History YMMV / FinalFantasyX

** At the game's release, Tidus was an unpopular character in the West and frequently derided as a whiner with "daddy issues." More recently, players have seen Tidus as someone who's grappling with the effects of childhood abuse due to both verbal abuse and negligence. Back in the 2000s, Tidus' detractors would go so far as to claim that Jecht's treatment of him was okay because he was a "whiny kid", but fewer people are willing to justify the repeated verbal abuse of a grade-schooler these days, now that there is a greater understanding of the ramifications of emotional and verbal abuse. Additionally, Tidus' constant questioning of Spira and its customs are more appreciated now as an integral part of the game's theme about questioning authority.
** Conversely, Jecht's initial reception was as a role model for RatedMForManly and Tidus' complaints had no grounds because Jecht was a strong, cool guy who made a HeroicSacrifice for his friend, ignoring that the Jecht Tidus knew had gone through none of the CharacterDevelopment that turned him into the Jecht who volunteered to be the Final Aeon. These days, people are more likely to pay attention to the parts of the game that criticize Jecht for being selfish and holding a child under 10 to impossible standards. While he's still considered a tragic figure, these days part of his tragedy is that he only realized that he ''was'' a bad father after it was too late to repair the relationship.

** The games RelationshipValues system can case this depending on the players choices at points. Sometimes characters ask Tidus his thoughts on an ongoing subject, which tend to have different results that factor into a hidden mechanic. Most of these don't really factor in until the end of the game, and feel out of place or sudden. For example: Lulu can make very flirty comments towards Tidus near the final dungeon, even though Tidus has firmly gotten with Yuna by that point, because the RelationshipValues are skewed towards Yuna. It makes anyone besides Yuna being the highest awkward and out of place.

** [[https://youtu.be/F0QWJxaqmAg Wakka singing about Tidus' love parts.]][[labelnote:Explanation]]In 2022, Wakka became a FountainOfMemes in Japan. What set off the trend was this video of Wakka singing "Connect" by Claris, singing about how good Tidus' "love" is.[[/labelnote]]

** The game's only mandatory blitzball match will indisputably be [[EarlyGameHell the hardest one you'll ever play]]. The Luca Goers are superior to the Besaid Aurochs in every way save for Tidus and Wakka, and you only get one of them at a time. You have no time to practice beforehand, just a tutorial for the controls, so first-time players will barely understand how to play anyway. Winning pretty much requires the player to use Tidus to score a goal in the first half of the match and then playing keep away to run out the clock. If players get the Jecht Shot beforehand, they'll have a much easier time, thankfully.

* BigLippedAlligatorMoment: The fact that Kimahri 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.

** The culmination of the pilgrimage has you fighting against [[spoiler:Lady Yunalesca, who the party rejects for her "false hope" and belief that the cycle can never end]]. Not only it a pivotal scene in the game, the boss undergoes a OneWingedAngel not once but twice, and it's set to the percussive "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1vxkGfKc_80 Challenge]]". The scene which precedes the fight also has Yuna and Auron delivering two memorably badass speeches about [[DareToBeBadass living without false hope and fighting for what they believe is right]].

** 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 many audiences from the Western hemisphere likely see Yevon as a [[CrystalDragonJesus take on Christianity]], so the revelation can come off as a CaptainObvious reveal because [[spoiler:Western media is not shy about using the CorruptChurch trope]]. But the truth is that Yevon has ''far'' more [[UsefulNotes/{{Shinto}} Shintoist]] and [[UsefulNotes/{{Buddhism}} Buddhist]] philosophy going on and serves as a {{Deconstruction}} of the idea of EternalRecurrence and infinitely persisting cycles of destruction and decay that are central to a lot of eastern religions. 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 players and players from other regions all around the world with cultures deeply rooted in regions.

