Day 2, hours 6-8.

I thought I'd keep a journal of my FFX initial playthrough, for those who are interested in my reviews/opinions. I WILL NOT BE GIVING AWAY ANY PLOT PROGRESSIONS OR SPOILERS!

My initial impression is that this game is simply stunning.This is true in a number of ways:

- Visuals: You've all seen the screenshots. They're damn impressive, especially when set in motion. Realtime facial animations are flawless, though they sometimes don't match the spoken words as well as they could. The voice acting and translations are much better than in any translated game I have ever seen (granted, though, that I haven't seen a TON of translated games. I only recently became a console gamer).

- Music: I've been somewhat disappointed in the score, but this is after the remarkable job done for FF8. So far, 10 has a few really good songs, but generally unremarkable. Better than the FF9 score, though, in my estimation.

- Plot: Superb. The twists keep coming, even though I'm only into the eighth hour. I like every last one of the playable characters, which is a first for me with an FF game. All are very believable and well-developed, and there is a noticeable absence of any character whose sole purpose in the game is to look "cute and adorable". This game, at least so far, has basically been more of an occasionally-interactive movie than a standard game, which I love.

- Mechanics: Excellent. The in-battle character switching is flawlessly executed and long overdue. The "summon/GF/etc" system is very unique; only one character can summon (at least, I've only gotten one who can, so far), and when she does, all other characters leave the battle, the summon comes in and fights until it dies, alone and unaided. To balance this, it costs no MP or anything to bring out a summon, and they are fairly powerful. I only have two summons so far (including the ever-popular IFRIT!). Limit breaks are now called Overdrives, and, as usual, to utilize to their fullest extent, a gimmick is involved, be it a button combination, a trick of timing, or rapid button mashing. The leveling system is somewhat remarkable, and much too involved to describe here. However, I let it be said that I am pleased. The new minimap is also useful; it always shows you where you need to go. I tend to get impatient with games such as this the first time through, so I find this invaluable. My one complaint would be that the game is very easy, at least so far. I have only fought one battle that I would classify as challenging, and that was at the end of my session this evening. The game has thus far posed no problem at all. I have not died, nor have I gotten lost. I also have a plethora of potions in my inventory, having purchased none. This low difficulty isn't necessarily a bad thing, as it may be developed with gamers new to RPG's in mind. The difficulty seems to be picking up, though, so who knows.

Well, that's it for now. Let me know if you guys are interested in me continuing this, and if you are, I'll keep it up.

- Dharkanjil

Wow! Cool read!

Im totally interested in you continuing!

Well, I got one positive response, that's enough for me. :)
These are fun to write, anyway.

Day 3, hours 8-11

Well, unfortunately, I finally died. A boss, of course, with the ever-popular anti-magic field in effect. Oh, well. There's always tomorrow, and, to quote the old FF7 commercials "You can always hit the reset button".

The game is definitely getting harder exponentially and, at the same time, more interactive. The introduction of the seventh (and final, I think) character to my party has made my earlier statement about the lack of a "cute" character obsolete. She's tolerable, though, so I'm willing to forgive. :)

The plot continues to amaze me, with deep emotional conflicts and twists galore. I seldom know what's going to happen next, and I find myself getting caught up in the emotions conveyed by the beautiful facial renderings and superb dialogue/voice acting. The game continues to be very linear, though, unlike previous games. I have been given very little chance to explore (not that it's likely I would anyway; my first time through an RPG, I tend to stay as close to the shortest path to the end as possible.), and I know this would be a disappointment for some.

A few miscellaneous things to report: I picked up a new summon, and it's an electric unicorn. Heh, not bad. I found I can teach summons custom abilities by refining items, and that the summons have their own Overdrives (limit breaks), which generally have more or less the same effect as summoning creatures has since FF2: a big attack that hits enemies for a ton of damage. Another interesting note about overdrives; after fighting in battle enough, the game will see what each character does the most, and will allow you to change what increases your Overdrive meter. For example, my main character uses physical attacks a lot, and doesn't tend to take much damage, so the computer gave me the option of increasing the bar whenever he does damage instead of whenever he gets hit. Other possible increasing factors are whenever allies take damage, whenever you heal allies, or whenever you actually kill an enemy. Awesome! Something I failed to mention before: save points automatically heal HP/MP, so no more tents necessary. Something else suspiciously absent is a World Map. I keep waiting for the requisite airship, but it hasn't shown up yet. Also requisite, of course, is a Cid character, who has been mentioned, but who I also haven't seen yet.

