Video Game Review: Final Fantasy X

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+

Video Game Review: Star Wars: Bounty Hunter

Star Wars: Bounty Hunter

PlayStation 2

I have never wanted to dislike a game as much in my life. I started playing Star Wars: Bounty Hunter with the preconceived notion that it wasn't going to be any good and that I would have to just suffer through it. Play it, get it done with, move on. I didn't expect to like it.

I had played this game once before, back around the time it first came out. But this was over ten years ago. As much as I tried to strain my memory to remember something about this game, I just couldn't do it. I know that I had played it. But I had only the faintest recollection of flying around with a jetpack and shooting things.

What was the story about? Was it any good? Did I like it? I couldn't remember at all.

I figured that if it wasn't worth remembering, it must not have been any good. But hey, I am going through and playing all my old games for this blog. Why not give it another chance?

I hooked up the PS2 and popped in the game. Admittedly, I was not impressed at first. The graphics are a little clunky and don't seem to have aged well. Some PS2 titles are capable of holding up just fine with age. This one.... ehhhh.

Your character Jango Fett looks fine. In fact, he is probably the best looking thing about the whole game. The enemies seem a little under detailed however. Many of them look exactly the same. Expect to take on the same identical looking Rodians and Gamorreans time and time again throughout the game. Many of the game's surface textures are blocky and messy looking. Some stages look exactly like other stages. This definitely has the look and feel of a generically made PS2 game.

But the game isn't all bad looking. Everything looks more or less as it should in the Star Wars universe. There are some decent special effects along the way. Many of the game's stages are very well designed. There are some nice views and pretty things to look at as you proceed. The CGI cut scenes that advance the story line are fabulous, reminiscent of the Clone Wars animated series. But all in all the game's graphical look is a very mixed bag.

I wasn't initially a huge fan of the controls either. There is not much to do in the game besides run, jump, fly, and shoot. While your character handles well and is easy to control, there is a certain "floaty" feel to every move you make. And with the controls being so simplistic in nature there is not a whole lot of depth or nuance to the way you play. Much of the game play seems to boil down to running around in circles and shooting your enemies until they are all dead.

The game features an odd Tomb Raider-esque lock on system with your weapons. There is often a lot going on on the screen, but as far as I could tell the game doesn't let you cycle between targets. So if you are shooting at an enemy who is far away on the screen but another enemy comes around the corner right in front of you, the lock will not change to the new target. Nor can you hit a button to switch targets. The only way I could find to switch targets was to stop shooting, let go of the lock on trigger, and quickly hit it again so that you lock on to the closer target this time. This is definitely NOT an ideal way to do things.

And if you want to switch weapons, you have to cycle through them one at a time. This happened to me quite often where I would have to switch to a new weapon in the middle of a fight, but would just end up standing there taking damage from enemies because it would take so long to cycle through things one by one.

The game features a bounty system where you can capture targets and collect money along the way. Sounds fun, but the way this is handled by the game is terrible. You have to select a special targeting visor thing from your menu (and as I mentioned, it takes forever to cycle through things). You must then equip the visor, go into first person mode, and then scan your enemies one at a time while trying to identify which one is your bounty. But you are defenseless while in this first person mode. The enemies are constantly coming at you. So again, you just have to stand there taking damage while trying to identify who you need to capture alive.

And then when you identify the target, there is that silly problem of the game's targeting system not letting you control who you lock on to. This happened sooo many times to me where I would identify my bounty but then accidentally kill him because I was trying to lock on and kill other enemies in the immediate area.

The whole bounty system was a nice idea, but it could have been implemented much, much better.

My final complaint before I move on to what I liked about this game is what I am sure is a common complaint. That god damn camera. It is very hard to control and often resulted in deaths that could have easily been avoided. My first death of the game, actually, went something like this: I was playing the game's first stage and I was walking down a hallway. My health bar was about half full. A swarm of enemies appeared at the end of the hallway. I was afraid they would kill me, so I decided to turn around and head to an open area where I could pick them off one by one as they came out of the hallway. Sound strategy, right?

Well, the game didn't agree with me. As I tried to turn around, the camera decided to go nuts on me and show me a nice, up close view of the wall. I frantically tried to manipulate the controls so I could still run away from the enemies even though I couldn't see what was going on. The camera responded by moving to a close up view of the wall on the other side of the hallway. And then it shook around a little bit and showed me a glitched out view of the empty space beyond the wall.

