Level 2-1 Final Fantasy X

Confession #2: I was scared of Dodongo's Cavern in LOZ: Ocarina of Time

    The first game on my list of games to complete is Final Fantasy X. Previously I got to the end of it twice and put it away. (Don't even ask, because I don't know why I didn't just beat the game.) The same thing happened to me with FFIX, but when I picked that game up for the second time I continued the save file and beat it in less than an hour. On second thought I think this game may be the most appropriate of all. The main boss is a giant, whale-like creature called Sin. From now on Sin will be a representation of my own sins. I must begin to atone for my Gaming Sins by finishing this game. The memories of incomplete video games continue to haunt me and there is no better way to begin my endeavor than by playing this game. It is time to put the smack-down on my metaphorical Sin!

   I Love the Final Fantasy franchise. In fact, I love everything Square Enix has done (best company merger ever!) The storyline is a little cliche' (Religion vs. Technology), but everything else makes for a great game. The graphics push the PS2 to its limits and there is no room left on the disc after all of the CG and voice acting. The music is pretty good, not the best I've experienced, and includes the staple fanfares and original music from the rest of the series. Time for your mind to be blown. Are you ready? The English voice actors are actually very accomplished people. I have did some research about them after I decided that Wakka sounded really familiar to me. I looked up their work lists and here are some of my favorites:
Wakka and Kimhari (John Di Maggio): Bender from Futurama, Shnitzel from Chowder, John Elbourne/Nolt/Mashira from Vampire Hunter D., and The Scotsman from Samurai Jack.
Tidus (James Taylor): Ratchet from Ratchet and Clank, Obi-Wan Kenobi from the Animated Clone Wars, Wooldoor Sockbat from Drawn Together, and Gingerbread man and Prince Charming from Shrek.
Rikku (Tara Strong): Poof and Timmy from Fairly Odd Parents, Truffles from Chowder, Princess Clara and Toot from Drawn Together, Raven and Gizmo from Teen Titans, and Bubbles from Powerpuff Girls.
Jecht (Gregg Berger): Odie from Garfield and Friends. (Could not be any further apart on the personality scale.)
  Like most people (I hope) FFVII was my first Final Fantasy game. (That will be an upcoming topic by the way. *cringe*) Altogether I think I own I, II, IV, VII, VIII, IX, X, XII, Tactics, and Tactics Advanced. That's a lot of Final Fantasies! Of those I have finished I and IX. VII and VIII's memory cards got corrupted before I could finish.(And the frustration was too great to start over at the time.) RPG's have always been a favorite of mine and Turn-based ones usually edge out over the ones with real-time combat. I (re)started the game a couple of days ago and I'm having a lot of fun with it. This time I started over (and compiled my previous Al Bhed dictionary so I could understand more of the dialogue.) The one thing that really annoys me is the experience system. You can have three people in your party at one time and there are seven playable characters. Early on this means four switch outs per battle just to make sure you have an evenly prepared party. I can't wait until my party members can start doing double duty. This is what I think I'm going to do:
Tidus (Strong Thief): Once I complete his tree, which is pretty balanced but high in agility, I am going to send him through Rikku's part of the grid. Hopefully with Auto-haste later on he'll be taking 2 or 3 turns in a row. Steal -> Pound!
Wakka (Strong Guard): I'm going to send Wakka down Auron's path so that he has crazy HP, strength, and tons of Status attacks from both grids.
Yuna (Black Mage Summoner): Yuna has more Magic than Lulu to start out with so..... Add them together and you get tons of damage to make up for piercing weapons. (I'll miss Lu's Overdrive though.)
   Progress: 25 hours or so. Just fell to the bottom of Macalania Lake. (Blitzball is one of my favorite side/mini games in the Final Fantasy series and I have spent a good portion of gametime playing it.)

Let me know what you think... about anything! Tell me of your adventures playing FFX, your party combinations, your approach to RPGs (or aversion to), favorite game in the franchise, or just comment about my post. Thanks for reading!