History YMMV / FinalFantasyX

** The Demonolith's Breath is the enemy version of Kimahri's Stone Breath, and just as deadly. If you don't have an active aeon or your characters aren't wearing Stoneproof armor, Breath will petrify the entire party, ending the game.

** 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 one's parents is valued 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 someone else's family affairs. 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 America, it's completely different. A phase when teenagers resent or "hate" their parents is so common it's practically considered a normal part of child development, and therefore Tidus talking about how he "hates his Dad" is not taken as seriously, and is often dismissed as whining from an angsty kid with [[WellDoneSonGuy "daddy issues"]]. Meanwhile, Jecht is viewed as a MemeticBadass (especially by male fans) who rightly calls Tidus out for being a scrawny, wimpy crybaby.

** Encountering the dark aeons in the International version. Even with all the {{Infinity Plus One Sword}}s, you need the right armor and a ''lot'' of Sphere LevelGrinding (or Yojimbo and a hell of a lot of gil) to even stand a chance against the weakest one. As a [[SarcasmMode bonus]], that weakest one (Dark Valefor) is blocking the path to Besaid, so if you missed anything valuable there (such as solving the Sphere of Destruction puzzle, getting the Jecht Sphere or Valefor's second Overdrive), well, good luck. And God help you if you missed [[spoiler:the Sun Crest in the place where you fight Yunalesca]] on Zanarkand, as you'll be dealing with Dark Bahamut if you try to return there. And even if you've been knocking down dark aeons left and right, Penance is a completely different fight even with all character stats maxed out. Whittling down all of its 12 million HP (for comparison, the story's FinalBoss by this point can be taken out with less than three hits), as well as contending with its regenerating, independently-acting arms to throw every conceivable debuff your way, will take at least half an hour and lots of strategizing to avoid being completely wiped out.

* EventObscuringCamera: the very last room of TheVeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon is fairly simple: There are icicles exploding up from the floor, and you have to dodge them, whilst simultaneously there are round crystals coalescing out of thin air -- and dissolving back into it -- that you have to collect. Get 9 of them and you go to the FinalBoss. The reason it's a LuckBasedMission is that the camera is ''constantly panning'', making it hard to see everything in the room, and also meaning that trying to maneuver around the camera can result in running into icicles which sprouted behind the fourth wall.

** In the west, Wakka is a well-liked character. In Japan? He was [[https://www.gamerbraves.com/final-fantasy-character-poll-reveals-wakka-as-japans-second-favorite-character/ ranked number 2 on an official character poll in 2022!]] Might have to do with Wakka's FountainOfMemes status in Japan.

** Jecht. He was a cocky, macho prick who barely lifted a finger to raise Tidus, and never referred to him as anything but "runt". [[spoiler:But after going through a long journey to save Spira, and sacrificing himself to become the Final Aeon, he spends years as Sin, forced to continue the destruction he had worked to stop until his son arrives to put him out his misery.]] Before that, his spheres reveal that being stuck on Spira gave him a long time to self-reflect. By the end, he had lost all hope of returning home, and decided to [[spoiler:sacrifice his life for the Final Aeon so his death would at least be "useful" for something. Also, he more or less concedes that he was a poor father]].

** Hedy Burress' attempt to lip-sync with the animation is frequently brought up when discussing the quality of the voice acting. On the other hand, it fits pretty well on the ferry to Kilika, since she's trying to chat up Tidus with lines like, "The wind, it's nice," and, "Us meeting like this must be the blessing of Yevon,", so it makes sense for it to be awkward.

* PortingDisaster: The PC Remaster version of the game comes with a few bugs, the most annoying one being the green screen you get instead of the full motion videos. This very well-known bug has never been fixed ever since the game's release. There are also cases of the game not proceeding as it should, such as when Tidus is fighting one-on-one in the lost ruins where you can get stuck in a never ending fight, unable to enter inputs, when Rikku is supposed to appear and help you. Finally, the game can crash, though it seems to be rare. Such issues are absent from the console versions.

** Yojimbo's Zanmato [[OneHitKill instant kill]] attack, much to the shock and horror of players, doesn't merely turn the targets into dissolving masses of pyreflies; it [[HalfTheManHeUsedToBe slices them in half]]!

* {{Squick}}: The Seymour/Yuna relationship is full of subtext about stalking, obsession, molestation, and child husbandry. The attraction is entirely one-sided on Seymour's part, he's much older than Yuna (he's 28; Yuna is 17), and as a Maester of Yevon he holds power and influence over her (which is the only reason Yuna even considered marrying him). During their marriage at Bevelle, Seymour forcibly kisses Yuna while forcing the party (including Tidus) to watch; considering a famous interpretation of Tidus and Yuna's kiss at Lake Macalania (which is right after Bevelle) is that it's GRatedSex, the implications of Seymour's kiss are deeply uncomfortable, especially with the look of smug satisfaction he gives Tidus afterward.

** 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.

** Any attack which "ejects" a party member for the remainder of the battle, since that party member cannot be replaced and/or revived, leaving you with only two active fighters at a time, or if you're really unlucky, only ''one''. Or, when fighting underwater, attacks with Stonetouch, since the same thing happens. (The character shatters into bits instantly.) Geosgaeno and Shinryu both have such an attack. The Stone Status in main battles are no slouch either, as any type of attack to the afflicted character will also shatter them.
** Cactuars' 10,000 Needles attack. It deals a FixedDamageAttack of [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin 10,000 points]] to a single target, exactly one point higher than the normal HP cap. It can't be protected against like "Death"-type moves can, either. Yeowch.

