Best in the series to date. Played through this game a dozen times, and it's still amazing. Stands the test of time.
Final Fantasy X was the first FF I ever played. I loved it so much, it inspired me to play some of the other games in the series. Now, FF is one of my most coveted series in gaming. InSpirational-
As for the game itself, it's a truly remarkable game, especially for its time (like fully 3 dimensional areas). The plot was rather simple, but done so purposefully. Nevertheless, it was a captivating story that guided you to engage in the world of Spira, drawing you closer to the characters.
The music is fantastic. Nobuo Uematsu has done wonders in terms of creating emotional & moving tones to properly flesh out parts of the story. "To Zanarkand" is a great example of one such song.
In battle, you can have a maximum of 3 party members active at one time. However, you can actively switch members out for others, and can even switch weapon and armor in battle. Controls in battle are rather easy too. Battles take place in CTB fashion meaning that battles are turn based with "time" being frozen until a command is chosen. The Speed stat, coupled with your chosen action, dictate order of commands party/enemy-wise, as well as how many actions can be taken in relation to others.
By defeating enemies, you gain AP, which is essentially like experience points. Once you gain enough AP, you gain Sphere Levels. Unlike the traditional level system, lets say lv. 1-99, characters gain these sphere levels, then can use them, along with different types of spheres, to level up their stats and even gain new abilities by activating nodes on the Sphere Grid. This allows players to uniquely differentiate their characters, and even set the difficulty of their playthrough.
Whether you're a fan of rpg's or not, you should give FFX a try. The story is great, the music is captivating, gameplay is responsive and easy to get used to, and the game has around 40 or so hours of story, with plenty of post game material. I'd highly recommend this game to anyone who even remotely enjoys games.
10/10