Wow. Where do I even begin with this game?
I'll just put a disclaimer: my experience with video games generally center around platformers, arcade and casual games - stuff that don't really focus on narrative too much for the sake of letting the player's experience be their own story to some extent.
Final Fantasy X was something of a culture shock, in both how different it was from the Final Fantasy games I'd played before it (I, IV, Chrono Trigger) and how different it was from video games as I'm comfortable with the medium as a whole.

This is perhaps the first game I've ever played that actually felt like a genuine story of characters that's not compromised one way or another to its gameplay... generally for the better.
Seeing the main cast grow and mature past both their former selves, as well as their once-assumed destinies was intense, as was comparing them to the rest of Spira, against its antagonists and the themes of corruption, ignorance, false hope and tradition that arise from that.

Seymour in particular was interesting from that cast of antagonists in how close he was to being sympathizable, how close he was to recognizing the things that Yuna did... yet without the support she had, without love for others, he was blinded by ambition, wrongly assuming the only way to love was to kill.
I love to hate him. The contrast between him and Yuna acts as a reminder to myself in some ways.

Breaking from destiny, choosing one's own path... The Sphere Grid does a good job in translating that thematic idea into gameplay, and I really like it and how much strategy you can put into it and the weapon customization in the endgame, but I do think I'd like to see that implemented in a game less narratively driven, a bit more roguelike, one with... decidedly less cutscenes. I very much enjoyed learning the bosses' strategies and eventually outsmarting them through exploiting all kinds of mechanics, but certain pre-boss cutscenes lose far too much of their power when you watch them for the third time after getting defeated against the boss right near the end.

Still, I think I think the game works very well in the sum of its parts. By the time I was done, I'd grown to love the Al Bhed and what they stood for, I was happy with where my party had gone, both as fighters and as people, and I hope Spira will move on to be a better place in X-2 now that Yevon and its religion have been proven to be a sham; that they will learn to be less judgmental of one another and truly strive for peace.

Final Fantasy X was amazing, and it was a one-of-a-kind experience in my relationship with video games so far. I wish I could embrace everything about it, even down to its more frustrating parts in game design, but it's hard for me to say it's one of the best games I've played alongside my all-time favorites, if only because this isn't the kind of experience I'm used to from video games, and some of that inexperience has let me down in my own personal time with the game.

One day I'll have another sixty hours to invest in this game with better hindsight. I think I'd be ready to absolutely love it then.

"My father... I loved him. So I... I will live with my sorrow, I will live my own life! I will defeat sorrow, in his place. I will stand my ground and be strong. I don't know when it will be, but someday... I will conquer it. And I will do it without... false hope."

Not only is Final Fantasy X one of the best games I've ever played, it also has one of the best stories I've ever experienced. For a game that I've been so heavily spoiled on, knowing most of the big twists in advance, it's amazing how quickly and relentlessly this story captured me, never letting go until the very end.

I was first introduced to this game through NintendoCapriSun's LP over a decade ago. I was immediately captured by the isekai premise (first time I'd experienced it outside of Narnia), the unique tropical setting, and the pretty hopeless tone with the inevitability of Sin. I watched his LP up until Yuna's sending in Kilika Island, and... for some reason never continued, despite loving it until then. I guess I intended to actually play the game myself, but didn't own a PS2 and never got around to it?

Going back into this game, I suspected that I wouldn't love the intro as much as I did when I was younger, and might end up feeling disillusioned. Fortunately, that wasn't the case at all! The intro to FFX is really really good and offers so many good hooks: Tidus getting thrown into a world he knows nothing about, everything surrounding Sin, Yuna's journey as a summoner (the purposes of which are shrouded in secrets), and just a lot of really good world building that quickly establishes the culture, politics and general mood of the people who live here. I also love the tropical vibes, I was actually kinda sad to see them going later on haha—granted it was effective in setting the tone.

Let's get one of the elephants in the room out of the way—FFX is VERY linear, with most areas being simple corridors without little to no exploration. Considering all FF games before this not only offered more exploration, but also had expansive world maps, this is a pretty daring change. And does it work? I might be biased, as I prefer more linear games, but I genuinely think it does and adds a lot of immersion to the game. Yuna's pilgrimage is incredibly railroaded from a story perspective—she isn't given any decisions for a while, only the choice to follow a predetermined path, or simply give up—and there's a big thing over how each time she visits a place, it will be the last time she'll ever see it. Of course, this changes in the final act of the game, but I did really appreciate how strongly they tied the gameplay experience with the themes of the story.

That's not to say it's all perfect, of course—when the game opens up a little, the Calm Lands aren't all that fun to wander about (so much empty space), and once you gain Celsius it does feel a bit tedious revising all these corridors and trying to find secrets you missed. The international version of the game (aka what the HD remasters use as a base) also makes an utterly baffling decision to block certain areas behind superbosses, denying you the ability to go back to get certain missables, unless you want to grind to the point the final dungeon will be a joke. However, these issues weren't enough to take away from my experience too much (though I totally understand why they're a deal breaker for some).

