History YMMV / FinalFantasyX

** Along with ''[[VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI VI]]'', ''[[VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII VII]]'', and ''[[VideoGame/FinalFantasyIX IX]]'', it's thought to have one of the better plots in the series, although the game is much more linear than its predecessors and some of the voice acting is questionable (it was the early days for such things).

** This is lampshaded in another instance. When Tidus learns that [[spoiler:Auron is an Unsent]], he's not surprised at all. Not hard to blame him, as there's ample and obvious {{foreshadowing}} for it: Rin said he was wounded so badly he shouldn't have survived, Seymour asking why he is "still here", and Auron's reaction when Yuna performs the Sending for Jyscal. The cutscene immediately before the boss battle after which Tidus learns this also makes it pretty clear that [[spoiler:Yunalesca killed Auron.]]

* HarsherInHindsight:
** In one of the most light-hearted scenes of the game, Rikku pokes fun at Auron, saying he always charges into things without a plan. [[spoiler:As it turns out, that's exactly how he got himself killed]].
** Wakka's [[DudeNotFunny tasteless joke]] about [[spoiler: The Destruction of Rikku's DoomedHometown]] looking like "Happy Festival Fireworks" seems rather prophetic considering that Creator/JohnDimaggio would go on to voice Heidegger in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIIRemake''. In that game, Heidegger actually ''causes'' two different highly explosive DoomedHometown scenarios.

* HilariousInHindsight:
** The cutscene with Tidus [[GrindBoots grinding down the ropes in Bevelle]] can be seen as hilarious, if you remember that James Arnold Taylor (Tidus' American VA) took over as the voice of [[Franchise/RatchetAndClank Ratchet]] from ''[[VideoGame/RatchetAndClankGoingCommando Going Commando]]'' onwards.
** You can have two-thirds of your party composed of Creator/JohnDiMaggio, and fight one of three varieties of '''[[VideoGame/GearsOfWar GIANT WORM!]]'''
** After the infamous laughing scene, Yuna says that she wants her journey to be full of laughter. Years later, the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sOzM4ClFG1o Tidus Fantasy X mod]] has his iconic laugh echo across the entire soundtrack, so now players can fulfill her wish (albeit not in the way she probably intended).
*** The infamous laughing scene only got funnier when compared to [[WebAnimation/HoloLive Usada Pekora]]'s infamous arrow laugh. And yes, she HAS played FFX and laughed along with Tidus during that scene.

** Hilariously, one modder used a texture swap to [[[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O4iGAa3K9cE allow the kid to live out his dream.]]

** Cultural differences are a major factor in why Western and Japanese audiences have very different views on Tidus and Jecht. In the East, hating your father is a big deal, because of the value placed on the Confucian ideals of [[HonorThyParent filial piety]]: loyalty to one's family (and ''particularly'' to their parents) above all else, even if they are bad parents. For the same reason, parental abuse is not discussed as openly, since it's not the place of outsiders to get involved in family politics. Tidus openly speaking ill of Jecht and how he was mistreated is a scathing indictment of how poisonous these values can be, and how damaging it can be to a family to let these problems go unaddressed. In the Western world, filial piety isn't really a thing, so few would fault Tidus for speaking up about a bad father, and child abuse is generally thought of as physical harm, not emotional. That aside, Western fans (especially males) tend to forgive Jecht and find him more appealing than the {{Bishonen}} design of Tidus. The result is that Tidus' issues with Jecht are often marginalized as [[{{Wangst}} daddy issues]], and Jecht's treatment of Tidus is deserved due to the latter being whiny and effeminate.

** This goes as far as the Church of Yevon and TheReveal [[spoiler:they're continuing the cycle willingly in order to keep in power for as long as they need to]]. To both sides of the ocean this is unilaterally agreed to be a bad thing, but what's often missed is that Yevon has ''far'' more [[UsefulNotes/{{Shinto}} Shintoist]] and [[UsefulNotes/{{Buddhism}} Buddhist]] philosophy going on and actually exists as a pretty large criticism against the dominant religion in Japan by bringing into question the nature of EternalRecurrence and infinitely persisting cycles of destruction and decay. To Japan, the idea stands firm as revolutionary and in defiance of a lot of commonly-held ideas there, making the point where Tidus and the group betray the Church to end the cycle all the more poignant to Japanese viewers.

* BigLippedAlligatorMoment: The fact that Kimarhi attacks Tidus on Besaid never ever comes up again even though the former was fully intending to kill the latter in this battle; an underlevelled player who forgets to use potions can quite easily die to him before the rest of the party interrupts. This really seems to be something that should have been discussed once the two were on speaking terms.

** [[invoked]] After Tidus learns [[spoiler:that Yuna's pilgrimage will end with her sacrifice]], he reacts accordingly when he recalls certain events from earlier in their travels. Especially [[spoiler:remembering how Yuna acted when leaving Besaid]].

