Final Fantasy X

Eh, I agree with what your saying, but I thought the rating was slightly harsh.

The story is pretty average all around, and the movement around the world felt quite linear. Actually, this is probably the most linear Final Fantasy I have ever played. But I think with the epic quality FF has, I really enjoyed the story. I liked the whole thing with Guardian's and Summoners, I found the religion of it to be believable. If this same thing was done but not a FF, I probably would consider it an average RPG. Not that I rate games higher because they are a FF, but if it was not a FF, I dont think it would have been done as well as it was.

The characters, overall were annoying. I didn't like Tidus, Rikku, Wakka...well actually I only liked Auron and Lulu. Even then, those two are pretty cliche characters. There's the quiet, silent type who knows a lot but wont tell anyone anything. He seems pretty mellow but when he takes off the coat, oh hell here comes the hurricane. Lulu was the crabby goth girl, but I did enjoy the little story between her, Wakka and Chappu. It gave her more depth than just about all of the characters combined. I think it was more just that the characters themselves were not exactly original like the FF characters from before were. They could have had top notch voice actors, I don't think it would have made much of a difference in the grand scheme of things.

I had absolutely no problem with the gameplay. I preferred the gameplay of X to the ATB system, but that's just because I like to plan things out I guess. I liked how you could see who's turns would come when, and switching out the characters on a whim was fun and easy. The sphere grid was a bit daunting, but you were able to more or less customize your characters more than you could in any other FF besides XII. In that game everyone was a Kimahri =p. I thought it was something different and I had no problem with it.

I agree with you on the music too, I really like To Zanarkand and the one when they're in the water, even though the scene made me roll my eyes. It was my favorite FF score besides VIII. I found myself humming to the Hymn of the Fayth naturally, which actually takes some talent. Uematsu had another hit with this game I felt. I think this game was a lot like a fanboy/girl FF. It had the instantly recognizable character archetype's, and the annoying ones at that. It was a fun, wild adventure, a FF that I never get tired of playing. The Sin battle is epic, especially with the mix of the AMV's in between. If there's a disagreement in that I'll have to contest. =p

Well I've ranted in plenty of your FF reviews. I should at least compliment you in between my fanboy words. I like reading your reviews, they're pretty concise and get the point across and seem to welcome opinions. A good way to review a game to lead into a discussion. I really like them. I might try that myself sometime. ^_^

 

The only thing I disagree with you one is Gameplay. I'd give that one 8.5/10. Not a big difference but I think it earns the extra point and a half. The only thing I can say bad about it, other than having trouble finding the right sphere when you need it, is that it was way too difficult to get enough AP to fill more of the sphere grid late in the game. You were stuck either fighting next to impossible monsters in the monster arena or spending long boring hours fighting for amounts of AP that were, at that time, insignificant.

That aside though, I loved the battles. The turn based approach, along with letting you switch your characters resulted in battles that were a lot more strategic than other FF titles. With an ATB, you really act more on reflex. You don't have time to sit and think it through. You just have to see things and act quickly before it has time to get worse. The turn based battles give you time to think, and Square took advantage of that and made battles where you really had to plan and come up with more complex strategies. I loved that.