Into the Final Fantasy-verse (Part I)

"Listen to my story. This may be our last chance."

Having recently finished playing Final Fantasy X for the first time, I had the unstoppable urge to write about it and the series in general. I am quite familiar with the Final Fantasy franchise, but Final Fantasy X in particular has been in my backlog for like... at least a decade. I just never had the time to sit down and play it. That is, until I got myself a Steam Deck (a gift from my beloved and generous brother) and I was finally able to play games from the comfort of my bed. Being able to go slowly through my backlog is an amazing feeling - though with every Steam sale, I find myself adding more games to my backlog… It’s a never-ending cycle, and I’m sure that a lot of people can relate.

Getting to know Final Fantasy

My fascination with the series started with Final Fantasy IV on the DS when I first saw the back of the box and kind of fell in love with Rosa’s design. I thought she would look like that in the game too… I was a naive child with no concept of hardware or game design, so you can say that I was a little disappointed when I booted the game and saw the graphics. And still, I spent hours upon hours playing the game. I was engrossed in the story, I loved all the characters - Rydia was my favorite. I played it multiple times, and I memorized the dialogues from the cutscenes so well…

“You think our rage… a weakness? Then let me show you how wrong you are!”

Of course, the reason why I remember the above quote even more than the others is because I kept dying to Rubicante and I was underleveled. Similar issue presented itself when it was time to face the four fiends at the tower. “Our master Zemus… gifted us with life… to rob you of yours…”

I’ve heard very recently that the DS version is the hardest version of FFIV and I couldn’t believe it. I beat that game without using any guides! (At least, as far as I remember). With FFX, I had to look up guides on how to beat certain bosses at the age of 28. Kind of embarrassing for me, not gonna lie. In my defense, putting a lot of hours in a game is much easier when you are a kid. As an adult with a job and responsibilities, trying to get pass a boss that requires a specific strategy can feel like a chore at times.

How do you not get chills listening to this theme?

After playing FFIV, I was very into the Final Fantasy universe. Unfortunately, I didn’t have the means to play the other games, at least until I had a PS3 and played Final Fantasy XIII. I fell in love. The world was everything I was looking for, the combat was fun and strategic, the characters were annoying at times but interesting. The story was confusing, and my English was not good enough the completely understand what the datalogs were about. So a lot of the time, I trudged on through without really understanding the plot. Still had a blast though! I was surprised at the hate it got back then - I thought it was pretty fun. It was the most gorgeous game I played at the time, and I intend to play through it again and pay more attention to the story this time.

Blinded by Light remains probably my favorite battle music in the series.

Waiting, waiting and waiting

After finishing this game, I was on the lookout for the next main game in the series. What was it going to be? Was it even possible for the new game to look even better than FFXIII? Impossible!

Hardcore fans would remember the days of Fabula Nova Crystallis. The trailer for Final Fantasy versus XIII still has me hyped whenever I watch it. Somnus playing in the background while Noctis tears through enemies with ease, him impaling a soldier while falling down the side of a building. It is a Crowning Moment of Awesome and the grittiness of the whole thing got the whole internet fired up. See for yourself:

Then they introduced Stella Nox Fleuret, and from the moment I saw her running towards Noctis and then both of them drawing their weapons, I was incredibly invested. I couldn’t wait to see their story unfolding in front of my eyes. Friends to enemies? Enemies to lovers? Lovers to enemies? What was awaiting us in this grand tale? Well… If you know the history of FFvsXIII, you can probably see where I’m going with this, right?

The launch of this game was delayed, and then delayed, and then delayed again, until it was announced that this game was scrapped in favor of making a new main title: Final Fantasy XV. Honestly, I don’t remember what I felt about it, but I do remember asking “Where is my girl Stella?”.

Welp. So much for that hope.

Despite the initial letdown, I was still very excited about the new game and what it would bring. The trailers looked GORGEOUS and I couldn’t wait. I don’t remember if I played any other Final Fantasy games in the meantime, though I remember I did play Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep on the PSP around those times, which was also a fantastic game but since I never played the other entries, I was pretty confused about the plot. I remember shipping Aqua and Zack because of that one interaction they had. Good times, good times.

Oh and also I think I watched Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children around those times, or maybe even before playing FFXIII. The graphics were groundbreaking for its time. I was so, SO in love with the characters - mind you, I didn’t even play FFVII but I really loved the movie. But as you can imagine, wrapping my head around the plot was not an easy task. I failed miserably but still had a jolly good time. And I watched a complete playthrough of Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core. Really, who doesn’t love Zack the Puppy?

Playing FFXV was an interesting experience to say the least. I was around 20 years old when it came out, no longer the bright-eyed naive kid. I was excited for it, but ready to be critical if needed. And well, I was honestly having a blast with it, going to visit beautiful places with my bros, camping and cooking (new recipehs!), getting new Summons left and right was a fun time. But I did feel like something was missing. I felt like the introduction of some characters was not enough. Who was Ardyn? How did Lunafreya fit into the story? What did the oracle do? How did the king die? Then I learned that I needed to check out other materials that they released. Kind of a chore, to be honest. Kingsglaive was okay, the graphics were stunning and getting to know more about the king and Luna was nice. I watched the anime as well but I remember jack sh*t about it.

The music though… I couldn’t stop listening to the soundtrack when I completed the game. Yoko Shimomura is a genius for sure.

The game itself was great but lacking in some areas. The ending will always get me though. That I was not expecting. I may or may not have cried… Especially with the photo at the end. If you know, you know. Though I do wonder how I would feel if I chose a silly picture and seeing it after crying my eyes out. Hysterical laughter, maybe.

I do want to replay the game on PC though, since the Royal Edition came out after I finished the game. I hear that it’s a lot more polished with more content.

“You guys… are the best.”

What about the other entries?

I’ve only talked about the main entries so far but I did play some other games in the series such as the sequels for FFXIII, World of Final Fantasy etc. They were solid games and I had fun, but didn’t have the impact on me as much as the other ones. FFXIII-2 did have me emotional at the end though, and I did love Noel a lot. Caius was a great villain too, but how can you go wrong with Liam O’Brian anyway?

Does FFVII: Remake count as a side game? Who knows. I was determined not to touch it until I completed FFVII, which I started a few times but dropped due to various circumstances. My resolve to not play it crumbled when PS Plus gave the game for free and basically forced me to play it (at least, that’s what I tell myself). My god, was I obsessed with this game. The combat, the story, the graphics… I am eagerly waiting for FFVII: Rebirth, though I do hope that I’ll have a PS5 when it drops. I might write a separate piece for FFVII another time as it is a whole another can of worms.

I will be talking about my experience with FFX in the next newsletter as this is already getting too long, but I can say in short that it completely re-ignited my love for the franchise, made me want to replay the games I already played and want to check out the ones I haven’t. I unfortunately have way too many games in my backlog with so little time, so it will take a while for me to get into each entry. And I have already started my Persona 4 journey because I bought Game Pass for a few months… I don’t think I’ll be running out of games any time soon.

In the next newsletter I’ll be talking about FFX, my expectations from the franchise and FFXVI.

Until next time!