Art Cinema

2) Canadian John Walker has put together a truly wonderful, informative,and entertaining documentary on the seldom seriously considered subjectof fairies. While touching upon historical background and context, heemphasizes modern aspects of belief in and experience of fairies. Theinterviews with witnesses who have actually encountered and physicallyseen fairies are impressive and convincing; the body of evidence forthe existence of fairies presented here must challenge our smuglymaterial view of the world.

I have seen this film several times and enjoy it more with each viewing— granted enjoyment of it might be conditional upon one'sopen-mindedness to the idea of fairies. But there is some fine sceneryto be enjoyed as the film will takes the viewer to Ireland, Scotland,and parts of England and Canada, and the interviewees are almost allcharming people whom it is a pleasure to be acquainted with. If youbelieve that fairyland is a total crock, you might want to pass thisfilm by, but if not, you will probably like it and perhaps love it as Ido.

3) I caught this movie on IFC, and found it both haunting and kind ofsweet. Some of people interviewed might be entirely crazy, but theyreally believe the stories they tell. Sometimes when I’m walking in thewoods I still think of the haunting anecdotes from this film. It thinkit’s a fine documentary, in that it’s not exploitative of it’ssubjects.

The other comments here seem to miss the point. If you wanted to see adocumentary that disproves the existence of fairies, you could watchthe Penn and Teller television show called "Bullshit".

I particularly like that the film takes us to rural Prince EdwardIsland and other obscure Canadian wilderness that one might not oftensee.

4) This documentary closely follows the realm of fairy set in Europe. Manypeople are talked to about their belief in the little people and it’saffects on them and the community. Shot on location, this film showssome beautiful scenery, and has some great close up looks at some keyfairy points in Europe. You get to visit fairy locations and talk toartists who claim to see fairies, like Brain Froud. You also talk topeople who claim to have seen or worked with the fairies, and how thishas changed their lives, either for the good or the bad. This is a mustsee for those who would like to sit back and get a true look atfairies.

5) This is a mediocre film about fairies. While the history and nostalgiaabout fairies is, perhaps, somewhat interesting, there is never anyrational argument used to justify their existence. Basically this is afluffy representation of fairies whose only proof is a variety ofphotogenic sceneries and not so photogenic nutbars who are obviouslydeluding themselves. No reasonable person could honestly watch this andconclude anything but it was barking mad. Just because their areinteresting hills and trees does not mean fairies exist. Shame on thisfilmmaker. Perhaps next time he will interview at least one skeptic orscientist who has an education beyond 3rd grade.

6) Just when you think we’re coming out of the Dark Ages, along comes afilm like this one ready to fling us back about 500 years or so.

I like fairies. What’s not to like about fairies – delightful,imaginary, little creatures with wings. Not in this film they aren’t.

The revelation of the past history of fairies as being malignantcreatures of darkness and evil is interesting, and the scenery ofScotland and Ireland looks enchanted enough to really contain fairies.

But then the film wanders off into the weeds of ridiculousness, as wemeet present day people who straight-facedly claim to have seen thelittle people. Yes, these people believe in fairies.

There is even a scene in a schoolroom where an adult visitor encouragesthe boys and girls to believe that fairies are quite real. I don’tthink that is what education is all about. We should be teachingchildren the truth about things not leading them back into superstitionand nonsense. I personally was outraged that something like that wasallowed.

I gave it 4 stars out of 10, only because the scenery is fantastic, andso is some of the artwork depicting fairies and other such creatures,but the position the film takes on this subject is all wrong otherwise.

7) Call me churlish, but if Canadian director John Walker isn’t amongst themost credulous filmmakers ever, I don’t know who is. Oliver Stone,perhaps.This documentary about big people who believe in invisible little peopleisactually quite sad, assuming said big people aren’t simply looking forpublicity. Walker, who admits to believing in ‘something’ himself, takeseverything at face value, and doesn’t bother consulting a single rationalperson in the course of his film. That undoubtedly was his intent, butthisis essentially a puff piece for people who live in cloud cuckoo land. Atleast they all seem like thoroughly nice folk.

• Debuts of Mary Miles Minter and Percy Helton.

This documentary interviews people who grew up on her music and sharedthe same love for their nation that she did. Her music held togetherwhatever scraps of Lebanon left. Her music is timely and poetic.Universal. Undeniably benevolent and positive in a world wherenegativity rules.

Filmed beautifully with obvious dramatic rehearsals, it makes great useof its’ interviewees, as well as the nation’s geography. Both itsbeauty and deformity. The talking heads are charming and insightful, attimes tragic and hopeless. They look back at a time where their wassomething to lose. Meanwhile todays generation experiences only thebottom remains and sees nothing lost.

But by listening to the music of Fairuz, they can taste, we can taste,the sweet flavor of a country thriving on equality and free will.

2) one of the most accomplished documentary made by a non Lebanese aboutLebanon and Beirut. very lovely image of this scared city and aboutthis diva who is a Lebanese national symbol. through the interviews wediscover the emotions left in the mind of the Lebanese people after thecivil war, which is still considered as a taboo. and not to forgetabout the montage and the songs in between scenes that really shows theplatonic relation between the Lebanese public and the diva. this movieis recommended for everyone who never understood the reason that madeFairuz a national symbol. one of the most attentive documentaries aboutLebanon.

2)
It’s Timmy’s first Fairy-Versary and Cosmo and Wanda give Timmy a rule-free wish muffin which means whoever eats the muffin gets a wish that does not apply by the rules. But Mr. Crocker is still on the lookout for the fairies and showing them to the world.

• The first time Frankie Muniz didn’t provide Chester’s voice. He was replaced by “Kid” voice actor’ Jason Marsden’.
• All the magical creatures who attend Timmy’s party are from earlier episodes of the series: Tooth Fairy, Santa Claus, The Easter Bunny, The April Fool, Wandisimo and Jorgen Von Strangle.
• When Timmy introduces himself to Crocker as “The World’s Greatest Entertainer”, wearing a Groucho Marx mask, Crocker refers to him as “Shemp”, mistaking him for Shemp Howard, the fourth Stooge, and using the term to mean someone who is a body-double or stand in.

• Continuity: The bubble on the end of the big tube Crocker holds changes color from yellow, to blue, to yellow again.

However,…this show has suffered the same fate many cartoons havefallen prey to—stretching an excellent short cartoon idea to afull-length movie. In most cases, it's a catastrophe, so to speak.Think about the Powerpuff Girls movie, THE SIMPSONS MOVIE and THESPONGEBOB MOVIE–three exciting and original shows that produced amediocre or worse film. In the case of ABRA CATASTROPHE! it isn't asbad as the Powerpuff film (that is just too sad to watch), but it sureisn't as good as the show normally is because the pacing is all wrong.The film just seems too stretched thin and the usually fast paced humorjust drags. While watchable, it sure isn't good. My advice is pretendthey never made this, SCHOOLS OUT! or the god-awful JIMMY TIMMY POWERHOUR shows and just see CHANNEL CHASERS–the only Fairly Odd Parentsmovie that is as good or better than the shows.

2) Even when it was introduced as a segment on "Oh Yeah! Cartoons," thedemented, frantic, slapstick pace of "The Fairly OddParents," made theold Warner Bros. ‘toons seem like post-war sugar-coated Disney shorts.Cartoon shorts like this HAD to have a series of their own, and betteryet had to have a movie tie-in. In this case though, amade-for-TV-movie tie-in would suffice. Like the first Daria TV-movie"Is It Fall Yet?," watching a previous episode of the regular series ishelpful to understanding the story. Unlike the Daria TV-Movies, itrelies heavily on additional computer animation to grab the audience’sattention. To call this cartoon an epic may be an overstatement, but Isuppose if you’re the same age as Timmy Turner(or at least rememberwhat it was like to be that age) it’s a well-deserved description.

Speaking of Timmy Turner, he’s now one of a lucky few who’ve been ableto conceal the presence of his Fairy Godparents Cosmo(Daran Norris) andWanda(Susan Blaskeslee) for more than a year, and for this many fairiesand other magical pixie-like mythical creatures hold a party for him.But not even Cosmo and Wanda can give him a life where he doesn’t feelbetrayed by his parents, or protect him from a school that would employsuch a madman as Denzel Crocker(Carlos Alazraqui)…or can they? Amongthe array of gifts that Timmy receives for his fairy-versary is a magicmuffin that can grant one rule-free wish. The trouble is, it’ll grantthat wish to ANYBODY who gets a bite of it(I know what I’d wish for,and so do you). Two people who shouldn’t eat it end up doing just that,and you’ll find out who they are in a few minutes.

