Editor’s note: This review was written by Cody Perry, a student at Full Sail University. Cody has always loved videogames, and as he got older, he noticed his sense of what he wanted was more refined. People seem to trust his judgment of what games to play and why. Cody hopes you find any advise he gives useful.

Final Fantasy has always been known for its emotional story and characters that players can get attached to, but the crown jewel at the bottom of the chest is Final Fantasy X. Final Fantasy Xwill always hold a special place in my heart as my favorite in the Final Fantasy series and has one of the most engaging stories I’ve ever played. Final Fantasy Xpossesses a captivating story, incredible playability and some of the most emotionally grabbing characters I’ve ever played with; oh, and the graphics aren’t too shabby either. Every time I play it, I remember exactly how long 170 hours into that game really was.

The story leads us to Zanarkand, the hometown of the main protagonist, Tidus. He is a star of Blitzball, an underwater sport along the lines of football, carrying on his father’s legacy. As he is playing in the biggest game of his life, the entire city is destroyed by Sin. Sin is the embodiment of evil and the culmination of the world’s end. Tidus gets warped to a world called Spira and ends up meeting a Blitzball team lead by Wakka. Wakka is a Guardian, someone destined to protect a summoner. A summoner is a special person who can call down “Aeons” or spirits whose destiny it is to help summoners. Anyway, Yuna is the summoner Wakka protects, and Yuna is beginning her pilgrimage, like all summoners, to destroy Sin.

After protecting Yuna through many perils and proving himself worthy, Tidus is asked by Yuna to join the ranks of Guardians; this is the first step in a long, progressive path of romantic entanglement between these two. That little addition injects a whole new level of emotional attachment to the characters. The main antagonist, Seymour, is a constant thorn in the party’s side. He is trying to let Sin destroy Spira so that he may lead the new world; therefore, he is frequently putting a damper on the party’s plans. The culmination of the game is full of plot twists and heart-wrenching hairpin turns that give this story the last push, in a big way.

The collection of characters surrounding Yuna is really well-designed. Wakka is a favorite. His brother was romantically involved with Lulu, a dark, almost emo sorceress; her morbid wisdom is listened to more than once. Kimahri is a Ronso, a blue lion-like creature, and has been devoted to protecting Yuna at all costs. Rikku is an Al-Bhed, a hybrid of the “old ones” and normal people. She is always trying to disprove the negativity toward her kind. Lastly is my favorite character, Auron. He both accompanied Yuna’s father on his pilgrimage and was Tidus’ father’s best friend. The part he plays in the story will blow you away. All these personalities intertwined make for a very interesting story.

The campaign takes about 30 hours to beat, if you do it right. That is a nice, long game, but after you add all the extra games, weapons and subplots, I personally logged more than seven full days, and I still had a quarter of the game left. Final Fantasy X plays as the standard turn-based RPG. Each player holds a specific role. Each member of the team is given a turn, and the turns alternate until the end of the battle. This combined with the leveling system, weapon system and armor system gives the game the perfect balance of planning, preparation and execution.

As a hardcore fan of Final Fantasy X, it ranks No. 3 on my favorite games list; I can bestow this wisdom: If you want to play this game, find a website that can help with all the extras and do it all the first run through. I loved the game; I still love the game. But honestly I don’t think I could put that much work into it again. The first playthrough really redefined my concept of what videogames were capable of — overall but at the time particularly. Also it was playing Final Fantasy X that I decided making games was what I wanted to do for a living. This is a powerful game to say the least, and I would highly recommend it to anybody who enjoys this genre.

Final Fantasy X is not perfect, I will admit. The controls for walking Tidus around Spira are clunky and imprecise. The standard Final Fantasy minigames, side quests, parlor games and races are all just as annoyingly glitchy as its predecessors, and worst of all, at times you can tell the Japanese dialogue is not properly translated, resulting in absurd remarks at odd places in the story.

Looking at the Final Fantasy Xwiki page, you will see the game is far more in depth than I had time to go into, but I do not want to sell it short. It is one of the most expansive, as well as visually impressive, games I have ever played. The fact that Final Fantasy Xcame out for PlayStation 2, looked they way it did and has the fan base it still has today makes this game a legend it its own right.