"I want my pilgrimage to be full of laughter."

I can definitely say I see why this game is so beloved. Going through these trials with this cast was such a good time. Wakka and Auron are two I'd say are on my all-time list now. I felt a great connection with them, and the story overall hit hard.

The fantastic music only enhanced my experience, and the combat was mostly enjoyable.

Most of the things I had issues with can be chalked up to age. I found a lot of the puzzles to be overly tedious and the grid system to be a bit dated, but I appreciate what they were going for.

The final stretch is one of the best I've experienced. Great game.

FFX is a refreshing reminder that JRPGs used to be the weird kids at the lunch table. A story with a head-spinning amount proper nouns and rich with allegory is complemented by a script for our main cast that feels as if it covers more ground than many like it, while simultaneously being far more focused than those that attempt to cover less, which shows the pristine craftsmanship on display. The HD remaster offers a revitalized soundtrack that elevates the experience in ways remasters often don’t, even if the uncanny nature of character’s faces didn’t perfectly translate onto modern graphics technology and high resolutions.

FFX’s combat elements are handled extraordinarily well compared to shit-at-the-wall approach that other JRPGs can devolve into. The sphere grid offers unique ways to customize and grant meaningful power to party members. Level ups are very frequent while maintaining a challenging but fair level curve, and random encounters often feel more akin to mini-bosses with less fluffy, grindy nonsense even when the map layouts can resemble straight lines. FFX’s biggest detractor is that it unfortunately does not escape the JRPG curse of sluggish third acts. Multiple, lengthy, consecutive puzzle segments, division of the party, and story elements that feel inconsequential or could use a trim; FFX is yet another in a long line of games that kill their momentum a tad as soon as the going gets good. That being said, FFX is a flourish of talent, passion and competence not often seen by the genre.

I had seen some people play parts of this in the past, and frankly I wasn't expecting to like this game. The setting didn't really seem like something I'd like, the characters were goofy, I wasn't expecting much. To my surprise, I ended up really liking this game. I think out of all the Final Fantasy games I've played, this one has the best world building. I completely understood not only the struggle the characters were going through but how their society evolved to reach that point and what their motivations were on a macro scale, I really like it. I also really like the combat and leveling system of this game; anytime a game branches away from the plain old EXP yields levels yields a stat boost system, I'm a fan. You can switch out party members on the fly based on the enemies? Great! There's a leveling system where you can branch off to prioritize the ability and stat upgrades you want? Great! There are a few downsides. Some of the characters were a bit goofy, particularly Tidus and Yuna, and I think most of that is due to their poor voice direction. Also, while the 'main' villain of Jecht/Sin is really interesting, I found Seymour to be horribly bland and vastly overstayed his welcome.

I really, really like this game's cast and worldbuilding. Compared to other FF games I felt like this game's party dynamics were super strong. Very good characterization all throughout, but my favorites were Yuna and Auron.

I was not crazy about this game's combat. The sphere grid system is really cool, but most fights in the game feel slower than they should be. This is partially because of how party members are required to participate in a battle to get AP, and partially because once you get to the late game the damage cap becomes a very real obstacle in terms of killing things in a timely manner. Also, a lot of the endgame optional content seems to require a lot of grinding to improve sphere grids, and if it's not grinding, it's some ridiculously hard minigame like lightning dodging or frame perfect butterfly catching. The monster catching is similarly grindy. tl;dr, a lot of the gameplay in FFX is stuff that is cool on paper but kind of sucks to actually do. Also, shoutout to the remaster version for adding a bunch of superbosses to the map that makes running around in late game way more annoying than it was in the original.

However, the boss fights in this game are generally very cool. They require strategy and are the points in the game where I always feel like the choices I made on the sphere grid are tested the best, which leads to a lot of satisfaction. There are, of course, some puzzle bosses that are not very fun, but generally these are outnumbered.

Overall I liked FFX a lot and can see why it has as good of a reputation as it does.

