Final Fantasy X Review


Before playing FFX, I hadn't played any of the Final Fantasies before. I pin the blame for this squarely upon the fact that I had no idea what an RPG was during the heyday of the SNES. So when U.S. gamers saw an incredible influx of RPG's, I was completely left out of the loop, so to say. Thankfully, however, Super Mario RPG opened my eyes to the land of the Role-Playing Game, and I've been trying to catch up on my RPG-playing ever since.

My whole point is that FFX was my very first Final Fantasy game. And with all of the things I've heard about Square's signature series, my expectations were sky-high. And I'm glad to report that I couldn't be more pleased with the game.

The game follows the journey of a young blitzball player named Tidus (pronounced TEE-dus) after he is torn from his home and finds himself floating of the coast of the continent of Spira. He joins up with the summoner Yuna and her entourage, and they soon set off on a pilgrimage to destroy an evil entity that is ravaging Spira, known as Sin. As the company travels across the entire continent, they discover the dark secret behind Spira, as well as the true nature of Sin. The story unfolds smoothly, and by the end of the game every detail is fully explained. The plot is advanced either by cutscenes or by breathtaking FMV's that you can purchase later in the game to view as many times as you want. Also, the characters in the game are extremely well developed. Although I can see how Tidus's character might get on some people's nerves, that's still no reason not to love this game. Also, blitzball, which is the official sport of Spira, plays a somewhat important role in the plot of the game, and is also playable as an enjoyable and in-depth minigame.

Square decided to pull away from the classic "win a battle --> get experience --> gain levels" formula with FFX, and in it's place set up the sphere grid. The sphere grid is a feature that Square pulled off tremendously. Instead of gaining experience from battles, players get ability points that increase a character's sphere level. Each sphere level allows the player to move along the sphere grid one space. As a character moves along the sphere grid, they can activate certain nodes that increase statistics like speed, power, and magic. The whole system allows for increased character customization, so by the end of the game you could have Yuna as a black mage or Auron as a thief.

One problem several people (including myself, to an extent) have with FFX is its very linear gameplay. The frequency of cutscenes throughout the whole game made me feel like I was watching a movie more than playing a game. In the end though, I don't really think the linear gameplay was as much a detriment to the game as much as it was just a different gaming experience compared to other RPG's. Whether or not you like how it turned out is simply a matter of opinion, and I personally enjoyed it. What bugged me much more were the menial tasks that I had to do to acquire the legendary weapons for my heroes. Some that come to mind are the butterfly catching game, the village of the cactuars, and the entirely too tome-consuming monster arena. But this stems not as much from the game itself as it does my own freakish need to complete every single little sidequest given to me in its entirety.

The bottom line is that FFX gave me well over 100 hours of gaming bliss. It's just a great game, period. I think that my coming into this game without the insanely high expectations that the other Final Fantasies might give someone helped me to enjoy this game more in some ways and less in others. Whatever the case is, I truthfully think that everybody should try this game at least once, and anybody who truly enjoys console RPG's should purchase this game.



BY THE NUMBERS:

SOUND: 9 -- I thouroughly enjoyed the music and sound in this game. It may not be as classic as the music from FF6 or Chrono Trigger, but it's still a good listen. For example, the main theme fits the game perfectly -- sweet, a bit sad, dream-like.

GRAPHICS: 10 -- Every time I see the FMVs from this game, I am blown away by the graphics. Even after seeing the stuff that XBox and Gamecube can do, the visuals for this game still impress me. They're just that good.

GAMEPLAY: 9 -- The game is exciting, it draws you in, and it's hard to stop once you start. Spira is a wonderful world to explore, it is populated by many interesting characters, and the plot is long and involving. REPLAY VALUE: 8 -- There are plenty sidequests to keep you occupied with this game for a long time. In fact, because of the sphere grid you can play for an insane amount of time to max out your characters fully.

EPICNESS: 10 -- Yup, it's REALLY epic. What makes it more epic than other RPGs? I dunno. But it sure as hell is really damn epic.

OVERALL: 9.5 -- It's not quite perfect, but it sure is one hell of a play. Buy it, try it out, and I guarantee you wont be disappointed.

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