6: Final Fantasy X
Despite its altered visual style and setting, Final Fantasy X is often seen as the last of the original Final Fantasy games and a starting point for what the series would eventually evolve into. It retains a good bit of the earlier games' spirit, while still adding a lot of new concepts, and it does so successfully -- for the most part. The ATB is gone, with turn order determined by character speed, though that seems like a natural evolution. The setting is quite different too, including sci-fi elements like in the opening sequences alongside places of immense natural beauty, but the game pulls it off well, helped in no small part by the PS2's graphics.
The ATB is gone, with turn order determined by character speed, though that seems like a natural evolution. The setting is quite different too, including sci-fi elements like in the opening sequences alongside places of immense natural beauty.However, the game pulls it off well, helped in no small part by the PS2's graphics -- or the PS3, if you are playing the HD version.
There are also changes to the skill system that allow you to plot out how your characters will grow, which adds a good deal of customization to battle styles. The cast of characters is memorable, being a fairly intimate bunch, and the story itself takes on new themes of the role of knowledge and the nature of reality, adding on to the identity themes introduced in earlier games.
However, this adventure is much more linear than previous Final Fantasy titles, and the biggest drawback is that half the time, you watch the game, rather than play it. It makes for a deeper story, though at the expense of the gameplay itself.
Published Aug. 27th 2017
