History of Final Fantasy: Dreaming Ahead (Final Fantasy X) - Article
by Taneli Palola , posted on 03 January 2017 / 12,458 Views
Over the course of its long history, the Final Fantasy series has gone through numerous shifts that have fundamentally changed the face of the series. Among these are the introduction of the ATB system in Final Fantasy IV and the jump to 3D in Final Fantasy VII. As you may notice, these shifts have often coincided with the series entering a new console generation with improved hardware capabilities, allowing for features not possible in earlier games. This was once again the case at the turn of the millennium.
Final Fantasy X had huge expectations placed on it, not only being the game that was tasked with bringing the series into the 6th console generation, but also once again having to prove that the series could still change and offer something different. As a result, Final Fantasy X introduced various new elements and features that have since become new series staples.
We Called It Sin: Final Fantasy X
Final Fantasy X began development in 1999, after the release of Final Fantasy VIII and well before IX was even finished. It cost over 4 billion yen to develop (around $32 million), with a development team of over 100 people working on the game for roughly two years. It also marked the point in the series when Hironobu Sakaguchi began to play an increasingly smaller role in development, as at the time he was heavily involved in the creation of Final Fantasy: Spirits Within.
Producing and directing duties were largely taken over by Yoshinori Kitase, although Motomu Toriyama, Takayoshi Nakazato, and Toshiro Tsuchida each directed certain aspects of the game as well. Additionally, just as he had done in FF VII and VIII, Kazushige Nojima wrote the game's scenario script, with help from a few other creators as well.
Tetsuya Nomura returned as character designer after taking a break during Final Fantasy IX. Much of the influence for his designs in the game came from Japan, Thailand, and the South Pacific, which contributed greatly to its notably different look from previous games in the series, which had generally featured either a futuristic or medieval European look and style.
As with each main installment in the series up to this point, Nobuo Uematsu composed the game's soundtrack. However, for the first time in series history he didn't do so entirely by himself. Masashi Hamauzu and Junya Nakano joined him in creating the music for the game, although Uematsu still composed the majority of the score. Hamauzu and Nakano were chosen to assist Uematsu due to them offering very different musical styles, giving the music of Final Fantasy X a very diverse musical identity. Each of the composers provided several excellent tracks for the game, although Uematsu still had the most high points in the soundtrack.
As mentioned in the introduction, Final Fantasy X included numerous entirely new elements to the series. The most obvious new addition was the inclusion of voice acting. This also necessitated much more detailed facial animation techniques to express character emotions, which was achieved through motion capture and skeletal animation techniques. However, voice acting also brought with it further difficulties, especially for the game's localization.
Final Fantasy X's cut scenes and character lip movements were programmed to match the original Japanese voice lines, which made timing the translated English script very difficult. A direct translation couldn't be done, since the sentences wouldn't have been anywhere close to their Japanese counterparts in terms of length. This was an issue because if the line was even half a second longer in length than the Japanese original it could actually crash the entire game. In the end, most of the script had to be rewritten to match character lip movements while still keeping the original intention behind the dialogue intact.
The inclusion of voice acting also necessitated a change in the way the music was handled. Uematsu saw voice acting as a chance to do something different with his musical scores. As a result, music isn't as prevalent in this game as in prior titles, and indeed there are numerous scenes that play out in silence. Uematsu saw that music no longer needed to carry as much of the emotional weight as before thanks to the voice acting taking some of that burden away.
Final Fantasy X also introduced a new battle system called the Conditional Turn-Based Battle System (CTB). It basically abandoned the real-time aspects of the ATB system and instead made battles entirely turn based, with time pausing during each character's turn. The main deciding factor is the character's speed, as faster characters will get more turns than slower ones. The turns are shown on a list on the side of the screen, which also shows how specific abilities will impact the turn order (stronger abilities generally require longer cooldown times than weaker ones).
These changes make the battles less about quick decision making and more about careful planning and strategy. The battle system also allows for characters to be switched out during battle whenever the player has a turn. Limit breaks received some changes as well. Called Overdrives this time around, most require a specific type of button input from the player to make them more effective, feeling like a logical continuation from VII and VIII, which had both already included some limit breaks that required the player to do something during them.
Summons were redesigned in battle so that instead of simply coming to use a single devastating attack, once summoned they remain in battle, replacing the party until dismissed by the player or KO'd. Each of the 'Aeons' have their own specific abilities and attributes. The usual experience point-based leveling was replaced with a system called Sphere Grid. Basically, this is a large board filled with nodes that the player can unlock for each character to improve their stats and teach them new skills and abilities. To do so, they earn ability points by participating in battles.
This also once again lessened the differences between the characters, as although they did start out on different paths on the grid, it was possible to effectively make every character very similar in terms of attributes and abilities. Everyone could potentially learn every single skill available in the game, not counting character specific limit breaks or the use of Aeons, which is limited to Yuna within the party.
