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Final Fantasy X

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Final Fantasy X
North American boxart
Developer(s)Square Co., Ltd.
Publisher(s)JPN Square Co., Ltd.
NA Square EA
INT Square Co., Ltd.
PAL SCE Europe
Designer(s)Yoshinori Kitase (game producer)
Hironobu Sakaguchi (executive producer)
Motomu Toriyama (game director)
Tetsuya Nomura (character designer)
Yoshitaka Amano (image illustrator, title logo designer)
Kazushige Nojima (scenario)
Nobuo Uematsu (sound producer, composer)
Platform(s)PlayStation 2
ReleaseJPN July 19, 2001
NA December 20, 2001
INT January 31, 2002
AUS May 17, 2002[1]
PAL May 29, 2002[1]
Genre(s)Role-playing
Mode(s)Single player

Final Fantasy XFainaru Fantajī Ten (ファイナルファンタジーX) is a role-playing video game developed by SquareSoft and originally published by Square Electronic Arts. It is the tenth installment in the Final Fantasy series and the first game of the series to be released on the Sony PlayStation 2. Introduced in 2001, it was once among the top twenty best-selling console games (landing in number 2 for the Playstation 2) of all time. It was also voted by the readers of the Japanese video game magazine Famitsu to be the greatest video game of all-time.[2] Set in the fantasy world of Spira, the game's story centers around a group of adventurers and their quest to defeat a rampaging force known as "Sin".

The game marks the Final Fantasy series' transition from entirely pre-rendered backdrops to fully three-dimensional areas, achieved with the PlayStation 2’s Emotion Engine processor. Though pre-rendered backgrounds are not entirely absent, their use has been restricted to less vibrant locations, such as building interiors.[3] Final Fantasy X is the first in the series to feature a wide range of realistic facial expressions, as well as other technological developments in graphical effects achieved, such as variance in lighting and shadow from one section of a character's clothing to the next.[4] Final Fantasy X is also the first in the series to feature voice-over actors, as well as the first to spawn a direct sequel, Final Fantasy X-2.

Final Fantasy X introduces other significant advances in the Final Fantasy series. For instance, because of the implementation of voice-overs, scenes in the game are paced according to the time taken for dialogue to be spoken,[4] whereas previous games in the series incorporated scrolling subtitles. Final Fantasy X features changes in world design, with a focus placed on realism. The gameplay makes a significant departure from past games as well, incorporating several new elements.

Gameplay

Like previous games in the series, Final Fantasy X is presented in third-person perspective, with players directly navigating the main character, Tidus, around the world to interact with objects and people. Unlike in previous games, however, the world and town maps have been fully integrated, with terrain outside of cities rendered to scale. When an enemy is encountered, the environment switches to a turn-based "battle area" where characters and enemies must await their turn to attack.

In line with previous Final Fantasy titles, players are given the opportunity to develop and improve their characters by defeating enemies and acquiring items, though the traditional experience point system was replaced by a new system called the "Sphere Grid". The game was initially going to feature online elements, but these were dropped during production, and online multiplayer gaming would not become part of the Final Fantasy series until Final Fantasy XI.[5][6]

Field map

File:Ffxfieldmapexample.jpg
An example of navigation on the field map

Final Fantasy X's gameplay differs from that of previous Final Fantasy games in its lack of an interactive top-down perspective "world map" navigation system. Previous games had featured a miniature representation of the expansive areas between towns and other distinct locations, used for long-distance traveling. In Final Fantasy X, instead, almost all game locations are essentially contiguous and never fade out to an interactive overworld map. Regional connections are mostly linear, forming a single path through the game's locations, though an airship becomes available late in the game, giving the player the ability to navigate the world of Spira in a matter of seconds.

Map director Takayoshi Nakazato has explained that with Final Fantasy X, he wanted to implement a world map concept with a more realistic approach than that of the traditional Final Fantasy game, in-line with the realism afforded by the mechanics of the game's dominant 3D backgrounds, as opposed to that offered by pre-rendered backgrounds (which he refers to as "pseudo 3D environments").[4]

Battle system

File:FFXbattleexample.jpg
A typical battle with a boss

Final Fantasy X introduces the Conditional Turn-Based Battle (CTB) system in place of the series' traditional Active Time Battle (ATB) system. The system was developed by battle director Toshiro Tsuchida, who had Final Fantasy IV in mind when developing the CTB system. Whereas the ATB concept features real-time elements, the CTB system is a turn-based format that pauses the battle during each of the player's turns. Thus, the CTB design gives the player an indefinite period of time to select an action. The CTB system also allows characters' and enemies' attributes and actions to affect the number of turns they are allowed and the order in which they occur. The game provides a graphical timeline along the upper-right side of the screen, detailing who will be receiving turns next, as well as how various actions taken (such as using the magical spell Slow on the enemy) will affect the subsequent order of turns.

Character-specific special abilities (known as "Limit Breaks" in some other Final Fantasy games) reappear in Final Fantasy X under the name "Overdrives". In this new incarnation of the feature, most of the techniques are interactive, requiring fighting game-style button inputs or precise timing to increase their effectiveness. Furthermore, an "Overdrive meter" was introduced to determine when such an ability could be executed. Through the use of different "Overdrive Modes", the player is allowed to designate what circumstances (such as receiving damage, slaying an enemy, or being the only living character on the field) cause the Overdrive meter to fill.

