Final Fantasy X has it's amazing moments and some new features that make the game a Role Playing game worth playing.....
Game Title: Final Fantasy X
Platform: PlayStation 2
Developer: SquareSoft
Publisher: SquareSoft, Square EA
Genre: Role Playing
Age Rating: ELSPA: 11+, PEGI: 12+ (Platinum), ESRB: T for Teen, Cero: B
Release Date: 19th July 2001 (Japan), 17th December 2001 (US), 17th May 2002 (Australia), 24th May 2002 (Europe)
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Game Score: 8.0/10
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Summery:
Final Fantasy X has it's amazing moments and some new features that make the game a Role Playing game worth playing through.
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Square's popular Final Fantasy series are some of the most memorial games out there, specially when the series made it's way to the original PlayStation. Final Fantasy X doesn't just try to follow what other games in the series has done, it instead tries some ideas which will impress most fans but may frustrate some.
The game begins as you take control of Teenager Tidus who is a Star Player in a sports game called BlitzBall when suddenly his town of Zanarkand is destroyed by a monster known as Sin. The main hero finds himself in the world of Spira but soon learns that he been time warped 1000 years in the future and then joins Lady Summoner Yuna on her quest to gain the Final Aeon and defeat Sin. The party also consists of Auron a powerful Swordsman who acts as Tidus bodyguard, Wakka a BlitzBall Captain, Kimahri a cross between a human and lion called a Ronso of few words, Lulu a Black Mage who is very unforgiving and also Rikku a Teen Thief who is an Al Bhed who Tidus comes into first contact in Spria. FFX's characters are cool and one of the game's new innovation for the characters that they are all voiced and also have Facial Motion to reflect character emotions. Sometimes however the lip syncing seems to off when characters stop talking, it's not really a big issue because the writing is great and the dubbing is solid. FFX's plot will hit you with only a few plot turns as you progress through the story and you'll get a few laughs out of the characters and some joys through the games various cutscenes.
Final Fantasy X throws you into the gameplay in which you travel through the game's 3D environments which is another step up from the old games. Each environment from beaches, caves, ruins, mountains and so on are beauty rendered in 3D with impressive details and crisp visual effects.
You explore areas around the map to reveal hidden items, engage in battle in random encounters against various monsters, enter shops to purchase items and new equipment. You're given a Map which has a red arrow pointing out in the direction of your next objective which may make the game linear but however there are optional side quests and different minigames to that you can take part in.
Most areas in the game will have simple paths to follow but after a while you'll be given a Trial where you'll need to solve a puzzle by moving around pieces to order to progress forward. These puzzles are good but tend to really get confusing to figure out later on.
If there's another new feature in Final Fantasy X and that's it's new battle system. Still it's frequent but however it discards the Active Time for the Conditional Turn Based Battle System which allows all the time you need to plan out each strategy, you can get your members to Attack, use a Magic spell or skill or a recovery item. A Turn list is displayed on the top right of the battle screen to show whose turn is next which makes battles more about handling strategy. You only have up to 3 different party members in battle but you can swap any character out on his/her turn anytime with the L1 and select who you want in. The rules are still the same, if all 3 of your characters have fallen it's Game Over and back to the area in which you last saved. Your other party members in reserve won't join in if your main members die but however for the most part the battles in Final Fantasy X are challenging to go through.
Final Fantasy Limit Breaks return as Overdrives which are powerful attacks that are activated when the bar underneath the characters HP/MP meters reaches full. They can used immediately or you can save them up for another battle. Each character has their own Overdrive setup and also you can get Overdrive Modes which will allow the meter to be filled up differently such as Allies damaging the enemy, character fighting on his/her own or when a party members heals up.
Each character in your party has it's strengths to take advantage of. Tidus can kill enemies that are quick. Wakka can throw his BlitzBall at enemies in the air, Auron and Kimahri can handle enemies that are armoured, Lulu can use her Black Mage against enemies who are weak to elemental attacks and Yuna can Heal the party with White Magic and also summon big monsters that are now called Aeons. Instead of them appearing for only a brief turn, they actually take part in battle like an active party member and takes up their space. They can take damage for the team and also use their Abilities and Overdrives to easily beat their enemies.
