Final Fantasy X

The Good
- I like the change of the character's perception and characteristics as time passes. It seem to me that they earn and deserve a lot of respect for their determination to face their loathful environment to build a solid foundation of cooperation to create hope and changes. Otherwise, it could be said that they just have learnt to be a little more mature and emotional. - Some good music and theme (I love that 'Suteki Da Ne' and 'To Zanarkand'). - Emotional video clips. - Good blitzball game, which take a while or two fully understand. - Excellent graphic, only just sometimes the character look too realistic (clip show Tidus and Rikku look too Jap) may differ to the usual or intended character.

The Bad
The new layout, battle and leveling system of FFX is very different to FF8 and FF9. When i first play as that riff-raff, i was wondering if it is one of the fake products (that thought still give me a shiver sometimes). - The storyline is pathetic in the beginning as the setting is totally different to other FF. There is very little information given and I didn’t know what was going on or what to do. There are times where the storyline line then is lost in despair, draining our interest from the game. If it wasn't for my curiosity, to learn more about the characters, I would have gave up and play Kingdom Heart instead. And for that reason, i can't bare to play it again right from the beginning. –Some event in the storyline disappoints me. I was totally disgusted at the attitude and interaction between the characters. -The storyline is too short (i can't wait for dual-layered disc FF). –There are one to many features Squaresoft has changed, it’s not a good thing.

The Bottom Line
Warning: It seem true that people spend too many time on this game as other reviews and people stated. I, myself, spend 20 hours playing non-stop once, before feeling too tired and slept for 4 hours before spending another day on it. No, i didn't eat or did anything else except no.1 and no.2. It was fortunate that the gameplay only last around 40 hours, i mean i can't last any longer.

The Good
The most noticeable aspect of the game, right from the start, is just how beautiful the game looks. The project took years to finish, and you can tell a good part of the time was spent polishing the character models and making the world feel real. Then again, ever since the games moved to 3D graphics they have always had a very real feel to them... it's something to expect when the name "Final Fantasy" is put on the label. Don't forget how great the video clips are, too.

It is also important to note that, while it has already had nine games before it, not including the handheld incarnations or Tactics, Final Fantasy X still maintains a very fresh and fun feel. Most other franchises that have managed to hit the tenth game have all failed in this aspect considerably, Might and Magic 10 gets an (dis?)honorable mention here. For example, instead of making miniscule or NO changes to game play, Square ditched the Active Time Battle system it has had for the longest time and used a turn-based system instead.

While on the topic of the new battle system it is important to point out that I did not welcome the idea of a turn-based battle system from the start. "Turn-based? How lame!" Instead of being a boring and simple system, it's very well thought out and fun. You also have monsters that have weaknesses to specific characters and while you can only have three characters active in battle, the game allows you to swap an active character with one of the ones that are sitting out. As for the summoned creatures this time around, they're called "Aeons" and instead of existing as flashy versions of spells they are actual controllable characters during battles complete with spells and abilities.

The characters in this game are also characters that you grow to care about as the story progresses. They have depth, the voice-actors who portray them do an excellent job most of the time, and you rarely have difficulty believing the characters would do/say what they do. This is a nice change from Final Fantasy 9, where the only character I could say I grew attached to was Vivi. As far as experience levels and making your characters more powerful goes, the old experience system has been changed slightly. Now you gain "ability points" and at certain amounts of AP you gain "sphere levels." With each sphere level you gain, you get to move the character along a grid and activate abilities as you go. It sounds restrictive, but there are several ways you can hop on to a different grid or activate "hidden" abilities.

The story is also enjoyable and keeps you interested, although it could have used a little more fleshing out and back-story.

The Bad
The thing at the top of the "don't like" list is the very small amount of side-quests in the game. Those side quests themselves are small, or consist of doing very tedious things... like dodging 200 lightning bolts to get a special item. A lot of those tasks also don't have any clues giving you reason to do them, and I only know to do them because of playonline.com, Square's online strategy guide.

Resulting partially from the lack of several side quests, the game is also incredibly short. When you get to the final battle after only 40 hours it is sort of disappointing... not to mention the final battle is totally anti-climatic. Meaning, so easy it is impossible to lose. Fortunately you have plenty of difficult ones just before it.

The musical score gets a minus as well in this game, because there are a lot of themes that any Final Fantasy fan will recognize as simple remixes of previous games' music. Some songs were original, but enough of the music was remixed to make me disappointed.

Another minus, although it's not a big one, is that when you finally get the airship, the way you fly anywhere is by selecting the destination from a list. There's no soaring through the air with fun music going on in the background in this Final Fantasy... although I get a feeling it could primarily be because of budget and time constraints more than design.

The Bottom Line
This is one of the many RPGs any RPG fan will want to add to a collection. Final Fantasy fans will not be disappointed either. It has enough of the old mixed with the new to make existing fans happy and to create new ones. The voice acting is above average, everything is very pretty, and it rarely gets boring.