Something else worth reporting: THERE IS AN INN IN THE MIDDLE OF THE THUNDER PLAINS! Craziness!

Guess that's it for now. I'll probably post a new one tomorrow.

- Dharkanjil

Day 4, Hours 12 and 13.

Didn't get to play too much today, as I worked 11:30 - 10:30.

Beat the boss that killed me yesterday. Just gave up trying to keep the anti-magic field disabled and just used physical attacks, overdrives and healing potions. Got the job done admirably.

Today's session consisted mainly of a few boss battles and a puzzle. I haven't mentioned the puzzles yet, for some reason. All the puzzles are the same format, just progressively harder (as you may expect). They haven't really posed much of a problem, though, as none of them have taken me more than, oh, I'd say, fifteen minutes to complete (the first one might've taken a little longer, but I was a little unclear as to what I was supposed to be doing). Anyway, they're entertaining without being exceedingly frustrating, and it's a nice switch from the movie-watching and battle-fighting / leveling.

Another thing I haven't talked about much is the landscapes and backgrounds. An insane amount of attention has been paid to detail, and the backgrounds are very animate and lively. The locales are simply beautiful and very imaginative.

In terms of more plot, I cannot say enough good things. Brilliantly thought out. If this keeps up, this game will easily surpass FF8 in my opinion (I know you guys hate it, but I LOVED FF8). I'm beginning to want to complain about the main character's voice actor, though. He's usually excellent, except when he tries to convey any really intense emotions. It just doesn't come through. All the other voice actors are masterful at it, though, I must say. Tidus is the only one who really seems to have a problem. Anyway, I finally found out a real enemy in the game (I mean, one besides the giant robotic whale), which hopefully means I must be getting through the game in relatively good order. I hope to have this game beaten by the sixth of Jan, when I go back to school, but it doesn't seem likely given my work schedule and new year's plans.

My miscellaneous notes this time include the fact that there are different levels of Overdrives in FF10 (a la FF7). How they are unlocked, I am not entirely sure, but I have unlocked several. I finally picked up the Shiva summon, and, boy is she impressive looking. All the summons are. Haven't seen her Overdrive yet, though, as I've only used her in one battle. One thing that's been bothering me, though, is that I have no idea how to enhance Lulu's Overdrive. She's supposed to cast a ton of spells, but when I do the Overdrive, a bar shows up with a short timer counting down and a little readout on the right of the bar says '01', but no matter what buttons I mash, the bar doesn't move, and she just ends up casting one spell, and rather poorly, at that. If anyone knows what to do, please! Enlighten me!

Guess that's it for now. Thanks for reading!

- Dharkanjil

Day 5, Hours 14 & 15

I see this thread is getting viewed quite a bit, but not responded to. I guess that's a good thing...

Anyway, nothing really new to report in the "review" portion after tonight. Just a bunch of miscellaneous facts, such as I met the requisite Cid, and am now flying around in the requisite Airship. I acquired Bahamut (*SCORE!*), and found out how much my party sucks when the game takes my healer away. Why must they always do that?

Tonight's puzzle was fairly intricate... the puzzles are still challenging, but not frustrating, which is excellent. The plot continues taking all kinds of twists and turns. I still have no idea where it's going to wind up. It has really piqued my interst. Another thing I find interesting: all the boss battles are truly unique; there's either a little trick to beating them, or the situation is just unusual. Always keeps me on my toes. I love it! Keep it comin'!

Anyway, I won't be posting any more updates for a few days, as I'll be in NY tomorrow and the 1st, and NJ the 2nd, so I won't be playing. Check back Wednesday night, though...

