Final Fantasy X: A Video Game Review

In 1987, the Japanese gaming company that is now known as SquareSoft was in trouble. The modest Square Ltd. had produced many small console games, but none had seen much large-scale success. Square's president, Hironobu Sakaguchi, felt that the company could come up with better material.

At the time, the Enix Dragon Quest series was a very popular role-playing game. Sakaguchi thought that Square could produce an even better RPG . The company had one last opportunity to come out with a successful game or Square was finished. Thankfully -- both for Square Ltd. and legions of riveted RPG gamers -- Square released a unique turn-based RPG console game called Final Fantasy. The game became wildly successful and, of course, the rest is history.

The Final Fantasy regime is still going strong today and holds notoriety both in and outside of the gaming world. People who have barely touched a controller have often at least heard of the Final Fantasy series, and they probably have at least an inkling of how increasingly fantastic the games are. I was one such individual. I had heard great things about how the Final Fantasy games were not only fun but also boasted moving plot lines and cutting edge graphics. This type of game seemed right up my alley. I wanted to play. So, after scraping together some rather meager pay checks, I bought myself a used PlayStation 2 system as well as a copy of Final Fantasy X. I found myself in a gaming setting that truly surpassed all of my expectations.

Final Fantasy X stars a young man named Tidus. Set in a futuristic world called Zanarkand, Tidus is a professional athlete who can be somewhat arrogant and impulsive, but is mostly kind and caring. Despite some lingering angst over a rocky relationship with his absent father, Tidus is living it up as a star blitzball player (think soccer played in a gigantic sphere of water). One night in the middle of a match, however, Tidus' life changes forever. A vast monster known as Sin descends on Zanarkand, and Tidus is led by a mysterious swordsman named Auron to a beautiful world called Spira.

As beautiful as Spira is, however, not all is well there. Sin is also present in Spira, wreaking havoc and causing pain and death throughout the land. Only summoners can defeat Sin. Tidus soon finds himself joining up with a summoner named Yuna and her protectors on a quest to put an end to Sin.

Final Fantasy X carries on the series' tradition of turn-based game play. When the party encounters an enemy monster, three of the seven characters engage the creature. The player can customize which characters will be up at bat when they first go into combat mode. The gamer can also customize some of the weapons and shields to allow certain characters to always get the first hit in. Although only three characters engage in combat at a time, they can swap in and out, so all seven can fight as needed.

The characters level up through a system known as the Sphere Grid. They collect spheres as loot from their combat kills. Spheres are specific as to their uses. For example, there are skill spheres, which can be placed in the Grid to allow a character to learn a certain skill. There are also mana spheres, health spheres, and so forth. By carefully placing the spheres in the Grid, the player can improve the characters' dexterity, strength, magical power, abilities, and so forth.

There are some in-game tutorials to orient the user to the gameplay as well as to the Sphere Grid. However, I had trouble wrapping my mind around the Sphere Grid, which was probably compounded by the fact that I was a Final Fantasy newbie. Nonetheless, I found the Sphere Grid tricky and as a result I wasted many moves and spheres that could have bought me different skills which proved integral down the line.

The intricacies of the Sphere Grid -- which I did finally master -- were one of the few things I did not like about the game. Overall, the game provided me with a great deal of fun. The developing story line is deep and engaging, unlike many of the more superficial RPG story lines that are on the market. I truly cared about the characters, and when the game ended I felt like I was leaving some good friends.

The graphics are also amazing. As I mentioned before, I had heard great things about the Final Fantasy series, but the graphics in this game completely blew me away. The regular graphics are very detailed, even for a non-next-gen console game -- I could see Yuna's different colored eyes, the beautiful foliage of the landscapes, and the minute intricacies of the characters' unique attire.

As if that wasn't enough, the graphics of the cut scenes are even more astounding. There are many FMV scenes in the game where the graphics become extraordinarily vivid and lifelike. In those scenes, I could see every hair on Tidus' head move, or the little beads of water that had sprinkled over Yuna's face. The cut scene graphics make everything look almost real, as if you could reach out and touch the characters. I would recommend playing the game just to see the fantastic cut scenes.

The voice acting is passable, and it tends to become a corny and overdone at times. The soundtrack is solid, although the battle music started to get on my nerves after a while. I especially enjoyed the main theme, however, that is played during the main credits.

As I mentioned before, there are a few things that I did not like about Final Fantasy X. One was the fact that the player really does have to complete the extra side quests. Blitzball matches are necessary, a game which I found frustrating to control, in order to give Wakka more powerful overdrives. The side quests also provide access to weapons which are integral for the challenging boss fights at the end of the game. I found the chocobo (a species of bird) racing especially annoying. There are also some puzzles which I didn't appreciate, but then again puzzles just aren't my thing.

Also, as a Final Fantasy newbie, I did not know that there would be hidden items throughout every level of the game that I needed to locate. As a result, I found myself stuck at the end of the game, fighting the final bosses countless times before defeating them only by the skin of my teeth. I ended up buying the strategy guide, which helped, but I wish I had purchased it earlier. For other players who are new to the series or to gaming, I would recommend getting the guide.

Overall, however, I think that Final Fantasy X is one of the best console games currently on the market, even when compared to the next-gen console games. Priced at $19.99 USD when new this game is definitely worth the money. Players reap hours and hours of gameplay from this -- my Final Fantasy X own experience lasted two and a half years.

This game is appealing for both gentlemen and lady gamers alike. It doesn't target one gender over the other. Some of the more fervent feminists might dislike the fact that the male characters get the sword fighting jobs and the females are more magical, but I didn't have a problem with it. I guess you could say that while the guys got the brawn, the girls got the brains.