You know how growing up, we all had that series of games that helped us through that awkward times in our lives? Yes I’m talking about that times where you were trying to find your way in about high school after primary school and that word sex was still a bit of a giggle. No? Just me? Okay I’ll move on to what this post is actually about and not an embarrassing story of me growing up.

Everyone that I’ve spoken to recently about the Final Fantasy series has played them when they were growing up and none of them have a bad word about them. Sure, there is a difference in opinion when it comes to which is the best one but nonetheless, each person has a personal favourite. Now I shall confess here, I never played a Final Fantasy game growing up. When I witnessed someone playing them before, I always had the same opinion – what a pile of rubbish. They never appealed to me – the characters didn’t have a gun in their hand and they were not shooting everything in sight however, I had never really given the Final Fantasy games a chance to win me over. Recently, I’ve decided I wanted to change that first opinion I’ve had since about the age of twelve so here’s my story of one Scottish girl playing Final Fantasy X as a newcomer to the Final Fantasy series.

Now I could of started playing with hate running through my blood  but I decided that I would start with a clear mind, cram all my teenage opinions to the back of my head and give FFX at least a couple of hours to try and win me over out of the dark side. It’s safe to say that couple of hours were not needed – half an hour later and I had found a new love in my life to join the likes of Ezio Auditore and Batman. My thoughts for the rest of the night were based around three things; “Why did I ever think these games were crap?”, “My god look at the time! That is no way the time” and “Tidus *swoon*”.

The first element of FFX that grabbed my attention was in fact, the soundtrack. An odd component of a game to pick up on within the first initial hours of playing but nevertheless, it impressed me. I felt each song complimented the story perfectly and with the exception to the Assassins Creed series, I don’t think I’ve ever enjoyed listening to a video game’s soundtrack so much without having to sit and play the game to enjoy it. I’ve often found myself just chilling out with it playing through my iPod.

As I’ve mentioned before, I started really liking the main character, Tidus. Whether it’s wrong for the fact that he is no doubt younger than me or the main one – he’s a video game character, it didn’t dawn on me. There was something about his cheeky humour that he’s surrounds himself with that made me realise that made me love playing as him and notice Final Fantasy X was going to provide me with a brilliant experience that I’ll never forget. I’m not  wanting to spoil too much of the story behind Tidus’ character for anyone who hasn’t played FFX but, for those who have and will know what I’m talking about, I felt like I could relate to Tidus’ background on a certain level.Between the constant arguments with his father and what happened with his mother at a young age as well, even if you can’t relate to what’s happening in the story, the way they are told pluck at the emotional heartstrings. I really enjoyed and admired the storytelling in the game which is where the FFX characters come into this review. Square Enix (was named Square Soft at the time of FFX being released) have really ensured that every character has a gripping and emotional story to tell,  which is unravelled throughout your time playing the game.  As well as Tidus, you can play as a variety of characters such as Auron, who I felt brought an aura of wisdom yet something was mysterious about him that I couldn’t quite figure out. Wakka who brings a high level of enthusiasm and his hair was impeccable. Yuna appeared to be the shy person of the group however there is something about her that makes her a very dangerous woman to be around which I really liked. Adding in the goth-like appearance of Lulu carrying that adorable Moogle and the excitable Rikku and I was rapidly running out of places to hate with this game.

Final Fantasy X isn’t the most recent instalment of the Final Fantasy series, what with it being over ten years old now that we’re in the year 2012, so I fully expected everything visual about the game to be less stunning compared to nowadays. Sure, the initial gameplay graphics are that of which you would expect of a game of FFX’s age – slightly blocky and animations not exactly perfect but, the one thing that shocked me where the cut scenes. After ten yearsm they appeared as if they look as they should belong in a Japanese animated movie with the characters faces reflecting so much emotion, the buildings holding so much detail put into them and the effects on the water along with everything else that Spira offers left me in awe.

As expected, the enemies that you encounter on your time spent playing FFX is something that on one hand, funny and yet on the other, downright frightening. The appearance of some of these enemies have made me laugh and/or be frightened but they’ve always made me admire the work that’s gone into taking a normal ‘monster’ such as wolves or trolls, then making it almost an entire different monster just for the game but , in the process, still maintaining the features of the initial monster such as, the Wendigo for example – appears to be a troll-like monster however has some moves hidden under his fur.

As I’ve mentioned before, 99% of the games that I have been playing recently involved guns and running around as a macho man so FFX provided a real big change of pace for me. My feet (or my hands really) were in unfamiliar territory when the moment for a battle arrived. I had played some turn-based-strategy games growing up, such as Pokemon although, I was never any good at them due to that big ‘S’. Strategy has never my strong point when it comes to games as I forever dive head first into the battles and not think about my actions however; I gave FFX my best shot. With some help from friends and the internet to take down some of the bosses in the game, I now feel more comfortable playing strategy games than what I was before although there is still room for improvement. By me slowing myself down to play the game properly, I found FFX to be a relaxing game to play as I was forcing myself to slow down and just enjoy wonderful world that Spira brings to you.

A feature that I wasn’t looking forward to adapting myself to was the levelling up of the characters. Again, this is unfamiliar territory for me however with the helpful step-by-step tutorials for each part of the process, I was soon dipping my toes into the big sea of levelling up. Soon I was finding my battles easier; strategies were slowly forming in my head, what was the best attack against this type of enemy and so on.

It’s safe to say after playing Final Fantasy X for twenty odd hours although loosing what feels like days, my love had flourished into a massive fan-girling one. My opinion has changed dramatically with regards to not only the Final Fantasy series, but the genre as a whole. As well as wanting to delve into the realms of Gaia, Blue Planet and most recently, Gran Pulse, I want to venture into the spin-off games from the Final Fantasy series – Kingdom Hearts. I really wish that I had gotten into the series at an earlier age as I’ve found that, if FFX is anything to go by, I’ve missed out on an amazing series of games. Providing a game that covers puzzles, strategy battles, action and a compelling storyline, it’s safe to say that Final Fantasy X is a game that I’ve never played the likes of before. I’m surprised at even putting in 20+ hours into playing FFX , which is where most games nowadays would have already drawn to an end,  I’ve still got a lot of story to cover in the game and I’m looking forward to what the experience is like.

If you’ve never played the Final Fantasy games like myself, my one piece of advice would be to go play it, even if it’s just for a couple of hours. FFX deserves at least a couple of hours to try and win over your heart like it has done with mine.

 

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