Final Fantasy X allows the player to control only up to three characters in battle at once, but a "swapping system" allows the player to replace any of those characters with one of the characters on the sidelines at any time. When all seven of the game's regular characters are available, this means that three characters are active and four are on the sidelines. The player is encouraged to switch active characters frequently based on two factors of gameplay. First, those characters who do not take an active role in the battle will not receive stat and ability bonuses.

File:FFXoverdriveexample2.JPG
An activated Overdrive awaiting button-inputs

Second, each character has specific strengths and limitations for most of the game: Yuna has the greatest skill at healing with White Magic and can use summon spells; Rikku is adept at using and stealing items; Tidus can use time-altering magic and accurately strike agile enemies; Wakka can inflict negative status effects and accurately strike flying enemies; Auron can pierce enemies' defenses and has the greatest physical strength; Kimahri can use enemy skills; and Lulu has elemental Black Magic spells best-suited for use against enemies associated with an opposing element. Specialized enemies are generally much more difficult to defeat without the appropriate character, so the gameplay encourages users to make significant use of all or most of the available characters at various times.

Final Fantasy X introduces an overhaul of the summoning system employed in previous installments of the series. Whereas in previous games a summoned creature would arrive, perform a single action, and then depart, Final Fantasy X's summons (called "aeons") arrive and entirely replace the battle party, fighting in their place until either the enemy has been slain, the aeon itself has been defeated, or the aeon is dismissed by the player. Aeons have their own stats, commands, special attacks, spells, and Overdrives, and in addition to providing powerful attacks, they can be employed to guard the party when fighting difficult bosses, as the enemy must first kill any summoned aeon before it can damage the party directly. The player acquires a minimum of five aeons over the course of the game, and several additional aeons can be unlocked by completing various sidequests.

Originally, Final Fantasy X was going to feature wandering enemies visible on the field map, seamless transitions into battles, and the option for players to move around the landscape during enemy encounters.[7] Battle art director Shintaro Takai has explained that it was his intention that battles in Final Fantasy X come across as a natural part of the story and not an independent element.[4] However, due to hardware and system limitations, these ideas were not used until Final Fantasy XI and Final Fantasy XII. Instead, a compromise was made, whereby some transitions from the field screen to battle arenas were made relatively seamless with the implementation of a motion blur effect. The desire for seamless transitions also led to the implementation of the new summoning system seen in the game.

Sphere Grid

File:FFXspheregridexample3.JPG
A portion of the Sphere Grid

Final Fantasy X's leveling system, the Sphere Grid, is unique in the computer role-playing game genre. Instead of characters gaining pre-determined statistic bonuses for their attributes after a certain number of battles, each character gains a "sphere level" after collecting enough Ability Points (AP). Sphere levels, in turn, allow players to move around the Sphere Grid, a predetermined grid of several hundred interconnected nodes consisting of various stat and ability bonuses. Items called "spheres" (obtained from defeated enemies, treasure chests, and event prizes) are applied to these nodes, unlocking its function for the selected character. In this way, the playable characters' development resembles a board game.

Producer Yoshinori Kitase has explained that the purpose behind the Sphere Grid is to give players an interactive means of increasing their characters' attributes, such that they will be able to observe the development of those attributes firsthand.[8] The Sphere Grid system also allows players to fully customize characters in contrast to their intended battle roles, such as turning the magician Yuna into a physical powerhouse and the swordsman Auron into a healer. The International and PAL versions of the game include an optional "Expert" version of the Sphere Grid; in these versions, all of the characters start in the middle of the grid and may follow whichever path the player chooses. As a tradeoff, however, the Expert grid has noticeably fewer nodes in total, thus decreasing the total statistic upgrades available during the game.

Plot and setting

Main article: Spira (Final Fantasy X)
File:Map23cx.jpg
Map of Spira

The world of Final Fantasy X is known as "Spira". It consists of one large landmass divided into three subcontinents, surrounded by small islands. It features diverse climates, ranging from the tropical Besaid and Kilika islands to the temperate Mi'ihen region to the frigid Macalania and Mount Gagazet.

Although it is predominantly populated by humans, Spira features a variety of races. Among them are the Al Bhed, a technologically advanced but disenfranchised sub-group of humans with distinctive spiral-green eyes and unique language. The Guado are somewhat less human in appearance, with elongated fingers and other subtle differences. They also have a natural propensity for magic and conjuring monsters. Still less human in appearance are the large, lion-like, one-horned Ronso, the frog-like Hypello and the cactus-like Cactuars.

Spira's wildlife population introduces several new concepts into the series. Although most creatures are drawn from real animals, such as cats, dogs, birds and butterflies, a few fictional species appear, such as the gigantic, amphibious shoopuf and the emu-like chocobo. Both are used primarily for transportation purposes. Most other unusual creatures encountered in Final Fantasy X are fiends.

