Final Fantasy 10- An Age Ends, Another Begins

The year was 2001. The era of the Playstation 1 was completely over. The Sega Dreamcast had died, and with it came an end to the gaming market of the 90's. Everything was changing, including the RPG market. In July of 2001, Squaresoft released one of their last games as an independent franchise, often seen as one of the greatest games in the series: Final Fantasy 10.

This may be our last chance to listen to his story.

I've already done a blog about Final Fantasy 10 (and Yuna) previously, so here's the link to that blog if you'd like a summation of the game's story: http://vidgameanalysis.blogspot.com/2013/10/the-top-11-video-game-heroes-number-3.html

Final Fantasy 10 is one of those games that you either adore to death, or hate to the core of your very being. Why? There are many, many reasons for this. One huge point of contention is the voice work. This was the first Final Fantasy that was fully voiced, and it shows, I am sad to say. Yuna's voice actress, in particular, tends to sound rather hurried, so her character's lines tend to sound, well, I don't want to say bad per se, but I wouldn't call it good. Here's an example:

Another complaint in regards to the story is the characters, especially our main character Point of View character, Tidus. (Yuna is the main character, you can't convince me otherwise!). Tidus starts off the game as a bit of a whiny wuss, and though he does grow as a character, many can see his growth as being far too little, much too late.

The game is linear, and by that I mean that the game feels like you're going from Point A to Point B from start to finish. There is NO exploration, NO backtracking until near the last quarter of the game, and most maps consist, literally, of either a straight or a crooked line from one point to the other. This is justified, as the game IS about a pilgrimage, so it SHOULD be able to emulate that feeling of following a particular path. However, I ask this question: could it have been done better? Future games, especially Final Fantasy 12, prove that the Playstation 2 could handle huge worlds, so this is no question about the hardware.

Character designs vary from very good (Yuna, Rikku, Kimahri, and Auron), to mediocre (Lulu) to downright awful (Tidus, Wakka, Seymour Guado). I will admit, this is my biggest personal gripe with the game (aside from something personal I'd rather not discuss, sorry). I hate how some characters are designed. I hate Wakka's hair. I hate Tidus' pants. I hate Seymour's hair, face, and everything else.

Some gamers hated blitzball, because it was a sports mini game in an RPG, two gaming genres that don't often, if ever, overlay. I, for one, loved it, but that's a point of personal taste.

Personal taste, that's the key phrase there. Some gamers love a game, while others hate it. There is no such thing as a "universally loved game", because every game not only has its flaws, but what these flaws are varies greatly by one's personal tastes. What's good for one person, may be terrible for another.

Some gamers rather liked the linearity of the game because it helped the story remain focused better. In fact, too much freedom may distract from the story, which is one of the main points of playing an RPG anyway. When we look at Final Fantasy 12, we'll go more in depth at this idea.

However, this is where I actually have to throw my hat into the ring, because here I believe that the strict linearity works AGAINST the game. Spira, the world of Final Fantasy 10, is an absolutely beautiful world, with fascinating panoramas, including tropical islands, oceans, snowy mountains, ruined cities underwater, ruined temples in the middle of the ocean, and so on. All this effort placed into making such an original world, and a LOT of it, in my opinion, is wasted because not only do you only ever follow a beaten path, but you can't even move the camera! And yet, I have to remember that the linearity helps set the mood well enough for what the game is trying to convey.

Spira is, in my opinion, one of the most in depth worlds Square has ever made, a world that often feels real. I've criticized the worlds of Final Fantasy 7 and 8 previously, and 9's world, while cool, was not that fascinating. Spira, on the other hand, is an absolute wonder. I wouldn't call it as deep as Tolkien's Middle-Earth, as that would be an insult to Tolkien, but it is a good example of what I mean. The world of Spira is one that is rich in History (which happens to be my favorite subject), so that may be why I love it. There is certainly more to say about Spira than, say, the world of Final Fantasy 7 or 5.

