BEST RPG TO DATE
I must preface this review with the fact that I have not finished very many RPGs. I really enjoy the genre, but few games within it have captured my attention like Final Fantasy X. I have played many RPGs, but mostly I get about half way through and am distracted by another game, or dissapointed with the powers/spells/upgrades that my character is attaining. More often than not, the main character is not too compelling and I don't really care that much what happens to him. These factors all add up to another dissapointing RPG experience.
Final Fantasy X is leaps and bounds above most RPGs that I have played. First of all, the plot is great. You start off in the middle of a futuristic city on your way to compete in a blitzball match, a little like underwater soccer, and one of the better minigames in any RPG that I've played. This sport comes into play quite a bit later in the game, and many people find it to be one of the strong points of the game. While, as I just stated, I do find it ot be an above average mini-game, it does not stand out to me as one of my favorite things about this game. After the match gets underway the city is attacked, and you are pulled through some sort of strange warp. Thus your story begins. From the start the whole thing just feels epic, and I found myself deeply interested in what was happening already. You soon learn that you have been transported 1000 years into the future, with no apparent way to get back to your own time and place. In addition, you also learn that your father, who disappeared 10 years ago, showed up in this strange land around that same time. I won't continue on about the story, and believe me I could, but suffice it to say that I really loved it and became deeply invested in the fate of the two main characters; Tidus, the protagonist, and Yuna, his love interest. I genuinely cared what happened to them, and when they finnaly kissed, I felt a satisfaction that is almost scary.
Now onto the gameplay. I realize that the gameplay in this was no great departure from a vast number of RPGs, but it was executed perfectly and certainly better that most of those aforementioned games. In addition, the level up system, in which any character could learn any skill or ability of any other character, was masterful. This is possible because all characters level up on the same grid along different paths which are all connected. Although certain paths are meant for specific characters, as you play longer you are able to cross paths or gain special spheres which allow you to transport to other parts of the grid. This allows you to take the skills from a weak character with certain useful abilities, and transfer them to someone who you prefer to use. By the end of the game my healer was also my offensive spellcaster, and my two strongest warriors also had various spells and abilities that rounded them out and allowed me to use only these three characters in battle.
Another masterful aspect of this game is the weapon and item customization. It was just plain addictive. The sheer amount of items available for use in customization was almost overwhelming. These items could be found, won in battle, stolen, received from bribes or for completing certain set objectives. I spent days upon days trying to get the right ingredients for a break damage limit sword with triple AP, overdrive into AP, and triple overdrive. On top of this each character has a unique weapon with crazy stats, usually break damage limit was one, and a unique armor. These items were often extremely difficult to obtain and required at least a few seperate steps to unlock their true potential, but were also very useful and satisfiying once you did.
The last aspect of the game which I wish to comment on are the spells/abilities. The spells were not quite as over the top as some previous RPGs, especially some Final Fantasy titles, but the summons were the best of the series. Towards the end, a couple Aeons, as they're called, really blew me away. The had great dramatic entrances, and looked really detailed and well designed. Some of the enemies were really amazing as well, especially towards the end and in the monster arena. This brings me to yet another thing I really liked about this game. Towards the end of the game you unlock a monster arena, and are given aspects to special weapons, which when used to kill a monster, cause that monster to be loaded up at the arena for you to fight any time you want. Every time to catch all monsters from a specific area, or in a specific class, or a couple other criteria, an original super powered monster is created at the arena. Some of these monsters are harder than the final boss in the game and provide a great challenge as well as a source of the some of the rarest items in the game.
All of these things combine to make the best RPG that I've ever played. I logged in well over one-hundred hours with this game, which is unheard of for me, and am tempted to play through it again. I don't expect any RPG to live up to this game in the near future.