Spira is very different from the mainly European-style worlds found in previous Final Fantasy games, being much more closely modeled on Southeast Asia, most notably with respect to vegetation, topography, architecture, and names. Character designer Tetsuya Nomura has identified the South Pacific, Thailand and Japan as major influences on the cultural and geographic design of Spira, particularly concerning the geographic locations of Besaid and Kilika.[4] He has also said that Spira deviates from the worlds of past Final Fantasy games most notably in the level of detail incorporated, something he has expressed to have made a conscious effort to maintain during the design process. Though a southeast Asian theme is dominant, like other games in the franchise, Final Fantasy X borrows elements from many other cultures, featuring references to demonology, Hindu, Norse, Arabic and other mythologies. Psychology is also represented, with Carl Jung referenced by the aeon Anima.

Spirituality and metaphysics

File:Farplane.jpg
A screenshot of the Farplane, resting place of the soul-like pyreflies

The most distinctive, basic features of Final Fantasy X's mythology are pyreflies, luminescent "bundles of life energy" that emerge from the newly-dead and wander the land.[9] If left to their own devices, they usually cluster together and form into fiends, dangerous monsters that take a variety of forms and return to balls of pyreflies when defeated. The vast majority of enemies in Final Fantasy X are fiends. In rare cases, pyreflies maintain enough cohesion and sentience to become unsent, beings that appear human but are actually the lingering remnant of a dead individual with a purpose left unfinished.

One of the tasks of a summoner in Final Fantasy X is to help guide stray pyreflies to their final resting place, a mystical domain guarded by the Guado and known as the Farplane. They do this through a ritual dance known as "the sending". The other chief function of summoners is to summon aeons, fierce magical creatures created when people sacrifice their lives to encase their souls within statues, becoming fayth. Fayth grant summoners the ability to summon their respective aeons, which are described as "dreams of the fayth". Summoners are charged with the duty of defeating Sin, a gigantic monster that has plagued Spira for a thousand years, capable of wiping out entire towns and armies with ease.

Spira's human population is deeply religious and centered around the temples of Yevon, a millennium-old religious organization that has gained enormous influence. The Yevonite temples consider Sin a divine punishment set upon people for their pride in the use of machines (or machina, as they are called in the game),[10] and forbid the use of advanced technology. However it is eventually revealed that the highest priests, known as the maesters, have become increasingly corrupt and unfaithful to their own doctrine, making use of machina to increase their power.

Summoners go on pilgrimages to gather aeons and increase their powers. They are accompanied by guardians, trained fighters whose duty is to protect the summoners and assist them along the way. The end of the pilgrimage is in the sacred ruined city of Zanarkand, where summoners acquire the Final Aeon, the only known power that can destroy Sin. It is revealed late in Final Fantasy X that the fayth for the Final Aeon is actually created from one who is personally close to a summoner, requiring a guardian of each summoner who defeats Sin to sacrifice his or her life.[11] Additionally, using the Final Aeon against Sin costs the summoner's life as well.[12] However, even this measure is only temporary: after a short period of peace, known as "the Calm",[13] Sin returns, thus requiring the process to start anew.

Characters

Main article: List of Final Fantasy X characters
File:Yuna3.jpg
Yuna performs "the sending"

The seven playable characters in Final Fantasy X are Tidus, an energetic and upbeat blitzball star; Yuna, a reserved and soft-spoken summoner who always puts others before herself; Kimahri, an exile of the Ronso tribe who remains silent for most of the game and is devoted to protecting Yuna above all else; Wakka, an amiable blitzball player and devout follower of the Yevon order, who has been a friend of Yuna's since childhood; Lulu, an often cynical and harsh, but well-meaning Black Mage; Auron, a taciturn and matter-of-fact ex-warrior monk; and Rikku, a perky Al Bhed girl with extensive knowledge of machinery.

The primary antagonists of the game are Seymour Guado and the other maesters of the Yevon religion, while the rampaging Sin serves as the primary source of conflict. In addition, there is a vast supporting cast of named characters, who — along with the main characters — feature voice talents complementing their principle roles, as well as the myriad incidental characters that have traditionally populated the worlds of Final Fantasy.

Character designer Tetsuya Nomura took particular care in each of the characters' designs. For example, Nomura based Yuna's overall design on Okinawan kimonos. When he learned that the character was to perform the sending dance, he wanted to give her outfit something that would flow. For this reason, the specific style of kimono he chose for her was a furisode, a kimono bearing long sleeves. Additionally, he adorned her dress and necklace with images of the flower also called Yuna (Hibiscus tiliaceus), and her name carries the meaning of "night" in Okinawan, a direct contrast with Tidus' Japanese name, Tīda, the Okinawan word for "sun". Nomura has explained that while all these subtle details may be unnecessary, he does not want his designs to be without explanation.[14]

For minor characters, sub-character chief designer Fumi Nakashima's focus was to ensure that characters from different regions and cultures bore distinctive characteristics in their clothing styles, such that they could be quickly and easily identified as members of their respective sub-groups. For example, in her words, the masks and goggles of the Al Bhed give the group a "strange and eccentric" appearance, while the attire of the Ronso lend to them being able to easily engage in battle.[4]

