Release Dates	Statistics
- 24 May 2002 - 19 July 2001 - 17 December 2001	Title: Final Fantasy X Developer: Square-Enix Publisher: Square-Enix Platform: Playstation 2 Disc(s): One Genre: RPG Players: 1 Our Rating: 9/10

Introduction

Review - By FFFreak

Plot - 9/10
Graphics - 9/10
Music - 8/10
Battle System - 9/10
Gameplay - 8/10
Difficulty - 6/10
Overall - 9/10

Plot - 9/10

The story starts with an energetic game of Blitzball, an underwater game a bit like football, and the star player of the Zanarkand Abes is a young teenager called Tidus.
You then see a large monster come and destroy Zanarkand, but Auron saves Tidus just in time by transporting themselves 1000 years into the future.
However they are seperated and Tidus is left in an anbandoned temple where he meets an Al Bhed girl called Rikku.
They quickly get to know eachother, but Sin, a huge creature who has been terrorizing the world of Spira for many years, takes Tidus away and dumps him on the coast of Besaid Island.
Here he meets Wakka who also plays Blitzball and is impressed with Tidus' skill. Wakka, along with Lulu and Kimahri are 'guardians' for Yuna who is a 'Summoner' about to complete her training. Summoners are Spira's only hope to defeat Sin, they go on a pilgrimage all the way through Spira to finally meet Sin and defeat it, so they have a big responsibility. Tidus of course gets caught up in all of this and ends up joining them.

The story is very well done with some surprising twists and original ideas. The characters are also fantastic, they seem so real; you really do find yourself caring about what happens to them! You even feel sad when your favourite Aeon is KO'd in a battle, and not just because you'll get a Game Over two minutes later...

Graphics - 9/10

The graphics for FFX are truly stunning. From backgrounds with grass blowing in the distance, to full blown FMVs with every detail carefully put together.
The in-game characters are no longer pixelated and have a very human feel to them.
FMVs have also gone less anime and much more life-like, this isn't a bad thing though, the effect is amazing, yet they still keep a very slight anime feel to them.
Another cool addition, is being able to buy Movie and Music Spheres in Luca so you can watch your favourite FMVs again!
But you can only buy ones that you've already seen in the game, making two FMVs at the end impossible to purchase...
Overall they have done an excellent job animating it all.

Music - 8/10

The music is brilliant. The 'To Zanarkand' is incredibly memorable and just thinking about fills you with emotion, even if it's the first time you hear it!
The 'Hymn of the Fayth' is also memorable and gives this perfectly mysterious, spooky and sad feel for the ancient temples.
Two thumbs up!

Battle System - 9/10

For FFX they have thrown the Active Time Battle System and replaced it with a turned based system.
I find it a lot easier to defeat enemies using it, although some people say it makes it boring, I think it's very well done.
You can now switch party members any time you want which is incredibly useful. No more banging the controller against your head, over which person you want in your party!
The Sphere Grid is a brilliant idea. It may take a little while to get the gist of it, but once you know how it works, you'll be able to navigate the Grid like you were doing it since you were born. It eventually becomes like a very rewarding mini-game, although getting the right Spheres to activate certain abilities can be quite annoying...
Levels have also been flushed down the toilet, you now earn 'Sphere Levels' that help you become stronger in the Sphere Grid. (There are a lot of things to do with Spheres in this game!)
Overdrives are the new 'ultimate attack' which are activated by doing certain things, what these things are depends on the mode that is selected in the menu.
The default one is 'Stoic' where it fills up when the character is damaged. Overdrives are learnt in different ways, from doing one so many times, to collecting Jecht Spheres.
Summons have returned in the form of Aeons. Yuna can summon Aeons to fight for the party, but this time you can control them!
In my oppinion one of the best things they could've done. Aeons become like extra party members. Yuna summons them and they come to aid you. Once in control they can attack, cast magic, or even perform an Overdrive! However they also have HP, so you have to keep an eye on them, because if they die, they can't come back fo the rest of the battle!
Anyway, the Battle System is awesome and so is the Sphere Grid and the Aeons.

Gameplay - 8/10

The first time you play it FFX is incredibly addictive and you'll play it for hours at a time.
It's a really enjoyable game.
However the beginning of the game is stretched out a bit too much, so playing it a second or third time might be a little boring as the first 5-10 hours are crammed full of cut scenes. But this wouldn't stop me from playing it all over again!

Difficulty - 6/10

The first two thirds of FFX is not difficult. I would recommend it for complete beginners to RPGs.
However towards the end there are a lot of sidequests and difficult bosses to overcome, so you would have to be an intermediate RPGer by the time you get that far...

Overall - 9/10

Overall I think Square got it spot-on, they even introduced real voices to the previously silent Final Fantasy series! (But I would like to note that sometimes a couple of voices may become a little irritating...) And being the first Final Fantasy for PS2 raised the expectations for this game, but yet again Square have risen to meet it and even gone beyond it, thank you Square for one amazing game!

(By FFFreak)