Actually, the first "person" who shouldn’t get a taste of theall-powerful Muffin isn’t really human, even if he is a primate. It’s amonkey mistakenly brought to school by A.J., who wishes(in chimpchatter, that is) that we humans would switch places with lowerprimates on the evolutionary ladder. It’s also a world filled withhorrible puns, a fact it admits quite proudly. After Bippy finally sawthe results of his wish, and how it would put Timmy’s life at risk, hewishes everything back to normal. But that doesn’t mean it’s time for asigh of relief, because someone far worse gets a bite out of the muffin– Denzel Crocker!! And the first things he does is capture Wanda, quitschool and take over the world, which sends Fairy World into a panic.Somehow, the rainbow bridge between Fairy World and the real worldseems similar to as episode of Tiny Toon Adventures, but that’s notnecessarily relevant. Timmy realizes that if he doesn’t stop Crocker,nobody will. And since he has fairy magic leftover from his recentparty, he does just that. Somebody who made a comment on the next-movie"Channel Chasers," called that the darkest FOP episode ever, but Ialways thought this one was pretty dark. The fight segments betweenCrocker and Turner seem a bit Wagnerian for a kid’s cartoon, and therealization that he may have to sacrifice two prized "possessions" tostop Crocker is momentarily sad. Fortunately, since this IS a kids’cartoon, things do work out for our heroes.

In a TV Guide interview, Carlos Alazraqui described Mr. Crocker as acombination of Richard Dreyfuss, Montgomery Burns and Gene Wilder.Personally, I think he’s more like Walter Kornbluth(Eugene Levy) inSPLASH(1984). Whichever description you find appropriate for thisFairy-Mad teacher, you’ll find Butch Hartman and his crew are just asgood at writing crazy cartoons, as they are at epic TV movies.

3) Though its not exactly a huge summer movie, The Fairly Oddparents Moviewasworth watching. The only thing that got on my nerves was the singingroutineat the beginning. The rest of the movie had a strong plot and loads ofwittyjokes.

4) It’s Timmy’s Fairy-versary! Why is this special? Because within a year,most children end up losing their fairy godparents by revealing theirsecretone way or another. Timmy is that one rare kid that manages to keep hisgodparents under wrap, so he is rewarded with a magical muffin. Thismuffingrants whoever takes a bite out of it any wish, regardless of the rules…the only thing they can’t wish for is a better-tasting muffin! What wouldhappen if this muffin got into the wrong hands… well, that’s exactlywhatwe find out.The movie seemed to take a while to get into the plot. I personallytookthe time to go to the bathroom during one of the fairy’s singingperformancefor Timmy’s Fairy-versary… it just annoyed me. However, once the plottookhold, it was non-stop laughs, twists, sharp turns, andfun!

5) Abra-Catastrophe is the first movie of the Fairly OddParents, for me,the best comedy cartoon series of all time. And for a cartoon movie,it’s a long movie(90 minutes), with many computer graphic scenes, thatmakes this movie similar to cel-shading games(cartoonized games). Inthe movie, Timmy Turner(voice of Frank Muniz) has his firstFairyniversay, and he gains a special cake that will make any wishwithout restrictions. But this cake falls into the hands of Timmy’slunatic teacher, Crocker, that makes all the universe a universe thatvenerates Crocker. It is now time to Timmy and his magicalpresents(Floss, Jet-Pack, Magical Mirror, Easter Bombs and Santa’srobe) save the world getting back the Fairyniversary Cake back andrestore the universe!

9/10

6) This TV movie was pretty good but I have to say I liked a lot of the otherepisodes more, but this is still pretty good and funny.I’d say part 2 is the best when Dimsdale turns into this monkeyworld7/10

7) Yeah, you guys heard me right. A chimp. I tell you fellas, if I were togo to the zoo right now, shotgun in arm, kill all the zoo keepers andbroke out a chimp, the chimp would tolerate this movie. Now, I’m notsaying its bad, I’m saying it reeks worth then my neighbor Fred does.And his stench, not even funny man. Timmy Turner? Who came up with thatgenius name? Not me? Mr. Crocker? Freggin original. I wish. Now, thoseparents Timmy has, the magical ones, I’m referring to, are nothing butsuicidal weirdos. Now, having said that, they are not bad people, and Iam humble to say I found them to be the most entertaining on the show.My mother did to (I’m just living with her until I can find a mate andmove in with her). Anyway, yesterday my friends told me to smoke someweed. That might as well meen what Timmy was saying. The movie lackedthe visuals I would have liked, but eh, what are you gonna do? Peace,world. Don’t forget this here post. It won’t forget you. 3/10

2) A sort of mini-De Mille picture from Republic studios, A Fair Wind To Javais a fast-moving adventure story set in the south seas. Fred MacMurray isexcellent as the hero, really quite at home in the sort of costume picturerole one wouldn’t expect to find him in. What absurdities there are in thestory are offset to a large degree by the actor’s surprising moral authorityas the humane captain. Vera Ralston is lovely if unexceptional as theheroine. The supporting cast is fine and energetic. As always, the Lydeckerbrothers provide superb special effects on a limited budget. Overall, awatchable, old-fashioned movie, if a tad anachronistic for the fifties. Theending provides genuine spectacle, and is well worth thewait.

3) A thrilling action adventure story is the scenario for "Fair Wind ToJava."There is fighting among pirates and good guys, a graphic flogging of abeautiful slave girl and a massive eruption of a volcano, all in brilliantcolor. Although it’s the usual good guys vs. bad guys genre, the storylineis good and action abounds everywhere as the good and the bad search for afortune in diamonds. Good performances by MacMurray, Ralston andDouglas.

4) In glorious trucolour! Another Republic storybook masterpiece from thelast 5 years of the studio, this is an Indiana Jones pirate/volcanomovie before anyone thought of Indie…or Did Spielberg Lucas see thisaged 8 are regurgitate it into the 80s as with Star Wars 70s epics fromother Republic (serial) adventures of the 40s. Actually, don’tSpielberg Lucas owe Republic Studios a lot!!…….FAIR WIND TO JAVAstayed in cinema circulation even after 1960 and was often seen incinema screens at Kids matinees with other Republic films like TOBOR orthe hopeless western botch PAWNEE. The 1969 cinerama sized KRAKATOAEAST OF JAVA (it was west, actually) might have attempted a biggerscreen and scope, but this 1953 version with Fred and the pirates – andgenuinely beautiful art direction and great modelwork, is a lot morefun. Even Vera the acting wife came out of this one well.

5) Beautifully shot in color, the plot is fairly routine for this type offilm.MacMurray is appropriately stalwart and does well in his role, and thevillains get what they deserve in the end, but the production values(sailing ships at sea, volcano) are the real stars.

6) Out in the Dutch East Indies and Captain Boll is out looking fortreasure, diamonds to be exact. But he is not alone, and not only doeshe have to contend with on board grumblings, he has angry tribesmen anda rumbling volcano thrown into the bargain as well.

Fair Wind To Java is a just above average adventure yarn, gleamingcolour and a tidy production ensure it's a watchable piece. Thestandard plot formula {complete with pretty female love interest} isboosted by the films last quarter, here the viewers patience isrewarded with fights aplenty and the presence of Krakatau volcanoliterally doing its stuff. In fact the last quarter is a joy for thosewith home cinema, rough seas and volcanic rumblings boom out of thespeakers, and certainly up the ante of the viewing experience. Outsideof that the film doesn't have much else to highlight, the acting in themain is fine, Fred MacMurray as Boll and Victor McLaglen as O'Brienboth turn in solid professional performances, but Vera Ralston as KimKim is desperately poor in the main female role.

Not one to recommend to adventure fans with any great confidence, butcertainly worth a look on a rainy day. 6/10

And in "Fair and Worm-er", the whole cartoon is just one big chase, basedona simple premise of a worm trying to get to an apple. Of course, he isbeing chased by a bird, who is chased by a cat, who is chased by a dog,whois chased by a dog catcher, who is chased by his wife….

Well, you get the idea.

