➤ Do not lose hope 🎮

The long assault of the Final Fantasy saga on Windows systems knows no rest: just the time to recover from the arrival, a month ago, of the ninth award-winning episode that there is already to change the icon on which to double click from the desktop. In fact, the tenth chapter also arrives on Steam in the remastered, remixed and bowed version also including the sequel Final Fantasy X-2, all in a convenient download of over 30 GB: those who do not have a fast connection should be patient because, as we will see in the body of the review, it is worth it.

After going through all the Sony consoles, Final Fantasy arrives on PC in a definitive anthology

A lot of stuff

But let's clarify: released respectively in 2001 and 2003 for PlayStation 2, the two "tomes" of the fantasy saga of Square Enix had already been revised and corrected in the release for PlayStation 3 and Vita towards the end of 2013.

On that occasion both had been brought together in a single compilation (at least in the international editions) in which the attention was basically concentrated on the technical aspect. The graphics for the home machine had been brought to HD-Ready with anti-aliasing (or to Full HD without) and even the intermission footage had been converted from 4: 3 to 16: 9 thanks to the work of the Virtuos Chinese software house, supervised by the parent company. The textures of the main characters had been updated to make them more defined, and there was also some embellishment work on the shadows and special effects. From the content point of view, however, there was nothing really striking, given that what would now be called DLCs had already been released previously in Japan; however, they have been wisely included in the final collection. The most significant changes basically concern the CGI movie Eternal Calm, which connects Final Fantasy X to X-2, guaranteeing a narrative continuum; then there is the additional level, again for X-2, called Last Mission, a sort of roguelike set in a tower. At the end of the credits there is then the audio-drama Will, that is a dialogue between two unpublished characters, Chuami and Kurgum, which takes place while the artwork of the two episodes scroll on the screen and which tells us how the world of Spira has evolved a year after the conclusion of the second chapter. To be highlighted again how the remaster of Final Fantasy X-2 is based on the international version of the game, therefore with some options that were not available for the western market at the time of the original publication dated, as mentioned, 2003: we are talking about the Creature Creator that allows to capture non-player characters or monsters and use them in the party, some new outfits and other side missions.

Sometimes it's best not to remix

The soundtrack was also the subject of a remix by two of the three main authors: unfortunately, the most important one is missing, namely the essential Nobuo Uematsu, and the result was what many had ended up regretting the original one. . Fortunately, all 120 Final Fantasy X tracks have been included for the PC release, so you can switch between soundtracks at any time. That of Final Fantasy X-2, on the other hand, has not been subject to changes. Last year came the PlayStation 4 version that "theoretically" should have harnessed the greater computational power of the latest Sony console for what is the definitive edition of this masterpiece. The conditional is still a must because the frame rate, probably one of the most criticized aspects of the "improved" versions, was once again anchored to the 30 frames per second that characterized the production of the beginning of the millennium, while undergoing a further session from the the beautician had been the secondary characters and some scenarios guilty (or deliberately) neglected in the remaster for PlayStation 3; further improvements thanks to an AA filter finally available also for 1080p and small tweaks also for cinematic sequences; otherwise there were no other news to highlight.

Ten steps to the rise

We therefore come to the present day and to the awaited Steam release, which had begun to be rumored just over a year ago. It is in fact a conversion of the one for the PlayStation 4, with the addition of very small options that, while on the one hand certainly will not persuade the former owners to put their hand in the wallet again, on the other hand they prove very attractive for those who have never taken confidence with Tidus, Rikku and the others, as demonstrated by the more than 100.000 copies sold in the first week of launch. The launcher allows you to immediately select which title to launch, including the aforementioned extras Eternal Calm and Last Mission.

Once the game has been launched, you must then choose which soundtrack to use and whether to adopt the standard or advanced spherography. This is the characteristic character growth system introduced in Final Fantasy X and unfortunately no longer resumed in the following chapters: in the standard one the development takes place in a more guided way and practically following the natural inspiration of the protagonist, while in the advanced one you can decide to change its specialization. From a technical point of view there are practically no differences with the PlayStation 4 version: the graphics, as obvious, although restored, are affected by the weight of the years, but the work done by the new textures and "enhanced" special effects manages to make the title pleasant while maintaining the system requirements accessible to most users, including those that have notebooks with integrated graphics. In fact, even for them there will be no problem in keeping the execution speed anchored to 30 frames per second. Those who hoped for the fateful doubling of frames unfortunately have to deal with an engine designed for a system of the early 2000s that is extremely difficult to update: fortunately the code seems to be quite "moddable", as demonstrated by the project of a super fan. As for the substance, however, the considerations already formulated in recent months by Massimo and Antonio who had dealt with the previous Remasters and whose more in-depth judgments we refer to, obviously remain unchanged. The gameplay of what is considered the last true Final Fantasy (the eleventh and fourteenth have explored the terrain of MMORPGs, while Final Fantasy XII, not yet converted for PC, and the entire saga of Final Fantasy XIII, called Fabula Nova Crystallis, some styles have changed considerably) withstands the passage of time without being affected by rust. Spira's world is extremely evocative, the script (especially that of the progenitor) robust and the characters, as always, super empathetic; all then seasoned with mini games (present in massive doses in the second chapter) extremely "catchy". The combat system (we are always talking about Final Fantasy X) is stainless and replaces the well-known ATB with a more tactical CTB in which it is possible, among other things, to change the duelists during battles, while Final Fantasy X-2 introduces the concept of costumes (which will then be taken up by Lightning Returns) for which, depending on the clothing worn, the skills also change. The result is excellent and will keep both the most experienced users and those novice with this saga glued to the monitor. Also present in the Steam release are "boosters" which of course we recommend ignoring.

PC System Requirements

Test Setup

Operating system: Windows Vista
Processore: 2.4GHz quad-core CPU
Memory: 2 GB of RAM
Scheda video: NVIDIA Geforce GTX 450 / AMD Radeon HD 5750
Memory: 40 GB of available space

Minimum requirements

Operating system: Windows Vista
Processore: 2GHz Dual Core CPU
Memory: 1 GB of RAM
Video card: NVIDIA GeForce 9600GT / ATI Radeon HD 2600XT
Memory: 37 GB of available space
Scheda audio: DirectX Compatible Sound Card

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Digital Delivery Steam Price 24,99 € Resources4Gaming.com

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For those who have never succumbed to the temptation to play sitting on the sofa, it is certainly an opportunity not to be missed: at an introductory price of less than 20 euros (even if it is now at 24,99) Square Enix offers two of its most precious in a truly comprehensive and unpublished edition for the PC world. The good job of updating, while not making you tear your hair with joy, does its honest duty and returns one of the killer applications for PlayStation 2 to the new generations.