After several years it has finally come to a close. I probably picked up this release title for the PS2 (I think that's around 2000 or 2001 for those keeping track) shortly after I purchased my console on that infamous Cedar Point trip the summer before my sophomore year of college. Through all those years I never beat this guy. Came close a few times. But then I would lose my memory card to a friend in college - losing my saved game as well (same goes for FFXII). I would then start it up again and again only to lose interest and just forget the whole thing ever existed in the first place. Well, last Christmas I start on last new game... over seven months later, it's done.
Was it worth it? Is this a good game? Should anyone else waste their time on it?
I have mixed feelings on this guy. On one hand, I remember one of my friends getting this game when it was first released and being amazed by the graphics. Let's face it, computer graphics mastered the texture and look of water years ago, and this game rightly capitalizes on that. Most of the game revolves around the element of water - even the main protagonist's name is spelled close to "tide" and spends half his time swimming in the ocean. For its time, it does look amazing. But then that's something that the Final Fantasy series has always been known for. Although I can't stand FFXIII and eventually handed it off to Sween before moving, I was still blown away by even the most recent game's open scenes. They're fantastic! Sadly, looks alone can't save a game.
What really makes a game is the gameplay and the story.
The gameplay in FFX is your standard turn-based style fighting... and there ain't nothing wrong with that. I've always loved this game technique and I always will. (Once again, another reason why I almost threw FFXIII out the window. What the fuck were they even trying to do in that -- Sorry, I'll leave the bitching to Sween for that game.) It's like a game of chess or something. I don't know, but it just works for me. And the leveling system here with the spheres keeps the game moving at a brisk pace where you always feel a sense of improvement even if it's only in tiny increments. All-in-all, the gameplay is enjoyable. I do have one (somewhat major) hang-up with it near the end, but I'll address that in a bit.
Next the story. Now, I know the Final Fantasy series are always recognized for their bizarre metaphysical tales that push the boundaries of our imagination, but there's a limit. The only other Final Fantasy game I've finished is the 7th one. It was out there, but I let that slip. Maybe because it was the first game from the series that I finished, maybe it was because of the legacy that it has, or maybe it's because Sephiroth is such a badass. Who knows? But I love it all the same. In FFX, not so much. With the cheesy voice acting and the weird-ass explanation of different worlds, it wasn't long before I completely lost track of what was going on. I'm sure I'll read a complete synopsis of the plot online after I post this, but there are too many "what the fuck?" moments to keep track of what's really going on.
And the final battle scene... Where and what? You're just sort of thrown into the chaos of the universe as you battle Yu Yevon of the blade of a giant sword. Did any of this have any significance or was it all just suppose to look cool. Maybe if 13-year-old Trevor had played this his mind would have been blown. It just pissed off current day Trevor. Also, the soundtrack when you fight mutant Jecht... That shit's a riot.
To my final point. Much like Sheridan, I over-leveled. What does this mean? Well, I fucking jacked up my team so high that by the end of the game a sneeze from one of my characters on the bosses would make them crumbled. Basically what happened was that I wanted to make sure I had some strong tanks going into the final battles, but getting those Ultimate Weapons that let you do damage above 9,999HP was so damn tricky except for Auron and Rikku. So I started leveling just those guys up. Along the way I managed to get Yuna and (fucking finally) Tidus' weapons too. By that time I was on this leveling streak. I just couldn't stop. The total time on my save file said it was around 140 hours. I know I left the game on from time-to-time, so it's probably more like 90 hours. Still... a good chunk was just spent building my characters. In the end, Rikku was my all-star. I dumped all my fortune spheres on her to raise her luck incredibly high to the point that every 1 out of 3 hits dealt critical damage topping out at 99,999HP. With this, most bosses were killed with one or two blows.
What I'm getting at is that I ruined the end of the game. Where most people have the chance to use technique and strategy in figuring out how to defeat these incredible foes, I repeatedly hit X until the next cut scene - which didn't take long. That's what really leaves a bad taste in my mouth. The fact that you can actually over-level your characters to the point where the game is just no fun anymore. In the end, I'm going to put the blame on the game for this problem instead of me. They should have figure some people just don't have a life and would waste all their free time endlessly fighting pointless battles for experience points making their character more powerful than God. They should have countered all this by opening up new bosses that are even stronger than the original. Put your devotion to the game to the true test. But, no. It ended in the blink of an eye leaving me to wonder: "WHY THE FUCK DID I WASTE SO MUCH TIME ON THIS PIECE OF CRAP GAME! WHAT WAS IT ALL FOR! TELL ME!!!"
I'm not playing any Final Fantasy titles for a while.
Was it worth it? Is this a good game? Should anyone else waste their time on it?
I have mixed feelings on this guy. On one hand, I remember one of my friends getting this game when it was first released and being amazed by the graphics. Let's face it, computer graphics mastered the texture and look of water years ago, and this game rightly capitalizes on that. Most of the game revolves around the element of water - even the main protagonist's name is spelled close to "tide" and spends half his time swimming in the ocean. For its time, it does look amazing. But then that's something that the Final Fantasy series has always been known for. Although I can't stand FFXIII and eventually handed it off to Sween before moving, I was still blown away by even the most recent game's open scenes. They're fantastic! Sadly, looks alone can't save a game.
What really makes a game is the gameplay and the story.