* BigLippedAlligatorMoment: The fact that Kimarhi attacks Tidus on Besaid never ever comes up again even though the former was fully intending to kill the latter in this battle; an underlevelled player who forgets to use potions can quite easily die to him before the rest of the party interupts. This really seems to be something that should have been discussed once the two were on speaking terms.
* BigLippedAlligatorMoment: The fact that Kimarhi attacks Tidus on Besaid never ever comes up again even though the former was fully intending to kill the latter in this battle; an underlevelled player who forgets to use potions can quite easily die to him before the rest of the party interupts. This really seems to be something that should have been discussed once the two were on speaking terms.
* BigLippedAlligatorMoment: The fact that Kimarhi attacks Tidus on Besaid never ever comes up again even though the former was fully intending to kill the latter in this battle; an underlevelled player who forgets to use potions can quite easily die to him before the rest of the party interupts. This really seems to be something that should have been discussed once the two were on speaking terms.
* BigLippedAlligatorMoment: The fact that Kimarhi attacks Tidus on Besaid never ever comes up again even though the former was fully intending to kill the latter in this battle; an underlevelled player who forgets to use potions can quite easily die to him before the rest of the party interupts. This really seems to be something that should have been discussed once the two were on speaking terms.

* HarsherInHindsight: Wakka's [[DudeNotFunny tasteless joke]] about [[spoiler: The Destruction of Rikku's DoomedHometown]] looking like "Happy Festival Fireworks" seems rather prophetic considering that Creator/JohnDimaggio would go on to voice Heidegger in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIIRemake''. In that game, Heidegger actually ''causes'' two different highly explosive DoomedHometown scenarios.

* TheyChangedItNowItSucks: Quite a few people were quite vocal about the changed faces in the HD Remaster, [[UncannyValley citing that they make them look weird]], particularly with Tidus and Yuna.

** Cultural differences are a major factor in why Western and Japanese audiences have very different views on Tidus and Jecht. In the East, hating your father is a big deal, because of the value placed on the Confucian ideals of filial piety: loyalty to one's family (and ''particularly'' to their parents) above all else, even if they are bad parents. For the same reason, parental abuse is not discussed as openly, since it's not the place of outsiders to get involved in family politics. Tidus openly speaking ill of Jecht and how he was mistreated is a scathing indictment of how poisonous these values can be, and how damaging it can be to a family to let these problems go unaddressed. In the Western world, filial piety isn't really a thing, so few would fault Tidus for speaking up about a bad father, and child abuse is generally thought of as physical harm, not emotional. That aside, Western fans (especially males) tend to forgive Jecht and find him more appealing than the {{Bishonen}} design of Tidus. The result is that Tidus' issues with Jecht are often marginalized as [[{{Wangst}} daddy issues]], and Jecht's treatment of Tidus is deserved due to the latter being whiny and effeminate.

* {{Applicability}}: WordOfGod has stated that the game is purely Japanese and that it was intended to criticize the hierarchal structure of Japanese religion. However, because the main villain is named "Sin" and the Church of Yevon has [[AnimeCatholicism elements reminiscent of the Catholic Church]], Western players tend to interpret it as anti-Christian, or at least critical of organized Catholicism.

** The infamous fake laughter scene, both in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X8-fij_lEBQ English]] and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BaDocsZkWK0 Japanese]]. The laughter is ''meant'' to sound forced and awkward, so a lot of people think it's okay as-is. It fits the context of the scene, but there are just as many people who think that it crossed the line and made players feel embarassed for the actors. It's hard to find a neutral opinion of this scene.

* CommonKnowledge: The infamous [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-5FTJxfV3pc laughing scene]] is frequently taken out of context, leading to the popular misconception that it's a case of bad voice acting and that the Japanese version of the scene was "better". Neither of those things are true ([[https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=mAgVjH9V9Ps#t=447s see for yourself]]). In reality, the awkwardness is intentional. The point of the scene was to show how forcing yourself to [[SadClown laugh]] or [[StepfordSmiler smile]] makes you look weird, as evidenced by every other characters' reactions to Tidus laughing. In-context, Tidus had just learned that his father, Jecht, had become Sin and is responsible for scores of deaths across the globe. Tidus is struggling to laugh convincingly...because he doesn't have a lot to be happy about.

** Seymour Flux's aptly-named Total Annihilation. Inflicts multiple high-damage hits that guarantee swift TotalPartyKill to the unprepared. Cross Cleave is also not far behind since it's almost guaranteed to kill any of less physically-inclined party members (while doing major hurt to the more inclined ones) and, unlike Total Annihilation, is not telegraphed at all.

