Final Fantasy X
- Final Fantasy X (2002 on PlayStation 2, 2013 on PS Vita)
Description official descriptions
Tidus is a young athlete who lives in a futuristic city of Zanarkand - "the city that never sleeps". He plays blitzball, a ball game where players throw the ball while flying around. Suddenly, a terrible disaster happens. A huge dark wave engulfs the city, spawning monsters. Tidus comes in contact with the mysterious creature, and as a result finds himself in a different world, a thousand years into the future. The civilization he is used to doesn't exist any more. He learns that the world he knew was destroyed by Sin, a terrible being that is believed to be indestructible. Tidus meets a young summoner named Yuna, and joins her as a guardian on her quest to put an end to Sin.
Final Fantasy X is Japanese-style role-playing game set in a world somewhat similar to South Asia. Only individual locations can be physically explored; there is no "world map" in the game, and exploration is fairly linear. Enemy encounters are random; the game abandons the series' traditional ATB (active-time battle) combat in favor of a Conditional Turn-Based Battle system, in which the turns of the participants are determined by characters' stats and actions, with turn order displayed in the upper corner of the screen.
The game also departs from the usual leveling up system. There are no character levels in the game: instead, experience points received after battles can be allocated by the player directly to upgrade the characters' parameters. Each character has his or her special "sphere map", with straight or branching paths containing spots that increase the character's personal statistics, or teach him or her active and passive abilities. The characters are given distinct class attributes, and it is possible top switch between all the party members during the same battle. Monster summons (called aeons in the game) now behave like playable characters, have their own hit points (HP), and can fight for the party until defeated.
Conversations that occur during cutscenes have voice overs, for the first time in the series. The game features various mini-games, the most prominent of which are blitzball tournaments.
Spellings
- Финальная Фантазия 10 - Russian spelling
- ファイナルファンタジーX - Japanese spelling
- 最终幻想10 - Chinese spelling (simplified)
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Credits (PlayStation 2 version)
561 People (537 developers, 24 thanks) · View all
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[ full credits ] |
Reviews
Critics
Average score: 92% (based on 53 ratings)
Players
Average score: 3.8 out of 5 (based on 238 ratings with 19 reviews)
Final Fantasy games should have never been created *gasp*
The Good
*Note: Reviewer has only played Final Fantasy 8 before playing this game.
Catchy title, eh? Must think, who in the hell is this egghead? Doh.
Well actually, I really don't have anything bad to say about Final Fantasy X, regardless of the one-line summary. What I DO have to say is that because games like Final Fantasy, other games out there become REALLY BAD in comparison, I mean really bad. I think it was the words of ol' Unicorn Lynx that said "with games like Final Fantasy, you'd wonder what all the other games are for?" True, so true. AND because of games like Final Fantasy, those crappy games out there, don't become "mediocre" or "all right", they become "dang that's an 'orrible game" or "didn't the developers who made this RPG ever played Final Fantasy?".
Don't you just love a good outlet before a getting into a review? Hahaha.
O.K. About Final Fantasy X. Considering the only other Final Fantasy game I've played was FF8, that's the only game I can compare it too. Final Fantasy is an odd exception. You can't compare it to other RPG's, because it CAN'T be compared. Even other hit games can be compared with other games of the same genre, but not Final Fantasy. It stands in its own league...its own legend.
First things first. The story was incredibly way better than FF8. At least that's what I think. More depth, more feel, more emotion. Which is probably why I love and hate it too (I'll explain the hate in the BAD section). Although I really wonder why all the FF movies suck, considering the games have such imaginative and visionary storylines. I won't get in the story, you can read other reviews for that.
The second is the combat system. I don't know about you, but I immensely enjoyed it. The fact that you can trade heroes at any point in battle makes a lot of new possibilities, as you try to get all the heroes to act in combat for experience purposes. It's nice that you don't have to get stuck with a certain type of combat possibilities because your heroes have different fighting styles.
The third. Acting. Egad, I know its eye candy but I do respect the level of detail they put in the body movements. Most of the dialogs are well put (underline most, not all...next, bad section). I really enjoy anything Waka the blitz player says in a dialog, that bloke cracks me up with his Polynesian style of speech and funny dialogs. Auron is always "mister serious", Lulu is...uh, don't quite notice the dialogs...you notice everything else though! Yuna is this nice conservative girl. The type you want to bring home and introduce to your parents. Basically "nearly" all the heroes have excellent balance in role and dialog, which makes you more acquainted and closer to the story.
Fourth. The music ahh...the music. Some shoot me because the music hit me through the heart and it never healed. More on the music in the bad section. And no, I'm not going to say the music's bad...it's something else.
Last but not least. B L I T Z B A L L!!! Go Aurochs. Dang it, I've never liked sport games. But half of the time I played Final Fantasy X, I was playing Blitzball! He shoots, he scores! Goal!!
My personal record is 9-0. Dang my players are good and mostly all of them are original Aurochs. Even Waka is in my team. Though the blitzball section needed some major upgrades, especially in the configuration department, but considering it's just an "add-on" for fun (of which the fun part did very well), I ain't complaining.