** 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 many audiences from the Western hemisphere likely see Yevon as a [[CrystalDragonJesus take on Christianity]], so the revelation can come off as a CaptainObvious reveal because [[spoiler:Western media is not shy about using the CorruptChurch trope]]. But the truth is that Yevon has ''far'' more [[UsefulNotes/{{Shinto}} Shintoist]] and [[UsefulNotes/{{Buddhism}} Buddhist]] philosophy going on and serves as a {{Deconstruction}} of the idea of EternalRecurrence and infinitely persisting cycles of destruction and decay that are central to a lot of eastern religions. 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 players and players from other regions with societies deeply rooted in regions.

** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIII'' and its two direct sequels would later be criticized for, among other things, a very linear world as well as lore and backstory that can seem impenetrable at times. Those things got part of their start here, though their execution was vastly different and not as pronounced here, and between that and a turn-based battle system which sticks close to the classic games, ''X'' is much less divisive among the fandom. [[FranchiseOriginalSin/FinalFantasy While Exploration was largely an illusion even in the franchise's earliest games]], as even if the prior games gave players two or three different directions to go, most of those directions were blocked off or didn't provide them with much to do until more of the game is unlocked. You still have to find the path to a degree, but the game always locked you on the same course. The general feeling regarding ''X'' specifically is that gave an in-story justification for the more linear nature of the main story, and had its side-quests more evenly spread throughout the journey, alongside towns with shops to visit and [=NPCs=] to interact with, whereas ''XIII'' simply [[NoSidepathsNoExplorationNoFreedom lacks any side content for much of the game and has its shops relegated to just its save points]]. Regarding the complexity of the lore, while also possessing a complex lore and backstory, ''X'' avoids ''XIII''[='s] pitfall of info dumping it into Datalogs for the player to read outside the game. [=YouTube=] analyst Design Doc does a compare-and-contrast [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QMZMJDFe1kc here]].

* GoddamnedBoss: With enough LevelGrinding and upgraded Celestial Weapons, the Monster Arena creations (aside from most of the original ones, who are on a whole other difficulty level) can actually be a cakewalk. The same cannot be said for the Species Creation Jumbo Flan. Immune to physical attacks? You can just use magic, except it has Auto-Reflect, meaning you have either to cast Ultima (pierces Reflect) or set up Reflect on your own party to bounce magic at it (magic can only be reflected once). Alternatively, you can use special attacks such as Overdrives or Anima's Pain, but this still needs high stats to do decent damage. And even if you can hit the damage cap of 99,999 with each hit, it will still take 14 turns for Jumbo Flan to finally fall. You'll need high Magic Defense if you want to survive Jumbo Flan's own devastating magic. It makes you feel like farming for Magic Spheres (Jumbo Flan's drop) is more cumbersome than farming for Fortune and Luck Spheres (against Originals the Earth Eater and Greater Sphere, respectively).

** Playing through the game a second time and knowing [[spoiler:that Yuna's pilgrimage will end with her sacrifice]] changes your perception of many early scenes. Especially leaving Besaid and any time Tidus mentions to Yuna what she should do after she defeats Sin. Interestingly enough, flashbacks show us that [[GenerationXerox Jecht did the exact same thing with Braska]]. Both Yuna and her father "just smile" in response.

* SequelDifficultyDrop: This is considered to be one of the easiest games in the series, as many random encounters can be cleared in a single round if you use a party that is appropriately leveled and tailored to the enemies' weaknesses (for example, Auron for armored fiends, Lulu for flans and Rikku for machina), and when they get their [[InfinityPlusOneSword ultimate weapons]], they’ve become near-unstoppable. The fact that the party members could use Yuna’s summons as tanks to absorb enemy damage definitely helps, as they’re also powerful in their own right.

** 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 Western audiences likely see Yevon as a [[CrystalDragonJesus take on Christianity]], so the revelation can come off as a CaptainObvious reveal because [[spoiler:Western media is not shy about using the CorruptChurch trope]]. But the truth is that Yevon has ''far'' more [[UsefulNotes/{{Shinto}} Shintoist]] and [[UsefulNotes/{{Buddhism}} Buddhist]] philosophy going on and serves as a {{Deconstruction}} of the idea of EternalRecurrence and infinitely persisting cycles of destruction and decay that are central to a lot of eastern religions. 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.