Also, certain racial characteristics are clearly visible throughout the game. For example, humans have normal eyes, while Al Bhed have green swirling eyes. Yuna, being half-human and half-Al Bhed, has one normal eye and one swirled eye. Furthermore, Guado all have green eyes and Ronso all have eye color similar to the color of their fur, obviously different shades of navy blue. ~Colonel Sanchez

Story

A side image of Sin

Final Fantasy X begins late in the story, with the main character, Tidus, waiting with his allies outside the ruined city of Zanarkand. From this in medias res beginning, Tidus proceeds to narrate the series of events leading up to his present situation, and this extended flashback spans most of the game's storyline. The flashback begins in an unruined Zanarkand, a high-tech metropolis and Tidus' home city, where he is a renowned star of the fictional underwater sport blitzball. When Zanarkand is suddenly attacked by Sin during a blitzball game, Tidus — along with his long-time mentor, Auron — is sucked into the creature and awakens to find himself alone in the ruins of a deserted temple.

Tidus is rescued by Al Bhed divers in the area, and one of them, Rikku, tells him that his city had been destroyed a thousand years ago. He has little time to dwell on the significance of this news before Sin attacks again, separating Tidus from the others. He eventually washes up on the tropical island of Besaid, where he meets Wakka, captain of the local blitzball team. Impressed by Tidus' skills, Wakka asks Tidus to join his team in an upcoming tournament in Luca, suggesting that he may meet someone he knows there.

Tidus is introduced to Yuna, a young summoner who is following in the footsteps of her deceased father Braska, who temporarily vanquished Sin ten years prior. Braska's guardians were Auron and Jecht, Tidus' missing father, who had been assumed dead at sea ten years earlier.[15][16] Tidus also meets Lulu and Kimahri, who, along with Wakka, are to serve as Yuna's guardians, journeying with her on her pilgrimage to the ruins of Zanarkand. There, she plans to acquire the power to summon the "Final Aeon" and use it to defeat Sin.

File:FFXcrashingwedding.jpg
A screenshot of Yuna's guardians launching a rescue attempt at her wedding with Seymour

The party travels by boat to Kilika — where Sin is encountered yet again, devastating the town — and then to Luca. After the blitzball tournament, the party encounters Auron, who joins the group. Not long after, following an encounter with Sin where an entire army of crusaders is wiped out, they are joined by Rikku, who is revealed to be Yuna's cousin.[17]

The party also encounters Seymour Guado, leader of the Guado and a maester of Yevon. Although he initially presents himself as an ally, it later becomes apparent that he is a madman who wishes to become Sin so that he may use its power to kill everyone in Spira in what he believes to be an act of compassion. For this reason, he attempts to force Yuna to marry him, so that he may become her Final Aeon, and thus transform into Sin.[18] Although Seymour is killed after his first battle with Yuna's guardians, he becomes an Unsent and attacks the party again many times.

Around the same time, Tidus becomes increasingly fond of Yuna, but discovers, to his horror, that if she completes her pilgrimage and uses the Final Aeon against Sin, she will die. Aware of her fate, Yuna intends to give her life to provide the people of Spira with the Calm, the brief period of peace that follows Sin's destruction. Complicating matters further, Auron reveals to Tidus that his father Jecht is alive, but no longer human, having now himself become the unwilling embodiment of Sin.[19] Tidus resolves to find a way to free his estranged father and permanently destroy Sin without sacrificing Yuna's life.

As the player approaches Zanarkand, Tidus learns that he, Jecht, and the Zanarkand they hail from are all "dreams", summoned entities akin to aeons.[20] Their city, Dream Zanarkand, was created one thousand years earlier, when a conflict known as the "Machina War" led to Yevon, Zanarkand's ruler and a powerful summoner, taking desperate measures to preserve its memory.[21] He had his city's surviving people become fayth so that he could use their memories of Zanarkand to create a new city in its image, far removed from the warfare on the Spiran mainland.[22] Sin was also created at this time, given form by Yevon himself to serve as "armor" protecting himself and the fayth.[23][24] While continuously summoning Dream Zanarkand, Yevon lost his humanity and became known as "Yu Yevon" ("the Curse of Yevon"),[25] a being existing solely to maintain Dream Zanarkand's existence.[26] Over the next one thousand years, Sin would persistently attack the people of Spira to keep them from gaining the technology to learn of Dream Zanarkand's existence.

File:TidusYunaembrace.jpg
Tidus attempts to embrace Yuna as he fades away

Once the player completes Yuna's pilgrimage to Zanarkand — ending Tidus' extended flashback recounting most of the game's events — she and her companions learn from the unsent spirit of Lady Yunalesca — Yevon's daughter, and the first summoner to have defeated Sin[27][28] — that the Final Aeon is created from the spirit of one close to a summoner, and that when Sin is defeated, Yu Yevon's spirit then possesses it, transforming it into a new Sin.[29] Additionally, it is revealed to the player that Auron himself is an Unsent, having been killed by Yunalesca ten years earlier when he confronted her in rage after the deaths of Braska and Jecht.[30] Yuna and her guardians decide to seek a new way to defeat Sin: one that will permanently destroy him and will not require any sacrifices. Without having acquired the use of a Final Aeon, the party attacks Sin directly and enters its body with the help of the Al Bhed's airship.

