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| Articles by J Hodder |
Welcome to part two of the Final Fantasy top ten. Lets not waste any time and get right into it.
6. FINAL FANTASY V
Originally released in Japan for the SNES, this was considered the "lost Final Fantasy" until it was ported over onto the PS1. The game featured the return of the old job system from the origin game, but brought it about in a more personal way, which helped make a more memorable story
In the kingdom of Typhoon, a meteor has struck the ground near the castle. After the king of Typhoon disappears in search of answers, his daughter Reina checks out the area and is united with a warrior named Bartz and an amnesiac named Galuf. The three unite with the leader of a pirate crew in an attempt to save the crystals from destruction.
As mentioned earlier, the Job system makes it return in this game. Unlike the previous games, each character has their own unique costume for the many classes, giving more personality to the game. The classic jobs of the FF series are all available; fighter, monk, theif, mages, berzerkers and more. The battle system uses the basic system with the addition of JP, which is used in level up jobs and improving their skills.
The difficulty makes the game a true challenge, providing the player with many challenges that require much level building and revising of strategy. Finding the right combinations of jobs to make a soldid team capable of bringing down the most deadly of enemies will take you some time to come across. The game also features some side quests for more powerful weapons and extra jobs, which you will need when it comes time to battle the final bosses.
Final Fantasy V will give many hours of entertaining gameplay. I highly recommend giving it a try for yourself.
5. FINAL FANTASY X-2
This is where my choices became tough. Final Fantasy X-2's rating could possibly be higher, but I have yet to play the game. Thus I am reviewing this game based on information given to me and from a short playable demo.
The story continues two years after the conclusion of the original. Yuna along with her companions Rikku and newcomer Paine, is in search of Tidus after finding a sphere that contained images of him. They become part of the Gullwings, an organization of sphere hunters.
The gameplay of X-2 is drastically different from other installments of the series. Instead of the linear storylines that made the series great, they made X-2 into an open ended mission based game. Alternate paths and the choice to skip missions entirely determine which ending you will recieve at the end of the game.
Sadly, the summons do not make their return in this game, but are replaced with a new, visually stunning system; the dress spheres. Working like job classes, the three girls have the option to change their costumes in the heat of battle and gain new abilities. This makes the gameplay very intensive as you can be continually changing dress spheres while fighting.
The saddest part of the game for me is the speed of the demo. While in battle, I spent more time mapping out my moves than being able to watch the actual battles, which is a shame when a game looks that visually stunning. This does, however, contribute to the intensity that will have you sighing in relief when you defeat a group of enemies.
The love story continues to evolve the passion between Yuna and Tidus, even with the absense of the lead male. Yuna reminises as she travels Spira, reliving memories that she had with him. It is one of the few instances that a video game was capable of telling such a deep love story, which is one of the greatest factors to the X and X-2 games.
Only time will tell if X-2 can influence the gaming world as much as its previous installment. In my opinion, I think it will surprise all those who gave negative reviews to this "girly, non-linear" game.
4: FINAL FANTASY VII
This is the game that put Playstation on the map in my opinion. This game tantalized me with visually stunning images so much, that I went out and rented a Playstation to play it. Without the use of a memory card, I was able to play for three hours straight, reaching the top of the Shinra Building for a one-on-one battle with its president.
The story of the game introduces us to Cloud, a former member of the elite military group known as SOLDIER. Leaving that behind him, he became a mercenary was was hired by Avalanche, an organization of rebels attempting to destroy Mako reactors, which sap the life out of the very earth itself.
The gameplay of this first introduced us to a non-2D enviroment, moving a polygon character around a 3D map and entering into eye pleasing battles. It wasn't too pretty but at the time, it was a huge step in the right direction.
The gameplay also featured a system called Materia, which was equiped to your characters to give them magic, abilities and status boosts. This system has its ups and down, as it could be given to others with its full power intact but could not be used if unequipped. The limit break system was another innovation, letting your characters take abuse until they unleashed a devastating attack upon their enemies.
Mini games can be found in galore within this game. Snow Boarding, motorcycles and even choboco racing are all entertaining games that can be played when you feel like taking a break from the actual story. My personal favorite game involves navigating a submarine after enemy subs in a little game I like to call "you sank my...um...sub!."
The love story of FFVII is a little more complicated than other games, featuring two love interests for Cloud; the sweet flowergirl Aeris or his childhood friend Tifa. What happens between them I will leave for you all to figuire out on your own.
The game difficulty is not too high, but the length of the game and its number of extra quests and mini games will bring the gameplay out to about 40 hours. There is a reason why this game was once called "the greatest game ever made." Play it for yourself and find out.
Thats it for today. Check back when we look at the top three games in Final Fantasy History. What will they be, come on back and find out.
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