Voice acting has been an aspect of video games for a long time. It wasn’t always technically possible, and it certainly wasn’t always implemented well, but the advent of voice acting was supposed to herald a turning point for storytelling in video games. Voice actors were tasked with bringing characters to life, furthering immersion and creating tales to rival other media. But, for the humble RPG, it might just have had the opposite effect.

The RPG is characterised as having a strong focus on storytelling and creating an immersive world. Perhaps two of the most acclaimed RPGs ever made were Final Fantasy VII and Final Fantasy X, these games excelled at both storytelling and world building. Final Fantasy VII a Squaresoft Playstation and PC masterpiece – is a game predating the widespread use of voice acting, but whose characters have later been given a voice. In 2001, Final Fantasy X arrived and re-established what a mainstream RPG should be, and was the first completely voiced game in the series. We can compare these games in a case study for why voice acting has actually dulled the RPG genre and undermined its constructivist appeal.

One aspect of RPGs that ...

Happy Friday! I hope you've all enjoyed your week as much as good ol' Eyes on FF has. Let's find out what has been happening in the community this week.

• The big one, we are accepting Editor applications! That's right, it could be you here, instead of me, typing these words. If you've got an interest in writing and in Final Fantasy, and if you'd love to help out your favourite (we had better be your favourite!) FF site then please consider applying.

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"Hey! Call me a TREASURE HUNTER, or I'll rip your lungs out!" -Locke Cole, Final Fantasy VI


Hide your materia, folks! The thieves are on the loose! That's right. Today we're going to look at the thieves of the Final Fantasy series! These quick and nimble characters can take money and items from you if you don't hurry. But don't worry, because the thieves who are on your team can steal their fair share of gil and rare weapons themselves! They have a nifty ability called "steal" which is sure to increase your inventory in no time. To add insult to injury you can "mug" your opponents by stealing from them and attacking them at the same time! Want to end a battle in a hurry? That's no sweat either, because their great "flee" ability will ensure a safe exit. It might not be safe to have your back to the enemy, so make sure you're "alert" so that doesn't happen! Don't get me wrong, though. This is not to say the thief doesn't have any faults. While they do have great agility, accuracy, and evasion, they have a lack of defense and magic stats. Not to mention that they tend to only wear lightweight armor and carry ...

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In the Centra Ruins, Squall and his team must battle against the clock to obtain the legend that is Odin, an untameable force of power. Upon finding him, he will speak to Squall; "The weak shall perish. The strong shall triumph." Then, the battle will ensue to earn his sword in future battles.

Taken from Norse Mythology, the Final Fantasy inspiration for Odin is almost identical to his Godly self! In the Mythology, Odin is said to be the King of the Gods, and the grand ruler of Asgard. In artist depictions of him, he rides an eight legged horse named Sleipnir, and wields a spear which never misses its target, Gugnir.


Perhaps what sets Odin apart from the other summons is his stark resemblance to his mythological counterpart. He is a summon which is taken almost directly from actual mythology and is placed in the setting of the game.

Like the other recurring summons, Odin provides a familiarity to Final Fantasy, and he’s a firm favourite with fans of the ...

The accuracy of the common mantra “sex sells” is apparent in all forms of media: from movies and TV shows to magazines to video games. Sexy, scantily clad female characters in video games are widely celebrated, from Lara Croft to, well, the entire Dead or Alive cast. If you were to ask gamers who the most well-known Final Fantasy woman was, the buxom Tifa Lockhart would undoubtedly be a popular response. But these characters have also received criticism for their appearance.


Commonly, a female character’s outfit or pose is not out of any practical reason such as protection, comfort, or ease of movement, but to arouse the viewer. If video games were to be believed, skin-tight and revealing clothing is the most comfortable and practical clothing available for all circumstances, and that bending over sexily is the most natural position for a woman to be in. But if the male characters tried to similarly show themselves off, the results would be patently silly. Why is this any more tolerable coming from women?


A common response to these points is that the game developers ...

The Speed Demos Archive is once again raising money by speed running through various games very quickly! Gathering donations for the Prevent Cancer foundation. A team of gamers, this year including our very own Denmark, will be quickly working their way through a various amount of games from Jan 6th through the 12th. In fact it's a whole whooping 115 games to be played!


If you donate you may also have a chance to get some prizes! Some of the highlighted games are:

Super Mario Bros. 3 and Super Mario World
Zelda II: The Adventure of Link, Zelda: A Link to the Past, Zelda: Ocarina of Time, and Zelda: Wind Waker
Super Metroid, Zero Mission, Metroid Prime 1 and 2
Mega Man 4, 9, 10, and X
Metal Gear Solid 3
Mike Tyson's Punch Out
Castlevania 1 and 3
Mass Effect
Portal 2
Doom 1 and 2
Devil May Cry 3
New Super Mario Bros. and New Super Mario Bros. Wii
StarCraft 2
Final Fantasy IX

Of course there are many more than that but as you can see Final Fantasy IX is their very last game. That's right! After a week, FF IX will be there to end the whirlwind of gaming ...