The Bad
Hmm. There are several things that bothered me in the game. Not in any particular order, I'll start with Aeon, the Guardian Forces of FF8. As I recall, one of the "brands" of Final Fantasy were the summoned monsters that are really tough. In Final Fantasy X, the Aeons are wimps. Seriously, wimps. You know that because in the middle to the end game, you hardly use the Aeons as your heroes are powerful enough. At the end game (sorry, possible spoiler), you fight your Aeons. I defeat each of them with one hit. Even by my weakest hero, that is Rikku (Yuna can cast Holy). So much for the mighty summoning monsters. Wasn't surprised they got rid of it in FF X-2. The Aeons were much more like a spell than the title they rightly should deserve.
In regard to the Aeons, your heroes get too powerful too quickly. Which is probably why you don't use your Aeons. The reason why you use those Aeons is because usually they're the only ones that can reach the 9999 damage limit (or more). But when each of your heroes can do that in a single turn, plus they have more moves and abilities than your Aeons, the poor monsters don't have much use anymore. I would go as far to say that you can play Final Fantasy X without even using a single Aeon to win the game. Now something's wrong there.
A lot of the Aeon abilities were also useless, or I missed something. With spells like Life that can be taught to an Aeon, I though there were parts in the game where your heroes and the Aeon could fight together. Obviously, Life has no use as you can't use it to the Aeon (though I never tried it to a KO'd hero though). As I said, I could've missed something.
My harshest critic for the game refers to the fact that the games is incredibly EASY! Compared to FF8, this game is mother goose! The monsters are also quite unbalanced in the game. I was expecting Sin and all those bosses in the end game to be extremely difficult. They were child pickings! What gives? The monsters in the ARENA could kick Sin the behind easy! Now how can the monsters in the ARENA be tougher that Sin and the gang? I don't get it. I really don't.
Though the story is good, the story-line is somewhat bothersome. It's that quick to finish the game if you want to. After you control the airship, it ends pretty quickly unless you do something otherwise. The game is very short compared to FF8. I expected 30-40% of the game to be finished when I controlled the airship...not 60-70% of the game! (100 hours of game play is still short in my RPG book).
The Acting. The acting was good for MOST of the heroes/characters. Except of our leader (what's his name?) and Yuna. All the other characters were perfect. The leader is this adolescent kid that talks and acts too much. Probably because of the market, though some of his dialogs are quite "grown-up" most of them are really childish. Yuna is nice when she's being a not-so confident shy girl. She get's really corny and acts really bad when she tries to become the "hero" tough-girl. Though many of her body gestures were really good on her defense.
Lastly, the music. Dang I hate the composer, not because the music's bad. But because it's really good. Though they're weren't as many good tracks compared to FF8, the few that did were much better in "quality". Some of those songs really stabbed me in the heart and soul. They carried the essence of some of the truest forms pain and sorrow I've experienced in my pathetic form of existence. When I finished the game and listened to the song, I cried for hours. Like downpour crying...it is a true work of heart. But it touches closer to home, more than one would like it to. Maybe some people out there get my meaning...
But regardless...Final Fantasy says "IN YOUR FACE OTHER RPGS!"
The Bottom Line
The gameplay of Final Fantasy X is divided into 3 major sections:
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35% Playing FF X the RPG.
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35% Playing Blitzball
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30% Drooling over Lulu.
PlayStation 2 · by Indra was here (20756) · 2006
The Good
The beaches of Besaid, beautiful, I could feel the wind in my hair and I could see the saliva dripping of the fangs of the monster I was throwing my Blitzball at. But seriously in all the previous final fantasys you could choose where you went and then we get Final Fantasy X which escorts you around with a nice red arrow at the top of your map saying don't find your own way just follow me." I mean correct me if I'm wrong but i don't think Tidus sees a big red arrow showing him where to go, so why should we and Blitzball gets tiring after about the fifth game since you must admit it got a bit repetitive.......throw, kick, swim etc. Maybe the creators should be concentrating more on the gameplay rather than the crashing waves and the sand between the toes.
The Bad
See above =)
The Bottom Line
If you like graphics above gameplay then this is a premium choice.
PlayStation 2 · by Horny-Bullant (49) · 2003
It's not a game, it's a work of art....
The Good
First off let me say that I've never played ANY of the previous Final Fantasy games before. I have no clue how they worked, or how this one matches up to the previous ones.
I do know that after playing FFX for a day or two, that it is the most gorgeous, intense, and incredible game I've played in a while.
The plot of the story encircles Tidus - the star Blitzball player from the Zanarkand Abes. After the being known as "Sin" attacks Zanarkand, Tidus is thrown 1000 years into the future - to a land known as Spira. He eventually ends up with a beautiful summoner named Yuna, and is then wrapped up in her quest to defeat Sin.
The graphics in this game are breathtaking. The movements of the characters are fluid, and ultra-realistic. The Aeons summons alone are enough to make our jaw drop. But what I found that set the game apart, is that in most cases, you can't tell when the pre-generated cutscenes stop and the in-game engine takes over. The cutscenes' quality is equal to that of the FF movie that was released last year, and the transition between cutscene to in-game in flawless.
