As part of my attempt to get more into the franchise, I decided to give one of the most acclaimed ones a shot and see how I felt about it. What I got was an enjoyable, yet sometimes tedious adventure with a fun story and a (mostly) solid cast of characters.
Let's get it out of the way: the minigames in this game often range anywhere from mildly annoying to downright frustrating. I personally didn't care much for Blitzball so I mostly stayed away from it, and the assortment of games aside from that (Chocobo racing, butterfly catching, lightning dodging, etc.) were basically all duds for me. I'd imagine it was a combination of baffling design and old-game syndrome but playing them in a modern gaming content just felt miserable as most felt like they were made specifically to frustrate the player and make it nearly impossible to win until you've given them a fair few attempts.
As for the combat, I think it was mostly solid. Outside of a few encounters (one late game boss in particular was NOT IT) and some various cheap tactics from enemies, I felt like the turn-based battles played out in fun ways and I appreciate the on-the-fly character switching. Having to make sure every character acts in a battle to get AP (the game's experience equivalent) was kind of a drag but I got over it pretty quickly. The Sphere Grid system that enables characters to upgrade stats and learn skills was a bit odd at first but I grew to appreciate what it was going for over the course of the game, with my main complaint being the availability of some of the "lock" spheres needed to unblock paths to some of the more impactful moves the game has to offer.
As I said, this is one of the handful of FF games I've played and as such I felt the story was an overall solid experience. Tidus and Yuna's relationship was fun to see grow (albeit with some rather outdated voice acting/character movements) and I felt the core cast all gelled well with one another. Some got fleshed out less than others (Lulu specifically felt somewhat dry and lacked much of anything interesting plot-wise outside of a sidequest or two) but overall they did well with what they had and the narrative kept me playing and curious to see where everything was headed.
Overall I liked my time with Final Fantasy X and can see why it's such a beloved entry in the series. I had my qualms with it and it's by no means perfect, but as a JRPG fan it's hard to argue that it wasn't influential to games that came after it in the space.
Let's get it out of the way: the minigames in this game often range anywhere from mildly annoying to downright frustrating. I personally didn't care much for Blitzball so I mostly stayed away from it, and the assortment of games aside from that (Chocobo racing, butterfly catching, lightning dodging, etc.) were basically all duds for me. I'd imagine it was a combination of baffling design and old-game syndrome but playing them in a modern gaming content just felt miserable as most felt like they were made specifically to frustrate the player and make it nearly impossible to win until you've given them a fair few attempts.
As for the combat, I think it was mostly solid. Outside of a few encounters (one late game boss in particular was NOT IT) and some various cheap tactics from enemies, I felt like the turn-based battles played out in fun ways and I appreciate the on-the-fly character switching. Having to make sure every character acts in a battle to get AP (the game's experience equivalent) was kind of a drag but I got over it pretty quickly. The Sphere Grid system that enables characters to upgrade stats and learn skills was a bit odd at first but I grew to appreciate what it was going for over the course of the game, with my main complaint being the availability of some of the "lock" spheres needed to unblock paths to some of the more impactful moves the game has to offer.
As I said, this is one of the handful of FF games I've played and as such I felt the story was an overall solid experience. Tidus and Yuna's relationship was fun to see grow (albeit with some rather outdated voice acting/character movements) and I felt the core cast all gelled well with one another. Some got fleshed out less than others (Lulu specifically felt somewhat dry and lacked much of anything interesting plot-wise outside of a sidequest or two) but overall they did well with what they had and the narrative kept me playing and curious to see where everything was headed.
Overall I liked my time with Final Fantasy X and can see why it's such a beloved entry in the series. I had my qualms with it and it's by no means perfect, but as a JRPG fan it's hard to argue that it wasn't influential to games that came after it in the space.