For the length of the cartoon, each character chases the other, sometimesone will conspire against another to aid themselves (i.e. – the birdthwartsthe dog catcher so the dog will catch the cat and leave him free to get tothe worm! WHEW!). Actually, it’s all rather simple – just like theRoadrunner cartoons (also directed by Jones!) – but with the added inputofa skunk thrown in for good measure, it can only help.

Ten stars for "Fair and Worm-er". Join the chase!

2) The whole spectrum of life involves the food chain or hierarchy of species. Worms get eaten by birds, birds get eaten by cats, cats get chased by dogsand the dog is hunted by the man from the pound. When the animals realisethis chain they decide that to support the pursuer of their pursuer is togive themselves a better shot.

Despite a lack of nay discernible plot, this chase cartoon is quite funnyand also features an early appearance from a character who would laterbecome Pepe the skunk. The plot involves the various levels in the foodchain realising that they need to help out those above their predator toavoid being prey themselves. Cue some funny chases and falls as well as theusual stuff.

The characters aren’t imaginative or anything new – the film only wants tohave the animal hierarchy fully in place. Even the human characters arejust stereotypes (the battered husband and the domineering wife) who do whatthey are required to do in the film.

Overall this is fairly amusing but I was surprised how little impact it madein my memory – even as I write this I would struggle to point out anythingin it that made it stand out or made it any better than the average cartoonof the period.

3) I agree with a previous commenter: predator-prey cartoons use one of themost simple and one of the best formulae. A two-part food chain is thecustomary medium, but in Fair and Worm-er (1946), the animators carefullyconstruct a day in the life of a complete cartoon food chain.

So you have a realistic food chain, with every part of it represented inanimated form. So what else is there to do but give the audience somefunnychase scenes. The uniformity of the food chain is demonstrated in a singlescene when each component organism of the food chain begins the chase assoon as its quarry appears in perfect textbook fashion.

But that’s not all, folks. You throw in a stereotypical 40′s housewifewithrolling pin, and her obligatory rodentophobia. Plus a beast thatterrorizeseveryone: a skunk that minds its own business, later to become Pepe lePew.

The worm, unnamed but familiar in several early cartoons, is always thewiseguy, and he is one who is unafraid of the skunk. Eventually, the differentanimals realize they have to help their predator’s enemy, thus givingthemselves a better chance at survival. This is a really funny part, andonethat is very memorable. There are several bizzarre occurrences, as theanimals defy the laws of physics, and the chase is always fun to behold.

But the thing is, this cartoon does nothing to be unique. It’s a simplestory, and the animators just aim to make something funny out of it. Iwouldsay it’s one of the best one-shot cartoons of all time anyway, simplybecause it does a great and admirable job with something so simple. Butallyou will remember is that it was funny when you watched it. That’s what Iwas looking for when I turned on the TV, so bravo to the makers. Highlyrecommended.

• Vitaphone production reels #904-905
• Bert Lahr’s film debut.

Nonetheless, it is good to see his Cop Act: written by Fred Allen –yes, THAT Fred Allen — and adapted for the screen, we can see BertLahr, with his huge grimace and big movements and that fey, cowardlypersonality, too big for reality, just the right size for a liveaudience and for the fantasy of THE WIZARD OF OZ. I enjoyed it, eventhough it doesn't work as film…. but I'll take Bert Lahr on any termsI can get.

• This Final Fantasy title was developed by many of the same people who worked on Fainaru fantajî takutikkusu (1997) (VG), Vagrant Story (2000) (VG), and Final Fantasy Tactics Advance (2003) (VG). While Tactics and XII take place in the same world (in a region known as Ivalice), Tactics Advance’s Ivalice is a separate magical dreamworld, based on XII’s setting. Interviews with the development team have revealed that, in the ‘true’ Ivalice, XII takes place an undiclosed amount of time before Tactics.
• This game contains many references to the games developed by the same team, or based on the same world. For instance, a Moogle named Montblanc runs a clan in Final Fantasy XII, and previously appeared as a main character in Tactics Advance. Similarly, the player can acquire the Riskbreaker clan rank, a reference to the game Vagrant Story.
• This is the first numbered offline Final Fantasy to have battles take place on the field. All other numbered offline Final Fantasy games have battles taking place on separate battle screens, though the online FFXI had a similar battle system and the non-numbered Crystal Chronicles also had battles taking place in the field.
• This video game was the sixth video game ever to receive a perfect 40 out of 40 in the Japanese gaming publication, Famitsu.
• The names of all of the larger scale airships were taken from the names of summons in previous games of the series.
• A Bangaa in Rabanastre mentions that his friend counted how many bards were at the fete, but says that he probably didn’t include the “spoony bards.” This is a reference to an infamous line from the English translation of Final Fantasy IV (Final Fantasy II on the Super Nintendo), in which the sage Tellah calls the bard Edward a “spoony bard.” The line has since become a fan favorite and has purposely been kept in all of the English re-releases of Final Fantasy IV.
• One of Vaan’s errands when the player first arrives in Archades involves a girl buying tickets to see the “Mummers of Tantalus” perform, a reference to the Tantalus troupe of Final Fantasy IX.
• Gilgamesh, an enemy found in the elite hunt ‘Ancient Man of Mystery’, is a reference to the same enemy in Final Fantasy V. The music played during this optional battle is an updated version of the same song, ‘Clash on the Big Bridge’, also played during the Gilgamesh battle in Final Fantasy V. Gilgamesh in Final Fantasy XII also wields a number of swords owned by previous Square Enix heroes, such as Cloud Strife’s Buster Sword, Tidus’ Brotherhood, or the Loto Sword from Dragon Quest.
• This is the only Final Fantasy game to date where the recurring character of Cid does NOT either join or assist your party in any way. Instead Cid is an adversary whom you must do battle with.

The license board is also done well, and it kills the sphere gridpreviously seen in Final Fantasy X. You can customize your charactersdifferently or the same, and you have the freedom to do it, there areno restrictions like in the Sphere Grid.

It's refreshing to play something new from Final Fantasy, and it doesnot disappoint. The story so far is very interesting, and extremelyinvolving. This is one game, especially in the Final Fantasy seriesthat one will not want to miss.

2) Currently a little over than 60 hours into the game (with allcharacters at level 40), I'd say that "Final Fantasy XII" ("FFXII")ranks as perhaps one of the best video games I have ever played (notthat I've played a lot).

Maintaining everything from previous installments that contributed tothis franchise's incredible success, "FFXII" contains excellentgraphics, gameplay and story. The world of Ivalice (particularly thekingdom of Dalmasca) is so meticulously rendered and it's refreshing tosee Square Enix going for less traditional Japanese feel here than afaux-Mediterranean one. As a metaphor for the transition to PS3,perhaps? Maybe.

The Kingdom of Dalmasca is at war with the neighboring Kingdom ofArchadia, which has since conquered and transformed the former to astate seized by military invasion. The Lady Ashe was then a 17-year oldHume (human) princess mandatorily married to Lord Rasler, who died inbattle trying to claim the Nabradia Fortress. Two years later, in adesire to set out for revenge, she unites with street urchin (andplaying character for most of the game) Vaan, sky pirate Balthier, theinitially enigmatic Basch, the ex-Viera (a race of rabbit-likewood-dwellers) Fran, and the perky Penelo. Together, they embark on ajourney across the snowy mountains of Paramina Rift to the whitebeaches of Phon Coast in an effort to restore peace in Dalmasca.

As with all the narratology of "Final Fantasy" installments, charactersare given enough history to give the player a little more connectionwith them. (I agree with the previous comment of another user that Ashehas the best backstory which is why I often use her as the partyleader.) While not necessarily attaining the lofty bars "Final FantasyVII" and, to some extent, "Final Fantasy X" ("FFX") has reached as faras characters are concerned, "FFXII" more than makes up with a betterstoryline (the nature of which I understand may reduce the appeal tosome) and excellent visuals. Rather than the usual narrative mostlyinvolving otherworldly beings, "FFXII" gears more towards the politicalrealm, even if the Victorian-style dialog feels a bit our of place insome parts (not really a complaint). Music-wise, the score is goodalthough there are certain stretches I half-expect "FFXs"'s battletheme, as well as "Final Fantasy X-2"'s "Yuna's Ballad" and "Eternityof Lightwaves," would play.

Regarding gameplay, the battle system of "FFXII" is similar with "FFXI"in that it uses an active dimension battle (ADB) system, which meansbattles unfold in real time (yep, no more shattering screens and lessvictory fanfares). This, along with the gambit system (a set ofpreordained actions to be performed by each character depending ondefault and user input) and an ala-sphere grid license board (only muchless confined regarding the characters), offer much creativity andflexibility to the part of the player. For instance, with the rightgambit, license, weapons and/or armor, a character can both be aneffective healer and a decent attacker.