The gameplay in FFX is your standard turn-based style fighting... and there ain't nothing wrong with that. I've always loved this game technique and I always will. (Once again, another reason why I almost threw FFXIII out the window. What the fuck were they even trying to do in that -- Sorry, I'll leave the bitching to Sween for that game.) It's like a game of chess or something. I don't know, but it just works for me. And the leveling system here with the spheres keeps the game moving at a brisk pace where you always feel a sense of improvement even if it's only in tiny increments. All-in-all, the gameplay is enjoyable. I do have one (somewhat major) hang-up with it near the end, but I'll address that in a bit.
Next the story. Now, I know the Final Fantasy series are always recognized for their bizarre metaphysical tales that push the boundaries of our imagination, but there's a limit. The only other Final Fantasy game I've finished is the 7th one. It was out there, but I let that slip. Maybe because it was the first game from the series that I finished, maybe it was because of the legacy that it has, or maybe it's because Sephiroth is such a badass. Who knows? But I love it all the same. In FFX, not so much. With the cheesy voice acting and the weird-ass explanation of different worlds, it wasn't long before I completely lost track of what was going on. I'm sure I'll read a complete synopsis of the plot online after I post this, but there are too many "what the fuck?" moments to keep track of what's really going on.
And the final battle scene... Where and what? You're just sort of thrown into the chaos of the universe as you battle Yu Yevon of the blade of a giant sword. Did any of this have any significance or was it all just suppose to look cool. Maybe if 13-year-old Trevor had played this his mind would have been blown. It just pissed off current day Trevor. Also, the soundtrack when you fight mutant Jecht... That shit's a riot.
To my final point. Much like Sheridan, I over-leveled. What does this mean? Well, I fucking jacked up my team so high that by the end of the game a sneeze from one of my characters on the bosses would make them crumbled. Basically what happened was that I wanted to make sure I had some strong tanks going into the final battles, but getting those Ultimate Weapons that let you do damage above 9,999HP was so damn tricky except for Auron and Rikku. So I started leveling just those guys up. Along the way I managed to get Yuna and (fucking finally) Tidus' weapons too. By that time I was on this leveling streak. I just couldn't stop. The total time on my save file said it was around 140 hours. I know I left the game on from time-to-time, so it's probably more like 90 hours. Still... a good chunk was just spent building my characters. In the end, Rikku was my all-star. I dumped all my fortune spheres on her to raise her luck incredibly high to the point that every 1 out of 3 hits dealt critical damage topping out at 99,999HP. With this, most bosses were killed with one or two blows.
What I'm getting at is that I ruined the end of the game. Where most people have the chance to use technique and strategy in figuring out how to defeat these incredible foes, I repeatedly hit X until the next cut scene - which didn't take long. That's what really leaves a bad taste in my mouth. The fact that you can actually over-level your characters to the point where the game is just no fun anymore. In the end, I'm going to put the blame on the game for this problem instead of me. They should have figure some people just don't have a life and would waste all their free time endlessly fighting pointless battles for experience points making their character more powerful than God. They should have countered all this by opening up new bosses that are even stronger than the original. Put your devotion to the game to the true test. But, no. It ended in the blink of an eye leaving me to wonder: "WHY THE FUCK DID I WASTE SO MUCH TIME ON THIS PIECE OF CRAP GAME! WHAT WAS IT ALL FOR! TELL ME!!!"
I'm not playing any Final Fantasy titles for a while.
Oh man - I agree with almost everything you wrote, but then that final all-caps sentence just doesn't get my co-sign. This is one of my favorite Final Fantasy games. Specifically, I LOVED the gameplay, where turn-based combat allowed you to strategize in a way that quicker-paced active time battles just don't let you, and then the whole idea of the sphere grid was just icing on the cake.
ReplyDeleteThe story, yeah, was pretty out there. Don't play Final Fantasy X-2. And the final boss music? Yeah, Keith and I were laughing about how shitty it was ten years ago, and I'm doing so again right now.
I've got to say though, for me one of the most important aspects of an RPG is the character depth. It's related to the story, but separate, in that a game can have a terrible plot but excellent multi-dimensional characters (see: FFXII) or vice versa. FFX suffered story-wise, but I can't pretend I don't remember all those characters, and fondly, to this day. Goth chick Lulu, feisty Rikku, strong and silent but vulnerable Kimahri - they hold up pretty well twelve years later, especially when compared to all kinds of forgettable characters in more recently played games.
It very well may just be a time-and-age type of thing though, where 2001 me had a lot of fun with this and 2013 you did not. I mean, all the Final Fantasy games are huge time sinks and all of them have outrageous stories (except for FFVI, which has the greatest story - and characters - in any video game ever), and those are two things that might appeal more to a bored young teenager than to an adult just looking to unwind and play some video games.
For whatever it's worth to you, I think I would rank this as the fourth-best Final Fantasy game out there, after 6 and 7 with 4 a distant third.
Posted it at 3:16AM. Do you ever sleep?
ReplyDeleteBut, yeah, my final statement was a bit over the top. It's just that I should have moved onto the final boss battles months ago instead of being obsessed with trying to get the ultimate weapons and leveling up a character I had barely touched since her (Rikku) introduction. And all that commitment never even paid off - unless beating all the bosses within three hits counts as a perk. To me, it ruined the whole game.
You do peak my interest with FFVI, though. I don't think I've ever really heard people talk about it before. Besides, the only games I have left is FFVIII for PS and (I think) FFIII and FFIV for DS. But if the 6th installment is really all that it's cracked up to be, then maybe I'll give it a go one of these days... er, years.