** The non-European setting and world-building are unique and top-notch, a combination of Okinawan, Caribbean, Indonesian, and other cultural influences. It's fun going to each new city talking to [=NPCs=] for the hell of it; it feels like Square Enix made a living world. Unfortunately, it's a very linear world. Even then, many fans don't mind the linearity, believing it's justified in the story context of a solemn pilgrimage.[[note]]The game itself throws in a scene near the end which reflects the players' general disappointment with the linearity. Tidus notes Yuna would often just stare off into the distance, knowing she'll never see these places again.[[/note]]

** Many of the things that ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIII'' and its two direct sequels would later be criticized for -- a very linear world as well as lore and backstory that can seem impenetrable at times -- actually got their start here. However, they're not as pronounced here, and between that and a turn-based battle system which sticks close to the classic games, ''X'' is less divisive among the fandom. The general feeling is that ''X'' gave an in-story justification for the more linear nature of the main story, and had its side-quests more evenly spread throughout the journey, whereas ''XIII'' simply [[NoSidepathsNoExplorationNoFreedom lacks any side content]] for much of the game. [=YouTube=] analyst Design Doc does a compare-and-contrast [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QMZMJDFe1kc here]].

* VindicatedByHistory: At the time of its release, ''X'' was well-received by fans but became the source of a lot of ridicule due to things like the voice acting, story, characters and setting, as well as the lack of freedom (especially in the later half). For many years, it was subject to a hardline BrokenBase that either adored it or despised it, with the game's flaws bringing plenty of mockery from its detractors. Years later, many detractors reevaluated their assessment of the game and found the more nuanced story and characters, as well as the gameplay innovations, as refreshingly unique (and, in many ways, ahead of their time).[[note]]For example, the lack of a pilotable airship was criticized for the removal of immersion, as well as adding more linearity to a game that already had plenty. However, since then, Fast Travel has easily become a must-have feature to avoid tiresome backtracking, making the destination menu in ''FFX'' seem less out of place and even innovative for its time.[[/note]] The fact that ''X'' was, in many ways, the last "traditional" ''Final Fantasy'' compared to the games after helped to win over both former detractors and curious new fans that started with the HD version. Over time, perception shifted whereas praise replaced mockery as the default reaction to the game, earning it a spot as one of the most well-received entries in the series, with a poll in [[https://finalfantasy.fandom.com/wiki/All_Final_Fantasy_Big_Vote 2020 flat out having it voted the best game in the series]].

* SeinfeldIsUnfunny: While the gameplay still holds up (it's considered to have one of the best turn-based battle systems in the series), it's hard to appreciate nowadays how much of a risk voice acting was back around the turn of the millennium. These days, it suffers a ''lot'' from LipLock (especially with Yuna) or HongKongDub.
** The presentation itself also fell victim to this. In 2001, the game's opening was ''mind blowing'', having fully motion captured character animations and subtle facial expressions. The "this is my story" scene was practically a tech demo of showing how far [=Squaresoft=] had come without having to totally rely on pre-rendered cinematics to have big emotional highlights with character models like prior games. But TechnologyMarchesOn, and within only three years after this game's release, other series rapidly caught up to and showed up ''Final Fantasy X'' in presentation, and by today's standards it becomes incredibly obvious where Square had to cut corners to get higher quality scenes elsewhere.

** The nature of Dream Zanarkand has caused many players to refer to anyone from it as simply DreamPeople who don't really exist. While true to an extent, the game also makes it clear that in truth, the people made from Dream Zanarkand and the Fayth are real, and are not to different from the Aeons Summoners use. This is why Tidus can see his mother in the Farplane despite her death and being from Dream Zanarkand. The confusion largely stems from how the game calls Tidus a dream, making it seem like he never really existed, when in truth he is a dream, but does actually exist.