The story, one of the most important parts of any RPG, is what we need to talk about now. There is a lot to love about this story, and at the same time, there is a lot to hate about it too. 

The main theme of the story is Death. Unlike Final Fantasy 9, which deals with how people react to the concept of death, Final Fantasy 10 deals with the reality of death. In Final Fantasy 10, death is not a romantic idea that one can mull about while staring at the stars, but rather, it's a reality that everyone in Spira has accepted could happen to them every day they wake up. I think that the difference in how each game deals with death can best be summarized thus:

Final Fantasy 9: "Someday I'll die."

Final Fantasy 10: "I might die today."

Another major theme to the game is Sacrifice. The story of Yuna and Tidus is one of Sacrifice, of giving something personal in order to let the world have something better. In this case, Yuna was willing to kill herself in order to give Spira a reprieve from Sin, if only temporary, and give them hope for a world without Sin through redemption, in accordance to the teachings of Yevon. Tidus embodies Sacrifice in his decision to defeat Yu Yevon, knowing that doing so would end his existence. Both Yuna and Tidus were willing to give their lives away for the sake of the world. The best part? The way they do it in no way whatsoever makes someone think "Yuna or Tidus equals Jesus!!!!111!!!" or some of that arm chair symbolism I despise so much.

The concept of Sin, is something I need to talk about. Sin is a giant whale monster that swims around, destroying everything in its path. This concept is awesome, because it gives the franchise a very original idea: a character that is more than a plot device, it's a force of nature. Squaresoft had previously made a villain in a similar vein in a game called Chrono Trigger, Lavos. But while Lavos was very behind the scenes, this big name that you saw every now and then, Sin is a force that you always feel. The game starts with a city being destroyed by Sin. You see the carnage, you get to move around in it, you LIVE the carnage. By doing this, the game adds that extremely necessary element of urgency to defeat the villain. Sin needs to be stopped, otherwise what happens to Zanarkand, will happen to the rest of Spira. Sin IS the bringer of death!

And I rolled my eyes at writing that. I wish they called this monster ANYTHING other than Sin. Alright, maybe not anything (the effect of Sin would have been destroyed entirely if it were called, say, Bambi), but I would have another name, for certain. Maybe Leviathan, or  Midgard Zomr, anything inspired from mythology. I wouldn't have minded even if the monster retained its original Japanese name, Shin! Why is this such a gripe to me? Because THIS is a prime example of arm chair symbolism! This is what I hate about Final Fantasy- they employ symbols that are as subtle as a sledgehammer to the face!

The Church of Yevon is another gripe I have with this game. Basically, this element serves as the giant "Organized Religion is teh ebil" bull pucky that you can hear from Reddit Atheists, Youtube Atheists, and the local college atheist community that thinks they are so smart because they picked up a Richard Dawkins book while they were 15 and read Also Sprach Zarathustra and other Nietzche works by the time they were 17. This is an insult, because merely saying "organized religion is evil" is a gross over-generalization of a subject that requires a lot of investigation, studying, and meditation. Yes, there are a lot of elements in organized religion that are deplorable, such as how many Catholic priests tend to violate children, or how Osama bin Laden used the religion of Islam to trick a bunch of bastards to hijack airplanes and crash themselves into the Twin Towers. But this isn't what organized religion is all about! Organized religion is about faith, about believing in something because believing in it is of great importance to you. Christianity is more than about Jesus dying for our sins, it's the idea that all our transgressions can be forgiven if we are truly remorseful for them. Catholicism is more than blind traditions and pointless ceremonies, it's about community that transcends national borders. Protestantism is about a focus on traditions with a biblical origin over extra biblical ones. Islam is more than worshiping Allah, it's about peace and humility in the face of God. Judaism is about community and togetherness. Buddhism is about self improvement and the journey for inner peace. And by having a game where the sole Religious Institution is actually a bunch of hypocrites that fool the world in order to maintain their power, that don't even believe in what they say, it's little more than mental masturbation for the anti religious.

