Why Final Fantasy X is Still the Best Game in the Series

It starts with a blitzball player named Tidus. Then, it explodes into a world beyond anyone's imagination. Millions of people played Final Fantasy X and even though it's been some years since its release; here is my reasons why I still believe that it's the best Final Fantasy game ever.

When I was introduced to the Final Fantasy series; it was less than 3 months after my 16th birthday. A few days before my birthday; my brother and I walked into a video game store and expressed his interest in a video game called Final Fantasy VIII. I was definitely into Parasite Eve 2 and had to sell the game because we had lost out home and was staying with my grandmother at the time. So, I ended up buying Coolboarders 2 that night and dismissed my brother's interest in this game. Approximately three months after that night; I had my Parasite Eve 2 back and my mother had gotten her taxes the day before. Of course, we wanted to go shopping that day, but my mother said no. Well, the next morning; she went to cash the check and she sent us on our way when she came back. I had used my money to buy a tape player and CDs because my father had gotten me this really cool stereo. My brother, however, got his Final Fantasy VIII. Watching the intro was fascinating, and I found myself hypnotized by my brother's gameplay. When I finally got my hands on it, I became addicted to the series.

We had to sell the game later and I was utterly heartbroken. However, we got the game back multiple times. In the meantime; my sister got Final Fantasy IX and I became addicted to that as well. She wouldn't let us go past her, though, and we ended up having to sell that game as well. Anyway, it was in November of 2004 when my little brother did it again and brought in Final Fantasy X. My father had just gotten him another Playstation 2 and he had gotten money somehow to buy the game. We had seen the game on a commercial and I immediately wanted it, but it took some time. However, my brother wanted to play it first and we had to watch. As I started to watch, I became fascinated with it. So, here are my top ten reasons why Final Fantasy X is the best Final Fantasy game ever.

1: Gameplay: My sister played 108 hours and still had more to do. There is so much to work on besides just the story at hand. You can look for their ultimate weapons, search for extra aeons, and other things. Let's not forget the Blitzball, either. I was pretty bad at it, but my siblings were fanatics of the Jecht Shot.

2: Storyline: The entire story of a boy with abandonment issues meeting a summoner and her friends was riveting. The adventure was thrilling and the wedding scene was phenomenal. The ending brought me to tears, but not before the final battle began and the music kicked up into high gear. The beginning of the final battle rocked.

3: Live talking: This was the first Final Fantasy game in which they had voice actors. The voices added to the story and made me feel more for the characters because it was like they were talking to me. Add in the feelings that they projected and this game was absolutely heart-wrenching.

4: The Battle System: The fact that I could switch characters during the battle was a relief to me. The only taste of that in other Final Fantasy games was in the final battle of Final Fantasy 8, but you didn't know which character was next in the battle. It was still random in that game. As for Final Fantasy X; I had my favorites in battle and I knew who was most beneficial to me, so this was a plus.

5: The Strategy Guide: Yes, I had a strategy guide. I don't think that this constitutes as cheating. In fact, it gave me a heads up to how to get through what I needed to get through. It also gave me an idea of what side quests I wanted to indulge in. Blitzball just didn't happen to be one of them, thank you.

6: The Emotional Scenes: There were a lot of these, like the funeral scene and the scene when Yuna jumps off of the castle and summons one of her aeons. There's also the big anticipated kissing scene between Tidus and Yuna, as well as the scene when Tidus finally gets to say goodbye to his father. I cannot tell you how many times I wanted to cry. I cannot tell you how many times I did cry.

7: The Aeons: How cool was it to battle with the aeons? I mean, I had gotten good at keeping them in battle for a long time. As with the characters, I had my favorites and they were the ones that helped me in the final battles. Hint: keep their overdrive gauge up until the final battle and unleash them on the final boss.

8: The Battles: I have to admit that though the battles were long and difficult; they were well worth it, especially some of the final boss fights towards the end of the game. I did ask myself a few times, "How many times am I going to battle Sin?" But, it was worth it to see the big finale.

9: The Spheres: There's this little known fact that you can buy spheres of the FMVs that had played previously in a theater. Of course, this will cost you a lot of money, but it is well worth it if you got the gil to spend and a lot of time to kill. If you're not paying attention to the FMV the first time; just go to the Sphere theater after you're close to the end of the game and have nothing else better to do.

10: The Price: After all of my shameless promotion of the game; it still comes down to the price. We were able to get the game for about $15.00 but if you want a brand new copy, it's in the Greatest Hits collection and is priced at an affordable $19.99. If you want it used; you might be able to get it cheaper but beware of the risks. I mean, we thought that they game froze everytime we tried to get Tidus to do the Jecht Shot. As it turned out, we were just doing it wrong.

So, there are my top ten reasons why Final Fantasy X is and always will be the best in the series. But, it's not up to me. It's up to the people that have been wondering about the game but never tried it. I didn't mean to spoil it for you rare people out there that have not played it but once you do; you'll see why I feel the way that I do. In the same vain, I do not recommend Final Fantasy X-2. I liked the game, but it was basically a waste of time and money. The notion was fine at first, but it diminishes right away. I find it quite campy.