Final Fantasy X
PlayStation 2
It seems as if every time I write a review for a Final Fantasy game I have to go back and discuss my feelings on Final Fantasy VII. Which makes sense, I guess. It was not only my first Final Fantasy game but I also consider it one of the best games ever made. So every title in the series I have played since then I can't help but automatically compare to that game.
Even after 20 years, FFVII still holds up as my favorite title in the series. Nothing has even come close to touching the way I feel about that game. But if I had to pick one Final Fantasy game has come the closest over the years, it is Final Fantasy X.
I remember the hype and anticipation I felt waiting for this game to come out. Final Fantasy VIII and IX were okay, but I felt that these games had taken a big step back from the awesomeness that was Final Fantasy VII. I was ready to be blown away by a Final Fantasy game again. And judging by the previews I had read about FFX, this game looked like it would do the trick.
The graphics looked terrific. Everything was so bright and colorful. The plot of the game interested me, as did the character list. The fact that the conversations in the game would be spoken and that we could listen to the characters talk as opposed to having to read walls and walls of text was such a newfangled idea at the time. All in all, the game looked super impressive to me and I knew that I needed it.
But alas, I was broke at the time and could not afford to buy the game. It was sad, but I managed to deal with it. A year or so after the game's release I happened to be visiting Blockbuster Video with an ex-girlfriend. It was Valentine's Day. She knew that I really wanted the game, and Blockbuster was selling a used copy for a very cheap price. So she bought it for me. Yay!
Needless to say, I played the heck out of this game. I laughed, I cried, I HA HA HAed all the way to the game's dramatic conclusion. I still of course considered FFVII to be the superior title, but this game had more than held its own. Plus, in comparison to FFVIII and IX it was a complete masterpiece.
Even after about 15 years since I originally got this game, I still play it from time to time. It has never completely fallen out of my video game rotation. In fact, it was one of the very last games I played before I started writing this blog a little over 2 years ago.
I probably would have waited just a little bit longer before playing this again, but I decided to trade in my old PS2 copy of the game for the PS3 HD Remaster. I wanted to see how an already amazing looking game would look in high def. Spoiler alert: it doesn't really look that much different. I'm sure that technically things are sharper and clearer. Maybe there is a little more detail in the characters and the locations. But if you had handed me the controller to the HD version without telling me it wasn't the original PS2 version, I likely would never have known.
Even though there isn't really that much of a graphical upgrade, this is still a great game.
If you have never played the game before, I will recap the story a little bit for you. Final Fantasy X takes place in the fictional land of Spira. It focuses on a character named Tidus. He's got blonde hair, he wears strange clothing, and he acts like an overgrown man child. Tidus is the star player of the Zanarkand Abes, which is a blitzball team. Blitzball is basically soccer, except the whole game takes place inside a sphere of water that is suspended in the air.
In the middle of an important blitzball match, Zanarkand comes under attack by a giant monster which you will later find out goes by the name of Sin. With the help of his mysterious friend Auron, Tidus attempts to fight off Sin. He falls in battle, however, and when he wakes up he finds himself in a strange land. He quickly finds out that over 1000 years have passed, and that the creature known as Sin is still terrorizing the people of Spira.
Tidus joins a Summoner named Yuna on her pilgrimage to defeat Sin. The job of a Summoner is to travel the world, going from temple to temple and collecting Aeons that will help them kill Sin. There is much, much more to the story line of the game, but I would not want to spoil it for you. Suffice it to say that there are a lot of twists and turns in the plot. The story line is definitely one of the best things about the whole game. This is a very emotional Final Fantasy game and I am pretty sure it is the only one that has made me tear up before.
Graphically, the game is stunning. It has to be one of the better looking PS2 titles out there. As I said before, the HD upgrade is barely noticeable. But it does not do anything to hurt the look of the game. It still looks fantastic.
One of the biggest draws for me is in the world of the game. Spira may be my favorite location in any Final Fantasy game. It is brilliantly designed. It really feels like a living, cohesive fantasy world. There is a wide variety of characters and character types. All of the cities and villages of the game have their own distinctive looks. The world of Spira has a long fleshed out history too, which the game dives into on more than a few occasions.
