Final Fantasy X

The Good
I loved the fact that, despite the then-prevailing trend to make RPG combat a twitch-fest, the combat is turn-based with interesting tactical choices. I loved that you could switch team members during each fight so that everybody got experience - one of the bad traditions of console RPGs is presenting you a palette of interesting playable characters but forcing you to concentrate on only a subset. The "grid" for character development was original and interesting, but very confusing at first. The subgame was interesting but optional, both as it should be. The graphics were very pretty, the storyline interesting (if as predictable and over-foreshadowed as always in console RPGs).

The Bad
Like the other FF games (and really, nearly all console RPGs), the plot is too linear and you are more-or-less forced to follow a specific path. The only choices of path involve whether to pursue optional side-quests that become available late in the game.

The story is not in the league of Grandia or Breath of Fire III, but nor is it as unsubtle and formulaic as most of the genre.

The Blitzball subgame is an interesting idea; in actuality it's basically a soccer game, which fails to live up to the interesting 3D game it's supposed to represent. OTOH, a good interface and implementation of that 3D game would be hard to learn and use, and occupy way too much space for a subgame.

The Bottom Line
One of the best console RPGs I've ever played, ranking right after the classic Grandia mostly because there are no surprises in the story, and because while there are at least as many meaningful character development decisions, they only become available very late in the game. Most of its flaws are common to the genre, and it's a lot of fun.

The Good
Ever since Final Fantasy series reached the "mainstream", its creators have been paying much attention to visuals and cinematic presentation.

Final Fantasy X is no exception: the first thing you notice when you fire it up are graphics and cutscenes. From a technical viewpoint, the game does to Playstation 2 what Final Fantasy VII did to Playstation - pushes the console to its limits. Not only are the character graphics fabulous - the backgrounds match them fully. Part of them are still pre-rendered, but there are also some very impressive real-time 3D visuals.

CG movies are absolutely gorgeous; while many of them are simply technical "eye candy", some are really memorable thanks to their usage of camera work, visuals, and music. Yuna's wedding, for example, is truly a great piece of CG animation. In short, expect the usual Square artistry and cinematic talent: if you play their games just to see beautiful cutscenes, Final Fantasy X would be perfect for you.

Dramatic storytelling has always been an important component in Final Fantasy games, and Final Fantasy X certainly does not disappoint in this aspect. It delivers a personal, romantic tale with a touch of melancholy and sadness that I'm always ready to appreciate.

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 fully concentrated on Tidus' personal experience. He is the only stranger, the only outsider, the one who has lost his home forever. There are many plot elements here we've seen many times in previous installments of the series: romantic love, family matters, psychological conflicts, and so on. The narrative also tries to deal with deeper issues, such as religion and its influence on people's lives - though, like most games, it hardly convinces in that aspect.

Spira, the world of Final Fantasy X, has an interesting Asian flavor, superficially resembling South China, or Thailand with a bit of India. The melancholic, "sleepy" and exotic atmosphere of the game is complemented by a lovely musical score, with the piano introduction standing out as one of Nobuo Uematsu's most nostalgically characteristic creations.

The new character growth system is pretty interesting - that is, until you realize that it's just a fancy version of abilities that have been present in the series for a long time. Still, from time to time (actually only near the end of the game) Final Fantasy X does manage to convey a bit of that magical RPG-ing feeling that comes when you train a summoned monster to inflict obscene amount of damage by your own choice.

The Bad
For years, Final Fantasy series has been trying to set itself apart from the formulaic, linear structures of its genre brethren. Optional companions, jobs, abilities, hidden areas and monsters - all that distinguished those games from generic Japanese RPGs that told you exactly how they should be played. Alas, Final Fantasy X seems to be the first one in the series that neglects precisely those aspects that made it refreshingly and appealingly different.

Final Fantasy X is too linear. There is no way around it, and it really hurts. It is by far the game's most serious flaw, and it sucks the fun out of it. Lack of a world map and narrow hostile areas means that exploration in the style of earlier Final Fantasies is no longer possible. You follow a pre-determined path for almost the entire game; only before the last dungeon you finally acquire an airship. But you can't physically navigate it; all you can do is select a location from a menu.

Granted, there are still a few optional locations with side quests and optional bosses the series is famous for. But the sensation of exploring the world on your own is sorely missed. Remember how fun it was to drive vehicles and even breed chocobos to uncover more and more of the world map in Final Fantasy VII? Unfortunately, you won't have any of that here. You'll travel from one small town to another in a straight line. Hostile areas connecting those settlements often consist of plain roads without any branches. The only interesting locations are temples where you'll have to solve puzzles to proceed.

Customization is lacking as well. Gone are the rich equipment possibilities of earlier Final Fantasies: all you can do now is have a generic class representative equip one single type of weapon and armor. There is still the relatively free-form character development the series has become known for (i.e. you can eventually have your tank cast black magic or whatever), but this is achieved only through the needlessly complicated ability grid. It feels more artificial - and certainly less expansive - than the convoluted system of Final Fantasy VIII.

The series' trademark active-time combat has been replaced by a vanilla turn-based system. Apparently it was done to make battles more tactical; in reality, they only became more predictable and devoid of challenge. The possibility to replace a character at any time during the battle simply means that you have an overpowered party with a fully healed "bench" preventing you from ever coming close to danger.

The Bottom Line
Some people play Final Fantasy games for their melodramatic stories and artistically appealing cinematic direction. I certainly do not oppose those; but to me, Final Fantasy is also (and primarily) about traveling, finding little secrets, and having different ways to build up your characters - that is, all things pertaining to gameplay. And that is, sadly, precisely where Final Fantasy X falls behind its more entertaining, longer-lasting predecessors.

The Good
Almost everything! The CGI animations are supremely breathtaking. There are secrets everywhere. You can play a sport anytime you want! Plus not to mention all their Super Cool weapons. And for the first time ever in the series, they talk with real voices. Plus they got a super cool TOUGH enemy from a past Final Fantasy Game...

The Bad
There were some minors that can be a MAJOR PAIN to others. Yes I did say there were secrets...and those secrets are tough to crack! All those Sigils and Crests are hard to find, not to mention what item you have to get to get those Sigils and Crests. The next few things bugged me. You couldn't pause during battle. It can be frustrating at times. Some puzzles are so hard you might blow your top like I did once. Puzzles as the Cloister of Trials at each Temple. Some battles are so tough like battling Seymour all those times. And Blitzball has some minor problems with me. It is a cool sport but if you tried to do a command like Passing the ball, you couldn't change your decision. If you don't read the entire Tutorial about Blitzball and go straight into a game, you will lose and wonder how and be mad at the same time.This is the ultimate thing that I had to get used to, during Blitzball, when the other team had the ball, you just watch until one of your teammates went to him. I wished you could move your characters when the other team has the ball. But I got used to it...slowly. There was one last thing that bugged me, IT WAS SEVERELY ADDICTING. YOU JUST CAN'T STOP PLAYING. I remember when I first got this game. I played from 9:00 p.m. to 5:00 a.m. because it was so fun! I kept saying I'll take it out after this next part but something always caught my interest and I kept going until my mom came out and yelled at me.

The Bottom Line
Play it. You'll absolutely love it. Read everything you ever get carefully and slowly. Oh and for gamers like me, watch out for what I said above.