Final Fantasy X-X2 HD PS4 game review
Posted on: 2015-06-01
Our rating:
Final Fantasy X HD is a great game and a series that I?m not usually into; besides some of the flaws I?ve really enjoyed it and would highly recommend picking it up if you missed it the first time or if you were too young when it was first released.
I’m slowly warming up to the J-RPG since I reviewed Final Fantasy Type-0 HD back in March which really surprised me by being really good. Will Final Fantasy X-X2 HD give me the same pleasant surprise or not? Let’s find out shall we?
In the story you play as Tidus who is a super star in his world because he’s a professional blitz ball player which is a sort of mix of American Football in an underwater environment. When playing a final the world is under attack be a being called Sin (yes there are religious under tones in this game) who destroys his world. He wakes some time later in a world called Spira and finds out that his land was destroyed 1000 years ago, which confuses him a lot. So you must find a way to return your world by exploring this new world. It’s a bizarre and interesting one coupled with the fact that this was the first Final Fantasy with fully voiced characters which was a revolution in 2001, but it does show its age a bit.
The gameplay with this game is before SquareSoft (Square Enix now) started to reinvent the wheel with the combat system, so it stuck with the turn based combat which is more like a game of chess where you have to calculate you moves as well as the enemies. You have to attack, defend or heal depending on the situation or sometimes run away if things get overwhelming. Each encounter is different and you have to take a different outlook on it because if you just attack an enemy you’ll die a lot, so analyse the enemies attack patterns or find a weakness to get the best result in battle.
Some people would say that this system is dated and I would disagree because it requires you to use your brain and to make sure that you are prepared for each battle with the correct items, potions and weapons which will make you take your time and think about your actions before you deploy them. After each battle you’ll be rewarded with experience points which is standard in all RPG’s as well as some Gil which is Final Fantasy’s currency which can contribute to new items etc. You’ll also gain spheres which can be added to a skill tree with each character that venture with you so you can increase things such as strength and damage resistance.
The graphics have been given a slight touch up with the character models polygons smoothed out and some of the environments look less flat with additional life to them with more foliage and the water that looks more tranquil to its PS2 counterpart shimmering in the sun light. However if you’re looking for a dramatic graphical change then you won’t find it because the graphics still look bad in places and you can tell that it’s a 14 year old game there is only so much you can do with 14 year old code without starting from scratch, but nonetheless it’s still a rather enjoyable game.
The negatives points I have about this game is that some bosses can be difficult where you die a lot which isn’t the problem, the issue is that when you die you get sent back to the last save point and you have to go through an unescapable cutscene that you can’t skip which some of them can be fairly lengthy and obnoxious only to die again and watch it all over again. The voice acting is bad and the reason for this I expect is that this was the first game in the series that wasn’t completely text based when it came to dialogue and they bothered to include voice acting, but you can tell that it’s the first game with full voiced dialogue and it grates on me in some of the longer scenes which makes me mute sometimes and stick to the subtitles.
Final Fantasy X HD is a great game and a series that I’m not usually into; besides some of the flaws I’ve really enjoyed it and would highly recommend picking it up if you missed it the first time or if you were too young when it was first released. Don’t worry if you don’t have a PS4 this game is also available on the PS3 so go get it.
4/5
Review and images by Sam Coles - a.k.a. The Bristolian Gamer for www.365Bristol.com
Article by:
Born and raised in the suburbs of Swansea, Jimmy moved to Bristol back in 2004 to attend university. Passionate about live music, sport, science and nature, he can usually be found walking his cocker spaniel Baxter at any number of green spots around the city. Call James on 078 9999 3534 or email Editor@365Bristol.com.
