12th July 2003, 4:45 PM
Final Fantasy is one of the most revered franchises in all of gaming, with droves of followers and no sign of slowing down. Squaresoft appeases the masses once again with their latest offering, Final Fantasy X (10). Taking advantage of all the PS2 can do with great visuals, a well-made battle system, and an incredibly immersive plotline. Pay no heed to the owner of this website, he knows not what he speaks :).
You start as Tidus (or you can rename him whatever you want), the star Blitzball player of the Zanarkand Abes. Right in the middle of a game, a huge force levels the gigantic Zanarkand. Meanwhile, Tidus and his guardian Auron fight through monster-infested streets until finally being pulled up into the great entity, known as Sin. When he wakes up, he finds himself stranded in a world known as Spira, Auron is gone, he is alone. Eventually, he finds himself washed up on Besaid beach, where he meets the Besaid Aurochs, a blitzball team, and ther captain, Wakka. Tidus and Wakka proceed to the Besaid Temple and meet with the local summoner, Yuna, and her guardians, the short-tempered black mage Lulu, and the quiet but powerful Kimahri Ronso. Yuna has newly become a summoner, and she must now begin her pilgrimage to visit every temple in Spira, where she will acquire powerful Aeons to aid the team in battle, ending in the ruins of Zanarkand, where she will summon the Final Aeon and defeat Sin, like her father High Summoner Braska did before her. Tidus then learns Zanarkand was destroyed a thousand years ago, but he needs to see with his own eyes, so he accompanies Yuna on her pilgrimage. Along the journey, you meet Maester Seymour, who isn't all he appears to be...
The battle system is great, you can have three characters on screen at a time, out of the seven you'll eventually have in your full party. Each with their own skills. Tidus isn't very strong, but he's lightning quick. Wakka attacks with his Blitzball, and specializes in flying fiends. Every character has one or more unique, powerful attacks called Overdrives. They're reminiscent of the Limit Breaks seen in Final Fantasy VII. Each character has a guage beneath their name, HP, and MP which charges under circumstances you choose. In the beginning, you can only charge it by taking damage from enemies, but as the game progresses, you get many other options. For a character to perform an Overdrive with maximum power, you must complete a small task. For instance, Tidus' Overdrive requires you to time a moving line across a bar, hitting X to stop it within the gray area in the center. If you are not able to fulfill the requirement, the character will perform the attack, but it will be less powerful.
No longer must characters randomly accrue their abilities and attributes. Enter the Shpere Grid. The Sphere Grid is a gigantic surface filled with all sorts of upgrades. Winning battles and getting AP (Ability Points) will cause you to gain a Shpere Level, allowing you to move ahead one sphere and activate a new node. Nodes consist of abilities, HP and MP increasers, as well as additions for all other attributes such as Strength, Agility, Defense, and Magic. As you progress, you may find spheres capable of moving a character to a new part of the Grid. Thanks to the Sphere Grid, character advancement is almost limitless. If you're dedicated, you can have a party who knows all spells and skills in the game.
The graphics in this game are fantastic, the FMVs are in very high quality, even normal battle animations are great to look at. Even in the very beginning, you can't help but gaze in awe as Zanarkand is annihilated by Sin. At the beginning of every battle, the screen appears to shatter into glass shards, blow off the screen, and reveal the party and the attacking monsters. Even after beating the game, I still think it looks cool every time.
Sound is great too. It's so good, you can even buy the soundtrack. The battle theme is catchy, and the piano solo in the opening theme is quite well-done. The boss battles have a song that realy illustrates the high tension of such a difficult battle, while the peaceful Besaid Island has an upbeat sort of island tune. The voice acting is right on the mark. Everyone's voices fit so well that it's tough to imagine that they're really coming from somebody else. Auron's voice is deep and gravely, while Wakkas has an islandy accent to it.
Should you want a break from Yunas pilgrimage, you have a few other things you can do too. You can play Blitzball anytime you want after you play for a bit, and winning can get you some great rewards. You can recruit many unsigned players in Spira to play for the Aurochs, and make your team unstoppable. Among the great prizes you can win in Blitzball are new and devastating Overdrive attacks for Wakka. Or once you find it, you can gather monsters form all over Spira to take to the Monster Arena. You can buy special weapons which, when used to defeat enemies, will capture them. Capture all the monsters from a specific area, or a certain number from a species to unlock incredibly powerful optional boss monsters, as well as earn lots of rare items!
