

Granted, I hadn't yet touched any of the mini-games save enough Blitz to pick up Wakka's 2nd limit break, a few chocobo races, and the gathering of a lousy 2 areas' worth of fiends for that monster-making freak at the Arena.

But nonetheless... the story was drawing to a close, and for want of a less melon-headed way of putting it, knowing that I was going to have to say goodbye to these people was breaking my heart already - even though I had at least another 35 hours ahead of me to pick up the optional summons and other goodies I couldn't live without.

Such is testament, I suppose, to Square's brilliance in the characterization department.

Walking the straight & narrow

Ms. of Arc: I haven't yet completed the game, but I'm quite far in Final Fantasy X-- certainly far enough to say that I love the game. The story is great, the characters are good, the voice acting is (in my opinion) fantastic, and the gameplay is very good as well. Considering that my main complaint about previous Final Fantasy games has been the aging battle system, when I say that the gameplay is "very good", I mean that it's a tremendous improvement over the last Final Fantasy. All this and more, others may say better than I can in your column today. But I wonder how many letters will start off as mine has, and then proceed to criticize the game's relative linearity. Granted, the game is quite linear compared to previous Final Fantasies (though it's got nothin' on Grandia 2). But the linearity isn't without reason-- we get a better storyline for it, with more character development. Besides, it's not as if there's nothing to do outside of the main storyline. The new ability to switch out characters and weapons in the middle of a battle has made combat much more enjoyable for me, and the ability to customize my characters via the Sphere system gives me plenty of incentive to go around picking fights (which I do). Though it's not everyone's cup of tea, I personally enjoy Blitzball, and after a certain point in the game you can play Blitzball anytime; there's even a "season mode" of sorts whereby you can build up your team's stats. Chocobo racing is a lot of fun-- and collecting monsters for the Battle Arena is another potential pasttime. In short, the game is fun, much more so than previous Final Fantasy games, and there's still plenty to do. Why should the linearity be a problem? Besides, I know all too well that FF fans primarily play these games for their storylines, and in that regard FFX soars above its predecessors IMHO. -Nij My life is twenty-four hours a day.

For my part, my only gripe with FFX's linearity were the pain-in-the-ass factor of backtracking prior to the airship, and the fact that, once you had the airship, the lack of a world map made exploring Spira ... well ... sucky. The eliimination of the world map is understandable, though - there's no place for conventions and paradigms born of hardware limitation in Square's increasingly artistic vision.

And artistic it's getting. With characters that can laugh (audible, even!) and smile in real-time, FF's shown us once again what games can aspire to as a storytelling medium, and reminded us all why we continally proclaim that we play RPGs for their stories. What's more, it's gone a step further, and proven not only that breathtaking graphics do have a place in the genre, but that they can marvelously enhance those most integral of console RPG elements: the characters and plot.

Aspects of love

Erin: Mistress of the Night, (sorry, I'm running out of ideas) Finally, after months of keeping my mouth shut like a good boy, I can talk about FFX's plot without being beaten by hordes of pygmies. I'm so excited I hardly know where to begin. Oh wait. Yes I do. FFX is good. There, I said it. Hold up... scratch that. Make that REALLY good. Why? Two reasons: Above average voice acting and facial expressions. Those two features alone make this the best FF ever. That's right. You heard me. I still love FF6, but those two features add an entire new dimension to characterization and storytelling that are simply unparalleled in the hobby we love. Instead of having to draw the emotion of a scene from the text, you can hear the characters' voices change tone and urgency (most of them, anyway) and their faces contort appropriate to their mood. Instead of imagining what a character might be thinking, you can hear them voice their thoughts out loud or betray their inner feelings with a smile or a look of disgust. All in all, I feel that we can bitch about things like random battles, mini-games, and game length 'till we're blue in the face, but all these games come down to one thing: Story. How it's told and what it says. I'd like to think FFX spins a pretty good little yarn. Little story of my own: DW7 came out about a week after I finished FFX... needless to say, it was an absolute culture shock. It was like driving a Volvo station wagon after test driving a [insert fast, pretty car here]. Both handle well and get you from point A to point B. One just does it with a lot more class. I tried the best I could to trudge through it, but I was so thoroughly spoiled. After about 10 hours, I put it back in the case where it has resided ever since. Nostalgia is all fine and dandy, and I would never tell anyone that there isn't a charm, a time, and a place for a game like DW7. It just wasn't the week after playing FFX. Well, I could sit here and gush all day about how welcome a change the Sphere Board is or how amazing a character Auron is or how the end scene (on the airship) is the most touching scene ever in a game or how Lulu's bosom.... wait, what was I talking about? Oh right. FFX is good. Griffin, who eagerly awaits FFX International P.S. All this gushing about FFX has made me realize how painful the wait for FFXII (not a typo) is going to be. Damn online experiment... just fail already and get on with it!!!

