Final Fantasy X

Let's try this again.



This, I think, was the first Final Fantasy released for the PS2. There are now voice-actors too, definitely a first since the PSOne...



But the voice acting, I must complain about. Tidus voice is overly squeaky and over the top. The rest are good, if not just ranging around average in genuineness and distinction. But let me just give some concessions here- this is an English voice over when most if not all English voice-actors for video games were not all that good. Apparently, the Japanese was much better. That I cannot know for sure, because I know nothing about that language. Heh.

Oh yes, and this game has a distinctly Japanese feel to it. Tetsuya Nomura's characters are almost always Japanese in looks. I don't know why they went with that, but I don't mind. Although I did think the distinctly medieval European feel to FF12 was a notch better, and more convincing.



Final Fantasies are either set in the distant future or in a medieval/dark age period. This one goes for in between. We see Tidus alternating between the futuristic Zanarkand and the somewhat backward world of Spira (compared to Zanarkand, at least).



Gameplay? Bad! The major feature of FFX's leveling up system is something called the Sphere Grid. You don't "level up" like you used to in the good ol' RPGs. Instead you gain sphere levels which you expend on advancing your stats/skills in the sphere grid. I find that highly annoying, and it took awhile for me to learn. Major letdown here.



Battles are random, and I you would've think the folks at Square have thought to do away with them. But no, they're here, and that annoying cheesy battle music will always be stuck in my mind. It basically becomes a nuisance. Three cheers to real time combat!



But the story, I think, more than makes up for it. Whereas FF12 was criticized for its almost non-existent plot, this one is rich with it. The plot is highly confusing at first, and even after the story ends somethings are somewhat unresolved. Hence, FFX-2. I'll be playing that soon, despite the horror stories. Hehe.



Ah yes, and that love story. There usually should be some kind of overt love story. FF7, 8 and yes, even 9 had it. For some reason there was a noticeable lack of such for 12. I didn't mind, though. For X, it's not that bad, really. But it will be unbearable if you can't stand teenage "oh, I'm suddenly so in love with you" romances. Thank goodness it's not that bad as that other romance contained in Star Wars. You know what I'm talking about.



Also, as you should already know by now, most FF games very much have spiritual/mythological backgrounds, this is no exception.



I don't want to have any spoilers here (actually, I'm too lazy to write all of that) so I refer you to Wikipedia on that. I must say though, the plot behind this aspect is rather confusing (to me at least).



So we have a game that makes a clear distinction between good and evil (good for the children who should ever play this game, heh) and supports those who do what is "right".



***Spoiler!



Then we have those who rebel against religious teachings, but only after they find out they are wrong. Up to you to interpret if Square is dissing anyone here.



Yeah that's about it. I think it's worth played for the storyline alone, and the gameplay is something you would have to live it. And don't get me started with those annoying temple puzzles! Of course, I basically just did them in one go using guides. Yes, lazy me.