OK, first of all, this needs to be said. The graphics in this game are amazing, considering the platform it was released on and the other two Final Fantasy games of the generation. Square really managed to squeeze every last bit of power from the hardware and combine it with excellent design and style perfectly. Comparing this game to Final Fantasy VIII looks like comparing two different console generations. Secondly, it’s apparent from the start the game has a huge amount of charm. They tried to capture that childhood nostalgia and they succeeded.
The jump in FMV quality was even more astounding.
The start of the game is mostly storytelling. The main character is Zidane, who is just a regular guy with a tail. He’s a member of Tantalus, a theater troupe that doubles as a gang of thieves. They arrived to Alexandria from Lindblum on their theater airship. They will be acting out a popular play but have been hired, at the same time, to kidnap the princess Garnet Til Alexandros XVII.
I bet!
The story then switches to a small black mage called Vivi. He arrives to Alexandria with a ticket for the show, but it turns out it’s fake, so he joins forces with a rat kid and manages to sneak in to the show from the walls.This introduction also includes a tutorial battle against the troupes boss wearing a dragon mask. The battles in this game include four characters at once, which is also a return to the older games, from the Nintendo era. There’s a large emphasis on stealing from bosses. They usually hold items you can’t get otherwise until later in the game, so it’s usually a good idea to try and get them. Since Zidane is a thief, he usually spends most of the battle stealing.
Vivi is one of my favorite characters in the whole series.
Everyone realizes what’s happening and the queen orders fire on the ship. The troupe manages to get away, but the ship is badly damaged so they crash in the area under the mist, in a forest.Zidane and his friend, Blank sneak out during the show and disguise as guards to enter the castle. The thing is, the princess decides to run away anyway, so she ends up outright asking Zidane to kidnap her. They start running, but the princess’s loyal knight, Steiner, follows, thinking she needs help. Thanks to Blank continuing to pose as a guard and distracting Steiner, they manage to get to the ship. They clash with Steiner there, get mixed up with the play and in the meantime, Vivi gets to the stage trying to run away from a guard asking for his ticket.