That much-touted Facial Animation System did, in the end, go one helluva long way towards making clear a lot of little subtleties in thought and feeling, didn't it? But your letter reminds me of a minor gripe I had with the game:

While the primary cast had those beautifully animate faces with their aburdly high polygon counts, key players in the game with loads of screen time and several close-ups (Jecht, Braska, Cid, etc.) were throwbacks to FFs past, often relying on texture-mapped smiles pasted onto squarish, Kryten-looking facial models. Watching girlishly gorgeous Tidus, or charmindly unshaven Wakka interact with these blocky, Divadroid 4000 Series NPCs was somewhat jarring - a loose, squiggly thread dangling from an otherwise breathtaking tapestry.

That special feeling

Agent: I am about to commit the sin of appraising a game before (WAY before) I've finished it. I've only gotten to the blitzball tournament in Luca. Therefore, these are impressions, and impressions only. Enter at your peril. Going into the FFX experience, I was cautious. Reserved. After the experience of FF7, I had hyped myself WAY over the limit for FF8. In retrospect, it didn't deserve the disappointment I ladled onto it. I even became nostalgic for it. So then, I was careful about FF9. I started to get mildly interested in it. But truth be told, many months after having beaten it, I consider it to not have been as good, overall as FF8. Well, what's the problem? Is it me? Is it the old story of "first final fantasy, best final fantasy?" Not at all: I played FF6 AFTER FF7, and liked it as much, if not more than, that masterpiece. Same with Chrono Trigger. And FF Tactics was amazing. SO, as I was saying, I was cautious about FFX. Well, I was not overly impressed at first. Nothing FF7-caliber (And I am not a drooling fanboy, I am well aware of FF7's faults). But components were in place: despite the soundtrack's subdued (OH HOW I HATE SUBDUED) tones, they were expertly crafted. There were pretty graphics (VERY pretty battle effects, too). There was an interesting, if seemingly way too easy, system. And most interestingly of all, the characters... were... LIKEABLE! INCLUDING VOICEOVERS! I mean, I cannot tell you how funny Tidus's drab dialogue becomes with that winy voice coming out of his mouth ("I need food! I'm hungry! Let go of me!). Or Wakka's innocent islander accent. Or Lulu's cold discourse. And so far, the plot is acceptable (I like plots which start out small, and grow progressively bigger, while keeping explicit "goals" the whole way; think "destroy the Mako Reactors" vs. "Destroy Shinra" vs. "Destroy the Weapons..." etc). So as far as individual components go, FFX is better than FF9 or 8 so far. But there is that one major element: the so called nebulous "FEEL" of the game. This feel is present in everything, and is therefore more of an overall design issue than a "component" issue. FF Tactics is saturated in a spooky, musty, medieval feel. FF7 had a dark, doom-laden, hard-edged feel. FF6 had a despondent, tragic feel. So, my theory is that the games which impress me the most are the games which "feel" dark and big to us. Obviously, I love CT, which is arguably "lighter;" but it is also full of dark, spooky areas and plot elements. This is why FF8 was only mediocre to me (as an FF, of course; as RPG's in general, all Square games are incredible) and FF9 failed to impress even further. Make the characters silly and trippy, as long as they're surrounded by dark caves (think Legend of Legaia's Noa). I can't take the story seriously unless it feels serious to me. That's why I love Vagrant Story, which is arguably less cataclysmic than FF9. So how does this apply to FFX? Well... so far, FFX has this tropical kinda feel to it. But really, it's borderline. It depends on how the story goes from here. If they leave the palm trees, or the sky turns black, or something, then FFX might turn out to be the next big FF. Sin is plenty imposing, and Seymour definitely is up to no good, and the opening of the game definitely felt like FF7... You who have beaten the game already, you know what lies ahead, and could tell me what I'm in for. But I'd rather find out for myself. I'm having too much fun playing it on my own. -Lumina (formerly Squareman, formerly A Nony Mouse) "I'll Pulverize ya, Pal!" - BFM This message will self-destruct. Cue Inspector Gadget theme music...