The game's music is very memorable and leaves a lasting impression with the player. All the game's musical numbers match with what is going on onscreen. When the mood of the game is playful, so is the music. If you are in an intense battle, expect the music to be intense. One of my favorite songs in the game is the opening theme that plays when you first turn on the game. It is very touching and when I listened to it again after beating the game I did shed a few man tears.
A warning: You will hear a song called The Hymn of the Fayth quite often. Almost too often. I joke that there should be a FFX drinking game where you take a shot every time the song gets queued up. You'd be drunk in a heartbeat. I like the song, but they do play it quite often here. But because I like it I don't really mind too much.
An RPG with all spoken dialogue as opposed to text had better have good voice acting, and this game delivers. Tidus, Auron, Yuna, Wakka... the whole crew sounds great. Before you know it you will instantly identify these voices with their characters and vice versa. Yes, there is some cheesy dialogue in the game (HA HA HA HA) but you can't really blame the voice actors for that. They all do their job and they do it very well.
So the setting, the story line, the graphics, the sound: great great great great. But is the game any fun to play?
This is one of the last classic turn based RPGs I can recall playing. Everything I have played after FFX seems to have adopted real time fighting mechanics. I actually prefer the turn based format, as I found the live battles in FFXII and XIII to be a little too hard to keep up with. I like having control of each and every one of my characters; knowing when they are going to go and what they are going to do. And this game does turn based very well. I love the fact that there is an indicator on the screen during battles that tells you what the order of the fight is going to be.
Not only do you control a typical party of three, but you can also swap characters in and out at any time. It's Auron's turn to go, but your characters are all running low on health? Simple, switch to Yuna who has healing powers. Fighting a character that can only be harmed by magic, but you have three warriors in your party? Swap one out for Lulu, the black mage. Switching characters doesn't make you lose your place in line either, which is awesome.
I had a really fun time during all the battles in this game. They don't seem like a chore for once. It may be my favorite battle system of any Final Fantasy game, and that is even including my beloved FFVII.
Your characters don't level up in a typical way. When you hit a new level, you are eligible to move a space on the "sphere grid". Each character has a different starting point on the grid. Yuna will be by the white magic, Lulu will be by the black. Rikku will be by all the speed and stealing attributes, etc. Typically, each character stays in their own zone and gets stronger in their respective specialties. But the sphere grid offers different branching paths that you can take. So you could in theory make someone like Auron (the game's most powerful fighter if you stay on his path on the sphere grid) into a white mage if you divert him from his path.
One of the few complaints I have about FFX is that you must take part in a lot of grinding if you want to have any kind of chance of completing the game. Fight, level up, pause the game and go into the sphere grid and move your character along. Rinse and repeat. A LOT. I like the sphere grid and I think it is a nice way of leveling up your characters. But it does take quite a lot of grinding to get your characters to the level they need to be to be able to finish the game.
Also, the game is VERY linear. You move from point to point to point in the game. There is no overworld map, you can't backtrack in a lot of places. You do gain control of an airship towards the end of the game, but even then you simply select where you want to go from a menu and you are instantly beamed to that location. You can't fly around and check out the sights, which kinda sucks. I loved the world of Spira but I feel that even after playing the game multiple times I know very little about its geography.
But if those are the only bad things I can say about Final Fantasy X, then this must be one heck of a game. And it is. It is not quite great enough to overtake FFVII as my favorite game in the series, but of all the FF games I have played over the years it has come the closest.
Its fun, its gorgeous, the music and sound effects are fantastic. The characters are memorable. The story line is one of Final Fantasy's best, complete with hard hitting emotional moments.
This truly is a fantastic game. It stands as one of my favorite RPGs of all time. I haven't made a definitive list of top RPGs yet, but I wouldn't be surprised if this one would be in my top five. No, it does not dethrone FFVII as my favorite game in the series. Or favorite RPG. Or favorite game ever, for that matter. But the game is still fantastic. It is 100% my second favorite Final Fantasy game.
Final Fantasy X first came into my possession during an... interesting portion of my life. I loved the game then. 15 years later, I still love the game. It's been my constant over the years. I have probably played through the whole thing at least 7 or 8 times. And I wouldn't be surprised if I played it another 7 or 8 by the time I die.
Classic, timeless game. I would suggest this to anyone even remotely interested in the genre.
Overall:
A+
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