"FFXII" is, needless to say, a great game that should satisfy fans aswell as casual gamers alike. Honestly, I think it's a triumph forSquare that fits as a nice send-off before the shift to PS3.

Oh, and on a relatively unrelated note, Penelo reminds me of ex-MorningMusume member Nozomi Tsuji. Heh.

3) Final Fantasy XII is a really great game with a lot of extras to keepyou busy for a long time. The fighting system itself has beenoverhauled – instead of running into random encounters and beingtransported to a battle screen, the enemies are on the field and youfight them right there. The system does take some getting used to,especially in the beginning when you only have one person in yourparty. The system works best later on, when the enemies (and you andyour party) are quicker, stronger, and smarter, resulting in fast,amazing battles. Any fan of World of Warcraft or other MMORPGs willadapt to this game in two seconds, as it's basically the same fightingsystem.

I found the weakest link was the story, which is odd because FinalFantasy is known for great stories. It never felt epic to me, and itdidn't feel like the fate of the world was hanging in the balance. Ithad to do more with politics and war (probably because the head guy ofthis game was the same guy behind Final Fantasy Tactics, which focusedless on fantasy and more on warring kingdoms). Also, while the gameadvertises Vaan as the main character, it's not really so. It makes youwonder why they didn't just scrap him and go with some other partymember as the main character, as there are three others with more "maincharacter" story lines than Vaan. The music is also nothing compared topast games. Finally, the only way to make serious money is by sellingthe "loot" you find off dead monsters. You will find yourself brokeoften because everything – weapons, armor, magic, Gambits, technicks,EVERYTHING – costs a lot of money.

But those are actually minor grievances once you start playing thegame. The sidequests in this game, mainly hunting Marks, are incrediblyfun. There are great bosses, the Judge Magisters are cool andintimidating, the voice acting is superb, the cutscenes are excellent,the graphics push to the PS2 to its limit, there are tons of differentweapons and spells, the cities are large and sprawling with life, andGambits – if you like 'em – can be mastered to perfection.

All in all, a great game and a great addition to the series

4) There comes a time in a game series' history that you need to overhaulthe game engine. For many years, the Final Fantasy series lived onturn-based random battles. However, that style of RPG no longer ispopular among many gamers. Many people such as myself prefer theGrandia/Tales Of Symphonia battle engines where you see the enemies andcan choose to engage them. Then the battle becomes a battle royaleuntil one side is dead.

When Square-Enix announced that they were going to bring in a WesternRPG-style engine, many people were concerned it would hurt the series.Well, once people tried the demo and the critics praised the game allthat changed and the game sold massive numbers.

FFXII is a fitting final bow to PS2 role-playing and gives us a glimpseof what the PS3 or the Wii will offer in the future.

The battle engine here is flawless and is better than any Western RPG.Similar to MMORPGs like Final Fantasy XI, your party wanders the landlooking for battles to fight. You see the enemies and you can choose toengage them. You can choose real-time where the fighting occurs whileyou're choosing to attack or use magic or you can have the game pausewhen faced with a menu screen. The fights go smoothly and relativelyquickly. Instead of collecting Gil, you earn items, weapons, medicineand various trinkets that you can sell for Gil. There's the element ofDiablo where you can luck out and gain a special item that is morevaluable than normal.

The game's other new feature is the License Board. Characters can onlyequip weapons, armor and use new magicks (of which there are many kindssuch as black, white, green, etc.) if they have the license. As youbattle and gain experience you will be able to buy licenses and moldyour characters. This is a much simpler way than Final Fantasy X'sdifficult-to-love Sphere Grid.

The Gambit system, which allows you to micromanage your CPU mates, isvery good and offers many different options that you can manipulate.Sometimes it can be annoying to constantly change the features as thesituation changes but it allows you to not be surprised by any movesthe CPU does.

The graphics are outstanding. The cities and towns you visit are aliveand there's much to do. There might be a bit too much backtracking todo in Ivalice but you won't mind admiring the scenery. The music isstellar as always, although I did miss hearing the Final Fantasyvictory music; only playing at the end of certain boss battles.

The voice-acting is superb, better than Final Fantasy X's. A lot ofBritish accents. The game is an homage to Star Wars with the variouscharacters and non-humans you will meet up with like the Vieras and theBangaas. The story is superb and flows smoothly. Like Dragon QuestVIII, it's a simple plot that expands as you go through the game.

Where the game really shines is due to the sheer fun of running aroundand leveling up. Going out to collect new Espers and taking upMontblanc's Hunts are fun because the trip won't feature tedious randombattles. You'll look forward to these battles and getting those maincharacters like Vaan, Balthier and that sexy Viera Fran to Level 99.And of course, there are tons of secrets.

All in all, this is a tremendous game in the Final Fantasy series andone of the best ever made along with FFVI and FFIX. I hope FFXIII willoffer more of the same. Once again, along with Okami, FFXII is afitting final bow to PS2 RPG gaming. This is how you do it, folks.

5) I think RPGs are the best kind of game in the world for me personally.I have played Final Fantasy III, Final Fantasy IV, Final Fantasy V,Final Fantasy VI, Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VIII, Final FantasyIX, Final Fantasy X, Final Fantasy X-2, Final Fantasy Tactics, FinalFantasy VII Dirge Of Cerberus and Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children.So I know a thing or two about RPGs, but what I didn't know wasSquaresoft would ever be stupid enough to create a game like FFXII. Iwill admit I had huge doubts about this game because it wasn't exactlyRPG. Yet know I am thankful to the heavens Squaresoft did this, unlikeDirge of Cerberus.

The History of FF: This Final Fantasy really is one of the better onesin the series. Final Fantasy VIII, Final Fantasy IX and Final FantasyVI are okay, but 7 and X are sure to remain the best. Now Final FantasyXII slips into the best category also. This was completely original andnew, using a new type of RPG that will sure to be in FF13.

Gameplay: Most RPGs are basically run around and try to solve extremelyhard riddles, clues and other obstacles and I think everyone can agreewith that. I am still trying to beat Dragon Quest VIII Journey Of TheCursed King and I have spent countless hours on that. Yet unlike thoseRPGs, FF12 really is original, using new, high tech graphic system,amazing and original Combat system, great voice over actors and astunning enjoyment ( I forgot I was playing a Playstation 2 ). Ipersonally like this game because if you see a really powerful enemyahead of you, basically just run away to a different side of the map.Also there are many, many villages, towns, cities and castles to visitthat you probably won't know where you are going next. 10/10

The Characters: In this Final Fantasy game, the characters are verygreatly described using about every single-celled speck of amazingnessthere was in computer technology. Ashe is probably the maincharacter,setting out to find her true destiny and to prove that she istruly the only child of King Raminas and the sole heir to the Dalmascanthrone.She is believed to a very many, and ally herself with the forcesof thieves orphans, Royal Guards, Sky Pirates, and even the Vierathemselves. Also another main character is Vaan who is not asrich,powerful, and wonderful as Ashe is, and also because he is a poor,stealing orphan trying very hard to make his dream a reality ofbecoming a famous Sky Pirate of Ivalice. He longs for a dream in thesky where no one can tell him what to do or what to become. Alsoaccompanying them is the famous, loving Sky Pirate, his partner wholeft her home of strict laws to become free known as Fran, Basch, acaptain of the Dalmascan army who turned traitor and slew his king, andof coarse, Vaan's best friend who were friends as long as they knowPenelo. Very excellent descriptions of characters that you won't forgetfor a time to come. 10/10

The New Licence Board: This is a new and quite interesting thing placedin FF12, which is called the Licence Board. It's sort of like thesphere grid in Final Fantasy X, except you use it so you are able touse your new and really sweet weapons. Although the license board doeshave a few annoying disadvantages, it's still original and new 9/10

Overall: This isn't the best Final Fantasy game in the whole series,yet never the less it should still be in your top three. The charactersare well described, the game play is new and original, and thestoryline is excellent 10/10

6) Final Fantasy XII has promised a lot when it was first announced a fewyears back. Many have waited in anticipation on how it will turn outand when it did, news spread like wildfire about it's amazing battlesystem, refreshing plot and the characters themselves. Famitsu, thetough-as-nail game magazine gave it a perfect 40/40, sealing it as oneof the best games out there. Now, after 70+ hours of gameplay,wondering (read:lost) the massive world of Ivalice and watching thecharacters interact, I'm beginning to wonder if we are playing the samegame.

