Final Fantasy X Review

Final Fantasy X review: PS2

Final Fantasy X for the PS2 is the first FF game on the PS2 so it was not only a big leap, both in terms of audio and graphics but it set the trend for what not only future FF games would follow but others as well.

The game literally came to life, with improved graphics and voice acting. Voice acting is something that a lot of games have now but not many did when Final Fantasy X came out. It is true that if Final Fantasy X were to come out now that the voice acting would be done better but you have to remember that this was done 10+ years ago when ideas like this were relatively new to some games.

The gameplay has some similarities o the other Final Fantasy games but it has one really big difference,. Instead of the Active Time Battles where depending on how long you take to activate or issue a command, your enemies can attack. Time doesn't stop while you play a command. Final Fantasy X however introduced my favorite system called CTB or Conditional Turn-Based. This system is much better because not only does the gameplay show who's turn it is on the right hand side of the screen, but it shows how their (your) actions will affect not only the enemy's turn but how it affects your own characters turns as well. Time is stopped with this system and because of it's uniqueness it also allows you to switch out any characters during a battle. Yep you heard me correctly, during the game if you have characters in your party that are horrible to Enemy X and you run into Enemy X, you can switch out your character to help with the defeat of Character X. This battle system of being able to literally customize your party on the fly is what makes this game so engaging. Let's be honest though, that's is how an RPG is suppose to be. Who would walk with a group of 40 characters (Chrono Cross, I'm talking to you!) and only use 3, like okay you 2 with me and the rest just wait here until we either die or we win.

Final Fantasy has had mini-games in it from the beginning, like Snowboarding, puzzle game where you slide the pieces, and 2 awesome card game, one for Final Fantasy VIII called Triple Triad (The best Card game in the world!) and Final Fantasy IX's Tetra Master (Tetra Master is horrible, just saying!).

Final Fantasy X on the other hand has Blitzball, which is more of a part of the game than a mini-game. It's a game where you're swimming underwater and you play a game of underwater soccer (just about). Blitzball and myself don't mix, I'm horrible at the game but I like the idea of it though. It's not only a mini-game but it's a part of your main character's story and the lives of other characters that you meet.

The story is your Tidus, a star blitzball player for the Zanarkand Abes who comes face to face with an entity called Sin. When he's father's friend Auron who sent Tidus into Sin, he awakens to discovers that he's in a ruined city of some sort and is now all alone. Where is he and where is Auron? There is more to the story but I only give away what you can learn in the first 5-10 minutes of a game. The story is surprisingly good, it's not the best, but it gets the job done well!

Another interesting thing that they added is the Sphere Grid. It's a Grid of Spheres (I had to do it) where you character can either follow a straight path or you can customize their path to what they learn. You can keep it like the game wants or maybe give your self a challenge, either way it's fun but it can be a little annoying at certain times.

Final Fantasy X for the PS2 is one of the top fun games I've ever played. From the interesting and quirky characters, to the many diverse parts of the world that you are in, this is one of the games that's a blast to see and experience.

I give it a 9.5 out of 10.

There are some drawbacks like the Sphere Grid sometimes getting confusing and overpowering the experience, but on the whole it's still a fantastic game to check out, You never know, you might just like it!