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Ever since I started on the endeavour of playing through my Steam Library A-Z, there were particular games that I was chomping at the bits to play once more. Some for nostalgic reasons, others, because I genuinely hadn't experienced them before, and some, like <em>Final Fantasy X</em>, because it was a game that dominated my youth on the PlayStation 2 console when the title was first released in the early 2000s. 

I am pleased that my experience with <em>Final Fantasy X</em> in 2022 is just as good as it was in 2002, if not better. The better part is the fact that it is available on Nintendo Switch, and this is exactly how I played through the game, even though I <em>also</em> own the game on Steam. I had intended on playing it on PC, but then it came out on Switch, and this was the sort of game that I wanted to be mobile. 

There's no performance issues on the Switch, which is pleasing, meaning that this HD remaster is incredible; to bring the power of a full fledged gaming console to the hand held (while it is 20 years on from that time) - the game looks just as good (if not better) and is an absolute ideal entry point into the Final Fantasy series. 

Enough nostalgia, let me get down to the proper bit - an actual review. 

<h2>Story</h2>

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<em>Final Fantasy X</em> centres around a joyful, loud protagonist with a voice actor that most people hated. That is important because <em>Final Fantasy X</em> was also the first full voice acted title in the series. We have a world where there's a complex geo-political swamp full side stories. The main one is that there's a massive beast called "Sin" that terrorises the land of Spira to punish the denziens for their... sins. 

Tidus is transported to Spira through a cataclysmic event, and knows nothing of the land. You learn of the Summoner, Yuna; who has a task to collect Aeons, confront sin, and destroy it, as the cycle goes. Then things are calm for a bit, and it happens all over again. 

That's about as far as you can go into the plot of the game without spoilers galore, given the linear nature of the narrative in the game. Unlike prior <em>Final Fantasy</em> games, you explore the world in a linear fashion, through a series of well designed and balanced levels that slowly push the plot forward at an excellent pace. 

Story is delivered through in-engine cut scenes, as well as the rare (but spectacular FMVs). These scenes can't be skipped (and adds to the game time) - but characters are voiced and animated throughout these with care and delicacy. The game does show its age when it comes to two things - lip sync and facial animations - as the models aren't detailed enough to display and convey genuine emotions in the same way as <em>Half Life 2</em> managed. 

<h2>Characters</h2>


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Owing to the depth of its story; Final Fantasy X has some of the most memorable characters in the entire series. We've already spoken about Tidus, but the rest of the crew each have a sub-plot going on, even if you have to dig deep into the side quests and additional content outside of the main story in order to appreciate them. 

First there's Wakka, who plays Blitzball (and is an abject failure at it!) - but this doesn't get him down. He's positive, enthusiastic, and delivers damage via ranged attacks by throwing a sportsball (really, a blitzball) at his opponents. 

Next, there's Lulu, who is the black mage of the group. She has an interesting, gothic character design; and is quietly spoken, says few words, as a result appears wise. She's excellent and hurling spells at fiends to help you blast your way through battles with ease (while paying careful attention to the elemental balance of the game). 

Then we have Yuna, who plays two roles in one. First, she's a heroine to the story, and everyone is to protect her on her journey through Spira, which is all told in the first few hours of the game, to hook you in. She is a white mage, and a Summoner, so she can call down powerful allied beasts that absolutely destroy enemies in combat. 

Next there's Kihmahri, who is a Ronso, a horned beast, who says even fewer words than Lulu; and is a well rounded fighter / blue mage - able to learn the skills of opponents and use these as his attacks in overdrive mode. 

An old friend of Tidus, Auron; who has a role of taking down more armored creatures and debuffing them to make them killable by the other members of the party. 

The final playable character is Rikku, who is an enthusiastic thief. She's fast; sneaky and helps the team stock up on items, currency, and can combine items in powerful attacks in combat. She's an all-rounder, and has an interesting back story; like all the other characters. 

<h2>Gameplay</h2>

The gameplay loop in <em>Final Fantasy X</em> is pretty straight forward and simple. Explore, encounter, learn, earn, and then finally, enhance your characters as you progress through the story. 