In terms of the gameplay, battles feel much faster than the PS1 games (especially IX...) and I wasn't too bothered by the lack of turbo/speed up. Each character has their own 'job' and you're constantly encouraged to switch them in and out of your party mid-battle to exploit enemy weaknesses efficiently. On top of this, the character growth system is genuinely one of the best I've experienced in an RPG—the sphere grid system is ridiculously cool. I love how it lets you pick your own path in building your character, and due to the minor stat increases in this game, each boost you get is fairly significant and noticeable. There's also an option to play with a special sphere grid that lets you develop your characters into whatever role you want (e.g. you can make Lulu a DPS god like Auron, and make Auron a white mage), which seems amazing for replay value. Once you've finished everyone's initial path and sent them onto the spheres of others, your party does end up becoming a little too homogenous for my tastes, but that's more for superboss/postgame stuff.

Moving onto the main cast, let's go through them one by one. Wakka is the typical bro character, which works, but he also has a really good arc surrounding his racial prejudices against Al Bhed, which I thought the story did a really good job at handling. Once he's confronted with Rikku being Al Bhed, he reacts very poorly and says some super racist shit, and it takes him a fairly long time to own up to his behaviour and apologise. While this doesn't do any favours for his likability, I found it a lot more believable that he'd take a while to self reflect on his deep-seated hatred for Al Bhed. Speaking of which, it was quite cool how the game presents them in a negative light at first, before slowly unravelling why they do what they do, and how generational prejudice from a certain nasty religion has hurt their society. Overall it's a surprisingly nuanced analysis on how racism can occur, and people that are otherwise good end up with unfortunate racist beliefs.

Speaking of which, Rikku is quite good herself. Her bond with Yuna is explored pretty well, and it was easy to connect to her desire to save Yuna and stop her suicide quest, before slowly accepting there really wasn't much she could do. She provides us with a good link to Al Bhed beyond Wakka being... y'know, and ends up adding a lot to the party dynamic.

Kimahri is a bit of a weak link as far as the cast is concerned, but he still has his place in the story. He gets a good mini arc that resolves itself well in the Mount Gagazet storyline, also giving us a good glimpse into Ronso culture and how he's a bit of an outcast there.

Lulu I would be tempted to call a weak link as well, but she does have a pretty strong sidequest in the Yojimbo dungeon. As a guardian following her third summoner, she's obviously dealing with a lot of pain watching Yuna go on this awful journey she's all too familiar with, but forces her feelings down and attempts to act as a mother figure to her. Of course, sometimes her emotions slip out, such as during the confrontation with Yunalesca, and these make for some really good moments and show us how Lulu really feels deep down. Her romance with Wakka is sweet and I did like how things resolved between the two of them.

As for Auron, the big man himself, he's a fantastic mentor figure, what else is there to say. One of the better examples I've seen of a character who intentionally hides things from the party—he's always good at revealing the hard truths when the characters are best placed to deal with them, pushing them down the right path so they don't make the same mistake he made many years ago. The spheres you can find throughout, detailing his past journey with Braska and Jecht, provide really cool insight into how he's changed as a person after harsh experiences, and honestly there's enough material to make an entire prequel there if they wanted to.

Tidus, considered the protagonist of this game, has a pretty engaging arc. I liked the complicated father-son relationship he has with Jecht—where Jecht clearly loved him but was terrible at expressing it—and how Tidus slowly accepts throughout the game that while his resentment for Jecht isn't necessarily wrongly placed... he also needs to accept that he loves his father as well. Their final moments together were pretty heart-breaking ;_;. I do wish Tidus' mother had a place in the story, but unfortunately mother-son relationships tend to be pretty overlooked like that, which isn't exclusive to this game at all. The twist of Zanarkand's true nature was ofc super cool and provided a good existential arc for Tidus, with the ending being really sad—he accepts he needs to disappear, for the sake of Yuna's world. He also works great as a romantic partner for Yuna, relating to her struggles due to similarities in their upbringings, and providing her with exactly the support she needs. That scene when Tidus finds out Yuna is going on a suicide mission, and everyone hid it from him... hits so hard.

Anyway, let's talk about the REAL main character of this game. Yuna might not technically be the protagonist, but she is absolutely the central figure of this story—in fact, I'd argue this is really her story at the end of the day, with Tidus' being secondary. I'll be entirely honest here: out of all the Final Fantasy games I've played so far, from 1-9 and 16, she is easily my favourite character in the series. Her arc is absolutely incredible. She starts off willing to follow the path to death as her father did to provide the people with a mere few years of safety from Sin, always putting others first before her own wishes, resolved to fulfill her duty to the very end. Yet she's not some flawless hero, as she has her own doubts, insecurities, and lessons to learn. But, she changes, slowly. A big impetus of this is Tidus—an outsider who offers a new perspective, and is more critical of the system she and the others were raised in, that they accept as normal.

