Final Fantasy X rocks my socks. I know, a few years late.

I remember, oh, it was a couple years ago now, when me and a friend, whom I'll call Matt first started posting at a gaming board none of you have heard of. He was obsessed with Final Fantasy X - it was his favorite game. He would always make threads about it, some interesting, some pointless beyond belief. I, in turn, would always ridicule it for it's ultra-linearity, what I considered bad voice acting at the time, and mostly because I just wanted to bother him for not loving Zelda.

Thus, I find it very ironic that here I am, about to launch into what I expect will be at least a page or two of gushing about how awesome it is, and how I loved every minute of it.


Mostly because it is the part I care about the least in an RPG like this, I'll get the battle system and gameplay elements out of the way.

Final Fantasy X has the best battle system I've ever seen in the series, and one of the better turn-based battle systems I have ever seen. It takes the old, tired, and annoying ATB system that the franchise has always used, tweaks it a bit, and turns out a much nicer system then before.

First things first, it's actually turn-based this time, rather then relying on the annoying pseudo-turnbased stuff in previous FFs. I'm usually all for more real-time fighting in an RPG, but the ATB system just sucks.

They've added a little bar to the side which shows the movelist - who will have a turn next and in what order - for a good thirty turns ahead. To go with this, they've made speed modifying spells and speed stats much more integral to gameplay. In all later boss fights, you'll be screwed if you don't have haste.

They've given more use to different types of moves as a whole, actually. In past FF games, you could play through the entire thing and only use effects like darkness once or twice. In FFX, it's extremely useful against many enemies. Same goes for things like steal, which I rarely use. There are certain types of mechanical enemies that will die in one hit if you steal a piece from them, etc.

Now, you can switch characters in the middle of a battle, which is another first for the FF series. Goes a long way towards making all those different characters seem more useful. This is helped by the fact that each characters tend to learn different sorts of moves, and that since the types of abilities are all better differentiated then in the past, each character tends to actually have a use in battle. You can't really afford to toss some characters in the back and concentrate on just leveling up your one team.

Which would be extremely annoying, if it weren't for the fact that it's easy to level the party as a whole up. Each monster gives a set amount of exp. Each character who uses a move in that battle will receive that amount of exp from all the monsters in said battle. If you have a monster that gives ten exp, and you only use one characetr in the battle, that character will receive ten HP. If you have three characters, rather then splitting it up and giving each of them three, they all get ten.

So as long as you make ample use of the ability to switch characters and take advantage of all their uses, you don't have to worry about some characters becoming underpowered through lack of use.

Which leads to the character growth and ability thing. Rather then a materia system, or just plain leveling up and recieving skills as you go along, they have a map-type thing, and, as you go along, you choose a variety of forks in the path to get you to your eventual destinations on this grid. You can move a step on the grid every time you level, and most steps have the option to raise stats or teach abilities. There's a lot more to it, but most of it is just needless fluff designed to make it look more complicated and in-depth then it is. A lot of people I know have complained that it tries to make it look like a non-linear leveling path, while it really isn't. They're right, but I don't think it detracts from the game in the slightest.

Something worth mentioning, I would say, is that this is the only Final Fantasy game where I have ever enjoyed the battle system. In previous incarnations of the series, the battles are an obstacle, an annoyance that only gets in the way. Not so here.

Outside of battle there's nothing really worth mentioning in the gameplay department, aside from the fact that the game is extraordinarily linear. So linear that they didn't even bother with an overworld.

But you know what? It does not detract from the game. There are some games, like the Zelda series, where absolute linearity would be a crime. There are others, like FFX, that is designed specifically around being linear, and telling a story. FFX with it's current play style would suffer from a lack of linearity. It's a story with a stat-based battle system, and adding the frustration of the FF series' poorly designed and sometimes confusing overworlds would do nothing to make the game better. I have spoken


But this is an FF game. The real meat lies not in it's battle system, but in it's well-done story, setting, art direction, characters, music, and atmosphere. And FFX excels in this area, easily beating out all the others, with the exception of VI.

The story, though I disliked most of it when I watched Matt play through more or less the entire game, is awesome. It is one of the best planned, most original, and downright awesome stories I have seen in a game. It follows Campbell's monomyth perfectly, something that I am beginning to believe is necessary for a story that tries to achieve the sort of overall impact that Square often likes (Examples of others: FF7, Tales of Symphonia, Star Wars).