Well, in the event that you've skimmed this far without having read any catastrophic spoilers, Lumina, I'll refrain from giving anything away or even foreshadowing too severely, but speaking subjectively, FFX has feel - man, does it have feel - and that feel is vaguely akin to holding that neat glass orb filled with stormy goodness that THX is currently using for their theatre logo in your own two hands while standing in the center of Stonehenge with the Druid people filling the air with a lament for Okinawan tradition from beyond the grave.

...

Like I said... "feel" is kind of subjective - a nebulous quality that leaves a lot up to interpretation. For me, FFX had a "feel" - a feel I won't forget any time soon.

The story so far:

Erin, Ah, FFX. First, lets set the scene: November is nearly over, leaving behind a beaten copy of MGS2, and one fulfilled gamer. As time wears on, this intrepid gamer starts seriously wondering about the next Big Game. You see, secretly, this gamer--lets call him "J Freeman", or "Justin F"--is becoming disillusioned with the RPG genre, and its inherent structure. Deep down, he is not nearly as excited about FFX has he had been about nearly every other game in the series. This gamer had legitimate, serious concerns. Truth be told, he was afraid of what he might find. Then, come mid December, FFX defiantly arrives, cocky as always. Still suspect, our cautious gamer purchases the game (as he knew he would, no matter what), comfortable with having lower expectations that usual--prepared to be vaguely let down. Of course, just like any good tale, FFX effortlessly cleaves through this gamers expectations like so many Tonberries, and in the process re-establishes his faith in the RPG genre, and goes toe-to-toe with the mighty FFVI for the coveted spot atop the peak of Mount Final Fantasy. Seriously, I was floored by FFX. Utterly amazed. The story was incredibly well told, far more personal than usual, and presented some genuinely interesting takes on the Religion in Games Thing. The characters are, by and large, my favorite cast of any game in the serious. They acted like real people, they spoke like real people, and we were not force-fed expositions on their tragic pasts (well, not much anyway) in order to get the point across. The dialogue between these characters was fascinating, and the addition of voice acting played out very well. The omission of a world map, and traditional dungeon design was far more beneficial than I could have ever dreamed. The world really seemed to be coherent for the first time in a FF game, and the journey of our faithful party seemed that much more involved. Fantastic stuff all around. Onto the nitty gritty, I felt the battle system/character development combo was stronger in this game than in any other with the possible exception of FFV. Battles were more engaging, more difficult, and more fun than they have been in a while. Character development is open-ended, yet structured, and the addition of customizing aeons and weapons just adds more to the decision making process. Really, the only things I don't like about the title are some of the mini-games (Chocobo racing and lightning dodging can go to hell), and the general dearth of towns, and subsequently, NPC's. Those complaints are all just downright worthless in the end, though. I haven't been this satisfied with an RPG in a long time. -Justin Freeman

I love when I can just leave the summing-up of a column to you readers... you're excellent at summation, guys. And I love you for it; you facilitate ever so much more horrendous laziness on my part.

Closing Comments:

Tomorrow I've no doubt FFX letters will continue to trickle in, but seeing as how all points have pretty much been evenly dissected (FFX is very good, utterly AMAZING, a dream come true, etc.) I'll just make an effort to move on with the discussion, and give you a one of those fluff topics you hate so very much, simply because it's something that's presently on my mind.

I lent my sister ICO a few weeks ago, and just recently got it back - in a cracked box with a warped, half-melted instruction manual that looked and smelled very much as if the dog had pissed on it.

So in case this anecdote hasn't made my proposition for you abundantly clear, tomorrow I want your game-lending (or borrowing) horror stories, your strategies for preserving your precious collection without straight-up telling your friends to zark off when they ask to take your newest game for a spin, and any other eminently tellable tales or advice you might have in that vein.

Till then, I'll be looking for that copy of Super Smash Brothers you swear you brought back...

-Erin Mehlos