Final Fantasy X|X-2
HD’s Interesting Japanese Commercial
One of my favorite JRPGs, or games, of fall time
When this game dropped for the Playstation 2 way back in 2001 (July 19 according to Wikipedia), it came out of left field for me. I was prepping for college during that crazy summer and getting every last moment I could with friends and family. Normally I would have had such a game on day one but I guess it just goes to show you how crazy things can get during those so-called “transition” periods in life.
I think this is why this game is so special to me. I received it as a gift from my father for Christmas 2001 and I immediately began to play it, totally expecting an excellent experience but not anticipating the masterpiece that I was about to behold. I still, somewhat conflictedly, call Final Fantasy VI (or III here in the States) my favorite of the series but I cannot deny the deep, almost spiritual, connection I have with FFX.
From the story, the characters, the abstract, hyper techno-fantasy setting melded with religious cults and ethnic strife – Final Fantasy X had it all in spades.
The music is and will always be pure fantasy perfection. Final Fantasy VI’s score is the summit to which all JRPG original soundtracks should aspire, but Final Fantasy X drifts among the cloud tops, wafting in and out of view, veiling or revealing the sunlight of one of the Playstation 2’s, and indeed perhaps one of gaming’s, greatest stories. There isn’t a theme one can’t relate to in FFX if you merely look.
I struggled with the emo-bent Cloud in FFVII, but loved that game like no other to this day. FFVIII will be forever in my heart because I went to high school in Japan while it was being promoted heavily (as was Shenmue, oddly, at the time). FFIX I have always recognized for what it is, and that is a distillation of the 8bit roots of this classic fantasy series. I never expected, read about, or researched Final Fantasy X. It came from nowhere and I can’t forget it to this day.
I’ve never had a game so indelibly touch my heart like this game did. It does not have FFVI’s story or characters, it does not have FFVII’s revolutionary gameplay or evolutionary themes – it is very much a story in its own, unique yet distinctly Final Fantasy mold. If you haven’t played it, play it this Fall. It’s awesome.