By: Ozzymadeo

A few disclaimers about this review.

Final Fantasy is one of the few series where its hard to compare to other RPG's. More often than not, its compared to other entries into the Final Fantasy series and it would be hard for me not to do that in this review. Plus Final Fantasy games are judged on some categories more than other games are. So I'll certainly try and cover as much as possible on Final Fantasy X. So before we dive into this review, lets cut to the brass tacks.

I've never seen so many blatant cleavage shots in my life.

Now with that being said, lets move on to the rest of the review.

The first thing that should be discussed about the game would be the gameplay, which is arguably the best of the series. Its like most other in the series but a few small changes go a long way to improve the system. The ability to switch party members out mid-battle is the best feature of the
new system and quite frankly the best. It allows for more combinations and better strategy, plus it makes leveling your party up less of a hassle. I remember playing Final Fantasy 8, leveling up only three party members and getting to the final boss only to learn that I needed everybody. That sucked big time. Luckily in FFX, that isn't an issue. Another thing I liked about the battle system was the fact that you could also switch out weapons mid-battle. I realize this has been done before, but the fact that weapons you get earlier in the game aren't neccesarily better than ones you get
later is welcome. Again, this adds to strategy. And as with all FF games since 7, you get your special attacks, this time called "overdrives" or as I affectionately like to call them "overkills". You will come to love the Blitz Ace. Trust me.

Other than the battle system, there weren't a whole lot of major changes. One thing I did find odd was the lack of a world map to travel on. You traveled in a real time environment as it were. No miniature versions of you on a map. You simply went from place to place as if you were walking in just another part of the level. Lots of walking for our party but it was a refreshing change none the less. Kind of a small planet though.

Story wise, this is a darker story than most. Its the same old cliche of saving the world but with enough elements and twists to make the old dog do new tricks. It deals with sacrifice and love in an elaborate and mature way, while other games have only done it haphazardly. I will go on record and say that the story isn't as good as the story of Final Fantasy 7, but its entertaining none the less.

The story however, wouldn't be quite as good without the characters that acted out their roles. For the most part they're all great characters, despite having some flaws that could really have been done away with. A big compaint here would be character design. I tend to not believe in a hero
that wears overalls. Tidus as the male lead is very energetic and enthusiastic. More along the lines of Zidane in FF9 rather than Cloud and Squall from 7 and 8 respectively. While this is a good change of pace, he came across many times as annoying. Same for Wakka, who annoyingly enough became your strongest fighter. You wouldn't think that for a guy who fights with a beachball as a weapon. And he wore those damn overalls too.

The lead female, Yuna, came off as a weak character who gradualy showed her inner strength. This too is refreshing but I prefer strong women who eventualy show their weaknesses in games. Then you've got Rikku. Essentially, Britney Spears on LSD. Kimarhi is your standard beast like-character and overall didn't contribute much. My two favorite characters came in Auron and Lulu. Auron, the grizzled and aged warrior, proved again and again how much of a badass he was and Lulu is one of those strong women I refered to earlier. She's also the cheesecake for this game in the tradition of Tifa and Quistis. See above statement about blatant cleavage shots.

Summons of course are a part of the game, but they're dead to me as far as I'm concerned. No Odin? FUCK YOU!

Getting back to good things, the music was good though definitely not the best of the series or better than other exceptional scores. Not a whole lot of standouts but Nobuo Uematsu has been at this forever. He needed help for this game and quite frankly, I'm glad it was there. And I definitly give points for the heavy metal song "Otherworld".

Compared to other games in the series I would have to rate this one as my second favorite, behind only Final Fantasy 7. Compared to other games of 2001 though, its by far the best. Devil May Cry and Metal Gear Solid 2 really don't get anywhere close to FFX and if nothing else, FFX sets a standard for games to come.

Too bad Final Fantasy XI is online.

At least I've got Xenosaga.

GRADE: A-