Instead of earning EXP in battles characters gain Ability Points and when they get enough they'll gain a sphere level. This can be used to level up a character in the games new levelling system called the Sphere Grid which takes in similar to a table board game where if you gained any sphere levels they can be used to move around the board. With different sphere grid items they can be used to activate nodes to make your characters stronger. There are nodes that can increase one stat at a time. These include Hit Points, Magic Points, Strength, Defence, Magic, Magic Defence, Agility, Evasion, Accuracy and Luck. Some things to take note of this system is that there are empty nodes all over the board and there are different stat nodes that can be placed to them. You'll also find Locked Nodes which require Sphere Level Keys to be able to pass through. It allows you to be able to get other character's abilities and stats that can make Yuna a physical fighter or make Auron have magic spells for example.
For the most part the Sphere Grid is interesting but it has it's complications. First up is maximizing your stats, you'll never be able to truly maximize your stats unless you do a sidequest which involves having to catch monsters with special weapons made for catching them, this means going to back to previously visited areas and fight against monsters you've already beaten. Once you catch enough monsters in all categories, you can buy special spheres which allows you to remove nodes and replace each node with a 4+ stat increase. This becomes necessary for the optional boss encounters because they can kill your party members easily including one of gamings near impossible challenges, the Dark Aeons and another super hard challenge Penance. Fighting against any of those is almost suicide because unless your stats are insanely high each of them will do 99999 damage to your entire party and I'm not joking. Also with the Monster Arena why couldn't just fight the monsters that you've already beaten?, having to capture all these things becomes boring compared to Nintendo's Pokemon especially when it's two or three dungeons away before you finish the story off.
As for the Aeons they can gain power as you use them and also you can also can give them new abilities to be more effective in battle. Should an Aeon fall in battle your members return to the battle and that Aeons needs to recharge for a few battles before being used again or you can just go to a Save Point.
Eventually when Rikku joins the party you can customize your equipment and different abilities to add resistance to status effects, add element attacks or increase strength, defence or magic defence and so on. Your characters only have two types of equipment which are a Weapon and Armor.
Now for the positive sidequests, there's the BlitzBall game that Tidus and Wakka play for their own team. You can compete in a League, do a Tournament or have an Exhibition Match. One thing to note about is that I suck at Sport Games. Basically BlitzBall is like an underwater version of Rugby and all players can actually stay underwater for unbelievable period which makes me convinced that they must such Lung Power.
BlitzBall combines Realtime actions with turn based controls which sounds simple but actually playing is far more complicated then it should be. You play for the Besaid Aurochs who always who played for 23 years and never won a single game. Now that sure sucks for them. You move any player in your team that has the ball and then you use Square to bring up a series of different actions like passing, shooting or just going back to dribbling. When your player is stopped by an opposing team player then you'll have the option to break through or just pass to another player in the field. However BlitzBall does have it's RPG mechanics where players will earn EXP if they performed any actions during the game. They can learn new techniques from opposing players to use to your advantage for later games and also can select one for the match you're about to play.
If you want to win at BlitzBall then I can say is that you'll need to recruit some expert players around Spira and also figure out the best possible position to shoot and get past opposing players. That's all I can really say about BlitzBall aside from I suck at it. At least there's a tutorial which shows how the game is played or if anyone needs a refresher.
Lastly of the minigames is the Chocobo where you have control a Chocobo with very awkward steering controls but if you can win you can earn some special prizes. Overall the minigames are both hit and miss and the optional boss encounters will take dozens of hours of Sphere Grid messing around in order to stand a chance against them. Aside from these small issues the main game itself is enjoyable and excellently paced.
In addition to the already amazing environments, the character models including their animations and spell effects are impressive. The big highlight are the CGI cutscenes like in the BlitzBall game in the beginning of the game are incredible to watch. Nobuo Uematsu's done a great job of making the soundtrack to go along with the games setting and my favourite is the track that plays during the BlitzBall game in the beginning of the game.
Final Fantasy X's Sphere Grid is impressive dispute it's complications for any for any of the optional boss encounters, some minigames aren't the best that many gamers can get into but however the storyline is cool, the battle system just amazing and challenging and you'll get more then enough content available on disc. Anyone who's a fan of Final Fantasy will have plenty of satisfactory with FFX. Personally as much I liked the game it's one of best RPG's I ever played on the PS2 by personal experience and I say because the Persona games are.
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The Good Points:
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1. Enjoyable characters and impressive storytelling
2. Outstanding Battle System and controlling Aeons in battle is very enjoyable
3. Sphere Grid is a creative way to level up your characters
4. Amazing Graphics, Voicework and Soundtrack
5. Enjoyable Minigames if anyone can actually can beat them and enjoy them
The Bad Points:
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1. Optional Boss Battle imbalances and the Sphere Grid while interesting it does have it's complications
2. Monster capturing sidequest is very boring
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Reviewed by: Anthony Hayball (AQWBlaZer91)
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