Don't get me wrong, when I first started this game, I was drooling allover the DVD cover, refuse to sleep, eat (I showered, however) or evenmove myself from my room, sparing only fifteen minutes of sun so that Idon't die of the lack of vitamin D. In other-words, I loved it. Keyword"loved it".

Let's talk about the gameplay.

Aah, gameplay. Kicking out the old random battles, ATB, enemies on oneside and characters on another whacking each other while waiting fortheir turn, you get to actually kick enemies' butt in Real Time. Theyeven have the gambit system which if you customise properly, you canjust travel all around the extremely VAST world of Ivalice and let theAI do your battles while you sit around drinking, reading and hecktext-messaging at the same time. Only to rise up when you encounternasty (random and in odd times, meaningless) bosses or rare fiends.

Which brings me to the plot. I have to say I adore the characters andtheir VA. After the trainwreck that was FFX and FFX-2, I was preparedto tune out the emotionless VA throughout the game. Surprisingly, manythey were decent enough and some were beyond excellent, although therewere some room for improvement like Resslar's VA and sometimes Fran's.But overall it wasn't cringe inducing and now I can't imagine anyoneelse doing those characters. VA aside, the characters suffered in termsof development.

While they have a strong start and seem to tease you for more, thewriters decided to drop the storyline half-way through and focus on thebattle system. I mean it's not a bad thing, but when you'reside-tracked by the Mark Hunts mini-game and arrive at one placewondering where you're suppose to go next and forgetting the reason WHYyou need to go there in the first place, then you have a problem. Theywasted a chance here to move Final Fantasy away from the usualsappy-story-pseudo-philosophical genre that it had done for the lastfew games. I enjoyed the political plot, it had a lot going for it.Sadly, it died half-way through and somehow you feel like you've lostthe actual drive to go on. This plus the massive landscape you have toexplore can feel draggy. I mean, it does wonders for the atmosphere andit works in setting up a world far different than ours. However, anairship is much needed, one that does not cost 120 gil or a transportstone to rely on. Of course there are chocobos, but they range from 600to 1000+ gils and they will kick you off after a certain time.

Gil is scarce, unless you're one of those gamers who has the time toexplore every single nook and cranny of each section of the continent,you'd be hard pressed to afford most of the items sold. The Monographs(a key item that you can obtain once you've fulfilled certain rules)can help but they require a certain amount of gil.

The music is lackluster. Nothing much is memorable, it's passable sothat you can play the game without needing to turn down the music, butnothing actually sticks. And if you listen carefully you can catch afew tunes straight out of Kingdom Hearts and the previous FinalFantasies. I wished they had done more instead of recycling the sameold thing for each town, village and so on.

In a strange way the game seems to revolve around the mini-games andside-quests. For example the Mark Hunt will without a doubt consumes3/4 of the entire gameplay. Unfortunately, like the Main Gameplay itbecomes boring after a while. I mean find bill, the person who post it,find creature, beat creature, return to person for reward, then findanother bill repeat 45 times…while it is a sidequest, there are a fewthings unlockable only if you obtain certain ranks…like the usefulBubble Spell.

Then there are the Espers, rewarded once you've defeated them inbattle. Sadly they are near useless and are there most of the time asin-game Bosses or window dressings to fill your Clan Premier. AlthoughI did find the designs interesting.

I like the License Board system. It's flexible and allows you to beabsurdly powerful at parts of the game. If you are somebody who lovesspending time levelling up , have tonnes of gils and gazillion LicensePoints then you will love this system, for it allows you to make anyonea Warrior, Mage, Summoner and maybe even all. There's no limit to whatthe Board can you, if you're up to a great deal of killing, looting andtraveling.

I noticed that a lot of history and writing was put into the pasthistory of Ivalice, there's a sense of overwhelming history and cultureinto it, begging to be discovered but the same could not be said forthe present storyline. While it did start out with a bang, the entiregame fizzles after the 70+ hours of gaming and when you discover thatyou still have, possibly, 70+ hours to go, the urge to slam your headagainst the wall becomes quite tempting…

I give it a 6 out 10.

7) I'm an avid Final Fantasy fan and have played everything from 1 up to12 (excluding 11).

It's important to note that the game doesn't follow the general battlesystem that most FF games would. No longer burdened by the linearcombat system Final Fantasy has come to be recognized by, you can nowdo a number of hands-on and personal strategic integrations to controlcombat at your speed and with your battle preferences almostautomatically. It takes some getting used to, and I wouldn't say it'smy favorite combat system of any Final Fantasy, but it's veryinnovative and fits well enough with the graphics and storyline.

The characters come with a set-up not unlike FFX, where a board existsfor each person to level skills and magicks. Coupled with such talentsare the licenses to use certain items and equipment. It's absolutelyimperative for a player to pay attention to the path they choose, andto keep leveling up in order to afford license points for new equipmentand skills. The character layout is very detailed and unique, just likethe new combat system.

The story, as always, is quite ingenious and keeps you hooked as youplay along. It contains, like many other RPGs, side-quests and otheroff-hand adventures to keep your interest piqued as you level.

My one qualm with this game is the voice acting. I'm not saying it'sbad, and it certainly can't be any worse than Tidus was in FFX, but Ido think it could've been better. I personally abhor the voice actorfor Vaan, as I've been quoted numerous times saying that I think herecorded himself talking through a tin can. The quality of his actingAND of his voice seems subpar, and because he is the "main character"of the game it still disappoints me to this day. There are some verynoteworthy performances in the game, however, and I have had to learnto live with Vaan's execrable statements in order to experience thetrue jewels of the trade. With games like these, I do feel that voiceacting is crucial in order to experience the game at its fullest, andif an actor falls short it can often mean the death of the game'sinnocence.

If you're not a fan of in-depth games that require you to exert aneffort, you may not like this one. However, if you're a real supporterof Final Fantasy you certainly won't want to miss it. Despite itsflaws, it's a beautiful game and holds a number of aspects itspredecessors do not.

FFXII is very well presented. The opening cutscene was a huge hook, andI began playing. The prologue was helpful in adjusting to the fightingstyle, another feature I enjoyed. It was fresh. Random encounters werereally getting old. I was indifferent about gambits. Useful, justdidn't want to spend time collecting. Also, there is a lot of replayvalue regarding side quests and the like. Enough to keep youentertained for a long time. Where is the problem though….

In short, the story and the plot and characters that are integral toit. Let's start with the characters. Take Vaan. He is supposedly ourmain character and starts out as such, but, along with all the otherplayable characters added, fizzles out of the story as time progresses.It's the same thing with Penelo. She never develops. Fran and Balthierhave decent development and attention, and Basch's background isrevealed, but the character development overall is still flawed. It'snot due to too many characters, but rather an unbalanced focus on one,Ashe.

We understand she's a princess of the main kingdom in question, but thestory really shifts its focus on her. That is not bad, but it seemslike it is always so Ashe driven. Some might say that that FFVII andFFVIII are too Cloud and Squall driven respectively, but it's differentbecause those two are established as the center characters of thestory. FFXII introduces Ashe a fifth or sixth of the way through, andsuddenly she is the linchpin of all the adventures after we havededicated a significant percentage of storyline to Vaan's development.

There is nothing wrong with having Ashe be the main character; justdon't set us up with one character, then supplant him, and put inextras like Fran, Balthier and (especially) Basch to pick up the slackhere and there with little pieces of Dialogue.

The biggest problem with this game is the plot. First of all, why areyou using a world that has been used in another FF game already? I knowthe previous game (Crystal Chronicles, right?) wasn't mainstreamseries, BUT THIS IS! Be original. The actual story starts out well. Wesee this kingdom, Dalmasca, subjugated by Arcadia and in entertainingfashion. I really have no problem with the plot up to the tomb orWraithwall. This is where all the rest of the adventure becomesAshe-driven, the conflict becomes blurred and where map progression isconfusing.

