Final Fantasy X

As is the case with all modern Final Fantasy games, FFX delivered an incredible experience through and through. It was bold, innovative and amazing to play through. But there were some who were heavily dissatisfied by it. How could this be? Let's take a look.

The world of FFX was breathtaking. Many screen shots can be posted on walls as artwork, the vistas are rendered in the most complete detail. Even the characters seem very alive. There is certainly little negative one can say about the presentation of the game itself. The Aeon summonings will leave your jaw hanging slightly open. The animation is smooth and consistent throughout the game, and the attention to detail is truly commendable.

The ability to switch out characters mid-fight was something you don't see in a lot of large scale fantasy games. It lent a powerful, multi-character strategy to be developed and, in many cases, scrapped just as quickly. The advancement for each character on a map-like grid was especially appealing to me. There were several locations where one could choose one path or another, developing the character in different ways. The ability to learn powers that started off on another character later in the game was helpful for solidifying character teams the player preferred.

Of course, getting characters to the abilities you wanted for them could be time consuming, and this led some people to gripe about the feature. I found it exhilarating myself. The long hours of effort pay off in the end when you can build each character exactly how you wanted them, with a variety of different abilities and even build their stats around those abilities.

The largest complaint seemed to come near the end. In the final stages of the game you actually wind up inside the boss himself. The fight to get to that area is intense and very challenging. The reward? The final battle. This is the point where you would be hearing some cliffhanging riff, no?

However, the final battle is a disappointment of the highest variety. It seemed scarcely more challenging than the first boss of the game, many hours and levels prior. This, to me, was the largest letdown of the game. The inability to build to something climactic and intense is frustrating on all levels. To be sure, it is the games largest drawback.

Overall, of course, FFX is a solid 8.5 or 9 out of 10. The final battle, I'm afraid, is a 3 at best