Happy New Year's to you, Eyes on Final Fantasy! Welcome to 2013, and time for a new showcase to enjoy! The last year have introduced us with these weekly showcases featuring some wonderful fan art by some amazing artists. We've also had a special showcase featuring artwork made for our Final Fantasy Anniversary Ciddies, and some of the artists that were featured in past showcases have even joined us in our forums! What a great year it was, and hopefully this new year will be more of the same! 2013 will be a good one, for sure! Enough of that, it's time to check out the first showcase of the year! Let's see what we have for us to enjoy!

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Squall Cloud Noctis

A rather nice artwork featuring three of Final Fantasy's finest heroes! We have Squall from FF VIII, Cloud from FF VII, and finally Noctis from FF Versus XIII. They all look badass in this.

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Kefka Palazzo

Here's a colorful piece of one of Final Fantasy's greatest villain ...

I hope you've enjoyed some festivities over the New Year period! EoFF does not get hungover (even if its members do!) and keeps on producing enjoyable events and threads. Go check them out!

• Freya created a lovely re-cap outlining some of the best events and goings on on EoFF in 2012.
• A hearty congratulations to Shusuika whose brilliant piece "Duck Turks" was declared the winner in the Anniversary Art Contest.
• Eyes on FF has its very own Steam group! Bought something in the Steam sale and want to have some fun with friends? This is the thread for you!
• Keeping with the video games theme, forums member NeoCracker has launched a personal series on the greatest video games. Do you agree or disagree with his choices?
• The January Photo Contest is now underway.
• And finally, I no can eat! FFIX's Quina Quen now appears in General Chat to help identify food threads.

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It's the new year today. 2013 is finally here! But let's not forget 2012.

This past year has been one of the best on this site in many of its long running years. Square Enix has been giving us the thumbs up: sending us posters, mentioning us in tweets and on their facebook. We held the poster giveaway contest that brought back many of our beloved members as well as graced us with some new ones. With the help of members here on the forums and Pike's help on twitter and facebook we were able to give out all the posters! We were one happy community with all our pretty Amano posters! Final Fantasy XIII-2 Came out this past year and although we visited SE for a first look late 2011 we did hold a giveaway for our members for a collectors edition early in 2012! DMKA won it! Two giveaways in one year! That's pretty lovely for our members. Who knew posting on an internet forum could get you free stuff?

We've created a community art group on Deviantart which helped create our first FF fan art contest! Those artist helped us out to make ...

Merry Christmas everyone! Going to try to keep this one short and sweet - cause I still have presents to give out! Got a bunch of small updates to fill everyone in on this time!

• The frontsite article per page length has been changed from 5 to 10, so view on my brethren!
• Want some triple triad practice without the risk of losing your hard earned cards? Skip on over to the battle arena and check out the newest CPU's Raijin and Fuijin. Raijin has himself level 1-4 cards, and Fuijin has 5-8! Although you can't win any cards from them, they can't win any cards from you! So practice to your heart's content!
• Speaking of triple triad we're looking for someone to make us a template!
• Speaking of triple triad, again, our twitter present giveaway will be underway soon!
• Skip on over to our Lightning Returns forum to see all the new announcements and details out for that game.
• Our forums are doing Let's Plays of Pokemon and Fallout I!
• A hilarious game of Would I Lie to You? is underway! Check

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Hello! During the weekend, we've just gone through our Final Fantasy 25th Anniversary Ciddies ceremony on the forums, and throughout the event, we've had quite the number of fan arts created solely for the event! Loony BoB was gracious enough to collect the art for the Ciddies and through BoB, we managed to have a dozen selected for this week's Final Fantasy Ciddies Fan Art Showcase special! I've also managed to gather our Award mascots to give their unique comments for several of their favorite pieces. Who knows what crazy thing they may say!

Before we see our special showcase, allow me to introduce our Award mascots. ...

Hey everyone! Goldenboko back! EoFF has been a buzz lately! So much to talk about from Award, to more Awards, to events! My head is spinning from thinking where to start! So let's find out if you've missed anything eh?

• The winter edition of our biannual member awards, the Ciddies, has come and gone. The big revelation thread was quite a success, as winners were being announced nominee by nominee in our chatroom.
• The Final Fantasy Ciddies are still going, and voting has just closed today! Stop by Saturday for the big winners!
• The first round of Would I Lie to You is up! Try and get a read on the Wesley of our forums. Engage.
• We still want to hear why YOU love Final Fantasy!
• We're talking anticipated games of 2013!
• Our member Rantz the great has made another forum skin for your viewing pleasure!
• Wolf Kanno made a series of get to know the staff articles on Square Enix employees. Check out our General Square Enix forum and read up!
• Our first ever Summon of the month article

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Welcome back to another week. Ciddies Fever has struck, and it's put our usual updater Goldenboko in a bit of a tizzy! We apologise for the delay, but let's get straight to what's happening!

• Ciddies XXIII is under way, and we're currently in the voting stage! Go here to have your voice heard, and don't forget to look out for speeches and predictions as well!
• For the very first time, we're running the Final Fantasy Ciddies, which is as close to an official Final Fantasy Awards ceremony as you'll find. Join in the fun with Award Chocobo right here!
• Feeling artsy? Why not take part in our Fanart Competition and potentially have your work as EoFF's new bannering! Let your creative side lose in here.
• Christmas is coming! To get into the festive spirit, why not sign up for our annual Christmas card swap?
• Feeling like it's party time? We are too! Which Final Fantasy characters would you most like to party with? Discuss your top picks in here!
• Something about this time of year puts love in the

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