As the final weeks of the fifth-generation of video game consoles came to a close, there was a lot of speculation and theorizing about what the PlayStation 2, GameCube and Xbox could achieve in the coming years. The hopes and dreams usually centered around gameplay enhancements, yet oddly enough, I remember having the most discussions with friends at school about how much the FMV cutscenes from the PS1 JRPGs era could be improved on PS2.
FMVs, or Full-Motion Videos, were the tantalizing bread crumbs that were a part of what made certain PS1 games so enjoyable. The game itself was great, but you often felt rewarded for your hard work with a beautiful, high-quality FMV cutscene that used cutting-edge 3D software that had already been made famous in blockbuster Hollywood films.
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If you grew up playing JRPGs during this and the previous era, you know exactly what FMV cutscene is your favorite. There’s that one moment, that one scene, that just sticks with you. This era was known for its amazing, innovative cutscenes, and JRPGs usually had the best ones of the bunch.
7
Final Fantasy 10-2
It’s Showtime, Girls
By the time the PS2 generation rolled around, Square had firmly established themselves as the masters of FMV cutscenes. Other companies, including the likes of Konami, were also exceptional at creating them. Square was on an entirely different level, however.
With the power of the PS2 and the new tools at their disposal, Square would go on a generational run on the hardware. One game that often gets lost in that deluge of amazing titles is Final Fantasy 10-2, an emotionally charged roller coaster that has some of Square’s best FMV cutscenes.
The opening is an amazing feast for the eyes. The vibrant, popping colors and lush animation is just the beginning, as each scene escalates those elements even further. By the time you get to the end, you feel like you’ve gone on a star-studded tour with three pop stars that fight monsters. It’s hard to think of a better game concept than that.
6
Shadow Hearts
An Underrated Classic
If there’s one PS2-era JRPG franchise that I think everyone needs to give a try, it’s Shadow Hearts. Once you’ve cleared the entire catalog, you may find, like myself, that the lesser known JRPGs on the console are actually some of its most compelling titles.
The first Shadow Hearts game was a spiritual successor to the PS1 survival horror JRPG Koudelka, presenting historical fiction through the framework of a paranormal JRPG. The first game in the Shadow Hearts series contains some utterly astounding FMV cutscenes, as they all contain that trademark Y2K-era sheen.
Everything looks clean and sharp, with a certain unreality to the character models that is just so appealing. The FMV cutscenes in Shadow Hearts are also brilliantly directed, with some very cool staging and scale that is still quite impressive decades later.
5
Final Fantasy 12
For Ivalice
The one thing that continues to impress me about Square’s CG work during this era was how it sometimes matched, or even rivaled, the CG animated films on the big screen. The level of fine detail, crisp camera work and elegant models is just spectacular.
That was especially true in Final Fantasy 12, set within the kingdom of Ivalice. From the opening cutscene, which has all the scale and epic feeling of one of the era’s blockbuster fantasy movies, all the way to its unbelievable conclusion, Final Fantasy 12 is one of Square’s most remarkable achievements when it comes to FMV cutscenes.
Feeling like the lovechild of Star Wars and Lord of the Rings, Final Fantasy 12’s CG work is still frighteningly good. It’s honestly insane how much Square was able to do in these cutscenes, to the point where if you squint, it almost feels like you’re looking at real people.
4
Shadow Hearts: Covenant
The Peak of Shadow Hearts
There’s something to be said about the PS2’s library of JRPGs, in that there’s that one game that everyone has that they’ll go to bat for no matter what. While the likes of Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest get talked about the most, everyone has that one JRPG that they will take a bullet for.
For me, that JRPG is Shadow Hearts: Covenant. Alongside its stellar combat and wonderful cast of characters, Shadow Hearts: Covenant has some of the most brilliant FMV cutscenes you can find on the console.
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The opening is absolutely insane, shifting through multiple POVs in a scene that feels like it could come straight out of a horror movie. It’s really the way that Shadow Hearts: Covenant spaces these cutscenes out that feel the most elegant in its use, as they’re used mainly to punctuate big moments or create something that has a scale that in-game cutscenes can’t quite reach. It’s smart and sensible, and extremely economical with the way it uses them.
3
Drakengard
Yoko Taro’s Forgotten Masterpiece
While Yoko Taro is mostly known these days for Nier, he was the director of a stupendous trilogy of games that started on the PS2 and concluded on the PS3. Drakengard may not be as well known today as it was back in the day, but it was honestly such a fabulous series that deserves to be given its flowers.
Drakengard’s dark, morally complex story is one of the trilogy’s most outstanding features. The first game has that in abundance, backed up by some extraordinary FMV cutscenes.
This was one of those games that allowed you to really see the full, seemingly unlimited power of the PS2. The number of characters on screen was unbelievable, and the FMV cutscenes are also supremely well directed. It’s a game that has a clear, distinct vision thanks to Taro, and that bleeds through into the cutscenes so tremendously well.
2
Kingdom Hearts
Embrace the Darkness
If you were a kid playing JRPGs during the PS2 era, you were either a hopeless Kingdom Hearts devotee that understood the lore or you didn’t come near it. There didn’t seem to be a middle ground.
I personally fell into the latter category, not getting into the franchise until the HD versions started coming out. I think playing Kingdom Hearts as a twenty-something had a far different impact, and one thing that struck me on my playthrough was how incredible the cutscenes were.
I shouldn’t have been surprised, of course, as it was Square circa 2002. There was no doubt they were going to rock, and I’m so impressed that these cutscenes were made in 2002. They all look and feel shockingly modern, and that’s one part of this franchise that I think is genuinely underrated. The story presented in these cutscenes is absolute chaos, but I still think it’s some of Nomura’s best work, and the FMV scenes are among some of the best that one can find on the PS2.
1
Final Fantasy 10
Welcome to Spira
Final Fantasy 10 was an enormous milestone for the franchise. It was the first to feature voice acting, as well as the first game in the franchise to feature 3D environments. It wasn’t the first to use FMV cutscenes, but it was certainly where the franchise found a certain tone and style that would define the games moving forward.
The way Final Fantasy 10 meshes melodrama and earnest, straightforward exploration of humanity is still so remarkable today. It has some of the most iconic scenes in Final Fantasy history, whether it’s Yuna’s prayer at Kilika or the scene where Sin attacks the party on the boat, it’s all simply beautiful.
It also has one of the coolest openings in franchise history. The way it starts with an eerie calm, one that’s tinged with a sense of ominous foreboding, is incredible. The Blitzball scene is backed by an uncharacteristic rock song, but it all works. No game on the PS2 has FMV cutscenes that even come close to Final Fantasy 10, and that’s a key reason this game still resonates with people twenty-five years later.
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