We already discussed the overbalanced development of Ashe, now onto themeat: the plot. There are so many things going on in this game that itforgets to develop the main story line, and before you know it, thegame is over. Don't get me wrong. Side quests and the like are always awelcome edition, but a FF should never have an anemic storyline, NEVER!We understand that, in hindsight, Vayne and Cid, with Venat, are tryingto establish a rule where humans can dictate their own terms ofhistory, not by the hands of the Ocurria. This leads me to ask: if theOcurria are the ones to whom Vayne directs his true hatred, then whynot align with the rest of Ivalice to combat these nasty beings? Theyobviously are not very friendly and would prefer to keep the people ofIvalice in bondage by deciding who wins and loses by giving the winnerssome nethicite. In fact, what is so wrong with Vayne? He doesn't wantto enslave people. He wants to lead them. At least those are his truefeelings albeit he doesn't express them well by dominating othernations into submission; however, he does not want to hurt people. Histrue intentions are not inherently malicious.

With all that said, let's go to the direct conflict at hand: Arcadiavs. Rozarria. Vayne wants Rozarria. He needs the people united againstthe Ocurria, and Rozarria is that big continent we don't get to see.That's right. We don't get to see an ENTIRE CONTINENT THAT'S PART OFTHE STORY! It's there, but we as gamers will not be able to see it. Doyou remember Esthar in FFVIII? I was pretty amazed at the cutscene thatintroduced it. In FFXII though, we are deprived of perhaps a rich andbeautiful civilization, certainly on terms with theless-than-inspirational-looking Arcadia (it was good looking, but Iexpected better.) We travel far West to the Tomb of Wraithwall, we hearabout Rozarria, and we see their people, but we don't get to see theirland….sounds like the project had major plot changes that might havecontributed to the wait…leaving us with something less than desired.One of the most insulting plot devices is the Bahamut. We hear nothingabout this project until the last twentieth of the game? Talk aboutlaziness.

Along with plot in general, is plot advancement, particularly on themap. We go from center (Dalmsca) to North, to center, to East(Bujherrba), back to center, to West, back to Center to South, to WAYNorth, to WAY South, WAY East, then back to Dalmasca. Normally, I wouldnot have such a problem with it, but I feel like the gang could haveexplored Giruvegan while they were trekking about at the Stillshrine.Why couldn't we put Giruvegan up North after Arcadia? It would make theprogression a little more linear in the sense that it would complicatetravel a little less. Since the way you move on the map is FFX style(no world map area), the main progression should move in a morepredictable pattern.

Good game, but it could have been great. There just wasn't enough focusand development on the plot to make it epic and enjoyable. It ended tooshort, and bad character development hampered the plot more. Betterluck next time with FFXIII!

9) It seems to come in waves- FF VII and FF X were absolutely amazing.Breathtaking, etc. However FF VIII, IX and XI were increasinglyterrible. They were progressively worse. This game was a different sortof bad than I was expecting.

I couldn't stand the skill board. I want to see what's coming and howto progress in the game. I don't want to gain the ability to use acertain weapon, i should either be able to or not (character specific).The worst part about this game was that I beat it thinking there wereanother good 20 hours coming. I had no idea I was fighting the mainboss in the game. I had my suspicions but couldn't understand why- Iliked him! Terrible!

Why the six? Well, its Final Fantasy! It's terrible rating is waybetter than so many other games. The music was great and the battlesystem was unique. There were gems in the game, but by no means wasthis game magnificent.

10) This game just is the highest RPG I have. Next to Kingdom Hearts. TheCharacters are just great. From Living in Rabanastre, to fightingalongside the princess, the storyline is just way past fantastica!

When I first bought this game, I thought it would be like the last RPGsquare enix had created. Just picture perfect. The races in the gameare excellent.

If you don't have the game, get 50 bucks go to a video game store andget this game, you won't never regret it. I said it before and I'll sayit again, This game is just perfect. The gameplay, the story, thecharacters is perfect. Rock on Square.

• The first Final Fantasy game to be exclusively online. Also, coincidentally, the first massively-multiplayer online role-playing game to have a discernible beginning and ending, with a story line that every player can experience at any time.
• Although wildly popular in the US (with more than 500,000 subscribers as of early 2004), the game was less so in Japan. Square-Enix made a public claim that unless they could get 200,000 Japanese players to sign up and play the game, it would not be exported to the US due to financial failure. The release of the PS2 version shot up sales enough for US players to get the game.
• The only game on the US market that is sold with a PS2 hard drive (40GB). Although more games have plans to use the hard drive (such as Resident Evil: Outbreak), there is currently (as of September 2004) no other way to get the hard drive than to buy the Playstation 2 version of Final Fantasy XI.

• Due to the fact that Final Fantasy X is the first game in the series to have spoken dialogue by all the main and certain secondary characters, The principal hero,(default name Tidus) is never actually referred to by name by any of them; this is mostly due to the fact that the player is allowed to change his name at the beginning. In the pre-voice games, the hero’s name merely appeared as text to be inserted into dialogues where necessary.
• The logo that appears before before the opening titles (with the caption “Final Fantasy X Project 1999-2002″), can also be seen as a tattoo on Jecht, and on several pieces of clothing that Tidus wears.
• Some of the half-buried objects in the desert resemble pod racer engines from Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace (1999).
• In the Ainu language, Tidus means “sun”, Wakka means “water”, and Yuna means “moon, flower”.
• When the party arrives at the city of Luca, the music playing in the background is “Brahne Appears – The Play Begins”, which was the opening theme to the play “I Want to Be Your Canary” performed by Zidane’s group Tantalus in Final Fantasy IX.
• It pre-sold a million copies in Japan in a record breaking 17 days.
• Final Fantasy X is the first numbered Final Fantasy game to feature a musical score that is not completely credited to Nobuo Uematsu, who has written the music for Final Fantasy since it’s inception.
• The majority of the English dialogue was not based to the actual game footage; the only guidance the voice actors had were samples of the original Japanese dialogue, and they rarely had the opportunity to sync their dialogue with actual footage. Once the voice recording was complete, sound editors would digitally speed up or slow down the audio clips in order to fill the character’s allotted speaking time for each particular line.
• Lulu uses dolls as weapons throughout the game. The dolls are based on characters from other games in the Final Fantasy series; Lulu’s starting weapon is the only appearance of the regularly featured ‘moogle’ characters, and her most advanced weapon is a rendition of the interchangeable Onion Knights from Final Fantasy III, which was unreleased in America until 2006.
• The game is also the only Final Fantasy game in the series which does not use the ATB variant system, and uses a sphere grid system in it’s place.
• The lyrics to the Hymn of the Fayth (“Ieyui Nobomenu Renmiri Yojuyogo Hasatekanae Kutamae”) are in Japanese. The English translation is “Pray Saviour Dream Child of Prayer Forever and ever Bring us peace”.
• Yuna and Rikku are the only two playable characters to have a costume change.
• Character designer Tetsuya Nomura has identified the South Pacific, Thailand and Japan as major influences on the cultural and geographic design of Spira, particularly concerning the geographic location of the southern islands; Besaid and Kilika.
• Development for Final Fantasy X began in 1999, costing approximately four billion Japanese yen (approximately 32.3 million in the US) with a crew of more than 100 people, most of whom worked on previous games in the series.
• Final Fantasy X marks the first time regular series composer Nobuo Uematsu has had any assistance in composing the score for a game in the main series.
• Japanese and Western critics have generally given Final Fantasy X high review scores. The Japanese video game magazine Famitsu and Famitsu PS2 awarded the game a near-perfect 39/40 score, and readers of the former magazine voted it the best game of all time in early 2006. Another Japanese gaming magazine called The Play Station gave the game a score of 29/30. Famitsu, Famitsu PS2, and The Play Station expressed particularly favorable responses toward the game’s storyline, graphics, and movies.
• Producer Yoshinori Kitase felt that if the setting went back to a medieval European fantasy, it would not seem to help the development team advance. While he was thinking of different world environments, scenario writer Kazushige Nojima suggested a fantasy world that incorporated Asian elements.
• Sub-character chief designer Fumi Nakashima’s focus was to ensure that characters from different regions and cultures bore distinctive characteristics in their clothing styles, so that they could be quickly and easily identified as members of their respective sub-groups. For example, she has said that the masks and goggles of the Al Bhed give the group a “strange and eccentric” appearance, while the attire of the Ronso lend to them being able to easily engage in battle.
• Wakka is the only character in the game that can hit flying enemies in battle and attack physically from a long range.
• Tidus, Wakka and Rikku are the only three characters in the game that can fight underwater.
• Rikku is the youngest of the seven characters and Auron is the oldest.
• Yuna is the only playable character that can summon aeons.
• The character of Auron is ranked fifth on EGM’s Top Ten Badass Undead.
• Out of the seven Celestial weapons, only Tidus’ and Auron’s do not have the Double AP ability.
• Kimahri’s Sphere Grid is the only one in the game that does not have a predetermined course.

