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Final Fantasy X Review

Stephen Leyton

00/12/0000

The PlayStation 2’s first Final Fantasy game is upon us, read on to find out our views.

We are presented once again with the latest instalment in the Final Fantasy universe, the first game in the series to be released on the dominant PlayStation 2; will it live up to the hype created from the fans spread across the world? Or will it fall into an abyss of itâs own expectations.

Within the hype of Final Fantasy X, Square has made some critical changes to the structure of the game, which to some may be considered good, but to others less impressive. For the first time in the history of the Final Fantasy franchise the characters have voice-overs, which unfortunately switches the style of the game from a serious âemotionalâ adventure to that of a cheap comedy escapade. Square has always highlighted the fact that as the gamer you will feel emotion for the characters within the world of Final Fantasy, youâll cry, youâll laugh and in some cases you might get quite angry. In the past the lack of voices over the characters has led the gamer to imagine their own personalities for those characters, which brings in a sense of possession and ultimately creating emotions. Final Fantasy X seams to change that feeling and you are left with a bunch of characters on screen that resembles the Scooby gang.

The story to Final Fantasy X is based around religion and beliefs, the game focuses around a summoner named Yuna and her quest to destroy a mysterious force known as Sin. Yuna as a summoner can bring into battles Aeons, unlike previous Final Fantasy games where any character could introduce a master character such as Ifrit, only Yuna can cast them, they also stay until they are killed unlike before, however the battle system is a new thing which we will talk about in depth later on in the review.

Another new addition is the introduction of totally 3D gaming environments, Final Fantasy 7,8 and 9 had 3D characters and objects but the locations and environments were pre-rendered which didnât allow much interaction. The reason for this move is quite clear, the sheer power of the PlayStation 2 allowed Square to create worlds that looked almost as good as their pre-rendered counter-parts, itâs a fair statement to say that Final Fantasy X looks gorgeous consistently throughout. The character models are the best we have seen since Metal Gear Solid 2 and almost match the quality apparent there; unfortunately there are a few less impressive textures, which ultimately reduce the quality. As before the game mixes FMV sequences at the start of dramatic battles and to introduce new characters and location to the story. Whilst they look incredibly impressive showcasing the talents of Squareâs design team they do break the flow of the game, you canât help but feel as if Square just want you to watch rather than to play.

During the game youâll meet a number of characters that will join your team, each and every one of them has unique attributes, which add support to your overall team. For example Tidus is good at ground attacks yet appalling at enemies who fly, Wakka on the other hand is good at air attacks but not so good at ground attacks. Entering battles has also evolved, Final Fantasy X gives you much more control over the battles and allows you for the first time to swap mid-battle the characters you use whilst fighting. If for example you enter a battle to find an enemy that can only be destroyed by magic it will be essential to have a character that can cast a spell on that creature, by simply pressing L1 you can switch your characters. Not only does this add a greater depth of gameplay but battles become more interesting, it is essential that you learn the attributes of your enemies so you know which character will have the most effect on defeating them. You can also switch what weapons your characters use to fight during a battle, which is really useful as different weapons have different attributes and some can cause more damage on certain enemies than others. The Overdrive is the same as before, you can customize which overdrive your character uses and some require a combination of button pressing to be achieved before you can unleash your attack.

Tidus the main character in the game belongs to a team that plays Blitzball, which is an underwater sport popular to all the people you meet in the game. Teams from all over the world of Spira gather at the stadium in Luca for the annual Blitzball tournament. In FFX you can control a team of Blitzball. The more matches you play, the more experience points you gain, which can be used to increase your playersâ abilities. However this has to be one of the most dull Mini-Games Square have ever introduced into their games, you have no real control over the characters and the moves are scripted. This could have been the one part in the game where the game flowed freely without turn based moves, but not this time back to the old boring ways. After a few minutes the game becomes incredibly boring and overcomplicated making moves impossible and unpredictable.

Unfortunately the âSurprise Battlesâ are still apparent, which has to be one of the most annoying features in the game. You could be walking along a perfectly quite road and then suddenly that tune kicks in and you know a battle is going to begin. There is no consistency and there is no way of avoiding the battles, other RPGâs like Grandia allow you to see the enemies on screen it is then up to you if you enter a battle (improving your characters skills) or to run and hide.

Each time a Final Fantasy game is released Square try there hardest to improve the most complex parts of the game, namely the character skills and attributes. This time the game uses a system called the Sphere Grid (yes itâs still crazily complex), the characters skill and attribute development in FFX is conducted on the Sphere Grid. Characters will not grow in power simply by defeating enemies as in previous Final Fantasy instalments, so understanding the Sphere Grid system is crucial if you want to complete the game. To sum it up, Characters earn Ability Points (AP) after defeating an enemy in battle. Certain enemies also surrender spheres, which are used to strengthen your characters. When a characterâs AP reaches a certain limit, his or her sphere level (S.Lvl) will increase. The character can then move a certain number of spaces on the Sphere Grid equal to his or her current sphere level. On the sphere grid are nodes, using their corresponding spheres (which you collect throughout the game) in order to raise attributes and teach new abilities. If you understand all of that then youâre a genius, it takes time to get to grips with it and it certainly isnât the easiest system we have seen in an RPG by far.