With a great story, characters and leveling system it is no wonder why this game is one of the best games for the PS2.
THE GOOD
-Exciting story and lovable characters
-Beautiful music
-Awesome graphics (cut-scene and in-game)
-Sphere Grid leveling system is fun and easy to use
-Blitzball is highly addictive
-Great battle system
THE BAD
-Dialog is a little cheesy in some parts.
OVERVIEW
Final Fantasy X is a Playstation 2 game that you will never forget. Like most Final Fantasy games, FFX has an awesome story that will keep you on the edge of your seat the whole time. The main character, Tidus, quickly meets up with Yuna and the rest of the gang on an epic adventure to save Spira from Sin. Sin is a giant monster that destroys everything in its path and the only way to defeat sin is for a High Summoner (Yuna) to call the "Final Summon" to kill Sin. This sounds great until you find out that Sin is reborn every 10 years.
In Final Fantasy X you will come across different races like Human, Guado (sea creature looking), Ronso (beast-like), Al Bhed (technological people) and some others. You will also come across differing religions in Spira. Most people believe in the teachings of Yevon (god like person) and live out there simple lives without the aid of Machina (or machines / technology) but there are some people (Al Bhed mostly) that reject the teachings of Yevon and continue to use their Machina. These people are considered outcasts and there is much hatred against their kind all across Spira.
Each playable character is unique and likable and you will learn a lot about each individual character and there side stories. Sometimes the dialog can get a little to campy but for the most part, Square Soft has put together an epic tale.
GAMEPLAY
The gameplay for FFX is very good. Like all RPGs, a good leveling system is essential and in FFX you won't be disappointed. The Sphere Grid system puts all your characters on the same "playing" board but they start in different places. When you defeat enemies and level up you gain Ability Points (AP). Each AP point lets you move one spot on the Sphere Grid. Then, you have to use Spheres (like Mana, Power, etc...), which you can buy in a shop or obtain from defeating enemies, to unlock the attribute or skill for that character. Attributes like strength or defense and skills like steal or elemental magic. Once unlocked the attribute or skill is permanent. The Sphere Grid starts off linear for each character in that each character can only gain certain unique skills and spells (i.e. Yuna - White Magic) but later in the game you can obtain certain Spheres that can change the path of each character which gives you the ability to customize each of them. This may sound complex but it is actually really easy to use. Along with learning skills and spells, each character can equip themselves with a weapon and armor. Now in other RPGs the damage is based on how powerful the weapon is but in FFX they do things a little different. Your weapon and armor can have unique attributes (that can be customized later in the game) like increase strength and magic points for your character but your battle performance is calculated solely on your character's attributes. For example, if Tidus's strength is 20 then he will deal the same amount of damage no matter what sword he uses unless that sword gives Tidus an extra strength bonus.
The battle system in Final Fantasy X moves away from the active time battle system. Instead you have a Turn-Based battle system. Each character shows up on a scrollable bar that shows who's turn it is and also shows the order of the turns coming up. This system lets you calmly plan out your strategy per battle. There are random battles that happen through out the game as well as location specific battles that are triggered by certain events. Another neat featrue to fighting in FFX is that even though you can only have three characters fighting in battle, you can swap out your characters for others that aren't fighting at anytime. So, if you are in a fight and need a magic users touch and lets say that all your three characters fighting are melee fighters, you can pick one of those fighters and swap them out for your black mage.
Final Fantasy X offers you plenty of cool mini games and one in particular, Blitzball, is my favorite. Blitzball will easily rack up about 20+ hours. You basically play the sport of Blitzball which is a game that is played under water with two goals and the object is to shoot the "Blitzball" into the goals. It is kind of like soccer, handball and rugby combined together. Each team has two forwards, a center, two defensemen and a goalie. Blitzball is played on a role playing basis. This means that your characters level up and can learn new skills (like different shots, passes and tackles). You can add new people to your team, level them up, and each player has different stats like shooting, passing, defense, etc... Their stats will determine how they perform in the game. For example, if Tidus has a shot stat of 10 and the goalie has a catch stat of 8, he has a very good chance of scoring a goal.
GRAPHICS & SOUND
The graphics are amazing in this game. Not only are the in-game graphics good but the cut scenes are jaw dropping and there are a good amount of cut scenes in this game.
The music is very well done and fits the game completely. This just enhances the your overall experience of the game. The sounds effects are good as well.
CONCLUSION
Final Fantasy X is an awesome game with a long, exciting story that you will enjoy. This game excels in everything that a good RPG should excel in and I would highly recommend this game to anyone.