One of the most important messages the game has is "you have to think for yourself". And yes, this is something I stand by. Great minds think for themselves, their voices are their own, their thoughts are born from their own experiences. And yes, sometimes we need to discard old dogmas if the world no longer needs them. This is best exemplified by Yuna rejecting the falsehoods of the Final Summoning, choosing instead to deal with Sin in a more permanent fashion. Yuna rejected something that gives the world a false hope (the Final Summoning, meant to destroy Sin, is not meant to destroy it permanently, nor was it ever intended to be so) in order to give the world REAL hope. And yes, I know that there are many out there that consider some ideas like Heaven or Nirvana to be false hopes. The difference, though? Yuna had substantial evidence that the Final Summoning is false, while no one has evidence either for or against the existence of deities.

What angers me, however, is not just the attack on religion, but the lack of subtlety about it. Final Fantasy 7 did it too, but they did it better, by giving Cid one of the best lines in the history of the franchise: "I don't give a rat's ass whether it's science or magical power. No, I guess if I had to choose, I'd rather put my money on the power of science. Humans who used to only roam around on the ground are able to fly now! And finally, we're about to go into outer space. Science is a "Power" created and developed by humans. And science just might be what saves this planet. I was able to earn my living thanks to science. So to me, there's nothing greater!" - Spoken when Cid pilots a rocket ship filled with Huge Materia headed towards Meteor, a move that proves futile anyway, but leads to Cid to realize just why Sephiroth truly needs to be stopped. Was Cid wrong to put his faith in science instead of magic? The game shows us that yes, he was, but it doesn't treat his belief as something to abhor, lament, or mock. It was wrong, simple as that. Cid had a belief based on his life experiences, and there is nothing wrong with that, but that did not make it factual. So, if Final Fantasy 7 could do this, why couldn't Final Fantasy 10?

On the other hand, this attack on organized religion is not 100% wrong. After all, the game also shows us the ugly side of organized religion: in bred bigotry. The Al Bhed, a race of people that live on Bikanel Island, are a people that are stigmatized by Spira for using machinery. This is not just the Yevon religion officially excluding them, this is the people of Spira outright shunning them for living a lifestyle they do not agree with. Like in real life, several religions, most famously Christianity, have utilized certain nations and minorities as scapegoats. made them into pariahs and outcasts. The best example is the Jewish people, and the way they have suffered under the Christians and the Muslims. This is a REAL issue, one that needs to be recognized and acknowledged, and one where the anti-religious are right about.

Like I've said, there is a lot to love in this game, and a lot to hate. Do I hate this game? No, but as you may have concluded, it is my second least favorite Final Fantasy, with only FF2 surpassing it in this regard. There are many, many people, however, that love this game, and with good reason: it resonates with them.

Final Fantasy 10 is a game that began a new era for the franchise. As of this entry, every Final Fantasy would be more cinematic in nature, taking away control from the player in order to present them a new type of narrative, one akin to viewing a film. To many, this is a bad thing, because it took away the interactivity that made previous Final Fantasies so fun. Once, you needed to push a button to go through dialogue boxes. With voice work, this is no longer possible. From this point onward, the RPG would become more cinematic as well, and with several genres of gaming integrating deep stories into their gameplay, such as the First Person Shooter and the platformer, once the model for 'brainless gaming', and with several non RPG franchises being known for their terrific stories, such as Bioshock, Uncharted, and God of War, the RPG's monopoly on deep, original stories was officially over, and with it, so was the Golden Age of the RPG.

Furthermore, the next year, Squaresoft released a film called Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within. It bombed, badly. With the film's failure, any hope of Final Fantasy being a multimedia franchise was dead, Hironobu Sakaguchi was fired from Squaresoft, and the company merged with its old rival, Enix, to form Square-Enix. The old era of Squaresoft as the King of the RPG was over.

And so, Final Fantasy 10 can be seen as a preview of things to come, a more melancholy look at the way the game industry always changes. The Golden Age was over, but, what will the future hold? Tune in next time when we look at Final Fantasy 11.