Entertainment

Old time games take another shot, entertainment still found within

    In honor of the remake of Final Fantasy X, and the lack of games coming out this month to review, I will be reviewing FFX, which may be my favorite game of all time.
    Final Fantasy X was released for the PlayStation 2 back in late 2001. It was the first Final Fantasy game to feature voice acted characters and the first to have a true 3D world.
     Final Fantasy X is set in the world of Spira, a world that is decimated by a creature called Sin. Sin is the embodiment of all mistakes by people, but mainly due to their dependent use of machina (machines).
    The main character is Tidus, a blitzball player, who is also the son of Jecht, the world’s greatest blitzball player.
    Tidus becomes the guardian of a summoner named Yuna, daughter of High Summoner Braska. Summoners are those who travel from temple to temple to receive Aeons, the embodiment of a person who sacrificed their life to defeat Sin.
    Summoners pilgrimages are designed to make them strong enough to make The Final Summoning, which is used to defeat sin. High Summoners are those who have defeated Sin.
    The storyline of Final Fantasy X is, in my opinion, the best of any game I have ever played. Between character development, voice actors delving into their roles, and the plot with the twists, the story starts out quickly for a Japanese RPG but gets stronger as the story goes, even with a very strong middle point.
    By today’s standards, the graphics are weak. But when FFX was released, the graphics were some of the best ever seen in a game. The pre-rendered cutscenes in the game look as good as games released today.
   The graphics don’t hold back the game by any means, though, when playing through it today. They won’t blow anybody away, but they don’t make the game unplayable either.
   Leveling up is done in a different fashion. Each character is placed on the Sphere Grid, which is a board game of sorts. Defeating enemies will earn you specific spheres, which will unlock nodes on the grid.
   Nodes are broken down into types, such as HP, Ability, or Strength, and the types are split between certain spheres to activate them.
   Characters finish their area of the Sphere Grid and are then able to move into another character’s grid, allowing major customization in development.
   The more recent Final Fantasy games have all had side games as well, and blitzball is the most fun one I have found.
    I spent as much time playing blitzball as I spent playing the story in some playthroughs. It is a mix of water polo and football.
    Players swim in a sphere of water and attempt to score goals on the other team. A simple game by nature, and not very difficult with a good team, but the fun level can be through the roof for some.
    Final Fantasy X has a fantastic battle system as well. A turn-based system that has one character attack at a time, but if the character has enough speed, they can attack multiple times before an enemy is able to counter.
    It gets away from the typical active time battle system that Final Fantasy is known for, but the system works very well and is deep but simple at the same time.
   Final Fantasy X is my favorite role playing game ever made, and is possibly my favorite game ever. I purchased a PS2 after selling my original just to play it again, and bought a replacement when that PS2 died.
   The remake will update the graphics while keeping the game the same, and will allow those who never experienced the game to play it, and those who loved it to play it again.
    I still give FFX a 10/10, and urge all of those with a PS2 to play it if they have not, or experience the story once again if they have played it.