Synopsis

Set in the fantasy world of Spira, a setting influenced by the South Pacific, Thailand and Japan, the game's story revolves around a group of adventurers and their quest to defeat a rampaging monster known as Sin. The player character is Tidus, a star athlete in the fictional sport of blitzball, who finds himself in the world Spira after his home city of Zanarkand is destroyed by Sin. Shortly after arriving to Spira, Tidus joins the summoner Yuna on her pilgrimage to destroy Sin.

Gameplay: 8/10

Final Fantasy X uses a turn-based combat system (pictured right). As a pioneer of a new generation of consoles, the PlayStation 2 (PS2), Final Fantasy games were slowly transitioning into a more linear style as opposed to their previous vast, open worlds. While this might seem mundane, the key point in the gameplay is strategizing. The new turn-based combat system allows for players to carefully plan out each of their moves in each battle. Alternatively, it provides a much more relaxing environment for more casual players. The biggest issue is the repetition, as players not used to the system might find the gameplay enjoyable. The game does provide more enjoyment in the form of various minigames. The aforementioned "blitzball" is an amazing way to pass the time, and is also necessary for 100% completion of the game. While there are even more minigames, ranging from short to long, it would take too much time to list them all, but they serve to keep the gameplay fresh. Lastly, even after the completion of the game, there is still much more to be done afterwards, essentially doubling the playtime of the game.

Story: 9/10

As previously mentioned, Final Fantasy X goes for a "cast in a brand new world" storyline, with the main character, Tidus (who can be renamed), being thrown into another world after a disaster struck his original world. Tidus befriends many people (thus forming his party) and eventually seeks to extinguish Sin once and for all. This might seem simple on paper, but the story is much more in-depth with plot twists, heartbreaks, and humerous situations. The characters are varied, ranging from

Graphics: 9/10

Simply put, Final Fantasy X completely revolutionalized video games as a whole. It was one of the first games made for the PS2, with staggeringly beautiful visuals that most people could not fathom at the time. And how well have the graphics aged? In 2013, a HD Remaster of the game was released for the PlayStation Vita, as well as the PlayStation 3, with further releases on PC as well as for the PlayStation 4. The now outdated graphics were once again re-vitalized, allowing a new generation of gamers to once again take in the breathtaking visuals of the game (all images you see are of the HD Remaster). The only thing stopping this game from obtaining a perfect score is the fact that, due to it being a reskin of the original game, the graphics might not be able to keep up to today's standards.

Soundtrack: 10/10

Nobuo Uematsu, the composer for the soundtrack of the game, was truly a master of his craft. The soundtrack of the game perfectly captures every single moment of it. The music is chilling when the moment is tense, upbeat when the moment is joyful, and sorrowful when the moment is sombre. Unlike most other games, I'm hardpressed to find a single song in the game that I find unpleasant to the ear. If not for the mastercraft of the music in the game, it might not have reached the popularity that it hit. The song that I have provided is my favourite soundtrack from the game, "A Fleeting Dream". All that's left is for you to enjoy.

Overall: 9/10

A now-classic, 17 year old game that still has many fans to this day, despite several continuations to the Final Fantasy series. The popularity of the game garnered a less popular (and admittedly, less good) sequel, Final Fantasy X-2, and an even newer version of the game has been hinted by Yoshinori Kitase, the developer of the game. If you're starting out with JRPGs, this is a perfect game for you, the game is simple to understand yet has further more complex mechanics that will help you understand if you would like to delve deeper into the world of JRPGs.