Inside Sin, the party battles Seymour, Jecht's imprisoned spirit, and Yu Yevon, defeating each and sending their spirits to the Farplane. Thus, they are able to end Sin's cycle of rebirth forever. Auron dissipates and goes to the Farplane as well, having fulfilled his promise to Jecht and Braska to guard their children. Lastly, the spirits of all the fayth of Spira are freed from their imprisonment, dispersing the aeons, Dream Zanarkand, and Tidus in the process. Although Yuna mourns the loss of her love, in a speech to the citizens of Spira, she resolves to help rebuild the world now that it is free of Sin. However, she asks that they never forget the people who have been lost along the way.

Development

Developed from 1999 to 2001, Final Fantasy X cost approximately 4 billion Japanese yen to produce (approximately US$32.3 million)[31] with a crew of more than one hundred people.

As with most other games in the Final Fantasy franchise, the characters and story of Final Fantasy X are distinct from those of its predecessors. Executive producer Hironobu Sakaguchi states that this is to maintain the novelty of each title and to show off his team's true potential. Although he had certain reservations about the transition from 2D to 3D backgrounds, the voice acting, and the transition to real-time story-telling, Sakaguchi believes Final Fantasy's success can be attributed to constantly challenging the development team to try new things.[4] For his part, scenario writer Kazushige Nojima has said that with this installment of the series, he was particularly concerned with establishing a connection in the relationship between the player and main character. Thus, he penned the story such that — since both Tidus and the player find themselves in a new world — the player's progress through the world and growing knowledge about it is reflected in Tidus' own developing understanding and narration.[4]

Final Fantasy X also features innovations in the rendering of facial expressions on characters, achieved through motion capture and skeletal animation technology.[4][32] This technology allowed animators to create realistic lip movements, which were then programmed to match the speech of the game's voice actors.

Audio

Voice-overs

Nojima also revealed that the inclusion of voice-overs had a substantial impact on the writing of the game's story. He has explained that the presence of voice actors allowed him to maintain a more simple method of storytelling, as the range of emotions that could be expressed through them was greater than that provided by text alone. Nojima has further revealed that the presence of voice actors led him to make various changes to the story and characters themselves, so as to solidify the voice actors' personalities with the characters they were portraying.[33]

In some respects, however, the inclusion of voice-overs led to additional difficulties. With the game's cutscenes already programmed around the Japanese voice work, Final Fantasy X's English localization team faced not only the difficulty of establishing English-oriented dialogue, but also the added obstacle of incorporating this modified wording with the previously established rhythm and timing of the characters' lip movements. In his words, lead localization specialist Alexander O. Smith described the process of "fitting natural-sounding English speech into [...] the high-polygon scenes and CG movies" as "something akin to writing four or five movies worth of dialogue entirely in haiku form [and] of course the actors had to act, and act well, within those restraints". To this end, each voice actor was briefed on their character's motivations and feelings for every scene, and also shown various scenes from the game itself.[7]

Musical score

Main article: Final Fantasy X albums

Final Fantasy X marks the first time Nobuo Uematsu has had any assistance in composing the score for a Final Fantasy game. His fellow composers for Final Fantasy X were Masashi Hamauzu and Junya Nakano.

The game includes three songs with vocalized elements, one of which is the J-pop ballad "Suteki Da Ne". It is sung by Japanese folk singer Ritsuki Nakano (also known as "RIKKI"), whom the music team contacted while searching for a singer whose music reflected an Okinawan atmosphere.[4] "Suteki Da Ne" is sung in its original Japanese form in both the Japanese and English versions of Final Fantasy X. The song's title translates to "Isn't it Wonderful?" in English, and its lyrics were written by scenario writer Kazushige Nojima,[4] while Uematsu composed the instrumentals. Like the ballads from Final Fantasy VIII and IX, "Suteki Da Ne" has an in-game version together with an orchestrated version used as part of the ending theme. The other songs featuring lyrics are the heavy metal opening theme, "Otherworld", sung in English by singer Bill Muir, and the "Hymn of the Fayth", a recurring piece sung using Japanese syllabary.

Reception

Final Fantasy X's reception was largely positive, with high sales figures and critical acclaim from the gaming industry. The game sold 90% of its initial 2,140,000-unit shipment — 1,926,000 units — within just the first four days of release in Japan, having already sold between 1.4 million and 1.5 million copies in pre-orders.[34] These figures exceeded the performances of Final Fantasy IX and Final Fantasy VII in a comparable period,[35] and Final Fantasy X became the first PlayStation 2 game to reach sales totals of 2 million and 4 million copies.[36][37] Once among the top twenty best-selling console games of all time, as of March 2006, the game's consistent sales have earned it the position of the second best-selling Final Fantasy game. As of July 2006, the game has been rated the US market's 11th best selling game of the 21st century,[38] and was nominated for the 6th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards for animation and console role-playing game of the year in 2003.[39]