And then my enemies caught up to me and hacked me to death. I didn't see any of it happen.

The camera is problematic throughout the game, especially after you get your jetpack. Trying to change directions mid-air is often a treacherous thing, particularly in close quarters. It does become slightly more tolerable as the game goes on and you get a little more used to the ins and outs of the camera system. But it is definitely something that could have been designed much, much better.

That is a lot of complaining on my end. But maybe now you can see why I originally said that I wanted to hate the game. Now that we are through the paragraphs and paragraphs of things that I did not like, let's move on to the positives.

The story line of the game is nothing too horribly memorable, but it is fun. Jango Fett is one of several bounty hunters tasked with the job of finding and killing the leader of an evil crime syndicate whose actions are throwing a monkey wrench into Darth Sidious's plan to exterminate the Jedi and seize control of the New Republic. Sidious is also looking for a worthy candidate to serve as the template for his clone army. It is decided that whoever finds and kills the evil crime lord will "win" the honor of being cloned for the army.

Spoiler alert: you beat the game and it's you, Jango.

You fight from level to level tracking down this evil crime lord while also battling opposing bounty hunters looking to claim this reward for themselves. Again, nothing too horribly memorable. But it is a lot of fun, and it helps lay the groundwork for Attack of the Clones.

Level designs are pretty intricate and well detailed. It was a lot of fun flying above the open sand and over the Sarlacc Pit near Jabba's palace. Coruscant looked like Coruscant. Each world has its own specific identity. There are usually 3 stages in each world. One complaint could be that a lot of the stages look very similar to others.

Stage length varies from fifteen minutes to an hour. I find that they averaged out to about a half hour per stage. Sometimes a little more, sometimes a little less. Early in the game I kept going in circles and getting lost because I felt that the game didn't do a good job at pointing you in the right direction. A lot of the scenery, especially on Coruscant, is pretty repetitive. It took a lot of intensive searching to find where I was supposed to go.

I feel as the more you play, the more focused the path of the game becomes. A lot of the early levels are confusing and easy to get lost in. The mid to late game levels have a more defined path. It is just a matter of struggling through the first few worlds of the game before really finding your footing.

As simple as the game is, I thought I would beat it in no time. I didn't find any of the enemies particularly challenging. Aside from getting lost from time to time, I didn't find the stages too difficult to maneuver. I lazily played through the game, already thinking about what I was going to play next when I finished with this.

But then something happened. The game all of a sudden became a lot more difficult. It challenged me. I had been on cruise control. Now I found myself in a constant struggle just to make it through each stage with at least one life intact.

This was exactly the breath of life that the game needed. The more the game challenged me, the more I wanted to rise to that challenge and conquer each stage. Yeah, the game had a LOT of flaws. But I found myself having a surprisingly good time with it.

As dismissive as I was towards the game when I first started playing it, I was now a fan. I was able to go on and enjoy the second half of the game. I feel as if I had a love/hate relationship with the game. I hated the game for the chunky graphics, sloppy combat system, and the god awful camera. But I loved the game's challenge. I found that I couldn't just run through each stage, guns blazing. I had to take my time and plot out a strategy. I had to manipulate my enemies to going where I wanted them to go.

There is something special about flying around in the jetpack, landing precariously on small ledges, and then taking off into the sky again all while fighting a constant swarm of enemies intent on killing you. It is very gratifying and makes you feel accomplished when you are able to complete a particularly challenging segment or stage.

By the time I got to the end of the game, I had come to like Star Wars: Bounty Hunter. I had been intent on giving it a D- or an F when I first started playing it. But it had worked its way up into a solid B or C range by the end. The fact that the game was able to change my mind midway through it is very impressive. Yes, the game is very flawed. I can understand why some people may not be able to look past these flaws. But when the game hits its stride, it hits its stride.

I recognize the fact that this is not a great game. It is not a classic, it will never compete with the likes of the Metal Gear or the Mario series. In fact, in all likelihood I will have completely forgotten almost all the details of this game in 5 years. Ask me in 2022 what I thought about Star Wars: Bounty Hunter and I will be like "uuuuuuhhhhh, it was fine, I guess? I don't really remember much about it ."

And I think that this is just one of those games that is destined to be forgotten. It has a lot of flaws, it doesn't do anything particularly great. But it did in the end leave a pretty positive overall impression on me. I think the game is too flawed to land in the B range, so this final grade is the very best I can do.

Overall:

C+