Final Fantasy X also did away with the traditional world map found in all of the previous main entries in the series. Instead the world is a large, mostly continuous area, where the connections between various regions are linear paths from one place to another. An actual worldmap does show up when the player gets access to an airship, but even then it manifests only as a list of locations the player can choose from. This had the effect of making the game significantly more linear than previous Final Fantasy titles and it doesn't really start opening up until several dozen hours into the game. In fact the player doesn't get complete freedom of choosing where to go until the story is approaching its climax.
Final Fantasy X has its fair share of mini-games, the most notable one being Blitzball, a popular sport within the game's world, which is something of a mix between football and water polo played entirely underwater. It also plays a small role in the story, as its existence in the world is rationalized as one of the only real distractions people have from the death and destruction wrought by Sin.
Final Fantasy X takes place in the fictional world of Spira. Unlike most of the earlier games in the series, which had generally been modelled after European culture, nature, and architecture, Spira is much closer in style to Southeast Asia in look and atmosphere. The game's story begins when the futuristic city of Zanarkand is destroyed by a mysterious entity called Sin. A young man called Tidus is taken 1000 years into the future by Sin, where he has to come to terms with his new existence in an unfamiliar time and place.
He joins the summoner Yuna and her guardians on her pilgrimage to obtain the Final Aeon and defeat Sin. Throughout the journey they must travel to temples around Spira to gain the help of the Aeons to prepare for the end. Naturally, as is the case with these games, the story weaves in numerous twists and turns that see the characters go through various changes and grow as people.
The distinctly Asian elements can be traced back to Yoshinori Kitase and Kazushige Nojima. The former thought that going back to the European influences of past titles would end up stagnating the series, and so he instead began looking for an alternate style for Final Fantasy X. Kazushige Nojima suggested incorporating aspects of Asian culture, and this was ultimately what they decided to run with.
The Asian influences of Final Fantasy X can also be heard in its music. The game's main theme song – Suteki Da Ne – is the first vocal theme in the series to be sung in Japanese even on the western release. It was also not a pop song, but instead reminiscent of Japanese folk music. Many of the game's central concepts, such as aeons, fayth, pyreflies, and others are also strongly influenced by Asian folklore and tradition.
Thanks to the more powerful hardware the game's backgrounds were no longer pre-rendered 2D images as they had been during the PS1 era. Instead the world was entirely rendered in 3D. This, unfortunately, meant that the seamless transitions between gameplay and animated cut scenes was no longer possible.
Final Fantasy X was released on July 19th 2001 in Japan, later that year in NA, and the following year the game made its way to Australia and Europe. It sold around 1.4 million copies within four days of release in Japan, becoming the fastest-selling title in the series at the time, even with the PS2's much lower userbase. It went on to sell over 8 million copies on the PS2, and significantly more if counting the HD re-release. As such it is the second best-selling game in the series, beaten only by Final Fantasy VII.
The Best Part
The storyline. The setting helps a lot in this regard and the fact that Final Fantasy X takes a huge amount of inspiration from Asian culture and legends, but the story manages to avoid most RPG clichès, both Japanese and Western. The game's linearity also gives the story very good pacing, something many other RPGs often struggle with due to them having so much side content available at all times, leading to the main storyline often getting lost in the shuffle.
In addition, Final Fantasy X's story has some of the most memorable scenes and moments in series history. Yuna's sending at dusk in Kilika for example is still a stunningly beautiful moment to behold. The Crusader's battle against Sin, Yuna's decision at Macalania, entering Zanarkand, and many more have stayed with me ever since I first played the game.
The story is also very well written with quite a few genuinely surprising twists along the way, and the ending is one of the best in the entire series, as it doesn't try to create a forced happy outcome for everyone. Instead it's a poignant end to an expertly crafted story and a satisfying conclusion to the journey the characters took. Well, at least that should have been the conclusion, but more on that next time.
The Worst Part
There's nothing explicitly bad about Final Fantasy X, but there are a few notable grievances I still have with it. The lack of an actual world map did make the game seem notably smaller than previous titles. Even though you do get access to an airship later in the game, choosing your next destination from a list of names instead of flying there yourself diminishes the effect of exploring the world. The fact that later games have mostly retained this system makes it all the more sad.
I must also mention some of the mini-games found in Final Fantasy X, as they are easily among the worst the series has ever produced. This is especially true of many of those required to get each character's best weapons and their upgrades. I wouldn't mind more difficult mini-games if they were still fun to play, but more often than not Final Fantasy X's just feel like a chore you need to grind long enough to either get lucky or become familiar enough with that you can get through them. Standing in one place for 15 minutes pressing a single button to dodge lightning isn't a very riveting way to spend your time.
Does Final Fantasy X Still Hold Up?
Yes, no question about it. There are a some small issues to be found, but on the whole it is a beautifully put together game that brought the series over to a new console generation with style. Most aspects of the game can stand on an equal footing with any other entry in the series. However, as mentioned there are some minor problems that must be addressed as well.
The voice acting is a bit of a mixed bag. There are some genuinely excellent performances, but there are also some that don't really hold up to scrutiny (no, I'm not talking about Tidus or the laughing scene. That was meant to be as awkward as it was). The main cast does its job admirably, especially considering just how extensive the game's script was. However, quite a few of the side characters come off as flat, annoying, or just plain bad. It's not a huge issue as most of them have only a few lines of dialogue at best, but it is still noticeable.