Critical response

Both Japanese and western critics have generally given Final Fantasy X high scores, with the game attaining a 92/100 "universal score" according to Metacritic.[32] Leading Japanese video game magazine, Famitsu, awarded the game a near-perfect 39/40 score,[40] while readers of the same magazine voted it the best game of all time in early 2006.[41] Another leading Japanese gaming magazine, The Play Station, gave the game a score of 29/30.[40]

As part of their reviews, Famitsu and The Play Station expressed particularly favorable responses toward the game's storyline and graphics, as did the UK-based magazine Edge. However, the magazine only gave the game a 6/10, describing it as "Sequential software that labels itself next-gen" without providing a next generation gaming experience, instead repeating "the mistakes ... made on the last version".[42] In this regard, Edge cites the game's battle and character-leveling systems, describing the former as only "fractionally more complex" than was the case in previous installments of the series, and the latter as "[no] more flexible than the straight leveling from previous games".[42] Edge also dealt harsh criticism to the game's English script and voice-overs, regarding the dialogue, "both textual and verbal", as "nauseating". The magazine went on to say that it "renders the pathos comedic, the comedy dead, and ... butchers the whole game".[42]

Edge was not the only critic to find faults with Final Fantasy X. In their 7/10 review, the critics of Norwegian gaming site Gamer.no expressed an unfavorable response toward the game's battle and navigation systems, describing battles as "usually too easy" and exploration as highly linear, together rendering the game "too short for the greatest of RPG enthusiasts".[43] Multimedia website IGN felt that the game's use of character animation in cut scenes was "still ... like the last generation of game characters", regarding them inferior to Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty's animation models. While they labeled the Metal Gear Solid 2 animations "as near to perfection as possible when it comes to animating physical acting in 3D", they described the use of body language in Final Fantasy X as consisting of "exaggerated gestures, repetitive movements, stiff transitions, and extremely questionable lip-synching". Though the website felt that Metal Gear Solid 2 also displayed "a greater degree of visual refinement", they felt that its setting "[confined] it to shades of gray and brown most of the time", whereas Final Fantasy X's artists have "carte blanche to throw every color imaginable at the screen, and a wonderful 3D engine with which to do it".[3]

IGN's staff echoed Gamer.no's suggestion that the game progressed in too linear a fashion, but also felt that the pacing of progression was a shortcoming, citing the game's few puzzle-based scenarios as poorly integrated with the rest of the game. Despite these negative criticisms, the website offered extensive praise for the game's innovations in gameplay, particularly with regard to the revised summon magic system, the option to change party members during battle, and what they felt were more efficient character development and inventory management systems. Offering additional praise for the game's graphics, which they suggested "improves on its predecessors in every area possible", they commented that the game as a whole was "the best-looking game of the series [and] arguably the best-playing as well" at the time of release.[3]

File:FFX-2 box.jpg
Final Fantasy X-2

Legacy

Due to its commercial and popular success,[44][45] Square Enix released a direct sequel to Final Fantasy X in 2003, entitled "Final Fantasy X-2". This sequel — the first direct sequel developed in the Final Fantasy series — is set two years after the conclusion of the original story, establishing new conflicts and dilemmas, while also serving to tie up loose ends left by the original game. Also as a result of the game's reception, the producer and scenario writer decided to establish a plot-related connection between Final Fantasy X and Final Fantasy VII, another popular Final Fantasy title.[44]

The advancements in portraying realistic emotions achieved with Final Fantasy X through voice-overs and detailed facial expressions have since become a staple of the series, with its sequel and other subsequent titles — such as Final Fantasy XII and Dirge of Cerberus -Final Fantasy VII- — also featuring this development. Additionally, traversing real-time 3D environments instead of an overworld map has also become a standard of the series, as demonstrated in both Final Fantasy XI and Final Fantasy XII.

File:Tidus32zk.jpg
A Tidus action figure standing before the cover of The Art of Final Fantasy X

Versions and merchandise

An international version of the game was released in Japan as "Final Fantasy X: International" and in PAL territories under the name "Final Fantasy X." It features content not available in the original NTSC releases, including battles with dark versions of the game's aeons, an airship fight with the superboss Penance, and various added scenes. The Japanese release of Final Fantasy X: International also includes a twelve minute video clip bridging the story of Final Fantasy X with that of its sequel, Final Fantasy X-2.

Additionally, the European release includes a bonus DVD entitled "Beyond Final Fantasy", a disc including interviews with the game's developers, as well as two of the game's English voice actors, James Arnold Taylor (Tidus) and Hedy Burress (Yuna). Also included are various trailers for Final Fantasy X and Kingdom Hearts, a gallery of concept and promotional art for the game, and a music video of "Suteki Da Ne" performed by Rikki.[46][47]

In addition to a sequel, Square Enix produced numerous action figures, several versions of the game's soundtrack and various books, including The Art of Final Fantasy X and three Ultimania guides, a series of artbooks/strategy guides published by Square Enix in Japan. They feature original artwork from Final Fantasy X, offer gameplay walkthroughs, expand upon many aspects of the game's storyline and feature several interviews with the game's designers. There are three books in the series: Final Fantasy X Scenario Ultimania, Final Fantasy X Battle Ultimania and Final Fantasy X Ultimania Ω. A similar three-book series was produced for Final Fantasy X-2.

