Final Fantasy X

Hands down, Final Fantasy X is my second favorite game that I've ever played, right behind the seventh installment of Final Fantasy.  The gameplay, music, graphics, story, and even mini games make Final Fantasy X a truly amazing game.  Not only does Final Fantasy X offer a constant stream of entertainment and a gameplay that players almost always play repeatedly, Final Fantasy X offers anywhere from 40 to 65 hours of gameplay to complete the game.

Final Fantasy X starts off with you controlling the main character, Tidus.  Many events surround this characters life that include grabbing twists in plot, a world of lives at stake, and love (the usual Final Fantasy theme).  The story is one of the best in the Final Fantasy realm and in role playing games in general.  Final Fantasy X keeps you guessing through the last movie sequence in the game.  The plot and story really grips the player and sends the mind thinking intently on the fates of characters.

The amount of customization in Final Fantasy X is a great improvement for the Final Fantasy creators to add on for future games as well.  Final Fantasy X allows users to create their own weapons by means of items, doing anything from adding status effects to weapons to making a weapon have the ability to hit for more then 9999 damage.  The general style that a weapon is customized to changes the appearance in many cases as well, which adds to the fun of customizing weapons.

Leveling up is pretty unique in Final Fantasy X.  Instead of levels and set abilities and characteristics at level up, there is level up grid that allows the user to choose what abilities, strengths, and characteristics they want each character to obtain.  The location on the grid, however, starts off at a certain area that is basically meant for a character to follow, if you don't want a total feeling of freedom in leveling up, and locks that require certain "spheres" that unlock them allow you to move around the grid more with each character.  An example of an ability that can be gained at level up is getting a 200 hp plus statistic or a +4 in overall strength.  After a certain point in the game, or after enough leveling up of a character, it becomes necessary to drift into other characters grid locations and start gaining their attributes and abilities.  The leveling up grid is an extremely fun way to level up players and it was very wise of the creators of Final Fantasy X to make it.

The music in Final Fantasy X is absolutely my favorite music that I have ever heard, hands down.  The creators of the music claim to have been inspired to write the pieces based off of the Beatles, and even studied much of their music.  When playing the game, always make sure you're television has the volume on because the music in this game adds a great effect on an already stunning game, making the jump from an outstanding rating to a nearly perfect one.  Final Fantasy always seems to hit a home run, in regards to their music.

The graphics of Final Fantasy X were highly anticipated before it came out and impressed many reviewers.  Final Fantasy X brought graphics to a whole new level in the PS2 gaming world.  It is easy to sit down and play Final Fantasy X today, without the graphics bothering the player at all or at a very minimal level.  From movie scenes to gameplay textures, the look of Final Fantasy X is great.

Most of the mini games in Final Fantasy X are actually pretty fun.  In the Calm Lands, the chocobo mini games are especially entertaining to some.  The only mini games that seem to really agitate people when playing Final Fantasy X, of course being optional to play in the first place, include dodging lighting in the Thunder Plains and chasing butterflies in Macalania Woods.  Blitzball is my favorite mini game of all time and playing it doesn't really seem like a mini game at all unless played for hours on end.  Mini games in Final Fantasy X generally are for obtaining the ultimate weapons for characters in the game, some being easier to obtain then others, and the joy of completing a hard mini game and obtaining an ultimate weapon is definitely worth the effort of completing the mini games.

The battle system in Final Fantasy X basically follows that of its predecessors, as it is a turn-based combat system shifted to ATB or active time battle system.  It basically requires a player to wait until a bar is full to make a move and then choose what the character is to do.  In theory, it sounds boring but in gameplay it can be quite fun.  With all the variety of equipment and characters available, the combat system is pretty entertaining.  It is even possible to switch party members in battle, a new thing to do in battles.

I personally think that Final Fantasy X is the best game on the PS2, and a classic among video games and RPGs.  If you like RPGs or are looking for a game to play, check out Final Fantasy X!  This is one of the highest reviewed games and is a diamond in the Final Fantasy series.