** Seymour's second and third forms are both turning points for the game in the sense that you can't just brute force through those, since he employs rather ingenius, complex tactics that must be strategized around. Seymour Natus can utilize Doublecast, destroy buffs and petrify targets, the latter being really crippling if you let him shatter whoever gets petrified (since it completely removes not only the character from battle, but their spot as well). And Seymour Flux is among the hardest fights in the main game, introducing the concept of zombification and ReviveKillsZombie, reflections of self-cast spells (meaning you cannot reflect them back) and using [[ThatOneAttack Total Annihilation]] to finish off the whole party, as even Shell/Mighty Guard are not guaranteed to fully protect the player.

** The HD Remaster decided to turn two [[ThatOneSidequest infamous side-quests]] into trophies.
** The HD Remaster also includes one particular trophy which invariably ''doubles'' the play time of any given game file: Complete the entire Sphere Grid with all seven playable characters! This includes unlocking all of the locked nodes and filling in every single empty node with a stat-boosting sphere AND activating it. Even with the proper AP-boosting equipment, it is a very long, incredibly-tedious grind.

** Then you need to keep playing Blitzball to win Wakka's Overdrives and one of his sigils. To win an Overdrive, you'll need to beat a tournament, then a league, then a tournament, and finally a league for the Mercury sigil. Also, since league prizes get set at the end of the last league game, you'll have to play 20 or more games to clear out the deadwood, and each game takes about 15-20 minutes to play, making it a slog even if you know what you're doing. This is by far the most time-consuming element of the game, and unless you are playing on PC with the Untitled Project mod, there is no way to actually speed up the games. That is roughly 50 games of Blitzball (if the RNG gives you the rewards you want), for a total of '''16 hours or more'''. While Lulu's sidequest is also reviled, it doesn't hold a candle to Wakka's insane time investment.

*** Then you need to keep playing Blitzball to win Wakka's Overdrives. To win an Overdrive, you'll need to beat a tournament, then a league, then a tournament, and a league. Also, since league prizes get set at the end of the last league game, you'll have to play 20 or more games to clear out the deadwood, and each game takes about 15-20 minutes to play, making it a slog even if you know what you're doing.

* BreatherBoss: Evrae Altana, which occurs after the Aeon-to-Aeon fight with Isaaru and right before Seymour Natus, both of which can be very tough bosses if you're under-prepared. By contrast, Evrae Altana is permanently inflicted with the zombie status, meaning healing items are lethal to it. Toss two Phoenix Downs or two X-potions at it and it goes down without much effort on your part.

* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic:
** [[AwesomeMusic/FinalFantasy Like all Final Fantasy games]], the entire soundtrack.
** The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zl8uhXwrTWQ&fmt=18 "Battle with Seymour"]] really gets the blood pumping. Didn't make it into ''[[VideoGame/DissidiaFinalFantasy Dissidia]]'' for nothing.

* ViewerGenderConfusion: You're probably going to have a hard time figuring out that Valefor's actually female unless you revisit her in Besaid Temple's Chamber of the Fayth.

** The heroes crashing a wedding in Bevelle.

** It's hard not to also feel this way about Yuna. She grew up as a celebrity orphan, idolizing her late father and training to eventually follow in his footsteps, knowing that she would meet the same fate if she did. Everywhere she goes, people flock to her and cheer, but only because [[spoiler:they know she has promised to die for them]]. She's constantly being asked to send the souls of the dead and comfort people in their grief. She begins to fall for Tidus and allows herself to fantasize about a future with him, only to break down crying when she realizes she can't abandon the people who invested all their prayers in her. She's then told that [[spoiler:to defeat Sin, not only will she have to die, but one of her loved ones must die as well, and that her hopes of defeating Sin for good are futile]]. Finally, when she does find a way to vanquish Sin permanently, it [[spoiler: costs her the love of her life]]. There's also heavy implication that, before Kimahri took her to Besaid, she had been shunned by people in Bevelle because she's half Al-Bhed, just as Braska was kicked out of Yevon for marrying one.
** The rest of the party also has some Woobie in them: Lulu and Wakka are still both reeling about the loss of Chappu, with the former heartbroken over the death of him, and latter nursing a hatred towards the Al Bhed for what he perceives as their role in his passing. Kimahri is a BlackSheep of his clan, being born smaller than most other Ronso and having his horn (a symbol of pride) broken by two of his dickhead clansmen. Auron had to watch his two closest friends die for no reason thanks to Yevon's machinations, and [[spoiler:died trying to avenge them, only to come back an an Unsent and be revered as a hero who can't even speak the truth about Yevon to most people.]] Rikku, the most upbeat of the group, still has to contend with the FantasticRacism that most of Spira holds toward her people, and constantly frets over Yuna's [[spoiler:impending suicide.]]