By now, those who are really interested in seeing the sights and hearing the sounds of Final Fantasy X have pored over the screen shots, watched the movies, and downloaded the MP3s. For those of you who haven't though, rest assured that Squaresoft took the time to learn the PS2's hardware, and take full advantage of it. Graphically, FFX will stand proud for a long time: almost the entire game, with the exception of a few small rooms, are fully rendered in 3-D, and effect is simply astounding. Swaying grass, tumbling waterfalls, and sleeping cats are all not only implemented realistically, they are implemented within rich, larger enviornments in generous amounts to create a world that is just as believable and immersive as it is beautiful and fantastic. The best testament to the game's visuals though is how closely they resemble the game's pre-rendered movies, and the seamless switches between them and the much more numerous real-time cutscenes.

The audio portion of Final Fantasy X is equally well represented, and showcases many firsts for the series. It is the first Final Fantasy game to have multiple composers-this time, musician Nobuo Uematsu is joined by Masashi Hamauzu, of Saga Frontier 2 fame, and Junya Nakano, who wrote the music for the Japan-only PS2 digital novel Another Mind, and the collaboration produces some surprising new results. One of these results is a much wider use of non-sequenced musical tracks, which was experimented with in FFIX but brought to full fruitation here. Another result is some 'non FF' themes that help to widen the scope of the game and breathe new life into the series. But the biggest first for FFX's audio is speech. In a move that surprised many, Square decided to give all of the main characters, as well as several supporting characters, full voice and dialogues. The decision ends up to have been a good one; the voice actors (deliberately chosen unknowns) do a fantastic job with the roles they are given, and their performances further develop already well-developed characters as well as further strengthen an already enjoyable story.

And what a story FFX is. Once the ball begins rolling (and with an "in medias res" beginning, it begins rolling immediately), it's hard to pull away. The game itself actually begins somewhere "near the end," as our protagonist Tidus declares to his gathered friends, "and I want to tell you everything." Then, the story launches into the longest flashback in gaming, punctuated with Tidus's occasional narration and observation. What is really interesting about this style of expositon isn't the form of it, but the rigidity to which the style is held to-the entire plot, the entire world, and every character's development, is revealed through Tidus's interactions with them. What this creates is an intensely personal account of rather typically epic events, and it is a welcome new perpsective. The dramatic twists and turns in the plot, already made more dramatic by the voice actors' suitably emotional delivery, are heightened even more by this almost first-person point of view, yet very rarely does it spiral into melodrama or schlock. Particularly well effective is the relationship between Tidus and Yuna, a summoner-in-training and the FFX's primary heroine. To be sure, it is romantic drama, with plenty of the classic (or trite, depending on your point of view) conventions, but as you are only given half of the drama at any one time, it feels much more compelling, and much easier to be 'fooled' into rooting for its climax. And such is the rest of the FFX's story; it has many of the stock elements of Final Fantasy, but they have been mixed into something fresh, and told in a way of storytelling that is truly new to the console RPG.

And this is what will almost certainly undo FFX in the eyes of gamers; it is a wonderful story and a completely believable world, tied up in a "next-generation" package, but it feels as though several key points of gameplay has been sacrificed to make these new strides. FFX is dedicated to moving its plot forward. This inexorable forward movement makes the game one of the most linear Final Fantasy games created, and actually brings to mind Metal Gear Solid or Resident Evil in its connect-the-dots simplicity. It is not until almost the end of the game that you are given a world map on which to freely move through and backtrack. All of the minigames, something of a staple of the series since VII, have been moved until this point, and can overwhelm you with their sudden and sheer number. There are no appreciable sidequests or subplots to break up the flow of FFX, and while some players may appreciate the lack of 'padding,' many more will be alienated by the feeling that FFX is an interactive movie. Perhaps in an attempt to make up for this lack of gaming freedom, Square has instituted some radical changes to both character growth and combat, almost turning them into mini-games of their own.

Character growth is not handled by experience levels in Final Fantasy X, but by something known as the Sphere Board. By using various 'spheres' and AP collected from defeating enemies, characters move about a giant board of interconnected dots, each of which represent such bonuses as more hit points, abilities like 'steal' or 'escape,' and even magic spells. To make sure that this system is not easily abused, the stronger spells and abilities are placed behind blocked areas which require 'key spheres' to access. Naturally, these key spheres are not easy to come by, and are granted at appropriate points of the story. The overall effect is a satisfying sense of customization; while the characters have scripted dialogues, one player's Tidus might end up being more of a mage than a fighter, while another might make give Yuna some black magic and theif skills to back up her summoning. Characters also have an incredibly vast potential for growth, as any character can learn any and all of the other skills on the expansive board. For players who love to strengthen their characters or mixing and matching different abilites, the Sphere Board system should prove to be quite satisfying.

For others though, the new and revamped combat system of FFX should prove to be a fun and interesting affair. Gone is the Active Time Battle system, and in its place is a more leisurely turn-based combat engine. However, turn-based combat by itself is not an innovation to Final Fantasy, and so a completely new feature-real time, instantaneous character swapping-was added to the mix. But even this, while a fun diversion, does not a "fun and interesting affair" make. What makes combat in FFX so different from the past is the strict and rigid classifications of enemies, their strengths and weaknesses, and how to work around them. In addition to the ages-old convention of elemental vulnerablilites and classifications (held to here with an almost religious dedication), enemies now have certain basic attributes that only particular characters can attack thru/avoid. Flying enemies, for example, may only be hit by a long range projectile attack (as used by Blitzball star Wakka) or magic. Dragons' hard hides can only be cut by swordmaster Auron's blades. And robots can be destroyed in a single attack if you use the 'steal' command. All of these new rules turn combat into a game of chess, where even regular enemies can be a problem if handled poorly, and even calling one of the game's eight summon monsters (who replace the party this time around and fight as separate characters) can end up being a fatal mistake. Another result is that the game's difficulty is turned up a notch, with boss battles taking a good amount of planning and patience to properly clear. But since characters also receive extra AP and even rare and useful items for correctly fighting enemies, the motivation to play by the rules instead of pounding on the 'confirm' button is quite high.

But when everything is added up and thrown into the great rating hat, where does Final Fantasy X end up? There isn't any shred of doubt; from a graphical, aural, and cinematic standpoint, the game hasn't just raised the bar, but created a whole new way of measuring such factors. To sound a bit pompous, the best that most RPGs on any console will be able to do is match FFX in these categories for a long time. But from a gameplay point of view, it's a little harder to heap praise. While the Sphere Board system and the new combat engine is fun and more involving, they're not exactly substitutes for being able to freely roam an overworld and finish subplots at your own pace. The fact that the pace of the game is more strictly dictated than almost any other up to this point will further separate the already splintered factions of FF and RPG fans. And that is probably the game's undoing when it comes to its place in the future; on one hand, it has created a level of quality that will be difficult to match, while on the other hand, it sinks to depths of interaction that hardcore gamers rarely tolerate. Personally, I think the game's shortcomings are balanced by what it does well, and I will be watching with interest to see what parts of Final Fantasy X follow into the canon of RPGs, and what parts fade off into the night.