In 2005, A compilation featuring Final Fantasy X and Final Fantasy X-2 was released in Japan under the title Final Fantasy X/X-2 Ultimate Box.[48]

References

  1. ^ a b SCEE. "SCEE 2002 - Key facts and figures". SCEE Press Room. Retrieved November 25. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); External link in |work= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  2. ^ Campbell, Colin (2006). "Japan Votes on All Time Top 100". Retrieved October 21. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  3. ^ a b c IGN site staff (2001). "Final Fantasy X Review". IGN. Retrieved August 13. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); External link in |work= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Square Enix North America site staff (2001). "Behind The Game The Creators". Square Enix North America. Retrieved April 12. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); External link in |work= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  5. ^ Johnson, Bill (2000). "Square Looks Ahead". RPGamer. Retrieved April 29. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); External link in |work= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  6. ^ Avistetto, Jimmy (2000). "Final Fantasy X Not Online-Capable". RPGamer. Retrieved April 29. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); External link in |work= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  7. ^ a b Birlew, Dan (2001). Final Fantasy X Official Strategy Guide. BradyGAMES Publishing. p. 268. ISBN 0-7440-0140-4.
  8. ^ Birlew, Dan (2001). Final Fantasy X Official Strategy Guide. BradyGAMES Publishing. p. 266. ISBN 0-7440-0140-4.
  9. ^ Studio BentStuff, ed. (2001). Final Fantasy X Scenario Ultimania (in Japanese). DigiCube/Square Enix. p. 59. ISBN 4-88787-010-8.
  10. ^ Tidus: Yuna, why does Sin always come back? / Yuna: Sin is our punishment for our vanity. And it will not go away until we've atoned. Square Co (2001-12-20). Final Fantasy X (PlayStation 2). Square EA.
  11. ^ Yunalesca: You must choose the one whom I will change... to become the fayth of the Final Summoning. There must be a bond, between chosen and summoner, for that is what the Final Summoning embodies: the bond between husband and wife, mother and child, or between friends. If that bond is strong enough, its light will conquer Sin. Square Co (2001-12-20). Final Fantasy X (PlayStation 2). Square EA.
  12. ^ Tidus: Why couldn't they trust guardians to protect summoners... The Al Bhed had no right stopping their pilgrimage! / Rikku: The pilgrimages have to stop! If they don't, and they get to Zanarkand... They might defeat Sin. Yunie could... but then she... Yunie will die, you know? You know, don't you? Summoners journey to get the Final Aeon. Yuna told you, didn't she? With the Final Aeon, she can beat Sin... but then... If she calls it, then the Final Aeon's gonna kill her. Even if she defeats Sin, it will kill Yunie too, you know? Square Co (2001-12-20). Final Fantasy X (PlayStation 2). Square EA.
  13. ^ Tidus: What's the calm? / Lulu: The Calm is a time of peace. It comes after a summoner defeats Sin, and lasts until Sin reappears. Square Co (2001-12-20). Final Fantasy X (PlayStation 2). Square EA.
  14. ^ Sheila (2003). "Tetsuya Nomura 20s". FLAREgamer. Retrieved April 13. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); External link in |work= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  15. ^ Zanar: I was in a coffee shop, running away from home when I heard the news. Our hero, Jecht, gone, vanished into thin air! .../ Zanar: Anyways... Ten years later, the Jecht Memorial Cup tournament is today! Square Co (2001-12-20). Final Fantasy X (PlayStation 2). Square EA.
  16. ^ Tidus: Sounds like him, but it can't be him. / Yuna: Why not? / Tidus: My old man, he died. Ten years ago, off the coast of Zanarkand. / Yuna: I'm sorry. / Tidus: He went out to sea for training one day... and never came back. And no one's seen him since then. / Yuna: Why, that's the day that Jecht came to Spira. It's true! I first met Jecht ten years and three months ago! Square Co (2001-12-20). Final Fantasy X (PlayStation 2). Square EA.
  17. ^ Rikku: Hey, do I look like Yunie, you think? / Tidus: (Huh?) / Rikku: Well, my dad's sister is Yunie's mother, you get it? Square Co (2001-12-20). Final Fantasy X (PlayStation 2). Square EA.
  18. ^ Seymour: Death is a sweet slumber. All the pain of life is gently swept away... Ah, yes. So you see... if all life were to end in Spira, all suffering would end. Don't you see? Do you not agree? That, Yuna, is why I need you. I will take from you your strength, Yuna, your life, and become the next Sin. I will destroy Spira! I will save it! Square Co (2001-12-20). Final Fantasy X (PlayStation 2). Square EA.
  19. ^ Tidus: Is he alive? / Auron: It depends on what you mean by "alive." He is no longer human. But then... I felt something of Jecht there in that shell, couldn't you? You must have felt him when you came in contact with Sin. / Tidus: It can't be... / Auron: It is. Sin is Jecht. Square Co (2001-12-20). Final Fantasy X (PlayStation 2). Square EA.
  20. ^ Tidus: Wait... this is a dream. / Fayth: Precisely. / Tidus: A dream? Are you crazy? I don't have time to be dreaming now! / Fayth: "You're wrong. It's not that you're dreaming. You are a dream. Square Co (2001-12-20). Final Fantasy X (PlayStation 2). Square EA.
