Nobuo Uematsu

The Man, or the Pauldron?

HIGH Watching Zael finally tell off the Earl.

LOW Watching is all I got.

WTF Is there anybody in this game who didn't lose their parents during childhood?

Released in 2006-07 as an Xbox 360 exclusive, probably with the goal of helping establish the console in Japan, Blue Dragon has inexplicably spawned sequels and a minor multimedia empire. It's reasonably fun, if you like turn-based role-playing games, but Blue Dragon is clearly a bad game.

Finding Flaws in a Final Fantasy Masterpiece

HIGH The point in the story about four-fifths of the way through, wherein the characters all abandon their misguided faith and fight for what's right instead.

LOW Having to level up for three hours in order to defeat the final boss.

WTF The rock track "Other World" that plays during the final boss fight. Very strange for a fantasy game.

Game Description: Final Fantasy X is the first title in this landmark RPG series to be released for the PlayStation2. The main characters are Tidus, a star of blitzball (a hugely popular sport in the Final Fantasy universe), and Yuna, who has learned the art of summoning and controlling aeons, powerful spirits of yore. These two people of different backgrounds must work together as they journey through the world of Spira. This installment of Final Fantasy has a distinctly Asian influence, bringing a fresh feel to the characters, music, settings, and story. Features include voice-overs for the first time in the series (utilizing the Facial Motion System), high-polygon, motion-captured player characters designed by Tetsuya Nomura, and a camera that automatically adjusts its perspective to correspond with the movements of the characters—a feature now possible because the game is largely polygonal.