How Final Fantasy X's massive changes set the future for Final Fantasy's biggest problems

FINAL. FANTASY. X. After the final PS1 release was a mechanical, graphical, and literary callback to the deepest roots of the series, the first PS2 release set the tone for what this series would look–and, to an extent, play–like for the next quarter-century of HD video and streamed digital audio. We also check out how Game Informer has continued to grow and change since we last looked–years away from it being a glorified store catalog, but also years from it being the best magazine in the business. The seeds of the final form are present in here; are there seeds of the former? Aidan and Ty kick it all off with a surprisingly timely-for-Bluesky discussion on which super-popular games they’ve disliked, why, and what it means when that happens. 0:00 Cold open & Intro 02:02 What popular games do we dislike? 07:18 Is Chrono Trigger the best Dragon Quest? 10:18 Ty's ethical ping pong childhood 19:20 What's the deal with Game Informer 105? 23:31 The flip-through! 39:39 Game Informer's Top 10 Games of 2001! 47:29 We've got mail! 50:35 Reviewing GI 105's review of Final Fantasy X 57:41 Are 1/10s more rare than 10/10s? 1:11:10 Did Final Fantasy X change the series for good? Or bad? 1:21:12 Final Fantasy's crazy late-90s release schedule 1:29:04 Was Final Fantasy typically evolutionary or revolutionary? 1:42:04 Our scores 1:46:19 Outro & Credits As always, we streamed this recording session live to FunFactor ULTRA members–so if you’d like to get in on the fun, just sign up at funfactorpod.com! We'll see you on the Discord, and you’ll see us when we next go live! Issue Link: https://archive.org/details/game-info... Video games mentioned in this episode: Advance Wars Airblade Animal Crossing: New Horizons Breakout Captain Tsubasa Chrono Trigger Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Command & Conquer Renegade Dead or Alive 3 Devil May Cry Dragon Quest 5 Dragon Quest 8 Dragon Quest 11 Enclave Final Fantasy 5 Final Fantasy 6 Final Fantasy 7 Final Fantasy 7 Remake Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth Final Fantasy 8 Final Fantasy 9 Final Fantasy 10 Final Fantasy 10-2 Final Fantasy 11 Final Fantasy 12 Final Fantasy 13 Final Fantasy 14 Final Fantasy 14: A Realm Reborn Final Fantasy 15 Final Fantasy 16 Grand Theft Auto Grand Theft Auto 2 Grand Theft Auto 3 Grand Theft Auto 4 Grand Theft Auto Online Gran Turismo 3: A-Spec Halo Helldivers 2 ICO Jeremy McGrath's Supercross World Kinetica Klonoa 2: Lunatea's Veil Legacy of Kain: Blood Omen 2 The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages Life is Strange Life is Strange: Double Exposure Life is Strange: Reunion Malice: Kat's Talek Marathon Mario Kart World Max Payne Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty The Mummy Returns Octopath Traveler Oddworld: Munch's Oddysee PaRappa the Rapper Shrek Silent Hill 2: Restless Dreams Spider-Man: The Movie Soldier of Fortune Gold SSX Star Wars Rogue Leader Stunt GP Tekken Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 Twisted Metal: Black V.I.P. Virtua Fighter Wreckless Yager ### Sources include the ‪@GameHistoryOrg‬, the Internet Archive, Retromags.com, original research, and our personal magazine collections. The FunFactor theme, and all other original songs, are composed and performed by ‪@MillenniumFalck‬. Check out his work at millenniumfalck.com! B-roll and game footage provided by ‪@mylifeingaming‬! Other sources include: - ‪@UsaSatsui‬ - ‪@NiallStenson‬ - ‪@gameinformer‬ - ‪@unfgames‬ EGM Muckrack Time Extension Boss Fight Books John B. Carnett/Popular Science - ‪@pieceoftheaction‬ IGN Wikipedia Square Enix No Watermark Clips