When it comes to RPG's, I have always considered myself to be somewhat of a 2D anti-random encounters purist, and as such I have never really liked the newer generation(s) of games in the genre. For me, the transision from 2D to 3D made the RPG's loose much of their credability story-wise and almost all of their charm. I'm sorry that I sound so coservative on this issue, and I understand that RPG's (like any other genre) are bound to evolve. But this is one type of games that I really feel were better done in the good ol' 16-bit days.
The graphics in FFX are really superb, but still, everything feels so utterly...overdone and exhaggerated. When you're fighting monsters elaborate explosions that resemble detonating nuclear warheads may deal 3 points in damage. You summon giant dragons to wreack havoc upon your enemies. The earth shakes and splits open as you execute some special move. All very nicely done, but in the end it seemed to me that FFX simply drowned in a self-induced swamp of visual overkill. I mean, for gawd's sake... the graphical effects guys over at Squaresoft must really have had a field day with this game. Not that there really is less dramatic battle effects in the old 2D contributions to this genre, but they sure as hell didn't look as overkill as this does.
Soundwise there isn't that much to complain about... nice ambient melodies drift by as you wander about, the sound effects are decent and for the first time in the FF series spoken dialouge is included here which is a plus.
But for me, well, I just didn't click with Final Fantasy X. All the graphical extravaganza and the always painfully frustrating random encounters hindered me from fully experiencing the most important part in this (or any other) RPG; namely the story.
Anyway, the bottom line is: Final Fantasy X is nice game no doubt, and I can see why so many people like it. But as far as I'm concerned, I'd rather go play Chrono Trigger again. Now that's what I call a good RPG.
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