Average Rating: 
Rating:  - Incredible
My first impression of the game was that it would have a summoner type feel (which isn't bad, but not usual FF to me.) However, the game has a very well done story line. Good voice acting and it flushes out the characters so well that they talk to each other and goof on each other in battle. The graphics are very good, though a little jittering and jagged edges on the vector at times. The cutscenes however are superb, and almost movie like in quality.
The game has a great combat interface, though I am not sure yet if I like the sphere system for gaining skills and abilities.The storyline seems good so far and I am approximately 10 hours in. The music is very good, but I still think the FF3 soundtrack is the best one ever. Overall this is turning out to be my favorite in all the FF series that I have played.
Rating: - So close to perfection...
When Final Fantasy VIII hit the shelves I was among the many who were hesitant about it. It was a completely new style of art for the game, and being the die hard FF VI fan I was it was unacceptable... but then I actually played the game. I was very upset when FF IX took a drastic step backwards in it's visual presentation. I'd grown fond of the more realistic art found in VIII.
Lately Square's efforts have been less than stellar. The Bouncer was a joke, and Driving Type Emotion-S will dissapear into the world of games so bad you shouldn't lay them sober. FF IX left me with little hope for the series. FF X, however has revived it.
This game may not be "filmed" as well as Metal Gear Solid, but it is still the work of artistic genious. While it is not the graphical marvel I had hoped for, it is still a visual treat considering the limitations of the PS2. The graphics rotate from FMV, to great to medicore depending on the character, the amount of characters on screen, etc. Many of the less important characters have a low polygon count and are not textured very well, but then you have characters like Auron who are so incredably detailed it almost makes you froget that there are two drastically more powerful systems out there.
Square has ended the endless reading that their games are known for, opting for voice acting instead, and while the voice actors are mediocre at best this was probably the best thing about this game. The voices and facial animations made the characters more real and it became easier to see these charcters as people, rather than just polygons.
The music in this game is slightly better than FF IX, but still leaves something to be desired, FFD VI and VIII had the best soundtracks of the series, and Umeatsu and his co-writers didn't seem quite up to the task of outdoing his previous works.
The story is the games best feature. The story can come off as being somewhat anti-religious at points, but really isn't. Like Xenogears before it it carries an important message about being careful about what we believe, and how we let other people control us through questionable traditions and the threat of damnation (or in this case Sin.) Despite this theme, the game is far from anti-religious. It's ending is (as with tradition) somewhat of a heart wrencher, yet it keeps a positive spin on things. My only complaint is that it would have been nice if the love story aspects of the game were better thought out. I don't know how or why Tidus and Yuna got together, they just kind of did... Not like Rinoa and Squall who had quite the love story.
Gameplay, FF X is the most fun of the series to play. There's so many new gameplay elements. Everything that was tidious about past instalments is gone. Switching characters at a save spots to keep everone built up? Gone. Switching out any time duriing a battle! Why didn't they think of that sooner? The traditional leveling up system is gone, in it's place an innovative sphere grid that takes some getting used to, but once you get the hang of it? This is hands down the best system for an RPG ever. Without a doubt FF X is inarguably the best of the series.
Rating: - Record Straightener
Okay.. let me set you all straight.Final Fantasy is the greatest series in video gaming. First off, it's an RPG, (Role Playing Game) which basically means you'll have hours of game play, so you get your money's worth. Second, you can't go into a game thinking it's going to be the best, casue you will always be disappointed. Hype is almost always a bad thing. I've played every RGP that's come out of Square.. FF1-FF10, mystic quest, chrono trigger/cross, Breath of Fire, etc. What you can expect is that the story makes no sense, till the END of the game, where it THEN all makes sense. You don't want to figure it all out in the first 10 mins, or the game would be boring. As far as I've played 10, this is no exception. The plot is very confusing, and so is the battle system.. but THAT is the fun of the game! Figuring it all out, and mastering it is always the best part! For the record, my favourite is still FF2, because it didn't need graphics to make it fun. You had 5 people in a battle, not 3, and that made it very difficult to figure out a stragedy. The way you can switch chars in 10, comes very close to the difficulty level. Should you buy the game? Yes.. if nothing else to see the brilliant FMV (full motion videos) and to see if you can figure out what sin really looks like before it shows you.
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