No game evokes emotion in me like Final Fantasy X. I still clearly remember sitting through an exam at college on the day of its release, counting down the boring, silent hours until I could go and purchase it in town. I can also remember finishing the game and shedding a few tears at the ending which is really quite sad (both the crying and the ending itself). I've replayed the game on numerous occasions since and everything from the music to the set pieces fill me with nostalgia and a little bit of longing for a youth that has long since passed. This game is important to me in many ways and is rich in memories and when I heard of the release of the HD remaster I of course had to have it.
The remaster hasn't really changed that much from the PS2 release. Some areas of the game have received the inevitable graphical improvements but for the most part things have been left as they were. It seems strange at first to see a HD quality playable character conversing with a blocky 12 year old NPC design but once you are immersed in the story you'll barely notice. One thing that did irritate me a tad was the reworking of the music within the games. There are some tunes that have had tweaks that do absolutely nothing to improve the music and instead damage it - it is very noticeable when one of your favourite ever gaming tracks has needlessly had a number of Japanese string instruments added to it. If it isn't broke, why fix it? There is a boatload of additional content included on the cartridge (and in the download for the sequel), however, including videos and mini-games that you might never have seen before if you haven't hunted abroad for them. Whether some of these additions add to or harm the experience is up to you to decide.
The story for FFX is one of my favourite of any video game title. You are in control of Tidus, a star blitzball player (think underwater football) from a technologically advanced city called Zanarkand. During an important match his city is attacked by a colossal creature named Sin. With the help of Auron, a friend of Tidus's father, you manage to escape certain death but inexplicably find yourself thrust a thousand years into the future. Eventually you are rescued from an abandoned ruin and find yourself joining up with a group of unlikely allies as they escort Yuna, a beautiful young summoner, on a complicated religious pilgrimage. From then on you are in for an emotional roller-coaster as relationships between the characters are developed and destroyed and you are hit with twists, turns and intrigue at every corner.
Final Fantasy X was the last of the traditional turn based RPG Final Fantasy titles. From here onwards Final Fantasy games have changed massively, their quality has declined and they have never really attained the same clout as their earlier releases. Essentially your characters and the enemy are glued to the spot and take turns to attack each other in a tactical battle to see who comes out on top. There are a number of characters at your disposal, each with a different set of talents to help you come out on top in these tussles. Yuna is the white mage who can summon powerful Aeons and cast healing spells, Auron is your powerhouse character using brute force to crush armoured enemies, Lulu is your black mage, casting devastating offensive spells such as Fira, Ultima and so on. Unlike other Final Fantasy games, your characters can be cycled in and out of battle at any time so if you find yourself in a dire situation you can call in someone who might help turn the tides of the fight.
In a change from the traditional level system we are introduced to the sphere grid. When a character is victorious in battle they earn AP which can be used to move around a large maze-like grid filled with nodes that enhance your character's stats. Each unused node requires a different kind of sphere in order to activate and these can be found in chests, stolen from enemies or given as rewards at the end of successful battles. I really like the sphere grid personally, although it can be frustrating early in the game when you don't have sufficient spheres to unlock new abilities or upgrades. Overall, it allows for greater player choice and customisation of your characters later on in the game - if you want to have Auron as your healer and Yuna as your devastating attacker you can!
Final Fantasy titles are famous for having at least one deep mini-game within every release. FFX is no different with its inclusion of the blitzball arena. You control a team of six players in an underwater pitch with the aims and rules being very close to football (or soccer if you happen to be American): tackle the ball, play it up the field and score more goals than the opposition. Personally I find this to be the very best mini-game Square ever created. You can pour hours upon hours into blitzball, levelling up your characters, wheeling and dealing in players and free agents and winning prizes available nowhere else in the game. It is great fun and squeezes even more time out of an already content filled title.
The game boasts a challenging trophy list for the completionists out there. Some of the requirements are very time-consuming (filling in every sphere grid node for every single character - crikey!) and some are very difficult (defeating super bosses such as Penance and Nemesis) but again they will keep you playing the game and help you get roughly 140+ hours or so for your monetary outlay - not bad considering most returning FFX players will love every minute of the task.
You are also given a download code for FFX-2 within the case. While adding even more value to the recommended retail price, this sequel to the original game doesn't live up to the quality of the first release. While the mechanics are quite similar, they don't work quite as well as in the first. You have control over only three characters in all - Rikku, Yuna and Paine - and in order to perform certain actions the player must swap the character's outfit using 'dress spheres'. Attacks can be chained for additional damage and characters are allowed a little movement around the battle area. This all sounds great apart from the fact that you can pretty much mash the X button once you have fully upgraded a warrior style outfit and defeat all enemies with relative ease - with the odd exception.
The story is not a patch on the first either, leaning towards the more clichéd and muddled stylings of other lesser JRPGs. In fact I would go as far as saying that the release of the sequel has a detrimental effect on the story of the original game. There are facets of the original story that were left to a certain extent unfinished, allowing the player to use their imagination to draw together all the threads at the conclusion of FFX. Many of those conclusions are undone by this game. From unlikely alliances and romantic couplings, to a complete and utter reimagining of Yuna, the game does little in the way of subtly preserving the ideas and themes of FFX. Remember that scene at the very end of the credits in the first FFX? Well that was pretty much ruined by the release of FFX-2 which is a real shame.
The trophy list for this title is much more annoying than the requirements from the first game too. You will definitely need to use a guide in order to unlock the 100% completion trophy as some of the things you need to do in order to attain it are so obscure they defy belief. You are also required to play through a roguelike mini-game that is very different from the other FFX titles and which I found slow, repetitive and rather boring.
To summarise, if, like me, you are returning to FFX with fond memories, knowing that the game will always hold a place in your heart then this purchase is a no brainer. Gamers who are new to RPGs would also be recommended to give the game a go to see what joys a traditional turn based RPG can bring. For your outlay you can get anywhere between 100 to 200+ hours out of the two titles and their additional bonuses. Final Fantasy X will always be an important RPG title and is well worth owning if you like the genre. It also gives you another reason to dust off your Vita!
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