- Dharkanjil

I don't want to take up too much space here & detract from your Journal, but yeah by all means continue. I think several of us here are enjoying the in-depth review.

Days 6 and 7, Hours 16-20

Despite my predictions, and because I am a geek, I played a lot the past few days. New what? You say it's a new year? Whatever, I'm playing Final Fantasy! The game gets better and better! I think I am getting close to the end. There can't be more than another five or ten hours left. The game has gotten much harder, at least in terms of boss battles, so they have been kinda slowing me down. The one I am at seems very difficult, and I think I might have to actually break down and do some levelling before I attempt it again (this will be the first time I have actually devoted time to levelling). I have encountered the first of probably what will be many of what I like to call Uberspoilers. It was funny, because we were at my one friend's house, and he vowed not to watch me since every time he sees the ending or any plot spoilers in a game he loses his desire to play through it himself, and just before I got to this huge spoiler, he went to bed.

The boss battles continue to be very dependent on a little trick or tactic to beat, but most are fairly easy to figure out. There is a noticeable lack of bosses that they just want you to straight up fight, as there have been in previous games. Anyway, one boss actually took me four tries to beat, and even then I got lucky. Much harder than the previous bosses in the game.

One thing I am rather upset about, though, is the very few summons in the game. I think I am near the end, and only have five (Valefor, Ifrit, Ixion, Shiva, and Bahamut). I would've liked to see some Diablos, Odin, Alexander, or Siren action. It also would've been REALLY cool if they had included Levaithan, but only for the underwater battles. Oh, well. I am interested to see who this Final Summoning they're talking about is. It might even be one of these.

Anyway, that's about it. Hopefully my next entry will be my last. :)

- Dharkanjil

Day 8, Hours 21-23

I am so much NOT near the end of this game. Of course, everything I thought I might have known was wrong, and this was painfully pointed out to me in a huge plot twist. The World Map finally reveals itself, as well as the means to travel it. This is where all the previously and suspiciously absent subquests that FF is so famous for become available. I shall probably be skipping most of these in favor of plot progression. Also included in today's section was probably the craziest boss battle EVER. (HINT: Make sure to pick up some Holy Water when it becomes available, and hold on to it until you're sure you need it. Trust me, you'll know). It was challenging, but not obviously so. It seemed to be easy, but this turned out to be deceptive. Beat it on the second time, though. Anyway, the plot continues to impress me, and I have no idea where it's going, or how long it will take to get there.

- Dharkanjil

Day 9, Hours 24-28

OMG! I just fought an hour-long three-boss-in-a-row, no-save, no-heal, no-rest marathon. I did beat it on the first try, however! Score! If I lost on the third boss, I think I would've cried and/or thrown something. But I didn't, so it's all good. All I can say, though, is beautiful, beautiful, beautiful. This game just keeps getting better and better. Once again, I think I am nearing the end, but, of course, that doesn't seem to mean anything. :)

- Dharkanjil

Day 10, Hours 28 & 29

FFX WILL FALL TOMORROW!

- Dharkanjil

Yeah, I miscalculated, and it's gonna take a while longer. Look for my final review sometime this weekend. Sorry for the inconvenience to both my loyal readers.

- Dharkanjil

Last day, final save @ hour 33.

Well, I finally beat it. The ending was literally the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. This game is certainly the best game ever made, and probably the best game that ever will be made, in my opinion. Truly remarkable.

Well, guess that's it. Thanks for reading, you guys. Hope you enjoyed my journal. Perhaps I'll start a new journal whenever another good game comes out that I want to play...

- Dharkanjil

Not hopeing to burst your bubble but their are some other hidden things in the game, including the 3 hidden aeons Yojimbo, Anima(the one that seymour had) and the magus sisters (not seen since FF IV), plus secret areas were you can face ultimate enimes like Omega Weapon.

No, I know all of this. I tend to ignore things like that the first time through the game, though, so I can see the cohesive storyline, and also for a bit of a challenge.

- Dharkanjil

Same way for me to. I was just making sure that you knew of these things.;)

Thanks. :)

- Dharkanjil