Square has unveiled two new characters, a new battle system, and a new summon at the Tokyo Game Show.
To find out more about this business, read on...

Final Fantasy X, Squares newest little creation, was showcased as a playable demo at the Tokyo Game Show.
The new demo showed off some new characters, new summons, and a new battle system to boot. I'll cover all
the wonderful new aspects of Final Fantasy X and tell you what you can expect from Squares first Final Fantasy
for the PlayStation 2.

The new characters that will star in Final Fantasy X are pretty different
compared to each other. The first new character is a male Blitz Ball player (the new game in Final Fantasy)
that has red hair, gray gloves, and a green trim. He is the new "Steiner" of the game, one of those characters
that has high HP and really low MP. The next new face in Final Fantasy X is a female character that is the
exact opposite of the other gentleman I just wrote about. She has been deemed as a more prominent magic
user, as opposed to the brute force. As you probably guessed, she will probably have low HP, but high MP
for all those nifty magic spells that she probably has.

Summons will once again show up in Final
Fantasy, and they have brought a new friend with them. Some people might remember the main female character,
Yuna, and that it has been mentioned that she will be a summoner. Yuna will be able to use all your old favorites, like Shiva and Ifrit, but now there is a new monster that is at your disposal. "Valfaré" is the newest summon to join the expansive roster that Square already has. Valfaré is a large, purple beast that has a body structure similar to a wyvern from fantasy. Some observant RPG fans might have noticed that Valfaré shares a resemblance to the beast in the Final Fantasy X logo. Will Valfaré be an important summon story wise? Only time will tell...

A new aspect to game play is that once a creature is summoned...it stays on the battlefield! A summon has to
be killed before it leaves, much like a character from your party. Like Final Fantasy VIII, the summons have a
substantial amount of HP and MP opposed to your main characters. Each summon has a set of attacks at its
disposal, such as a standard physical attack, traditional magic spells such as Fire and Firaga, and a
summon-style Limit Break attack. You can control the summons right through Yuna.

Lastly, Final Fantasy X comes packing a new battle system. Final Fantasy X breaks away from the old school ATB
style battle, and replaces it with an action bar that seems to resemble Grandia. The action bar seems to
fill up after monsters and characters make actions. You can also press R2 to see what turns are coming up
in the future for the battle.

Final Fantasy X seems to be a different concept to that of the old Final
Fantasies we are all used to. Final Fantasy X seems to capture all the old features of the previous Final
Fantasy titles and mixes in some new elements to spice things up. You can check out screen shots of all those
new neat characters and summons at www.thegia.com, which I think is a great place to check out all the new
screenshots and eye candy that Final Fantasy X and the PlayStation 2 have to offer. Will Valfaré be the
next powerhouse in your arsenal of summons? Will the new battle system be a hit or a miss? Only time will
tell...

News Source: TheGIA, www.thegia.com