** Perhaps the most notable example occurs in the final scene between Yuna and Tidus. In the Japanese script, the final thing she says to him as he [[spoiler:begins to fade away]] is "Thank you." In the International version, this was changed to an AnguishedDeclarationOfLove. This was viewed by many as an appropriate deviation for a couple of reasons. For one, in Japanese, love is rarely expressed directly in words but rather communicated by actions and subtext (although like everything else, it depends on the person, regardless of country or culture). The actions Yuna had taken earlier, such as making a VideoWill in which she discussed how painful love is in reference to Tidus, as well as her behavior in this scene, would have already made it abundantly clear to players how she felt, with her expressing her gratitude being a culturally appropriate way to handle such a painful moment. In western cultures, a "thank you", no matter how heartfelt, just doesn't carry the same emotional weight as it does in Japanese. Despite all of this, however, some still see it as a {{Macekre}}, since, context aside, while she says one thing in the Japanese version, she does say something completely different in the English version.

** Yojimbo's Zanmato attack is often said to require paying an exorbitant amount of Gil in one turn for him to use it. While money is certainly a factor in getting him to use it, it is not the only factor, and some [[GuideDangIt hidden variables]] are involved; things like making sure he doesn't die, not dismissing him the turn you summon him, and always paying him enough for him to use Wakizashi also contribute to his likelihood of using Zanmato for even as low as 1,000 Gil on the turn that he uses it. In fact, [[DiminishingReturnsForBalance the variable that increases when you pay him money requires exponentially more Gil for each +1 increment]], so throwing him hundreds of millions of Gil is in fact one of the ''least'' efficient ways to get him to use Zanmato.

** A more minor example is Biran and Yenke, the two Ronso who [[TheBully bullied]] Kimahri while he was growing up, and then continued that same behavior throughout the game. Their cartoonishly idiotic voices (especially when they say their “Hornless! Hornless!” {{Catchphrase}}) combined with their [[EvilIsPetty petty]] behaviors in general make them come across as oddly lovable buffoon bullies, similar to the likes of [[Franchise/PowerRangers Bulk and Skull]] or [[Film/BackToTheFuture Biff Tannen]]. [[spoiler:And then it ends up being quite cathartic to finally defeat them in their two-on-one battle against Kimahri, prompting them both to pull a HeelFaceTurn and finally respect him. Though [[DroppedABridgeOnHim they die shortly after that]], sadly.]]

** Yojimbo's Zanmato attack is often said to require paying an exorbitant amount of Gil in one turn for him to use it. While money is certainly a factor in getting him to use it, it is not the only factor, and some [[GuideDangIt hidden variables]] are involved; things like making sure he doesn't die, not dismissing him the turn you summon him, and always paying him enough for him to use Wakizashi also contribute to his likelihood of using Zanmato for even as low as 1,000 Gil on the turn that he uses it.

** Yojimbo's Zanmato attack is often said to require paying an exorbitant amount of Gil in one turn for him to use it. While money is certainly a factor in getting him to use it, it is not the only factor, and some [[GuideDangIt hidden variables]] are involved; things like making sure he doesn't day, not dismissing him the turn you summon him, and always paying him enough for him to use Wakizashi also contribute to his likelihood of using Zanmato for even as low as 1,000 Gil on the turn that he uses it.

** Jecht was a drunken egomaniac who mostly ignored or emotionally abused his son. He got better, true, but many fans like to rate him as [[RatedMForManly the pinnacle of manliness]] or claim that he was a good role model, or that it was Tidus' fault for not living up to Jecht's expectations.

** 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 adore him as a RatedMForManly MemeticBadass, while Tidus is seen as a {{Wangst}}y {{Bishonen}}. The result is that Tidus' issues with Jecht are often marginalized as [[WellDoneSonGuy daddy issues]], and Jecht's treatment of him is earned because he's right about Tidus being a scrawny, wimpy crybaby.