• Continuity: During the Blitzball games, when a player shoots the ball from very close to the goal, often times during the shots of the ball traveling towards the goal, the ball will be traveling from behind the player who shot the ball to begin with. Also if a player passes the ball a second or two before either halftime or the end of the match, the player will be shown throwing the ball, only to have the ball re-appear on the player’s hand a second later.
• Continuity: During the game Wakka says “Hating your own father, huh? Sounds like a luxury to me. I don’t remember my parents. Can’t say how I feel about ‘em” to which Lulu replies “I… I was five then… so I remember mine a little.” which suggests that Lulu is older than Wakka, but in the character information pages of the guide, it says that Lulu is 2 years younger than Wakka.
• Revealing mistakes: When Yuna has performed the sending in Kilika and Lulu says “No tears next time”, behind them on the right hand side of the screen can be seen someone who is wearing the exact same clothes as Yuna with the same hairstyle.

• Continuity: During cut scenes in the game, the characters’ weapons keep alternating between the ones they have equipped and their default weapons (e.g. Tidus’s “Brotherhood” sword).
• Continuity: After visiting Macalania Temple, the group are knocked down below the lake ice by the Wendigo. While they are under, they are quite close to the temple yet they fell several miles away from it. They couldn’t have had time to move as Tidus regains consciousness for the first time in that location.

• Continuity: SPOILER: When Tidus is beginning to disappear, Yuna runs to stop him but falls through him. In that shot, the rest of Yuna’s guardians are in the background. When Yuna stands and says that she loves Tidus, Tidus hugs her and her guardians are no longer there. But when Tidus walks through Yuna, they are in the background again.

Final Fantasy X brings the game series into a lot of new territory. It beingthe first FF game for the Playstation 2 console, the graphics are even moreincredible than those in any game before it. It’s also the first game in theseries to use spoken dialogue. Each of the main characters has a distinctivevoice. While the acting isn’t top notch, it’s easy to listen to most of thetime and the voices fit the characters well. For a first attempt, Square dida fantastic job.

Changes to the way the game works came as well. Rather than a normalleveling system, in which characters become stronger in every category bygaining X amount of experience points, the stats of each character areimproved through use of the new Sphere Grid system. Characters earn pointsto move around the grid and use spheres to activate points, allowing them toboost individual statistics, such as maximum hit points or magic defense, aswell as learn new spells and abilities.

The player also has the option to switch characters in and out of battle atwill. A welcome addition, now every character can get in on a fight and gainpoints to use on the Sphere Grid.

Last but not least, the storyline of Final Fantasy X is wonderful. Thecharacters have definite personality, and the protagonist, Tidus, is a greatcharacter. Unlike past Final Fantasy heroes like Squall and Cloud, Tidusisn’t a brooding, stoic person lacking in the emotional department. He’soutgoing, adventurous, humorous and has a full range of emotions, making himfeel more like the average guy rather than yet another tragichero.

In short, Final Fantasy X is an excellent game and shouldn’t be missed. Evenif you’ve never played a role playing game before, it’s easy to pick up andlearn. Years from now, fans of the series will have many fond memories ofthis game.

2) Probably half of the people complaining here never made it past the firstten hours, which are, undoubtedly, as slow as can be. Out of that tenhours, it feels like you fight ridiculously easy battles for maybe an hourof it, walk for two hours of it, and sit through cinematics for the otherseven hours. I don’t know if that is completely accurate, but that is whatit feels like.

But if you can survive past that, the game becomes more engrossing. Thegame doesn’t stop as often and you fight far more regularly. You have to,otherwise you won’t be powerful enough to move forward. I don’t know whypeople complain about the Sphere Grid. Sure, you may no longer have hitpoints, but the Sphere Grid has its own unique challenges. And the weaponsand armor? Again, it is no longer as easy as to look at your menu and seenumbers rise just to know that your weapons / armor are better. You arejust forced to plan better.

All in all, I would not complain at all about this game, except for thatvery tedious first 10 hours, but, considering it took me 60 hours to finishthe game–including the main quest and all side quests–you definitely won’tfeel like your experience is cut short, as a result.

3) Final Fantasy, considered by many to be the greatest video game RPG seriesever, hell even having been one of the first and defining ones, makes thejump to the Playstation 2 with it’s God-Knows-How-Many bits of power.Videogame RPGs were once known for sacrificing graphics in favor of a lenghtlystory and intricate combat system; however, the final fantasy series hasbeen gradually defeating that steriotype with each new game. And now, thetenth installment of the series succeeds in creating a long and engrossinggameplay experience while producing some of the finest graphics seento-date. Not only that, but the design of these graphics are nothing shortof beautiful (Although at times in odd taste. I mean, just look at Tidus’outfit!)

Graphics aside, Final Fantasy X dwelves into new territory previouslyunseenin any FF game: Voice acting! While this may frighten purists, you will beglad to hear that the voice acting in this game is very good for the mostpart. The principal characters are all handled quite proffessionaly,especially Wakka, as performed by John Di Maggio.

The story of final fantasy is also quite complex and engrossing, as Tidus,the cheery Blitzball player of the futuristic fantasy land of Zanarkand istransported a thousand years into the future by an entity called "Sin." Hefinds himself in a quasi-medieval world of Spira, where machinery isoutlawed by the religion of Yevon, and the land is ravaged by Sin as apunishment for mankind’s missdeeds of the past. The only means ofdefeatingSin is for a Summoner, a person who can summon montrous spirits of thedeadcalled "Aeons", to embark on a pilgrimage to the ruins of Zanarkand toreceive the "Final Aeon". With the Final Aeon, a summoner can defeat SinandSpira will be at peace for a few years before Sin rises again. Wanting tosee his homeland of Zanarkand, Tidus joins Summoner Yuna, the daughter ofasummoner who defeated Sin ten years ago, along with her guardians todefeatSin. However, as Tidus travels forth, he discovers that there is much moreto Spira, Zanarkand, Yevon, Sin and even his own purpose for being therethan he initially finds.

Gameplay-wise, it’s roughly the same menu battle system as in previousgames, except that a chart shows you who’s turn it’s going to be next andthe others after that. (Of course, depending on the choices in battle,thatchart could mutate, so it’s not too simple or easy.)Leveling up is also much different than in previous games. In battle,characters earn "AP" which gives them "Moves" on the sphere grid. TheSheregrid is like a board game. As a character moves along, he can activate"nodes", which boost different abilities, using spheres earned inbattle.

Overall, Final Fantasy X is a big change from previous FF games, whilealsoretaining familiar aspects enough to be a FF game. In spite of thechanges,or perhaps even because of them, FFX is probably the best RPG available onthe PS2 at the moment, and will follow the suit of previous FF games as"Classics."

4) It’s rare to hear a video game being compared to a piece of literature, butFinal Fantasy X reminds me of nothing so much as Chaucer’s THE CANTERBURYTALES. (Perhaps it more accurately compares to Dan Simmons HYPERION, butsince HYPERION was loosely based on Chaucer, well…)

A summoner and her six guardians embark on a holy pilgrimage whose loftygoal is to save the world from suffering, if only for a short while. Thecloser they get to their destination, the more treacherous the way becomesas forces gather to divert or destroy them before they can achieve theirgoal.

Along the way, the stories of the seven are shared: where they came from,how they became a part of this journey. We watch as their individualstories combine into an epic tale of love, camaraderie, sorrow, sacrifice,and triumph.

In a business filled with shoot-em-ups and car crashes, it’s wonderful tosee a series that tries to stretch the form in ways that resemble art andliterature, truly exploring the possibility of video game as an artform.

As to the voice work that so many people complain of, I can only believethat these people were looking for big-name Hollywood stars to provide thevoices of the characters–take a look at the resumes of the actors whoprovide voices for FFX and you’ll find a history of American animation forthe last 10 years. Check your own expectations before you criticize and youmay find, as Shakespeare said, that "the fault lies not in our stars, but inourselves."

