Summary
A deep, melancholic tale with amazing style and presentation
The Good
I've purchased Playstation 2 mainly in order to be able to play this game. And I think I'd buy this console even if "Final Fantasy X" were the only game developed for it.
Can fantasy go any further? The title of the great series has probably never been more appropriate than in this case. "Final Fantasy X" is an amazing masterpiece which is sure to set new standards for console role-playing.
I happen to be a great fan of the Final Fantasy series, and although the first three games can be considered a prologue to the true greatness, each new game starting with the fourth was a milestone not only in the development of the role-playing genre, but in the development of video games in general.
Final Fantasy VIII, a game disliked by many fans of the series (but not by me!), made a huge step forwards design-wise. In this game, an emphasis was put on the sensual side: amazing animations, gorgeous orchestral music score and, most of all, a new style of character design: the characters no longer look like typical deformed big-eyed animé children, but tend to imitate the looks of real people. "Final Fantasy X", the first Final Fantasy for Playstation 2, continues this new tendency.
The first thing to amaze anybody is the absolutely incredible character graphics. The characters in "Final Fantasy X" look real. The smoothness of the textures is truly amazing. There's nothing blocky or square about the characters, and the most fantastic part is their faces. The game does with Playstation 2 the same as
Final Fantasy VII did to Playstation - pushes the console to its limits. Not only character graphics are fabulous - the backgrounds match them fully. Part of them are still pre-rendered, but there are also very impressive real-time 3D visuals. Needless to mention - the videos are gorgeous, but what else could one expect from Squaresoft?
I'd name this game a masterpiece even if the magnificent visuals were the only positive thing it had. The creativity of its design is so high, that the game could have been considered a work of art just for the sake of it. But with all this visual paradise, the game remains a true Final Fantasy in all its other aspects, and that means - quality above all.
The characters of the game are interesting and appealing, typically for all mature Final Fantasies. Yuna, Auron, Rikku - all of the game's characters are living people with highly distinguished personalities. There are many plot elements which we've seen many times in previous Final Fantasy games: romantic love, love/hate relationship, inner personal conflicts, and so on. What makes this game different from all other Final Fantasies is its much more intimate approach to storytelling, and its original design. Spira, the world of "Final Fantasy X", has a lot of true Asian spirit. Temples, clothes design, relationships between people - everything resembles Asia, particularly South China, India, or Thailand. The Al-Bheds with their sci-fi atmosphere and the opening part of the game form a sharp contrast to the serene beauty of other locations.
The story is told entirely from Tidus' perspective, taking the shape of his memories about the past, with his reflexions and thoughts about what has happened to him. Unlike other Final Fantasies, where heroes come from different parts and join together despite having different motives, "Final Fantasy X" is concentrated entirely on Tidus' personal experience. He is the only stranger, the only outsider, the one who has lost his home forever. All other heroes are presented more vaguely, more subjectively, the way Tidus sees them. This storytelling technique makes the game much less pompous and more delicately intimate than all previous Final Fantasies. As for the plotline itself, it is as brilliant as in all great Squaresoft RPGs, with plenty of detailed background, sudden plot twists, rich mythology, and deep psychological analysis.
Another thing that makes "Final Fantasy X" so special is the atmosphere of deep sadness and melancholy that the game is enveloped in. I have never played a game with so many touching moments - not sentimental or romantic in a "cute" way, but truly touching. Even compared to other Final Fantasies, which are all very emotional, "Final Fantasy X" is remarkable in the quiet sadness it emanates.
"Final Fantasy X" is one of the most cinematic games I've ever played, surpassed only by the recent
Metal Gear Solid 2 and
Xenosaga. There are many amazing cut scenes in the game, and a lot of spoken dialogue. However, the gameplay parts are also very large - I completed the game in slightly over 50 hours, just following the story line, without paying attention to any side quests and optional areas.
The gameplay underwent some refinement and had some very interesting gimmicks. For once, the ATB battles were gone, and the more strategic turn-based combat returned. You could switch your party members during combat, which was especially great for those who like using all their party members and not just sticking to three of them. Another innovation was an absence of levels - you received special points after each battle, which you could then allocate on a sphere board, activate spheres and increase the statistics of your characters. Each character thus followed a certain path on this board, gradually activating all available fields. Sometimes there were branching paths on the board, so that you had to choose yourself which stat to increase. Near the end of the game, where you got special items that allowed you to "jump" to any part of the board, new possibilities for flexible customization were opened.
One thing I almost always mention when reviewing Final Fantasy games is the music. The divine music of "Final Fantasy X" (especially the main theme) almost made me reconsider my opinion about
Final Fantasy VII having the greatest video game music score ever.
The Bad
It would be a blasphemy to criticize such a game. The only thing that comes to mind is its rather low difficulty level. Save points restored your HP and MP to the full, so fighting near a save point became a rather cheap way to upgrade your characters. Also, I missed the vehicles. You gain an airship later in the game, but you can control it only via a menu, which is far less exciting than actually navigating it.
The Bottom Line
"Final Fantasy X" is beautiful, profound, and wonderfully melancholic. Playing it is more engaging than watching many movies. Amazing graphics, wonderful design, great story, characters, music - everything is merged in a game that proves to us Squaresoft are still the same magicians as we've always known them.
