Each instalment of the Final Fantasy series has featured strong storytelling, characterisation, strategic combat, fun mini-games and hours upon hours of captivating gameplay, and the 10th title in the series is no exception. This is the first time Final Fantasy has appeared on the PlayStation 2, and it takes full advantage of the console's increased technical capabilities.

The story this time concerns Tidus, a blond-haired star of a sport called Blitzball. While he is playing in a match, Tidus' city is attacked by an evil force called Sin, and everything is destroyed save Tidus and his guardian Auran. The adventure begins as they are somehow transported to another world. From here on, it's standard Final Fantasy gameplay: fight battles, manage experience points, learn new powers and recruit a motley crew of non-playing characters to join your quest.

The graphics, however, take things to a new level. They are amazing not only for their realism, but also for their imaginative art and design. The world these heroes inhabit is breathtakingly beautiful, flowing and full of inventive surprises. You haven't lived until you've surfed cables high in the air, or ridden a graceful airship through the clouds. There are stunning effects on display when you use magic in combat, summoning gigantic monsters, fire-columns and more to devastate your foes.

One new element is voice acting. The innovation yields predictably mixed results: it's wonderful to have spoken dialogue rather than subtitles, but as with most games translated from Japanese, the acting is mediocre and sometimes unintentionally hilarious. Still, the game's new graphics engine and solid gameplay are sure to please fans of the series waiting to see what Square has in store for them. While Final Fantasy X doesn't offer much innovation, it also doesn't disappoint. And fortunately, with Final Fantasy XI already in development, the title is still a misnomer. --Andrew S Bub

I've had final fantasy X a fair few years now, I have a next gen console and have played a hell of alot of RPGs. To this day I can honestly say, final fantasy X is the greatest game I have ever played.

I could ramble on for pages as to the specific reasons I adore this game, but I think the focus of a game like this is its narrative. This is why I named this review, 'beautiful', not for some corny over the top way of expressing how much I enjoyed it, bit because there is no other way to explain the story. It's astoundingly written and is by far the most emotional I have ever experienced, and thats including ff7s death of Aeris, which I think pales in comparison to the love story here.

Even if your not a romantic, i'm not, somehow this story will move you. The gameplay and graphics are all amazing but for me simply act as factors that enhance a narrative. Some people may be thinking 'yeah well its a game I want not a film.' Well fair enough, even if you do think these types of games consists of diluted gameplay, you've still got left the greatest film of our time for under ten pounds.

Seriously, you will not regret buying this.

Enjoy.

This instalment in the Final Fantays series is arguably the best in my eyes, and God knows I loved number 6 & 7. Ok, so it's slow paced for a fair while, some cutscenes drag on, and you feel like slapping the characters sometimes. Nevertheless, the world and the story are good, the music is great, the graphics superb, and most of all the gameplay is excellent. The battles are great fun. A very noticeable difference with previous instalments is just how much challenge there is for high level characters, how many optional bosses & side quests are there to give hardcore players many, many extra hours of play. You have to be a total nutter to completely clear the Monster Arena, the enemies in there are unbelievably powerful, they a dozen of the last boss for breakfast.

However, be warned that this is THE worst release of the game worldwide. Square Europe has stabbed the makers of the game in the back by releasing an utterly pitiful and ridiculous "Megadrive style" 50hz conversion. The image is squashed, and the game runs slower than normal. Stay away from this like the plague. Get your hands on the US version instead. It's missing some bosses & items compared to the EU one, but that's nothing compared to the hideousness of the latter.

Or, even better, get your hands on the "International" version. This is the only perfect one : all the extras of the EU version, but with a proper sized image, a proper running speed, a proper refresh rate.

I wouldn't say this is the best rpg out there, as there are a whole host of better ones, even on the PS1, but I do have to say, this is one of the good ones.

Although I was a bit put off at first at the change of graphical gameplay (even though nearly all games of this kind have gone this way now), but after playing for about half an hour, I soon got used to the new style, and was impressed.

This game does not let any other FF game down, not one bit. And, if you are looking for an enjoyable rpg, that is easy to get into, and with a good storyline, then give this one a try. At the price you can pick it up for now, it's a steal.

Apparently this is a game?
Well I must say it is one of the worst 'games',I have ever played in my life!
After hearing SO many people raving about the FF series,I decided to buy my very first one to see what all the fuss is about.

And what did I get?

Cut scene after Cut scene,then a little bit of walking,then a cut scene and that's it!

This is supposed to be a GAME not a film!
If the creators wanted to show off their graphics(which are brilliant) then why didn't they make a movie?

And the worst thing?
You can't skip ANY of these cut scenes,if you could this 'game' wouldn't be so bad.

The fact that you have to keep stopping every 5 steps to watch a cut scene makes it practically IMPOSSIBLE to get into this game!

I really have absolutely NO idea why so many people love these games.

The only reason this game deserves one star and not none is the fact that the graphics are so good,but apart from them,there are no pros to this game,only cons!

And I feel like I have been conned into buying a film and not a game!

I like this a lot and played it through twice. The graphics are very nice and the gameplay is final fantasy through and through. The plot is much the same as most FF games, nice enough with a fair few twists and tragedies. However the game is not as varied in design or as free roaming as some earlier FF games which seems a bit of a let down. Still a fine game if you like Jap RPGs.