You can expect to see the same recurring names as in the previous games, familiar monsters, Shiva (who has never looked better!), and a multitude of other things fans like me will be looking for. These familiar things are combined with enough new things to keep Final Fantasy alive and kicking, unlike most other franchises that hit the double-digits.

Go get it, play it, and get ready for the next one... because if the next one is going to look any better I can't wait to see it.

The Good
I loved Final Fantasy the moment I laid my eyes on Final Fantasy on the PlayStation. It's been years since then and Square could still do the magic they could.

Right from the beginning of the game, you are introduced to the whole group. (Of course you can't see all of their faces or know their names) You hear a narration of someone telling you "This may be our last chance" and that can draw you in instantly. The game begins on a ship and there are people all waiting for you. You take the role of Tidus, a star player in the game of Blitzball. You begin to sign autographs and such and then the first FMV comes on and you are blown away.

The FMV's look amazing. Every little detail is there. From all the faces in the crowds down to the drops of water on Tidus' eyes. The rock music in the back is a nice touch. I have heard that Nobuo Uematsu wrote the piece and he does a terrific job at making it a rock song. You watch everyone play Blitzball and then you see a man in a red coat standing where you couldn't normally stand facing this HUUUGEEE thing coming out of the water. He begins to walk towards the stadium where Tidus and everyone is playing. Well wouldn't you know, everything begins to fall apart. Statues are broken, blasts are fired, people are running. Everything is just truly detailed. It just blew me away.

After all the commotion, you wake up on an island and someone throws a ball at you. (The nerve of some people huh?) You meet up with some interesting characters and is introduced to the island of Besaid. Some time afterwards, you are introduced to your first puzzle to solve. It's not hard but believe me there are harder ones. You are introduced to some more characters who will be your allies and begin a pilgrimage to stop the all evil Sin.

What I like about the game so much is the story. Tidus is this mysterious character where you as the player, don't know much about him. How did he get to where he is, who are his parents are just some of the questions I've asked so many times. Sometimes the story is just so good I just can't stop smiling and going "Yes Yes Yes!!"

The graphics are something I couldn't take my eyes off. They actually have facial expressions now! Yes a character can look sad or happy and you can tell! It shows how much Square is pushing the PS2. For once, for ONCE the characters can actually talk! Yes TALK!! This makes the game a lot more fun because you can see if they have an angry tone in their voice or a happy one. The voice acting isn't that bad either. It's actually pretty good.

The enemies are another thing. Some of them are just so cool you want to be like them. Seymour especially, is one of them. He doesn't look threatening, doesn't seem threatening, doesn't sound threatening, (And would you expect someone so respected to be evil?) and next thing you know, you're against him. It is truly amazing. Some of them only have small roles and yet they have such an impact on you. One enemy in particular you meet for about 5 minutes and battle her. You think you wouldn't know much about her in 5 minutes but you know as much as you know about Tidus and the crew. It is truly amazing. Even Sin is interesting. He seems unbeatable and is feared throughout Spira and here is a group of people who say they can take down Sin and make him stay away forever. It is truly suspenseful.

Blitzball is one of those games you got to get into to have a good time. I got into it and DOMINATED. Once you begin to play Blitzball it is a little complicated but if you continue playing and signing new players on your team you'll love the game.

Final Fantasy X is just one of those games you couldn't stop playing. It just keeps drawing you in and in.

The Bad
There were some things that bugged me.

The story of how Tidus got to where he was and how he came to exist is just plain confusing. I couldn't follow at all. There is one particular thing you have to do in the end and I never knew why I had to do it. This is another problem I had that concerns Tidus, they should've never given the option to change Tidus' name at the beginning. It would've caused less confusion among the gamers. I have heard COUNTLESS people pronounce Tidus' name Tee-dus.

The sidequests are just too much and too complicated. To get the Sigils and Crests for your characters' Celestial Weapons is very complicated. You actually have to get something to start collecting the Sigils and Crests! You also have to find the Celestial Weapon to power it up with the Sigils and Crests! How complicated is that?! You can find the crests in treasure chests in Spira which is easy but the Sigils are tough. Tidus, Wakka's, Lulu's, Auron's and Riku's were so complicated and frustrating I actually threw my controller at the floor. I won't spoil it but I'll say this, be good at Blitzball, have a controlled temper, be good at dodging lightning bolts in the Thunder Plains, and learn how to find things you wouldn't normally find.

Bliztball is one of those games that is tough in the beginning. I thought I had the worst team in Blitzball and everyone dominated us. Somehow, I managed all that and began to beat everyone. I found one player who helped us out a lot. Some things that I found weird about Blitzball was how did they stay that long under water? Is the water fake or something? They never really explained it.

The game ending is a bit over dramatic. At many points at the end I rolled my eyes A LOT.

The Bottom Line
Final Fantasy X is just one of those really cool games you can't stop playing.