» Reviews » Final Fantasy X

The first Final Fantasy for the PS2. Animation, graphics, facial motion, tons of extras and even voice acting. The best Final Fantasy ever? Read on...

¤ Story

The story is about a young blitzball player named Tidus, who gets transported 1000 years into the future. There he meets Yuna, an apprentice summoner. She must pray at every temple in order to get the Final Aeon. Only with the Final Aeon she can defeat the monster known as Sin. Sin is been terrorising the world, killing people and destroying villages.

This is the basic idea of the story. During the game you see and hear what everyone around you says, and you'll also hear Tidus talk about the story.

So, you notice two different versions of Tidus. The first is the one you play with, and the second tells the story like it's already happened. There are some unexpected plot twists, and the story will finish in a different way than you might think.

¤ Gameplay

Leveling up goes different from previous FF's. The EXP is gone and it's replaced with AP. With enough AP your Sphere Grid level goes up. Each character can move around on the Sphere Grid depending on how much Sphere Level they have.

On the Sphere Grid, there are many nodes with stats and abilities that can be activated using certain items. For example, to activate a Strength node you'll need 1 Power Sphere. And for a Magic Defense node you'll need 1 Mana Sphere. It may sound difficult, but it's an easy system to work with.

With this kind of leveling up, no character has unique abilities. Ok, so some abilities may be intended for a specific character, but everyone can activate them.

Weapons nd armor can be customized with items. You can add abilities to your weapons, making it a totally different one. For example, you have a Baroque Sword. Add Firestrike to it by using an item, and you have a Flametongue! A new fire elemental sword. Customizing armor goes the same way.

The battle system is now without the ATB gauge, but with turns. Turns can be changed by the speed of the characters, the actions of the characters and by using certain abilities like Haste. Enemies don't attack when it's your turn, so you'll have all the time to select commands and plan your strategy.

The summons are back, and this time they're called Aeons. They play a big role in the game, because Yuna needs to get them in order to call the Final Aeon. There are also three hidden Aeons which you can get by doing some side quests.

Aeons aren't used like spells or GF's, but they're used as real characters.

They have stats, abilities, Overdrives and even special commands.

Of the 8 Aeons in the game, you can fully control 6 of them.

The Aeons' strength increase with Yuna's stats and can be increased manually by using the menu. Try to get all Aeons for the full experience. Trust me, it's worth it.

Limit Break variants are also present. They're called Overdrives. Overdrives gauges can be increased in various ways depending on what Overdrive Mode you have a character in. Examples :

Stoic : Gauge increases when a character takes damage.

Warrior : Gauge increases when a character damages an enemy.

Healer : Gauge increases when a character heals allies.

There are more Overdrive modes, so try to collect as much as you can.

Most characters learn Overdrives through actions. Tidus has to perform a number of successful Overdrive for him to learn the next. Auron learns them as you collect more Jecht Spheres all over the world.

Yes, the biggest mini-game ever! Or at least what I've seen so far.

I'm talking about the sport Blitzball. It's sort of like a cross between rugby and soccer played underwater. You can win prizes, learn techniques and more by playing Blitzball. There's a handy function to scout the people in the world. Some of them are Blitzball players, and if they don't play for a team yet, you can sign their contract for a number of games. Try to find strong players, but beware.....because the other teams will also recruit free players.

¤ Graphics

Wow! Double wow! Triple wow!

I've never seen graphics like this! They're very smooth and with good animation.

Characters, battles, Blitzball, areas. They're all very beautiful.

If you like nice graphics, then FFX is for you!

¤ Sound

The music is of good quality, but it's in a very different style than the previous FF's. It fits the game well. I've really enjoyed the boss battle music, along with some other tracks. Good music from the man Nobuo!

Sounds are good too. Everything sounds so natural. Like when you're approaching a waterfall, the waterfall's volume increases, and it decreases when you walk away.

It's just so natural you hardly even notice. That was the goal of the people who made the sounds, and they are successful.

The voice acting is very good and professional. Every important character has their own voice, and they all sound really great.

¤ Characters

Great! Super! Excellent!

They all have their own personalities, problems and past. Plus they have voices!

can't really say much about the stats and power in battle, because everyone can customize their characters in the way they want to.