October 21st, 2002 - Not too long ago, a game codenamed "The Final Fantasy X Project", better known as simply "Final Fantasy X" came to Japan and the United States, then six months later the Europeans got their copy. Love it or hate it, Square has comfirmed and released pictures of the sequel to one of the most sucessful Final Fantasy games to date. Complaints? Sure, but look at the PlayStation 2 line-up; money is in the sequels.

Jumping The Gun

Since when have Final Fantasy games ever had a true sequel? Never! And if it was up to the fans as to which game should receive a sequel, chances are Final Fantasy VI or VII would be the most popular choice - everybody wonders what happened to Cloud and the gang. No, instead Squaresoft is making the first Final Fantasy X sequel game, the first of a predicted five.

"Five?" I hear you say. Well, within a couple of years the generation of Final Fantasy X games should look like this:

• Final Fantasy X
• Final Fantasy X International
• Final Fantasy X-2
• Final Fantasy X-3
• Final Fantasy X-0 (prequel as many are hoping for)
• Final Fantasy X Platinum/Greatest Hits range
• Final Fantasy X Special Edition (most probably the same game but comes complete with a t-shirt)

Of course, not everything on this list is comfirmed but it is likely, it will cost the collector up to £290.

News

You want news on the game, well here it is. Tidus is nowhere in sight, instead Yuna takes lead as the main character, and possible major characters are Lulu and Rikku. Little is known on the gameplay though, it will most probably be RPG format, but could be an adventure in the form of Ominshua or Tombi with a few RPG elements. From the scenes, we have seen Yuna jumping, which is a brand new Final Fantasy feature (other than the Dragoons) and a couple of bosses. Most shocking of all is Yuna's appearence. She no longer looks like she did, this time our Yuna is a scatily clad woman, breasts and tight gear, the lot, but the most shocking is that fact she is carrying a pair of guns. It appears there is an absence of Auron, Kimahri and Tidus, oh well, not many are fans of those three anyay, but it would be good to see Wakka back, go on, give him his own game.

The game looks much better too. The picture where Yuna is jumping sees amazing detail on the background, much better than that of Final Fantasy X, the spirits are more detailed too, one scene shows many different people on a bridge.

Is this official, or just some kid on his Paintshop Pro again?

Nope, it is true, it looks true and has already been published in Japanese gaming magazines. GameFAQs has a messageboard for the game - they never make boards for uncomfirmed games, and Squaresoft will be updating PlayOnline with this information soon.

One thing to remember, if this game goes well, not only will we have a pitful army of Final Fantasy X games, but we could have spin offs of other hits like VI, VII and VIII. Who would like to see Neo Midgar up and running, the adventures of Laguna and what became of Edgar, Celes and Terra?

Give me the loot

Okay, here are the pictures which are floating around many websites:

Scans from Japanese magazine "Jump"...	...featuring character artwork and screenshots.

2D platforming game? Here's hoping!