Many of this entry's mini-games received a mixed reception, as noted in the section above, and far too many of them were either obtuse or just annoying to play through. Even Blitzball often receives a lot of criticism, but I personally enjoyed playing it.
Another aspect that can be quite frustrating is the game's initial linearity. For the first 20 to 30 hours you're largely stuck on a pre-determined path, traveling from one location to the next with little chance of exploration or path options. It's not as bad as things would get in Final Fantasy XIII, but it can still turn some people off the game. On the other hand, it isn't actually such a huge departure from previous games as some have made it out to be.
Even in games where you would get access to a world map early on, the freedom it gave you was mostly an illusion. Quite often there was really only one route to take, with all other paths sealed off in various different ways. The games gave you a feeling of freedom by putting the player in a deceptively open area, from which there was actually only one way out. So in that sense the linearity of Final Fantasy X isn't that far removed from other games in the series at the time. Besides, there's nothing wrong with being linear as long as it works within the context of the game, as it does here.
The game's soundtrack is one of the series' best, with each of the three composers producing some excellent pieces of music. It's certainly quite different in style compared to previous series soundtracks, thanks to not only featuring two additional composers with their own distinct styles, but also due to the game's addition of voice acting and its Asian influences.
Visually Final Fantasy X still holds up surprisingly well. Even the original PS2 version, despite coming out quite early in the console's life cycle, looks quite good. The game's visual design is excellent across the board, which is a big part of why it has aged so well. Even if it isn't technologically up to par with today's games, Final Fantasy X still manages to look good thanks to the strength of this visual style. The HD remaster naturally polished the graphics up significantly.
The story, as already mentioned, is my favourite aspect of the game. Its proceeds at a very good pace, and has a very natural build-up from beginning to end, with the crisis surrounding the world becoming increasingly threatening as the game progresses. The ending is very satisfying, not falling for the usual trap of creating an artificially happy ending just for the sake of doing so.
I also like the characters of Final Fantasy X a lot. They aren't quite on the level of some of the series' best, but I can honestly say that by the end of my first playthrough I ended up liking every single one of the main cast. Each character has their own issues and conflicts that they must solve during the story, while also working together towards the main goal of defeating Sin.
One of the game's main themes and central conflicts is the character's slowly realizing the falseness of the teachings of the church of Yevon and coming to grips with that revelation. Tidus, as the player's point of view character, actually notices this quite early on with the salute of Yevon's faith being the blitzball salute from his time.
Final Fantasy X does a lot of small things with its characters that help in defining and developing them. Perhaps the most notable example is how Yuna interacts with her Aeons when she summons them to battle or dismisses them. During the game we see many other summoners call out their Aeons as well, but Yuna is the only one who directly interacts with them as they appear, petting them or simply speaking to them. This gives the player a lot insight into her personality and helps build her as a character.
The battle system in Final Fantasy X is the best in the series up to this point. The ability to swap out characters on the fly during combat is a marvellous addition to the series. It makes the combat feel very fast paced and fluid. The new summon system is also a welcome change, making the Aeons feel more integral to combat when they remain in battle once summoned.
The Sphere Grid is also a very nice new system of ´leveling´ characters. This has both a positive and a negative effect. Instead of linear levels the player has much more agency in developing the characters in whatever ways he or she chooses. However, because of this the characters can lose a lot of their uniqueness, especially late in the game when many of them will have learned a lot of the same abilities.
Final Fantasy X is very easy to get hold of these days, with the HD remaster being available on PS3, PS Vita, PS4, and PC. Even the PS2 version shouldn't be that difficult to track down thanks to the number of copies the game originally sold. If you have the option of selecting from any of the versions, the one on PS4 has the most features, such as the ability to choose between the original and remastered soundtrack. Otherwise, it doesn't matter all that much which one you go with.
Final Fantasy X is easily among the series' best titles, featuring an excellent story and characters, a strong battle system, a wonderful soundtrack filled with great tracks, and one of the series' most visually distinct worlds in Spira. It's a beautiful game that I can easily recommend to just about anyone.
Fun Fact
Final Fantasy X was originally meant to include online elements, but these were dropped fairly early on in development. Another feature the game was originally intended to have was enemies being visible in the environment, but hardware limitations prevented this from happening. Later entries in the series would of course implement both features.
One curious aspect of Final Fantasy X is that Tidus' name is never once spoken out loud. This is because he could be named by the player at the start of the game.
Additional sources:
- Wikia
- Final Fantasy X Ultimania Omega
More Articles
Best FF without a question.Heck, it is one of the best games of all time.
Just played the remaster, damn its good.
Another well written piece!
I agree about the linearity, laughing scene and the Blitzball part. This game as a whole is just about brilliant.
The only FF I really like
Actually the PC version has the most features. It's basically the PS4 version with what Square Enix calls boosters. There's five of them, and they allow changing the battle encounter rate as well as gameplay speed. I think some booster(s) also did something else. And then there's auto-save, which could be in the PS4 version as well, but I'm not sure.