Combat takes a distinct turn from previous titles in the series, moving to a turn based system where you can see the order of attacks. This allows you to be incredibly tactical, take our enemy monsters before they attack you; or slow / speed up the party in order to mitigate damage as opposed to figure out how to heal damage. 

Combat, as a result is a deeply strategic game of speed-chess, where you want to bring in the right attack for the right foe, at the right time, as opposed to madly bashing buttons to ensure you get through the battle with brute force. While you can, it certainly isn't a fraction as satisfying. 

<h2>Combat Systems</h2>

You control three party members at a time in combat, and they attack in order. However; in any battle, any time it any of your characters turns, you can press L1, and bring in a different character. If you need some magic, bring in a mage, or if you need long ranged fire power, bring in Wakka. 

The glorious part about this combat system is the way in which you develop the skills and stats of your character. This is through the sphere grid, which is a massive map of stats, abilities, skills, and spells, which you move through as you gain "Sphere Levels" through combat. 

You can make any character do any role, if you're determined enough, or if you really want to - make every character be every role, but that would take about a hundred or so hours of grinding. 

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While each character does have a focus in the game, the versatility this affords is almost endless - and it just as fun slaying fiends as it is planning out your character's build on the Sphere grid. Part of the reason I found myself so addicted to Path of Exile, is that it mimics the <em>Final Fantasy X</em> sphere grid for character progression, and it is indeed a masterful way of handling character skills. 

There's so much depth. 

You can also fully customise weapons and armor, using items you find by defeating fiends in battle. This, combined with the Sphere grid, allows your characters to specialise (and have different sets) of armor for handling combat against different foes. You can even change weapons and armour mid battle to deal with an expected fight of a certain element or monster type (but, this costs you a turn, which means you're vulnerable to taking damage). 

While there's a lot of combat in the game, and random encounters cannot be skipped (unless you flee / escape) - they are fun, and you rarely want to run away when defeating a foe means more time spent in the sphere grid menu levelling up your character. 

<h2>Visuals</h2>

I think the remaster visuals are acceptable, until I started to google about the differences. To my nostalgic brain, I'm happy to have the game, and it looks pretty gorgeous on the switch. That was until I saw this reddit thread: https://www.reddit.com/r/FinalFantasy/comments/oti0tq/i_wish_we_did_more_noise_about_ffx_remaster/ which shows that there are more details in the original PS2 facial models. 

In any case, this, in retrospect - does not hurt my brain (or wallet) too much; because the underlying mechanics of the game are what made this so wonderful. It's disappointing that the sharper, more detailed faces didn't make it through; but on the bright side, there's no obvious compression artefacts in the Remaster's FMV sequences. 

Monster designs are fairly well detailed, and each weapon is unique in the character's hand (and so are shields) - which make small details and customisation of items ring home even better. 

For a 20 year old game, it looks fine. The art direction has held up rather well - with there not being in rough textures that are so bad it makes it impossible to identify the artist's vision. The artists should be proud at just how well their art holds up. There is a tiny bit of uncanny valley in the facial expressions and animations, but you've got to remember - this was 20 years ago. 

<h2>Overall</h2>

This is the game someone who has never played a <em>Final Fantasy</em> game should play in order to appreciate the joy of what <em>Final Fantasy</em> is. There's a great story; modern gameplay conventions (which have aged well) and incredible depth the way JRPGs do depth (through obscure, hidden mechanics) among all the optional bits of the game; and it will keep you busy for hours and hours. I spent 100 hours playing through the game for this review; and apart from one of the mini games (which I may've spent 3-4 hours on alone) - I enjoyed every moment. 

This game is worth it, at any price, and I've now purchased it three times over my life, and I don't regret any of those. PS2, PC, and Nintendo Switch. 

The HD Remaster also includes <em>Final Fantasy X-2</em> - which I was never exposed to. I know... that its not exactly a fan favourite, but I'm going to dive on in and see what there is the "sequel". 

If you've made it this far, thanks for reading, and I'll be back again, continuing my A-Z of my game library soon!