u/creativegains

Just played and finished FFX for the first time.

It truly lives up to the hype, and I get it now.

I just mainlined the story, skipped most of the side content and endgame, but damn what a story it was. (if I had more time I’d spend more in the game but I have a huge backlog I’m working through)

I love games like this that make you feel like you’re on a huge adventure, and it’s such a satisfying conclusion.

Some of the bosses were INCREDIBLY hard though, especially the main final boss with the crazy health pool. I definitely almost rage quit at the end and I haven’t had that feeling since playing Elden Ring. It’s definitely up there in difficulty which I was not expecting.

The music was what hooked me at the start (Prelude especially is my favourite now), and it definitely continued throughout the entire game.

The character development was great too, although a bit lacking compared to today’s standards. I think more cutscenes between the characters to build them up more would have been great (thinking like in the Yakuza games), but I get this is a PS2 game.

Overall I’m hooked on Final Fantasy now. This was my first game and I’ll be moving onto FF7 remakes soon. FF13 and FF8 are also really calling to me so I’ll be jumping into those at some point afterwards too.

I’m currently 5 hours into this game. I will just say, although I’ve never played any Final Fantasy before (apart from IV on the Vita), I somehow feel extremely nostalgic playing this game.

I think it’s a mix of things. The art direction and style for the time is a big part of it. It’s got a soft, colourful look that just feels warm and timeless.

Oh, the music is SO GOOD. It’s like a music genre that I’ve never heard before but feels so recognisable at the same time. I absolutely love it.

The voice acting from especially the main character feels lighthearted and goofy, which I think fits really well.

And I knew I was going to expect a very good storyline coming into this, and 5 hours in it’s definitely holding up to that promise. I’m hooked.

Can’t wait to see more of this game.

Any tips for me?

I grew up with the PS1 era of games but for some reason I’ve never actually gotten around to playing any of the Metal Gear games.

I thought I’d start off with MGS1 and I have to say it completely exceeded my expectations.

I always thought MGS was kind of like Splinter Cell in a way, but after a short while on MGS1 I realised this is definitely not the case. Definitely more emphasis on the story and characters which is great, but a lot more weirdness too.

The music throughout was surprisingly good considering it’s a PS1 title.

As much as I loved all of the above, it’s definitely one of the most frustrating difficult games I’ve ever played. The tank controls were a key culprit for this, and there were just some sections in the game where I almost gave up (climbing the stairwell comes to mind).

But overall I’m really happy I managed to play through and complete this! I’m definitely going to MGS2 after my next game; and hopefully more in the series afterwards.

Playing on an OLED screen upscaled to x3 resolution was the cherry on the cake too, the colour grading put into this game really popped nicely, and I can really appreciate the art style they put into this.