I went into this game with so many great expectations, this game is praised so much, some even say it's the "Best RPG of all time" while I simply think it isn't entirely true. But I can understand where they are coming from, it's a heartfelt journey with a really well done love story.

Is the Story good : Yes I think it was amazing, the connection the characters had, the journey they endured together, it was awesome. Especially the Underwater Date Scene

Is the Music good : Of course it is, the music reflects well on areas, characters, and story moments.

Is the Gameplay good : HONESTLY it was not that great, they even added Boosters and Cheat Unlocks in the Menu, it just shows how grindy this game is, it has the outdated RPG gameplay with random encounters and inflated enemy HP bars. So don't go into this game expecting exciting gameplay.

Overall, if you are an avid Final Fantasy Fan, or want to get into the series & experience a great story, then you should play this game for sure! Probably will cut down your playtime if you disable random encounters.

As part of my attempt to get more into the franchise, I decided to give one of the most acclaimed ones a shot and see how I felt about it. What I got was an enjoyable, yet sometimes tedious adventure with a fun story and a (mostly) solid cast of characters.

Let's get it out of the way: the minigames in this game often range anywhere from mildly annoying to downright frustrating. I personally didn't care much for Blitzball so I mostly stayed away from it, and the assortment of games aside from that (Chocobo racing, butterfly catching, lightning dodging, etc.) were basically all duds for me. I'd imagine it was a combination of baffling design and old-game syndrome but playing them in a modern gaming content just felt miserable as most felt like they were made specifically to frustrate the player and make it nearly impossible to win until you've given them a fair few attempts.

As for the combat, I think it was mostly solid. Outside of a few encounters (one late game boss in particular was NOT IT) and some various cheap tactics from enemies, I felt like the turn-based battles played out in fun ways and I appreciate the on-the-fly character switching. Having to make sure every character acts in a battle to get AP (the game's experience equivalent) was kind of a drag but I got over it pretty quickly. The Sphere Grid system that enables characters to upgrade stats and learn skills was a bit odd at first but I grew to appreciate what it was going for over the course of the game, with my main complaint being the availability of some of the "lock" spheres needed to unblock paths to some of the more impactful moves the game has to offer.

As I said, this is one of the handful of FF games I've played and as such I felt the story was an overall solid experience. Tidus and Yuna's relationship was fun to see grow (albeit with some rather outdated voice acting/character movements) and I felt the core cast all gelled well with one another. Some got fleshed out less than others (Lulu specifically felt somewhat dry and lacked much of anything interesting plot-wise outside of a sidequest or two) but overall they did well with what they had and the narrative kept me playing and curious to see where everything was headed.

Overall I liked my time with Final Fantasy X and can see why it's such a beloved entry in the series. I had my qualms with it and it's by no means perfect, but as a JRPG fan it's hard to argue that it wasn't influential to games that came after it in the space.

Hot take: out of all the Final Fantasy games, this game and X-2 have aged the worst. They're essentially PS1 games that don't look like PS1 games, so it kind of messes with your brain a little. The highs are still high (Yuna's sending scene, the underwater date, the ending etc.) but the game has plenty of issues. The voice acting is awful, the pacing is weird, the writing isn't the best and it overall just feels really, really janky. I'm gonna be honest and say if it weren't for the nostalgia goggles I'm wearing at the moment, I'd probably rate this a little lower.

The entry for the PC port bundles X and X-2 together so I'm using this one for it.

This is the first Final Fantasy game that after finishing made me think "damn I want to replay this already", the turn order and rock/paper/scissor combat system is such a natural evolution from the ATB system that makes the game just so much more fun because it gives you control of everything that happens while still facing an adequate challenge.
I also love the sphere grid because it's a cool way to add variety in your builds.
I feel like the only real flaws this game has are the PC ports jankyness, the fact that menus are not able to be scrolled fast and that some areas feel pretty barren, but these are so minor and overwhelmed by the great story and my favorite gameplay in the series that they are null in my eyes.
On a side note the arranged music is amazing, with tracks like "Assault" being an absolute standout.
Amazing game and great entry point if you need a feel for the modern FF games.