Final Fantasy X

The Good
- The graphics. While they can't make a horrible game good, they can make a good game great. In the case of Final Fantasy X, it makes a fairly good game better. FMVs are better than ever, and even the in-engine cutscenes are visually impressive.

• The ability to change characters and equipment during battle

• Pokémon-esque side-quest.

• The new sphere grid system of character improvement is an interesting addition, and allows the player to guide his character's development much more closely than most console RPGs to date.

• CTB is a good system for battles, now if only they could divorce themselves from random encounters

• The Fayth's sphere-swapping puzzles. They're not particularly challenging, but it's nice to have a few minutes of actually doing something in this game.

• Summoned creatures are more than just super-magic-attacks as in previous titles, but are actual playable characters with their own stats and skills that the player can improve and customize.
  
  The Bad
  - FFX might as well play itself. Conversations are scripted and offer little interaction, monster/boss battles require some strategic input, but are generally quite simple, and there are really no chances for the player to feel like he is guiding the story toward anything but the predetermined conclusion.

• Voice acting is almost always very good, but the lip-sync is set for Japanese, so the dialogue easily loses its dramatic edge for the same reasons Godzilla movies lose it.

• 99% linear. The world map is gone, a mini-map shows you exactly where to go next, and Tidus and company are unable to return to previously visited towns until the latter parts of the game.

• The story is interesting and told well, but some of the elements that make the story fresh and interesting are dulled to anyone with a history of playing console RPGs. FFX's inspiration seems to rely heavily on the Breath of Fire series.

• Tidus isn't the sort of person most video game players would aspire to imitate.
  
  The Bottom Line
  Final Fantasy X is a forty-hour long movie (or longer) with some side quests and a few puzzles. It's worth playing through to the end once.