NOTE: Played this through the remaster bundle so I'm gonna log each one separately like this. May get around to X-2 at a later date.
While the story overall isn’t quite as well put together or gripping as, say, FF7, I think it achieves incredible emotional highs as the game touches upon themes of tradition, religion, death, and finding your own identity and purpose beyond that. It may have a weaker cast than FF7 (Lulu and Kirahme pretty much fade into the background) but I still found myself invested into the beating heart of FFX, that being Tidus and Yuna’s relationship. Ironically the most infamous shitpost worthy scene people always poke fun at from this game is actually my favorite for how it helped define what I love about these two and the sentimentally weird charm of this game.
Really adored Spira as an incredibly atmospherically beautiful world rich in detail, along with being accompanied by the vibrantly lush Asian/Polysenian inspired Sportswear aesthetic and god tier soundtrack. I honestly just wished we got to see more of it or developed further into what we already have.
The gameplay is also pretty great. Being able to switch in-and-out party members during a turn while also trying to make each one feel modular yet still very defined in their archetypes made the turn-based combat really engaging. The Sphere Grid is a pretty traditional leveling system but I grew to love it for how free-form it can be to diverge/converge paths to alter the playstyle of your party members. It’s like a skill tree but with a bit of actual thought put into making it feel interesting to play around with.
What holds this back for me has to do with the minigames and temple trial puzzles which honestly even with a guide ready at hand are still such a slog to go through every time. That and the way side quests were handled and practically shoved in the very last quarter of the game before reaching the final boss itself. It really soured the momentum and pacing of the narrative/gameplay a bit there for me.
If I hadn’t played FF7 beforehand this probably would’ve taken its spot as my favorite Final Fantasy. Even then, there’s still so much to genuinely admire and adore that I think it can still rival it for taking that spot.
While the story overall isn’t quite as well put together or gripping as, say, FF7, I think it achieves incredible emotional highs as the game touches upon themes of tradition, religion, death, and finding your own identity and purpose beyond that. It may have a weaker cast than FF7 (Lulu and Kirahme pretty much fade into the background) but I still found myself invested into the beating heart of FFX, that being Tidus and Yuna’s relationship. Ironically the most infamous shitpost worthy scene people always poke fun at from this game is actually my favorite for how it helped define what I love about these two and the sentimentally weird charm of this game.
Really adored Spira as an incredibly atmospherically beautiful world rich in detail, along with being accompanied by the vibrantly lush Asian/Polysenian inspired Sportswear aesthetic and god tier soundtrack. I honestly just wished we got to see more of it or developed further into what we already have.
The gameplay is also pretty great. Being able to switch in-and-out party members during a turn while also trying to make each one feel modular yet still very defined in their archetypes made the turn-based combat really engaging. The Sphere Grid is a pretty traditional leveling system but I grew to love it for how free-form it can be to diverge/converge paths to alter the playstyle of your party members. It’s like a skill tree but with a bit of actual thought put into making it feel interesting to play around with.
What holds this back for me has to do with the minigames and temple trial puzzles which honestly even with a guide ready at hand are still such a slog to go through every time. That and the way side quests were handled and practically shoved in the very last quarter of the game before reaching the final boss itself. It really soured the momentum and pacing of the narrative/gameplay a bit there for me.
If I hadn’t played FF7 beforehand this probably would’ve taken its spot as my favorite Final Fantasy. Even then, there’s still so much to genuinely admire and adore that I think it can still rival it for taking that spot.