An RPG masterpiece and one of the best games on PS2. A true classic.
Storyline and characters are engaging and highly immersive
Battle System is great and strategic and fun to play
Beautiful art direction and music
The world is beautiful and fun to explore
A lot of content and side missions will keep you busy
Cons:
It ends
No "full map exploration" like classic FF games
Final Fantasy X is probably the single best RPG ever made, it's quality transcends time and is still fun to this day. Square created a true classic and it is definately one you do not want to miss.
You begin the game as Tidus, a cocky and top athlete of an underwater sports game called "Blitz Ball". However things do not go as planned and Tidus get's taken by a mysterious monster known as "Sin". Tidus awakens in some old ruins where he has to find a way to stay alive and keep warm, and also run away from a giant fish. It is here you get to see the way FFX plays in it's exploration, you mostly travel along linear paths like classic FF games, but X makes up for it with beautiful art style and direction. You will see tropical islands, cities, mountains, plains, forests, all different types of environments and they all look stunning. However it would be nice to be able to fully explore the world like you could in past FF games like FF7, FF4 ect..
I will not continue talking about the storyline further to avoid spoilers, but trust me, it get's even better.
The battle system in FFX is turn based and similar to the classic FF games. However a nice difference is that each character has there own unique special type of attack known as "Over Drive", each character handles there's differently, some may be a meter you have to stop at the right time, others a button combination, these keep it fresh and the best part is that each character can learn new Over Drives, so you can always change them to how you see fit. Like the old FF games you will take your turns attacking and casting spells ect....however the big thing this time around are the summons, which are no longer just one cut scene event. They literally come out on the battle field and you get to control them, and there attacks are beautiful to watch. And the best part is that your summons (known as Aeons in this game) level up and learn new things as well!
The leveling system is a bit different than other classic FF games, you level your character up through a sphere grid, which let's you pick and choose what abilities or stats you want for your character. This puts the power in your hands, you can choose to focus in speed or magic for one character, or pure strength in another. Later on you can even bring your character into other sphere grids, so you can start to learn new abilities from other characters a bit. Square has made this level system extremely deep and it will keep you busy even at later levels in the game.
Another aspect of FFX, and every FF game is the music. And this game delivers! You have beautiful melodies, hard rock, and just about any other kind of music you can imagine. Square really went above and beyond with it this time and you will remember the music for years to come. The music goes great with the environments your in, nothing ever feels out of place. The voice acting in this game is well done and you can hear the emotion in each characters voice, they all seem like they have real personalities.
FFX will also keep you busy, there is SO much to do in this game it borders on the insane. Outside of the main mission you will pick up a ton of side ones, as well as some secret ones like finding everyone's special weapon etc...whether you just want to level everyone up to max, get all the aeons and level them up too, find every hidden item, you will find more than enough to keep you coming back.
FFX is as close to a masterpiece as you can get, hell it IS a masterpiece in the world of video games, not just for RPG's but for games period. Even after all these years the game still holds up and is great to play. That is the sign of a true classic, a game that future generations will enjoy for years to come.
FFX get's a 10 out of 10.