As a victim of religious indoctrination, Yuna at first accepts that Yevon is correct and she must follow their principles. However, throughout her journey, she begins to doubt their ways, which all comes to a head when she learns the organisation is quite literally ruled by the dead. She also frequently has her resolve and ideals tested by Seymour, who wants to claim her as a wife in order to bring peace to Spira—something they both at first believe to be an ideal outcome. However... slowly, Yuna puts herself first, and starts to fight against Seymour's wish—she's only truly in love with Tidus, after all. The wedding scene is one of her best moments in the game, as despite being captured and forced into what is basically NTR marriage, she somehow never has her agency deprived of her. This is because enters the marriage willingly, in order to send Seymour when he lets his guard down. When her friends are threatened, she makes the choice to sacrifice her pride in order to protect them, and when Seymour orders them killed anyway, she threatens him with her own life. And when she jumps off, the one to save her is not Tidus, not Seymour, not the rest of the party... but herself! Because at the end of the day, Yuna doesn't need to rely on the male protagonist to be saved—she is very strong on her own, takes a proactive approach to situations, and the narrative never forget how powerful of a summoner she is. She's allowed to be both vulnerable and strong. Imo, this is really impressive for a 2001 game, and puts even many modern games to shame in how they write their women (yes I'm looking at you FF16).

The Suteki Da Ne scene absolutely lives up to its reputation, it's so beautiful and portrays both Yuna and Tidus' characters as well as their relationship super well. It was so painful watching Yuna fantasise with Tidus about going to Zanarkand, before bursting into tears... because, at the end of the day, she isn't going on this journey out of obligation. Nor because she feels forced to. She's doing this to save the people she loves, if even for a few short years. And while he doesn't accept her fate... Tidus still accepts Yuna for who she is, for all her struggles and vulnerabilities. It's really quite beautiful.

When the cast reach Zanarkand, and there's still no solution for Yuna's fate in sight, it really starts to sink in... that Yuna isn't going to be with us for much longer. This gets even worse when we meet good ol' Yunalesca, and learn that not only does Yuna need to be sacrificed, but also one of her guardians—and that Braska sacrificed both himself and Jecht to seal Sin away, turning Jecht into the next Sin. And this... is when Yuna changes her mind. Up until this point, she was perfectly willing to sacrifice herself, but having to sacrifice one of the people she cares about? She doesn't even consider the idea. Forced to accept that her father had been wrong in his decision, she takes a stand against Yunalesca, and we get the amazing quote from her that I put at the start of the review, along with some super good line from other characters (especially Auron). The Yunalesca fight itself is absolutely brutal and what I found to be the hardest fight in the game, which is fitting considering they are literally defying a fate that has been repeating itself for one thousand years.

Of course, Yuna's challenges don't end there. She has to send away Jecht—a close friend of her father—and sacrifice each of her Aeons, one by one, giving a pained expression each time before moving onto the next. And then, finally she sends the parasite Yu Yevon, breaking the thousand year curse and freeing the planet from Sin, sacrificing Tidus in the process. Her speech at the end is icing on the cake, and honestly I'm happy she got her own sequel—she deserves it, and there's definitely more of her story to tell now that she's free of her burdens.

In terms of antagonists, I've mostly covered them, but they're all really good. A highlight is of course Seymour, who is interesting in how he genuinely believes he's doing the right thing for Spira, and if you manage to get Anima, there's some really sad reveals on his past that explain how he became what he is today, along with heart-breaking dialogue when you summon her against him near the end—losing the only ally he ever had, his own mother. Sin/Yu Yevon are more force of nature villains, and they're really effective at what they do, with Yu Yevon being a memory of a destroyed society that won't let go, clinging to the present like a parasite. FFX really nails its theme of how the dead must move on to make room for the living, and how we need to accept death rather than let it consume us with regret and a desire to bring back the past. Momento mori is the core idea of the story here, and its integrated into every facet of the world, characters and narrative.

Last but not least, the soundtrack of this game is absolutely incredible. Uematsu, Hamauzu and Nakano all contribute their own unique musical styles, and they mesh together brilliantly, giving the game such a vibe ngl. It's easily my favourite soundtrack in the series, though it is a bit of a shame how inferior the HD Remaster version of the soundtrack is. Ah well, at least it gives you the option to switch between them!

There is so much more I could say about this game, such as the really great character content when get in sidequests, but I'd be here all day praising this game if I kept writing this already excessively long review. Needless to say, Final Fantasy X is easily my favourite Final Fantasy out of the ones I've played, and now one of my favourite games of all time. In fact... it's the 10th game I've given a perfect score on Backloggd! Pretty much every aspect of this game knocked it out of the park for me, and it tells one of the most gripping, emotional and thoughtful stories I've seen in a video game.