Final Fantasy lives on

An online version is due for release soon

For a computer game with the name Final Fantasy it seems almost perverse that it has now reached its 10th incarnation.

Final Fantasy X is the latest in the line of hugely-successful role playing video games, created by the Japanese company Squaresoft.

The game features high-quality video sequences

The games have become one of the bedrocks of the games industry, so much so that when reports the games franchise was to be made for the GameCube emerged, shares in Nintendo actually leapt up on the stockmarket.

The game is released in the UK later this month but has already racked up sales of more than four million copies worldwide, and the series as a whole has shifted more than 38 million copies.

The series of games, each with a different story and scenario, have millions of fans worldwide. A recent film, Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within, capitalised on the success of the games.

Fantasy land

The hallmarks of a Final Fantasy game are breathtaking visuals, with long cinematic sections, involving gameplay, a complex storyline and lots and lots of combat.

Each games is set in a fantasy land, populated by a myriad of creatures and characters.

But much has been expected of FFX, as it is known, because it is the first of the series to appear on the PlayStation 2.

The producer Shinji Hashimoto told BBC News Online: "The biggest difference with X is that because of the change of hardware we have more quality, improved graphics and sound.

"We have more voiceovers for the character so the story becomes more dramatic. It is a more attractive and exciting story."

Cinema

Certainly, FFX is the most impressive to look at to date and bears comparison with the recent feature film and as the games become more complex the line between game and film blurs.

Combat is a key element of the game

But director Yoshinori Kitase said it never ceases to be a game.

"This is a game and nothing but although we are using certain cinematic techniques.

"If one could compare games and films - this is precisely what we want. It's the direction we want to go in."

This game is a turning point for our company and for the series at large

Yoshinori Kitase

It takes about 300 people a full year to produce a Final Fantasy title - an equivalent number to the people working on an animated film.

In the game, characters have wide-ranging attributes, including magic and some of the battles have an epic quality, reminiscent of the films of Akira Kurosawa.

Kazushige Nojima, a scenario writer for the game, said: "The story is not confined to Japan at all.

Story

"It has to be a fictitious area or country to be accepted by everyone - Korean, English, Japanese.

"The story is a mixture of everything - it reflects the way I was brought up, born and brought up in Japan.

"I heard a lot of Japanese stories, some from China, and I read lots of Western stories."

The game was called Final Fantasy, explained Nobuo Uematsu, the music composer for the series, because it represented the last chance for Squaresoft.

"At the time of the first game Squaresoft was in financial difficulties and the director said 'give us the last game and if this is not a success we will give up'.

"It was the final game, the last chance and that is the reason for the name."

Major departure

One of the strangest aspects to the launch of FFX is that it has been almost completely overshadowed by reports about Final Fantasy XI.

The next generation in the series will be a major departure from the previous incarnations and will allow gamers to play against each other online.

A film version was released last year

Producer Shinji Hashimoto said: "Players will create their own storylines and interact with each other in FFXI. It will be a completely different experience."

Director Yoshinori Kitase said: "This game is a turning point for our company and for the series at large. It is something you have to really see."

Final Fantasy X is released for the PlayStation 2 on 24 May.