The characters are extremely well-done, and show actual growth, both subtle and obvious. Many people find Tidus, Yuna, their relationship, and the story as a whole annoying. I think they're loony, and find Tidus (aside from a few flaws, heh) one of the best heroes I have seen in an RPG. I won't go into spoilers, but some of these characters have extremely cool backstories, side stories, personalities, and, above all, interesting interaction with one another.

The art and graphical direction, though not as impressive as, say, The Wind Waker, World or Warcraft, or Baten Kaitos, is interesting enough to make you look twice at a few things. Not that amazing though.

Music, well... hmm. I'm a bit unsure about the music, actually. A lot of it is simply forgetful or pointless doing it's job and nothing more - but doing it's job well. Some of these tracks set the mood of whatever scene they're hear din perfectly. But there are only a few pieces that I would consider truly good gaming music, that is something I can look back on fondly or listen to outside of the game.

Last, but not least, there is the voice acting. This is the aspect of the game that gets by far the most flack from gamers in general, including myself. Or at least, I did find the voice-acting bad when I first heard it a few years back. Now? Well... I don't know what I was thinking. Maybe it's just that voice-acting was so new back then in the RPG genre, and I hadn't heard any truly bad voice acting (*cough*BatenKaitos*cough*) to put it in perspective. Either way, I take back every criticism I've ever made for the voice-acting in this game. It is excellent. Even Yuna's annoying stutters and Tidus' high-pitched voice, though still annoying on occasion, are done that way because the characters are supposed to be portrayed that way. Well, no, I admit, Yuna and Tidus's voices coulv have used a bit of work. But still better then most of the Japanese RPGs that have voices. Obviously it can't even begin to compare to Bioware's stuff, but that goes without saying.


Erm... yeah. I'd better shut up now. Take my advice, if you have a PS2 and enjoy western RPGs: Get this game. You can easily pick up it for $20 or less, and it's worth twice that.

Honestly, when I saw FFX on the index and your post as the most recent, I was certain there would be nothing positive about it. Heh, I guess I was wrong.

What can I say? Took you long enough. =P

And you didn't mention Blitzball! That's really the only minigame that I ever got into in any RPG. I thought it was great! I'm probably alone in that sense, though.

This is the most well-thought-out thread I've ever seen. Nice job Lord-of-Shadow. Whenever people talked about FF in earshot of me, I just shrugged it off thinking it was stupid. Just reading the first few paragraphs of your post have made me reconsider. What platform is this on? I might want to try it out. Sounds fun, and it's probably not too expensive if its a few years old. Did you mention something about the story in there because I didn't read it all because of it's incredible length, I probably should have. If you didn't say the story line of it, tell me the story a bit, I wanna know what the game is actually about before I go out and buy it.

I suppose ZU has been bad to me in my time being here. So far it's taken more time from my life than I thought it should have and it's made me spend money I'm saving for TP. Well, atleast I've been able to go in-depth about some really interesting topics on Zelda and more! This is my favorite sight now lol, homepage too.

The post is only about half as long as it appears. Ends up not being too long of a read. Reminds me of when I used to put curveball personal attacks in the middle of long posts to see if anyone would pick them up...

I picked up FFX late myself, though late as in a handful of months, rather than years. The hype was in full swing at the time, and in my eyes it didn't quite live up to it. I returned years later, though, and really quite enjoyed playing through again. The battle system in particular, and the simple fact that it didn't annoy me, were definite pluses. I can't say the same for, say, FF8.

The characters were actually one of the aspects that I didn't quite like. Cliches make for easy prejudging of both characters and storyline, which leaves me a horrible cynic (and makes me poor company at the movies). Though most of the voice acting was good. Except when people attempted laughter (i.e. George Lucas School of Acting). Bender saves the day though. Bender always saves the day.

Anyway, a great game all around. It's in my top 3 for FF games. Not sure if you've already played FFX2? I recommend it as well, though discuss it with people who've played through a couple times before starting into it; there are some serious caveats to keep in mind.

Originally Posted by Tsukasa

And you didn't mention Blitzball! That's really the only minigame that I ever got into in any RPG. I thought it was great! I'm probably alone in that sense, though.

If someone at Squenix includes more zany minigames in FFXII as a result of this comment, you're totally making the kill list.