This is the game that everyone with a PS2 needs to have. It's not an option, it's an absolute requirement! I'm on my fifth game and I'm already considering a sixth. Buy it as soon as you can, and thank me later.
You start as Tidus (or you can rename him whatever you want), the star Blitzball player of the Zanarkand Abes. Right in the middle of a game, a huge force levels the gigantic Zanarkand. Meanwhile, Tidus and his guardian Auron fight through monster-infested streets until finally being pulled up into the great entity, known as Sin. When he wakes up, he finds himself stranded in a world known as Spira, Auron is gone, he is alone. Eventually, he finds himself washed up on Besaid beach, where he meets the Besaid Aurochs, a blitzball team, and ther captain, Wakka. Tidus and Wakka proceed to the Besaid Temple and meet with the local summoner, Yuna, and her guardians, the short-tempered black mage Lulu, and the quiet but powerful Kimahri Ronso. Yuna has newly become a summoner, and she must now begin her pilgrimage to visit every temple in Spira, where she will acquire powerful Aeons to aid the team in battle, ending in the ruins of Zanarkand, where she will summon the Final Aeon and defeat Sin, like her father High Summoner Braska did before her. Tidus then learns Zanarkand was destroyed a thousand years ago, but he needs to see with his own eyes, so he accompanies Yuna on her pilgrimage. Along the journey, you meet Maester Seymour, who isn't all he appears to be...
The battle system is great, you can have three characters on screen at a time, out of the seven you'll eventually have in your full party. Each with their own skills. Tidus isn't very strong, but he's lightning quick. Wakka attacks with his Blitzball, and specializes in flying fiends. Every character has one or more unique, powerful attacks called Overdrives. They're reminiscent of the Limit Breaks seen in Final Fantasy VII. Each character has a guage beneath their name, HP, and MP which charges under circumstances you choose. In the beginning, you can only charge it by taking damage from enemies, but as the game progresses, you get many other options. For a character to perform an Overdrive with maximum power, you must complete a small task. For instance, Tidus' Overdrive requires you to time a moving line across a bar, hitting X to stop it within the gray area in the center. If you are not able to fulfill the requirement, the character will perform the attack, but it will be less powerful.
No longer must characters randomly accrue their abilities and attributes. Enter the Shpere Grid. The Sphere Grid is a gigantic surface filled with all sorts of upgrades. Winning battles and getting AP (Ability Points) will cause you to gain a Shpere Level, allowing you to move ahead one sphere and activate a new node. Nodes consist of abilities, HP and MP increasers, as well as additions for all other attributes such as Strength, Agility, Defense, and Magic. As you progress, you may find spheres capable of moving a character to a new part of the Grid. Thanks to the Sphere Grid, character advancement is almost limitless. If you're dedicated, you can have a party who knows all spells and skills in the game.
The graphics in this game are fantastic, the FMVs are in very high quality, even normal battle animations are great to look at. Even in the very beginning, you can't help but gaze in awe as Zanarkand is annihilated by Sin. At the beginning of every battle, the screen appears to shatter into glass shards, blow off the screen, and reveal the party and the attacking monsters. Even after beating the game, I still think it looks cool every time.
Sound is great too. It's so good, you can even buy the soundtrack. The battle theme is catchy, and the piano solo in the opening theme is quite well-done. The boss battles have a song that realy illustrates the high tension of such a difficult battle, while the peaceful Besaid Island has an upbeat sort of island tune. The voice acting is right on the mark. Everyone's voices fit so well that it's tough to imagine that they're really coming from somebody else. Auron's voice is deep and gravely, while Wakkas has an islandy accent to it.
Should you want a break from Yunas pilgrimage, you have a few other things you can do too. You can play Blitzball anytime you want after you play for a bit, and winning can get you some great rewards. You can recruit many unsigned players in Spira to play for the Aurochs, and make your team unstoppable. Among the great prizes you can win in Blitzball are new and devastating Overdrive attacks for Wakka. Or once you find it, you can gather monsters form all over Spira to take to the Monster Arena. You can buy special weapons which, when used to defeat enemies, will capture them. Capture all the monsters from a specific area, or a certain number from a species to unlock incredibly powerful optional boss monsters, as well as earn lots of rare items!
This is the game that everyone with a PS2 needs to have. It's not an option, it's an absolute requirement! I'm on my fifth game and I'm already considering a sixth. Buy it as soon as you can, and thank me later.