Final Fantasy's first foray into the PS2 era, and it's an incredible one. In many ways a distinct and weird entry into the franchise, X stands out amidst its fellow Final Fantasy games with an unique charm and flair.

In a change from the norm for Final Fantasies, this time we follow a jock! Tidus is a professional sportsball player in the technofuture city of Zanarkand when he's pulled through a vortex and wakes up in the land of Spira where it turns out his home was destroyed thousands of years ago. He winds up tagging along with Yuna, a summoner on a quest to defeat a monster called Sin that terrorizes Spira, joining in her pilgrimage across the world.

X has a lot of aspects that I simply adore. For one, Spira is the most imaginative and frankly weird worlds in a Final Fantasy to date; it captures that feeling that fantasy as a genre thrives on in a way that other more familiar genre settings can't hope to match. I also love its hyper-traditional turn-based battling, which ditches the series' long-standing ATB system in favour of a far more old-fashioned option with clear turn ordering on the side that can be manipulated through skills. I'm also a massive fan of the summons in this game, which are essentially VIII's Guardian Forces done right.