I highly doubt one fan can change the course of the series' contents, but thanks for the sentiment.

I'm not really sure why I liked the minigame, to be honest. There was just something about it that made it addicting. This coming from a person who generally thinks minigames are a waste of valuable disc space and time. I really don't care for them, and at first, I didn't care for Blitzball either, but it grew on me. I found it quite fun, whether the rest of the world did or not.

For the record, though it is inevitable that minigames are to be included in XII, I hope that all of them can be completely overlooked during gameplay. I've no intention of playing any of them. Let's just call BB a fluke and leave it at that.

FFX, how I love it! This game alone is the reason that I got a PS2 as opposed other consoles! And I do not regret that decision. I love FFX with a passion and loved every 100 hours that I spent on it, seriously, I took 100 hours... But yeah, FFX is a totally awesome game and Blitz Ball was too. I first started playing it so I could get Wakka's best blitz ball, but eventually it grew on me and I re drafted all of the origonal Aurochas and let botta ride the pine all season. This game is also the game that made me absolutly obsessive over FF, It lead to me buying every game I could (Every game in the series) and other titles by square enix (KH). As for X-2, I agree that it was pretty good. It was a little easy, and there isn't really as much depth as FFX had but It kept me entertained for quite a bit. But yeah, FFX was totally awesome and I will defineatly be replyaing it soon, but first I have to finish IX...

Finally more recognition for a truly great game. As you can tell by my username I am fully into the series, and what you have said is pretty much what I think about FFX. I loved also all the side quests and different armour and weaponry that you can get and modify...I enjoyed getting the celestial weapons and powering them up. Also (even though at the start it was hard and a pain in the ass) I loved playing blitzball...my team is pretty much unbeatable now.

I am going to stop for now...but I probably will be back again to add.

L-o-S, with your large collection of games that I've either heard you talking about or have seen you review, I was pretty startled that you hadn't played a classic like this. (It's a Final Fantasy no less, which guarantees some level of greatness.) Nice review though. I tried replaying FFX once, myself, but never really got too far because of all the other games I have to play. FFX was my first Final Fantasy, since before that point I was a Nintendo loyalist and I had missed out on all the pre-PS2 FFs (which I soon after collected and conquered). The musical score, along with VIII's I have held a close place for.

Yeah I guess I'm still thinking of getting it. I've only recently got into RPGs, so I'm still not to sure. Your little review is abit encouraging, but I'll still decide if I really want it.

FFX was a great game, I put 500 hours into my file LOL.I wasted like 18 straight days on that thing, I guess it was worth it though, that game never gets old

Originally Posted by BB_11

FFX was a great game, I put 500 hours into my file LOL.I wasted like 18 straight days on that thing, I guess it was worth it though, that game never gets old

Yes, Final Fantasy X had many many...MANY pointlessly impossible/annoying sidequests. Though it did have quite a few that added to the story as well, which is sometimes rare in an RPG.
I've thought about modding my PS2 just for FFX International Version. From what I've heard, it's really worth it, and is some what like a whole new experiance.

yeah, I have thought about modding mine too, but I figured not to. I heard in international version yuna can swim.

I've heard many rave reviews about FFX, and I've been considering getting PS2 for a long, long time. Now that PS3 is coming out, I'm hoping PS2 prices will drop dramatically.

Oh, they will. Who's going to pay £100+ for a PS2 when they can have a PS3 (which is backwards-compatible) for double the price?

In regards to FFX, though, it's a great game. The storyline's good, the graphics are good, and I quite like the battle system. As l-o-s said, much better than some other FFs. I have just one, big problem with the game...Tidus! I absolutely hate him! He's an imbecile! (mutter...grumble...)

Sorry. I see Tidus as a major whiner/wimp/whatever-derogatory-term-you-care-to-use. As such, I don't even bother to re-name him - he doesn't deserve it.

You can open your eyes now. Rant over.

Yes...I agree, although I also was a few months late in playing FFX, I still believe it to be a great game, and when I first played it I was completely hooked. This is also due to the fact that I am an RPG freak. I do like FF, but I haven't really played any of the previous FF's...I feel a little left out because of that, but anyways I loved this game's story, battle system, and characters...all except Tidus. For some reasons mentioned by Tiroth...his personality just doesn't appeal to me, and Auron, by far is my favorite character.

-TFS