History of Final Fantasy Retrospectives Part 6 & 7. FF Sci-fi continues with VIII and goes back to it’s roots with IX
Final Fantasy Retrospective: Part 6 - This retrospective covers the two latter entries in the Final Fantasy series on the original Playstation, Final Fantasy VIII and Final Fantasy IX.
In Final Fantasy VIII Squall, Rinoa, Zell, Seifer, Quistis, Selphie, Irvine, Edea and many Gunblade battles await in the epic 4-disc love-story (with one of the coolest game openings ever). Where not only does the initial party’s adventures play out, but they also intertwine with Laguna and his two friends (Kiros and Ward) via playable flashbacks for a deep and involving storyline.
This sci-fi masterpiece also offered a number of new features, from the increasingly long Guardian Force (GFs) attacks to the realistically proportioned characters (a first for the series), the game also employed a new system for gaining spells, which required players to “Draw” them out of enemies, and a Junction system where the spells and GF’s were attached to your stats to boost them.
Then “The Crystal Comes Back” in Final Fantasy IX. Join the monkey-like hero Zidane, the beautiful long-haired Princess Garnet (aka Dagger), the cute and innocent Black Mage Vivi, the stern and oafish guardian of the Princess Steiner, the dragoon Freya, the cute summoner child Eiko and others in Final Fantasy IX.
The last numbered game in the Final Fantasy series for the PS1, FF9 set-out to bring the series back to it’s fantasy roots and out of the sci-fi mold of the last two titles. The game featured TONS of mini-games and side-quests, a deep, emotional and involved storyline, an excellent and likeable cast of characters with outstanding characterization, a party of 4 at once, an incredible soundtrack and an all-new battle system where spells were innate in weapons and learned by using them. A masterpiece if there ever was one and my favorite Final Fantasy game.
Final Fantasy Retrospective: Part 7 - The Fantasy hits the Playstation 2.
Join one of the most well-developed and unique cast of characters as Yuna, Titus, Wakka, Lulu, Rikku, Auron and Kimahri set out on Yuna’s pilgrimage in Final Fantasy X (read our Final Fantasy X review).
The land of Spira is once again thrown into chaos as “Sin” infests the land and takes the aforementioned character into an ever-deeper storyline where the death of one character hangs in the balance and the forbidden love of two characters grows into one of the most satisfying climaxes in video game history (and one of the most emotional endings).
FFX brought a number of innovations to the series, including full voice acting, the unique Sphere Grid leveling system that had you placing orbs onto a board-game like grid to gain spells, abilities and stat boosts, and a battle system that allowed the free-swapping of reserve characters in or out of the 3-person battle group at will.
Afterward take a look at the fashion-filled job extravaganza that was Final Fantasy X-2, the first ever direct-sequel to a Final Fantasy game and the first title to have an all female cast that follows the continuing drama of Yuna’s emotional journey and transformation.
If you missed it, check out the Final Fantasy Retrospective Part 5 for an in-depth look at the epic Playstation masterpiece Final Fantasy VII (read our review of Final Fantasy VII for an in-depth look at the game).
