Final Fantasy X
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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 233 ratings with 19 reviews)
The Good
Back when Sony made better business decisions for their PlayStation brand, they realised that it's not only the hype and technical specs selling a system, it's also carried by a company's most successful game franchises. Just to compare the PS2 and PS3, a fully-fledged Final Fantasy game for the PS3, though announced, is still missing in early 2008, almost two years after the console's release. When FFX hit stores in 2001 it was a mere year after the PS2 had started selling in Japan.
Game designers at Square (which then was "only" Square and not Squareenix yet) realised that they had to take the series to the next level. Graphically they certainly succeeded. Final Fantasy X plays in an oddly anachronistic world that appears to mix sci-fi, elements of the legend of Atlantis and the Bible and contemporary culture, all set before a colourful and lush tropical backdrop. For the first time in the series, the entire game world is rendered in real-time 3D, getting rid of the until then standard overworld map. For their time characters and scenarios were breathtaking in terms of design as well as technically. How much attention was paid to the overall presentation can easily be seen in another first for the series, a voice-over.
Diving into the world of FFX, the experience feels entirely fresh. Its world is interesting, the characters and architecture visually exotic, the cutscenes and overall FX as stunning as players have come to expect from the Final Fantasy franchise, and then some. The story, a religious quest to redeem a world that is flawed in the eyes of the evil opposing it, greatly benefits from the overall oceanic feel.
The Bad
Although visually absolutely stunning in 2001, FFX's gameplay fails to bring as many innovations. Before tactical real-time combat made its debut in FFXII, FFX took a step back and exchanged the then standard ATB system in which characters' turns in battle were determined by a decreasing and refilling time gauge. Battles in FFX are strictly turn-based instead, a feature which hadn't been used in the main series since Final Fantasy III. New elements include being able to exchange characters in-battle and small quicktime events to further empower special abilities, harking back to the team roster and special abilities from FFVI. All this, however, doesn't really make combat a lot more dynamic. If anything it feels even simpler because weary fighters can be exchanged for fresh ones and a sort of ticker on the top of the screen constantly provides players with information on how to best beat the monster they are up against.
The battle system in combination with character development makes the game feel sluggish sometimes. All characters possess only two item slots in which only items from a predetermined class can be placed for each character. Although weapons get customisable later on, very little ever changes about the characters' appearance. Furthermore, the Sphere Grid used to level up characters by spending ability points to move a counter and unlock new abilities or boost old ones appears needlessly cryptic and labyrinthine. One might argue it is little more than a glorified and overcomplicated ability tree.
Stepping away from the series' pre-rendered backgrounds allows for a more immersive feeling while travelling the world. However, this doesn't change anything about the fact that paths are still largely laid out for players to tread. Linearity and formula in general have been and still are a problem of the FF series. This becomes apparent in FFX because gameplay especially in the beginning is often a mere sequence of walking a few steps, fighting a random battle and engaging in one of the many and long-winded talks or cutscenes. While the game certainly gears up later, newcomers will have to muster some patience.
As mentioned before, the story is carried by its exotic setting and diverse plot elements - sadly, the characters aren't always that interesting. The hero is an RPG standard, clueless, blade-wielding youngster with daddy issues, his mentor a silent swordsman, his best friend a lovable oaf and his love interest a mild-mannered, staff wielding enchantress. (Or summoner in this case.) The sometimes awkward English dubbing doesn't help much.
The Bottom Line
Final Fantasy X makes a bold effort to be for the PlayStation 2 what Final Fantasy VII was for the original PlayStation and the series. Graphics, design and music are without a doubt worthy of the series but it seems as though too much effort went into those areas because gameplay as such is lacking interactivity. As such FFX is a mediocre console RPG, albeit on the high level players have come to expect from developer Square.
PlayStation 2 · by Kit Simmons (249) · 2008
Everything you Ever Wanted in an RPG.
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.
PlayStation 2 · by Rey Mysterio (23) · 2004
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 (1169) · 2002
Discussion
Subject | By | Date |
---|---|---|
Stealing from robots | St. Martyne (3644) | Sep 11th, 2009 |
Favorite character | Jacob Gens (1115) | Feb 16th, 2009 |
Favorite song of FFX | Jacob Gens (1115) | Oct 15th, 2008 |
Mystery photographer | Jacob Gens (1115) | Mar 6th, 2008 |
Thunder Plains | Donatello (453) | Dec 26th, 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
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 <em>Final Fantasy X</em>. -
Wikipedia: Final Fantasy X
Information about Final Fantasy X at Wikipedia
Identifiers +
- MobyGames ID: 5673
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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 25th, 2002. Last modified May 30th, 2023.