Final Fantasy X First Impressions (2 Viewers)

[Sean Oneil]

WOW, WOW and more WOW! The art direction in this game is beautiful! Contrary to what I had heard, the voice acting is very well done (the lip-synch can be a bit off, but that is to be expected of a dub), and the ability to turn off the subtitles and just listen to the characters speak is really a nice addition to this series. I was getting tired of the constant reading of paragraph after paragraph in most RPG games ...the fact that this game is primarily voice driven makes it flow much more smoothly and makes it so much more immersive IMHO.
And these graphics, the beauty that these artists and designers have worked into every part of this game (I am only about 4 hours in but the quality has remained unbelieveably high throughout) ...it is all just amazing.
This has to be the best looking video game I have ever seen (and I have seen pretty much all of them) ...nice little touches like the wind blowing through grass and trees causing them to sway gently, and over water causing it to ripple -every background is just 'alive' (Think "Onimusha" in real time 3D). I just can't say enough about how beautiful this game is. Everything is designed on such a grand scale with such style.
If you were ever a fan of Final Fantasy games, then you really need to give this one a look. I know that this has all been said before, but after having heard all of the hype myself for so long, finally seeing it and playing it has exceeded even my highest hopes.
Just an amazing game. (so far, but it only seems to be getting better as I go) :star: :star: :star: :star: :star:
P.S. The audio is also very impressive with some serious low-end in places that can rattle the paint from your walls. Break out those subwoofers, and nail down the furniture

 

[Morgan Jolley]

Now I just want it more...

The voices are dubbed so that they use the original Japanese mouth movements, so they seem off because of that. Otherwise, the voice acting, from what I have heard (as in, the amount of VA I heard from the game), is pretty good.

 

[Jeremy Allin]

Perhaps you guys can answer this.

I had read that certain cut scenes would be in full 5.1 sound (with the proper setup of course). Is this the case?

 

[Sean Oneil]

As for the audio being full 5.1, I can not say for sure, but I doubt it. I just bought a new Toslink cable and I am not going to open it till I hook up the X-Box on Tuesday. Perhaps I will try it out then if someone else does not answer sooner.
There is no option in the menu for 5.1, only stereo or mono audio. One other thing is that I have not found an option to center the screen like in Metal Gear Solid 2 or various other games ...that's probably the only thing that I don't like about FF X (and it has absolutely nothing to do with the game anyway)
The game audio just kicks holy ass in Pro-Logic though. It is very active with the surrounds and the low end is often HUGE, especially during some of the action scenes or the summons.
I suppose that there could be a lot of 5.1 in this game ...because so far it has been loaded with Pre-Rendered cutscenes which blend in absolutely seamlessly with the real time stuff -I mean they actually do jump-cuts between Pre-rendered and realtime polygons all within the same action scene without so much as a hiccup, and I suppose that the audio could be 5.1 at any time during a pre-rendered part.
I will have to verify this. Maybe I'll just break down and hook it up tonight ...arrgh,

 

[Sean Oneil]

OK, I hooked my PS2 up via the Toslink digital cable. I played through the entire first cinema (Blitzball) as well as through the first boss battle. No DD 5.1 :frowning: I assume that if there were to be a 5.1 scene, then Blitzball would be it.
Anyway, it does sound even better now (probably because I am using an external DD decoder that does a better job at decoding Pro Logic then my preamp/processor does) and I will be playing the game the rest of the way through with the DD mode on my decoder available ...so if there are any 5.1 scenes in the game, my reciever will light up and I will let you know.
Some of these spells have Ridiculous amounts of bass (Demi shakes the floor)
Off to play I go ...I'll keep you posted if I uncover any DD 5.1 areas in the game.

 

[Gary King]

After you reach the city whose name begins with "L" (the name escapes me at the moment, but it is where the Blitzball tournament happens), you can go into a theater and play any of the FMV sequences (that you've already seen in the game) in Dolby Digital 5.1. I'm not sure why Square limited 5.1 playback to that, but 5.1 FMVs *are* in FFX.

 

[Tom Oh]

I played and finished the Japanese version. I felt that this was one of the best in FF series. Certainly much better than 8 or 9 and better than 7. It may start out slow but it really picks up and grips you to the end. You won't be dissappointed like MGS2. Best game of the year for me for all platform.

 

[Mike_G]

In a word:

WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I played for 2 hours last night and I had a hard time prying myself away from the TV to go to sleep.

Gary,

Thanks for the heads up on the cinema mode.

Mike

 

[Peter Kim]

Is this currently only in limited release? I just popped into Circuit City and Target - neither carried this title. They did not even have it on their release list.

 

[Morgan Jolley]

Because of the quick cuts between real-time graphics and prerendered CGs, they couldn't technically put 5.1 in the cutscenes, but at the theater place, they could put them in.

I want this game so bad. My butthole of a friend wouldn't sell me his second copy since he wants one copy still in the plastic, unopened.

Isn't it strange how the one FF game that Square waited to build hype for at the last minute turns out to be one of the best? At the Millennium Conference in 2000, they talked more about FFIX and FFXI, and up until early this year, FFX was sort of hidden away.

 

[AndyVX]

Peter, the actual release date is sometime in January, but for whatever reason Square decided to do a limited release just before Christmas.

 

[Dome Vongvises]

I have to say I had some awesome first impressions of the game. My question is whether or not there will be any twists in the storyline. It just seems to blatantly straightfoward that "Sin" is the one evil guy.

 

[Morgan Jolley]

The story is supposed to be one of the best (if not the best) stories in the series.

Square originally said Winter 2001, then pushed it to Spring 2002 since the Japanese release was delayed, then pulled it to early February, then late January, then January 2. They did a small prerelease so that people who had preordered the game could get it and it would still be able to generate some buzz without having to run ads. Maybe the end of the month will see some TV commercials for the real release.

 

[Gary King]

Because of the quick cuts between real-time graphics and prerendered CGs

That's total BS -- the only potential problem with quickly switching between 5.1 and DPL is if the player's receiver doesn't auto-switch between digital signals quickly enough (which would result in a second or two of silence). There isn't exactly much waiting when you select a movie for playback from the theater.

Most of the cinemas are much nicer in 5.1 than in DPL.

 

[Jeremy Allin]

Gary: Do you have to wait until after the blitzball tournament to get into the theatre? I couldn't find when I first arrived (had a quick look around before the tournament and that's where I am now).

 

[Brad_W]

I bought this last night and will be waiting for the perfect opportunity to sit down and submerge myself in this game. I can't wait.

 

[Morgan Jolley]

I saw this game on E-bay for $53 and wanted to buy it, but being 16, it would be a little tough. I can't wait to get it on its real release.

 

[Brad Grenz]

They had copies at my local Walmart last night...

 

[James St]

Just picked one up at Walmart. And they had 10+ copies. It wasn't in the display case like other games though. I checked the lower shelves and saw plenty of copies there. I guess most people don't look down there.

 

[Steven Simon]

Just got my copy from a good friend.

I have played all the US FF games. Every one dating back to the 1 on Nintendo.

This game is unreal!!! After playing it for 20 minutes, I can say it's the best FF game ever created.....

VII was always my fav by the way....