  21. ^ Fayth: Long ago, there was a war.... A war between Zanarkand and Bevelle. Bevelle's machina assured their victory from the start. Spira had never seen such power. The summoners of Zanarkand didn't stand a chance. Zanarkand was doomed to oblivion. That's why we tried to save it—if only in a memory... The remaining summoners and the townspeople that survived the war... They all became fayth—fayth for the summoning. Square Co (2001-12-20). Final Fantasy X (PlayStation 2). Square EA.
  22. ^ Studio BentStuff, ed. (2001). Final Fantasy X Ultimania Ω (in Japanese). DigiCube/Square Enix. p. 84. ISBN 4-88787-021-3.
  23. ^ Studio BentStuff, ed. (2001). Final Fantasy X Ultimania Ω (in Japanese). DigiCube/Square Enix. p. 82. ISBN 4-88787-021-3.
  24. ^ Mika: Spira has lost its only hope. Destruction is inevitable. Yu Yevon's spiral of death will consume us all. I have no desire to watch Spira die.... / Rikku: Wait, gramps! Who's Yu Yevon? / Mika: He who crafts the souls of the dead into unholy armor. An armor called Sin. Square Co (2001-12-20). Final Fantasy X (PlayStation 2). Square EA.
  25. ^ Studio BentStuff, ed. (2001). Final Fantasy X Ultimania Ω (in Japanese). DigiCube/Square Enix. p. 82. ISBN 4-88787-021-3.
  26. ^ Fayth: Tell me, what do you know about Yu Yevon?... / Yuna: Sin is his armor. It protects him. / Fayth: Yu Yevon was once a summoner, long ago. He was peerless. Yet now he lives for one purpose: only to summon. He is neither good, nor evil. He is awake, yet he dreams. (Square Co (2001-12-20). Final Fantasy X (PlayStation 2). Square EA.
  27. ^ Studio BentStuff, ed. (2001). Final Fantasy X Ultimania Ω (in Japanese). DigiCube/Square Enix. p. 82. ISBN 4-88787-021-3.
  28. ^ Yunalesca: A thousand years ago, I chose my husband Zaon as my fayth. Our bond was true, and I obtained the Final Aeon. Square Co (2001-12-20). Final Fantasy X (PlayStation 2). Square EA.
  29. ^ Yunalesca: Sin is eternal. Every aeon that defeats it becomes Sin it its place... And thus is Sin reborn. / Tidus: So that's why Jecht became Sin. / Yunalesca: Sin is an inevitable part of Spira's destiny. It is neverending. Square Co (2001-12-20). Final Fantasy X (PlayStation 2). Square EA.
  30. ^ Auron: When Braska and Jecht died defeating Sin... I just couldn't accept it. I came back here... tried to avenge them. But she struck me down. Square Co (2001-12-20). Final Fantasy X (PlayStation 2). Square EA.
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  33. ^ GameSpot staff (2001). "Final Fantasy X - PlayStation 2 News at GameSpot". GameSpot. Retrieved April 29. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); External link in |work= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  34. ^ IGN Staff (2001). "Final Fantasy X Sells Like Crazy; World Not Shocked". IGN. Retrieved April 26. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); External link in |work= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  35. ^ IGN Staff (2001). "Final Fantasy X Approaches 2 Million Copies Sold". IGN. Retrieved March 11. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); External link in |work= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  36. ^ IGN Staff (2001). "FFX Tops Sales Charts". IGN. Retrieved April 26. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); External link in |work= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
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  40. ^ a b IGN Staff (2001). "Final Fantasy X Gets Rated in Japan". IGN. Retrieved 26 April. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); External link in |work= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  41. ^ Campbell, Colin (2006). "Japan Votes on All Time Top 100". Next Generation. Retrieved March 11. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); External link in |work= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  42. ^ a b c Editors of Edge magazine, ed. (2002). Edge February 2002; issue 107. Future Publishing. pp. 76–77. {{cite book}}: |editor= has generic name (help)
  43. ^ Erlandsen, Bjørn Terje (2002). "Final Fantasy X omtale". Gamer.no. Retrieved May 3. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); External link in |work= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  44. ^ a b Studio BentStuff, ed. (2001). Final Fantasy X Ultimania Ω (in Japanese). DigiCube/Square Enix. p. 191. ISBN 4-88787-021-3.
  45. ^ Jeremy Dunham (2003). "Final Fantasy X-2 Developer Interview". IGN. Retrieved April 30. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); External link in |work= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  46. ^ Witham, Joseph (2002). "Final Fantasy X International Europe Bound". RPGamer. Retrieved April 29. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); External link in |work= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  47. ^ MAT (2002). "Game Trivia for Final Fantasy X". MobyGames. Retrieved May 1. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); External link in |work= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  48. ^ http://www.square-enix.co.jp/uh/ffbox.html
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