* 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.[[note]]Normally this would be a OneHitKill, but [[ContractualBossImmunity it's immune to instant death]]. Not that it really matters much here.[[/note]] Toss two Phoenix Downs or two X-potions at it and it goes down without much effort on your part. This is actually the ''more rewarding'' method of defeating it, as if you try to defeat it the conventional way, you not only have to navigate a side route full of locked gates, but you [[PermanentlyMissableContent permanently miss out]] on a few pieces of nice equipment.

* 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.[[note]]Normally this would be a OneHitKill, but [[ContractualBossImmunity it's immune to instant death. Not that it really matters much here.[[/note]] Toss two Phoenix Downs or two X-potions at it and it goes down without much effort on your part. This is actually the ''more rewarding'' method of defeating it, as if you try to defeat it the conventional way, you not only have to navigate a side route full of locked gates, but you [[PermanentlyMissableContent permanently miss out]] on a few pieces of nice equipment.

* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic: [[AwesomeMusic/FinalFantasy Like all Final Fantasy games]], the entire soundtrack. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=33IR1eUUC08 "Battle with Seymour"]], in particular, really gets the blood pumping. Didn't make it into ''[[VideoGame/DissidiaF* BestBossEver

Dissonance

* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic: [[AwesomeMusic/FinalFantasy Like all Final Fantasy games]], the entire soundtrack. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=33IR1eUUC08 "Battle with Seymour"]], in particular, really gets the blood pumping. Didn't make it into ''[[VideoGame/DissidiaFinalFantasy Dissidia]]'' for nothing.
* BaseBreakingCharacter: Spend five minutes on a ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'' forum and you will quickly discover that Tidus is one of the most polarizing main protagonists in the franchise's history. The commonly cited reasons include: Creator/JamesArnoldTaylor's whiny voice, his daddy issues, his HotBlooded characterization which comes across as stupid, and the [[RummageSaleReject tackiness of his design]] in general. However, fans of the character either don't mind the voice/enjoy the contrast between early and late Tidus, find his anger toward Jecht both understandable and relatable, and note that he matures as the story goes on. He got over his hatred of his father in the original game, and honored him in the CD Drama by wearing his
* BestBossEver

* BaseBreakingCharacter: Spend five minutes on a ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'' forum and you will quickly discover that Tidus is one of the most polarizing main protagonists in the franchise's history. The commonly cited reasons include: Creator/JamesArnoldTaylor's whiny voice, his daddy issues, his HotBlooded characterization which comes across as stupid, and the [[RummageSaleReject tackiness of his design]] in general. However, fans of the character either don't mind the voice/enjoy the contrast between early and late Tidus, find his anger toward Jecht both understandable and relatable, and note that he matures as the story goes on. He got over his hatred of his father in the original game, and honored him in the CD Drama by wearing his bandana. His romance with Yuna is likewise considered either one of the best (with even her English voice actress acknowledging the necessity of the romance plot) or worst in the series. Finally, [[spoiler:his HeroicSacrifice]] is either a sad moment or a cathartic TakeThatScrappy for his haters.
* BestBossEver:
** The culmination of the pilgrimage has you fighting against [[spoiler:Lady Yunalesca, who the party rejects for her "false hope" and belief that the cycle can never end]]. Not only is it a pivotal scene in the game, the boss undergoes a OneWingedAngel not once but twice, and it's set to the percussive "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1vxkGfKc_80 Challenge]]". The scene which precedes the fight also has Yuna and Auron delivering two memorably badass speeches about [[DareToBeBadass living without false hope and fighting for what they believe is right]].

** Jecht, especially in the West. One of the few explicitly-manly characters in the ''Final Fantasy'' series, along with his BadassBaritone.

* 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. This is actually the ''more rewarding'' method of defeating it, as if you try to defeat it the conventional way, you not only have to navigate a side route full of locked gates, but you [[PermanentlyMissableContent permanently miss out]] on a few pieces of nice equipment.