The sound is fantastic. This is the first FF game to feature full audio voice for all the main characters, and the localization team did a top-notch job with the translation. Although I find Tidus' voice a little whiney, I think it sounds great. The music, although repetative in the battles, is great as well.
The controls, once you learn them are extremely intuitive. You can either use the analog joystick or the D-pad to control you character.
The gameplay itself is a blast. One of the newest features to the series, is the ability to "hot-swap" your characters while in combat. This makes for more strategic planning of your battles and allows characters with healing abilties to jump in - heal your wounded - and then jump out as well.
Another interesting change is the sphere grid. Gone are the days of experience points. It's little complex but the jist of it is this. You have a HUGE grid of spheres, that allow to you branch out and level up your character. You advance in spheres by defeating creatures in battle, and you level your characters up by collecting spheres that you collect at the end of each battle.
Overdirve stirkes are also done well. In most cases and Overdrive strike happens when you've battle enough creatures to fill you Overdrive bar which unleashes a very powerful attack. But the way the attack are done is cool. Instead of just hitting a button, you have to do a certain pattern on your controller. For instance when you use an overdrive attack with Wakka you have to line up 3 colors on a slot machine type display. The quicker you line them up the more damage you do.
Or with Kilmarhi's attack you have to do a certain sequence of button pushes, and the faster you complete the sequence, the more damage it does. I find this technique is very cool. I means that overdrive attacks don't automatically hit your opponent with your full strength, the same as real life, your strongest attacks might not do the damage you hope for.
The Bad
Not much so far. It's an awesome game.
The Bottom Line
Bottom Line: If you've never played an RPG before and you happen to own a PS2, then this game is for you. If you've ever seen screenshots, they don't do the game justice. The plot, controls, graphics, sound, gameplay, are so finely tuned, that it's impossible not to like the game.
A must-buy for any RPG lover.
PlayStation 2 · by Chris Martin (1155) · 2002
Discussion
Subject | By | Date |
---|---|---|
Stealing from robots | St. Martyne (3648) | Sep 11, 2009 |
Favorite character | Jacob Gens (1115) | Feb 16, 2009 |
Favorite song of FFX | Jacob Gens (1115) | Oct 15, 2008 |
Mystery photographer | Jacob Gens (1115) | Mar 6, 2008 |
Thunder Plains | Donatello (466) | Dec 26, 2007 |
Trivia
1001 Video Games
Final Fantasy X appears in the book 1001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die by General Editor Tony Mott.
Al Bhed language
During the course of the game you have to learn the "Al Bhed" language. The language in actuality is a simple substitution cipher. All the vowels equal other vowels (to make actual pronunciation easier), and the rest are the normal letters. Anyone that can do cryptograms can decipher the language right from the beginning of the game, without find all the Primer books. But finding the books makes it a lot easier to read the subtitles.
Cut content
There is an un-intended sequence at the beginning where you can defeat the monster that chases you into the ruins. Obviously they had a change of plans when developing the game. You can view this sequence by using a PS2 Gameshark and enabling high stats.
Music
Final Fantasy X is the first game in the (main) Final Fantasy series where the music is not exclusively composed by Nobuo Uematsu, only a modern remix of the prelude is present (not the actual prelude) and there is no trace of the traditional "a a a a a a g g" battle theme baseline. Although the battle theme of Final Fantasy VII & VIII does not start by this baseline, there is trace of it in songs herd during some important boss battles.
Also, it's the second game in the series where there is no presence of the Final Fantasy theme since Final Fantasy II.
References
While in the Besaid Village the first time, go to the Crusaders Tent. Talk to the first character in the door, and he'll tell you "I'm fixing a hole where the rain gets in". Obviously a few of the programmers were Beatles fans.
World map
As of 2002, Final Fantasy X is the only Final Fantasy game that doesn't have a world map with a character moving around. The world map is actually a menu with a locations to choose and a "search" option, that allows you to go to any location on the map.
Awards
- GameSpy
- 2002 – Z.Flo Award (for Yuna)
Information also contributed by Aaron A., Bregalad, Unicorn Lynx
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Related Sites +
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FF-Fan
A fansite that offers all kinds of information on the entire Final Fantasy franchise, including walkthroughs, game media, discussion boards and fan art. -
Final Fantasy Extreme
Site that contains movies, wallpaper, codes, guides, walkthroughs, and general information on the Final Fantasy series. -
Final Fantasy X
Official game website -
Final Fantasy X Memories
Alex describes why Final Fantasy X is a special game -
OC ReMix Game Profile
Fan remixes of music from Final Fantasy X. -
Wikipedia: Final Fantasy X
Information about Final Fantasy X at Wikipedia
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Contributors to this Entry
Game added by Syed GJ.
Additional contributors: Chris Martin, Unicorn Lynx, Exodia85, Bregalad, DreinIX, —-, Patrick Bregger, Thomas Thompson, FatherJack, A.J. Maciejewski.
Game added January 25, 2002. Last modified March 4, 2024.