¡Greetings, fellow Steemians! Today, we are going to carry on with the game reviews we’ve been doing since a while ago. Games that already fall into the “retro” category that are awesome, full of action and filled with special moments. This time, we are talking about a sublime one: a game with a gorgeous story, a killer gameplay and beautiful aesthetics, being one of my favorite games EVER. I´m talking about Final Fantasy X.

This game was released on 19th July, 2001, becoming one of the twenty better sold games in history, selling more than ten million units worldwide. The game was created to make use of the peak power PlayStation 2 console had to offer, ¡and the results were impressive! Final Fantasy X captivated the fans (as well as casual gamers) with its awesome graphics, including for the first time in the Final Fantasy franchise improvements such as tridimensional graphics instead of pre rendered images used before. The power of the console also allowed developers to add complex facial expressions, and the usage of real, spoken voices instead of mere text windows.

Final Fantasy X, like its predecessors, shows a complex storyline, filled with charismatic characters to feel bonded at. What makes this title unique is, among other reasons, that the main character, Tidus, is a very cheerful, relaxed person, unlike the usual Final Fantasy main characters, that used to be quiet and somewhat serious. The game also features another main character, Yuna, a white mage who has to embark in a mythical pilgrimage, and alongside Tidus and the others has to accomplish a titanic mission, ¡and sacrifice herself along the way!

Tidus is a star of the national sport, called Blitzball, who, during a game, watches how the city, Zanarkand, is attacked by a massive creature. Nearly drowning, is saved by Auron, an old family friend. After a while, he wakes up in a strange village he never saw before…¡back in time!

There he meets some colorful characters, such as Wakka, Rikku and Lulu. They explain a little bit to Tidus what they believe happened, and Tidus must find a way to go back to his home, Zanarkand. He also learns that the huge creature that attacked Zanarkand is called Sinh, and that is responsible of millions of deaths and his travel in time.

After a while, Tidus meets Yuna, the priestess, and between them a magical connection is stablished right away…eventually Tidus learns about Yuna’s fate: In order to stop Sinh, she must make a pilgrimage to Sinh’s destination, and once there, perform the Ultimate Summon, which can stop Sinh…but Yuna has to sacrifice her own life in order to perform such a powerful summoning, like another priests before her. Tidus refuses to accept such a terrible fate for her and seeks a solution. Together in the pilgrimage, they get help from new powerful companions, such as Kimahri and Auron himself. Living a myriad of adventures, filled with joy and sorrow as well, they go on until the day comes…

Difficulty: We could say that Final Fantasy X has an intermediate difficulty setting: the enemies are somewhat easy to defeat and the attacks are very well balanced. However, from time to time, we face some bosses that can be a real headache.

Gameplay: The gameplay is great: we have plenty of characters to play with, each with a style on his/her own. Combat is seamless ¡and a blast to play! The controls are very good, as well. ¡The blitzball matches are impressive, too!

Graphics/Sound: One of the strongest points of this game. The graphics are beautifully crafted, standing out the great work done with the faces, hair and clothing. The enemies and landscapes are simply gorgeous, as well. The soundtrack of the game is insanely good, earning the game a lot of prizes because of it: the music makes an outstanding job supporting the most memorable moments of the game, being the standard sound effects very well implemented too.

Final Fantasy X is a game practically perfect. I try to find anything I wouldn’t like about it, ¡and fail to! If there is ANY Steemian who likes videogames and haven’t played this gem, ¡PLEASE go and finish it! This game makes you cry, laugh, feel amazed…a true masterpiece.

Thanks a lot for reading me. ¡See you around!