5) I like this game the best out of the series because it has good graphics,battle scenes, and a good story. Even the side quests are fun to attempt.I’ve played the game ever since it first came out and I still like to playit and beat it because the story just gets me to play it so much that Ihardly get off the game. Blitzball is also a plus in the game, because Ilove to play it a lot when I feel like taking a break from leveling up agood bit. I just can’t wait for the sequel to come out so I can at leastunderstand what happened at the end.

6) This game really pulled me in. At first I was like, this is just going tobe another video game. But I started identifying with the main characterTidus and his feelings for Yuna. I really liked how this game made me laughat times and made me emotional at other times.

Final Fantasy X is in my opinion, a brilliant combination of Star Wars, Lordof the Rings, and the Golden Compass trilogy of books. It’s like a romancenovel for straight men.

7) 2001 was such a great year for video-games and for Sony. Three of the bestgames game out for that system and showed the world what games can do.GrandTheft Auto III pushed the envelope with its graphic content and greatstory.Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty showed us what console games arecapableof doing graphically with stunning effects. Then you have Final Fantasy X,agreat blend of both games. Yes, the voice acting hurts (due to the factthatthe lips were modeled after Japanese and not English, unlike MGS2) but thegreat cast, incredible story-line and beautiful cut-scenes (CG and FMV)makethis game a must own and true pleasure to play.

What to say about Square's first of four ff's for the PS2…well forone it is easily the best out of the one's I have played. Never playedthe online one, I thought 10-2 was really good too, but not quite up tothis one and part twelve seemed a step backward in terms of story andcharacter graphics. This is the first ff to feature voice dialog and itworks rather well considering it is the first time it has been used ina ff. The characters are all good from Tidus, to Wakka, Yuna, the cuteRikku, the rather hot goth Lulu, the beastly Kimariah, to one of themost cool characters ever in a Final Fantasy Auron. The story is topnotch a young man transported to a world where there is a beast namedSin terrorizing the world and a young woman must make a pilgrimage tothe city the young man may have come from to find the means to defeatthe monster for another ten years of peace. The fighting is turn basedand another first as you have the ability to switch in and outcharacters in the middle of battle, thus allowing you to level everyoneup during every battle…also everyone gets to contribute to thevictory. You level via a grid based system that is easy to pick up too.The game is rather linear in nature as you pretty much stay on courseand you can't really do any of the extra stuff until you get theairship at near the end of the game. Which this does not bother me as Iprefer this to the more open ended role playing games. You can thoughplay a game called blitz ball for a little extra fun…I am rather goodat this game and it is a really fun mini game. So for a well roundedFinal Fantasy with good graphics good story and very few weaknesses tryX.

9) WARNING: I advise anyone who has not finished the game to not read thiscomment.

Final Fantasy X is without a doubt the best game ever. I'd say thatthis game has it all. Adventure, sorrow, happiness, love, fighting,good musical rhythms, and endless sarcasm… what more could you wantin a game? This is a game that any video game lover should not gowithout ever playing, and I am going to go through the game piece bypiece to explain to you why it is a perfect example for a video gameshould be.

We start out with Tidus, a Blitzball player from Zanarkand whose lifegoes on a spiral of endless adventures once he is ambushed by an entitycalled Sin, which we find out later in the game is his father Jecht.After he is sucked into another time zone, he ends up meeting a varietyof colorful and ever so lovable characters that turn out to be the bestthat has ever happened to him, especially his lover Yuna, a summonerfrom Besaid who is on a pilgrimage to destroy Sin and rid Spira of itforever. The game also includes Lulu, my favorite character, a blackmage with dark sarcasm but a good heart. Rikku, probably the mostlovable character, an energetic Al Bhed. Wakka, another fellow Blitzerwho fights with his Blitzball. Auron, Tidus's fathers Jecht's entrustedfriend who is set out to help Tidus and Yuna through out their "story",and Kimahri, a Ronso who fights with a powerful spear.

After we get a LOT more time to know these characters, the journeybegins and we are set off to numerous islands, towns, cities and realmswhere we fight off never-ending fiends, earn powerful creatures knownas Aeons, and make some mortal enemies, such as Seymour.

Oh well, no need for me to babble on about the absolutely magnificentand breathtakingly wonderful characters when you've played the game.Some other things that makes Final Fantasy X the best game ever, isthat you are never for one bit bored or uninterested. I love how itsucks you in right from the beginning and never lets go. It has awesomebattles, great graphics in their movies, and perfect songs and scoresthat fit in with the many different moods and atmospheres of the game,which keeps you on edge every second on the second. The many differenttwists and turns that this game makes up where you have no idea what'sgoing to happen next are absolutely MIND WRACKING! It's also verychallengingly difficult which makes the game even more addictive thanit already is.

The REAL sorrow, is when the game is over. Tidus returns to his owntime in Zanarkand by jumping off the airship after Yuna gives aheart-wrenching weep and jumps forward to hug him and falls through hisfading body which IMMEDIATELY puts you in tears for the rest of theending of the game, where Yuna is left giving a powerfully poeticspeech that makes you bawl your eyes out even more, because you havefallen so in love with these characters and hate to see them go, but atthe same time, are so glad that you had the chance to partake in such apowerful and beautiful video game, and who could forgot Suteki Da Ne,PERFECT ending song for this game. I couldn't help but play it all overagain.

There you have it. This is my favorite game of all time simply becauseall the characters are characterized perfectly by the actors playingthem, it has the best adventure game plot that I have ever encountered,the way that all the twists and turns are carefully planned out justshock me and excite me even more to reach the conclusion of thenon-stop entertaining game, and that it can bring out every emotionknown to man in you while you're playing it.

Final Fantasy X is a greatly marvelous game that sets an unbeatablereputation for video games everywhere. I practically worship it andwill never even begin to think another video game is better than it,EVER…

10) Dear Readers,

Final Fantasy is my favorite game series. They are THE greatest gamesever made. The Nintendo games were stellar enough, but FFVII, FFVIII,and FIX raised the bar by incorporating 3-D graphics and specialeffects while at the same time delivering amazing story lines andcolorful characters and wicked plot twists. Now the bar has been raisedonce again with the second greatest Final Fantasy game (Sorry FFX fans,nothing can top FFVII): Final Fantasy 10. With a breathtaking storyabout sacrifice, forbidden love and passion, twisted desires, andreligious power, FFX is the best game of the PS2…though I have yet toplay FFVII: Dirge of Cereberus.

The story centers around a Blitzball (Type of underwater sport similarto Basketball and Soccer) player name Tidus who, along with hismysterious mentor Auron, gets sucked into the ravaged world of Spira,which is under constant siege by a gigantic abomination called Sin.Upon meeting the Summoner Lady Yuna, Tidus and his new found friendsWakka the Blitzball player, Kimahri the Ronso, and Lulu the Black Mage,set off on the Summoner's pilgrimage to save Spira…and in turndiscover the true face of the god Yevon and the horrifying truth aboutthe final Summon monster and Sin.

There is so much to tell about FFX that I simply must say you shouldplay it for yourselves. But here's some cool tidbits that you mightlike:

1. Characters with real voices and facial expressions – Whilevoice-acting is quite familiar with video games, FFX uses vivid facialexpressions and dubs the characters every step of the journey.

2. Easier battle system – A sad departure from the ATB (Active TimeBattle System) FFX has a normal turn-based system but the cool thing islater in the game your characters are fast enough that they can havetwo to three turns before the enemies can even attack.

3. A worthy villain – Sephiroth left the bar pretty high in FFVII, andfrom what I've heard Ultimecia and Kuja couldn't raise it. Don't worry,the Insane Death-obsessed Seymour is almost as good as Sephiroth, andhis chillingly calm voice just freaks you out as well as his hellishtransformations and magic attacks.

4. Amazing Graphics – This is really where FFX shines. The producerspushed the limit of the PS2's graphics and created the breathtaking,sweeping land that is Spira. Also, the characters are Human-shaped likein FFVIII, not the semi-deformed chibis of most of the other games.More so, the monsters, Spells, and the amazing Summons are richlydetailed and will not leave you feeling unimpressed.

5. Summoning – Finally, you get to control the summon monsters asactual characters. Yuna can summon in an Aeon, through a very sweetsequence, and they can unleash amazing attacks that will rip throughthe enemies like butter.

Point blank: Buy this game. It's the perfect way to experience FinalFantasy. Then, if you want a REAL challenge, pick up a copy of FFVII orFFVI on Final Fantasy Anthologies and play them. You will not bedisappointed.

Signed, The Constant DVD Collector