** 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).

** The demonolith's Breath is the enemy version of Kimahri's Stone Breath, and just as deadly. If you don't have an active aeon or your characters aren't wearing Stoneproof armor, Breath will petrify the entire party, ending the game.

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

** The games RelationshipValues system can cause 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 Lulu. It makes anyone besides Yuna being the highest in the total points feel like it comes out of no where.

** 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). As a result, there's a divide between those who like the plot and who think that the voice acting, as well as other flaws, are easy to ignore and don't detract from the experience and those who like the plot, but feel that the voice acting and the game's other flaws make the game hard to enjoy
** A lot of fans were salty that the first fully-voiced ''FF'' title got a seemingly-inferior English dub. Especially considering that anime was really blowing up in the west and was miles ahead in presentation. Still, for all the flak JAT gets, he's at least playing the character as written. In fact, most of the main cast is well-cast and well-acted. Hedy Burress is the weak link here: she ''cannot'' do emotional turbulence and that's a problem in a pair of games that are supposed to be an [[CerebusRollerCoaster emotional roller-coaster]]. It's also kind of weird/funny that they picked someone who can't carry a tune to play a world-famous Songtress in ''X-2'', though they did dub over Hedy in [=FMVs=].

*** Given how hair-pullingly frustrating the first game is, firing the Besaid Aurochs for their incompetence can also be pretty satisfying even if you lose. Replacing them with actual skilled blitzers like [[GameBreaker Brother]] and then hammering the oppposition that previously made your life miserable is also a lot of fun.

** 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 character's reaction 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 forcing himself to laugh...because he doesn't have a lot to be happy about. Tidus and Yuna immediately descend into genuine laughter afterwards, further reinforcing that the fakeness was intentional.

** 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. In short, Zanmato-based strategies are less about paying him tons of Gil at once and more about a commitment to deploying him and treating him with respect and steady income -- basically TheThemeParkVersion of how mercenaries work.

** Most endgame parties will end up having Tidus, Wakka, and/or Rikku, if not just all three. Tidus' Blitz Ace/Slice and Dice and Wakka's Attack Reels are two of the most damaging Overdrives in the game beyond what other characters can acquire, making them your best source of DPS, and Rikku's Mix lets her grant the party powerful buffs and fully heal them, making her the best support character. Tidus, Wakka and Rikku are also the only party members who can fight underwater, so using them for the whole game is a good way to make sure they aren't underpowered when the game suddenly [[CharacterSelectForcing forces you to use them,]] like against [[OptionalBoss Geosgaeno]] or [[{{Superboss}} Shinryu]]. Fourth place goes to Yuna, as her aeons are invaluable as meat shields against some of the games most devastating attacks your party otherwise cannot survive (such as Dark Anima's Oblivion, or the Dark Magus Sister's Delta Attack). Fifth place goes to Auron, whose Tornado Overdrive is good against groups of enemies and his Celestial Weapon comes with First Strike and Counter-Attack, and since Tidus and Wakka's Celestial Weapons have Evade & Counter, this creates an entire party that will counter enemy hits with an attack of their own.

* EvilIsCool: The aeons themselves are already very cool, but this game introduces the dark aeons - evil counterparts to them with different coloring and monstrous stats. The scenes and battles with them tend to have deliciously [[NightmareFuel nightmarish]] moments and epic music.

** In the West, Wakka is a well-liked character. In Japan? He was [[https://www.gamerbraves.com/final-fantasy-character-poll-reveals-wakka-as-japans-second-favorite-character/ ranked number 2 on an official character poll in 2022!]] Might have to do with Wakka's FountainOfMemes status in Japan.

** Sand Worms are not particularly dangerous, but they have an obnoxious [[DamageSpongeBoss 45,000 HP]], more than most bosses you will encounter later, and are capable of ejecting a party member by swallowing them whole, making the fight ''even longer''. They are vulnerable to {{Percent Damage Attack}}s, but you won't have Demi at this point unless you've been grinding a lot, so your only options are tossing a few Shadow Gems (depletes 50% of all enemies' current HP) at them to make things go faster. They're not a particularly common item, but they can stolen from worms. Or just poison them. They have an UndergroundMonkey variant, the Land Worm, which has 80,000 HP; but it's only found past the PointOfNoReturn, at which point you've probably been preparing for the {{Final Boss}}es and can make quick work of them, or went on sidequests and have weapons and Overdrives that will kill them in a single turn.

** The [=PS4=] version had a faulty [[RandomNumberGod random number generator]], meaning some stuff that is normally left up to random chance...isn't. Some people were actually annoyed when Sony ''fixed'' the bug, due to its usefulness: Players using the nonrandom results will always be able to open all twelve chests in the Omega Ruins (normally a 1/240 chance of success, with the result determined the moment players first enter the Ruins). The prize for doing so is 99 Warp Spheres, allowing characters to teleport to anywhere on the Sphere Grid they want, as much as they want. As such, it can be advantageous to delete the 1.01 patch which fixes the error before entering the Ruins, take the chests and then reinstall the update, heh heh.

** Wakka spends much of the game ranting about the Al Bhed, accusing them of crimes against Yevon and preventing humanity from "atoning" for the heresy that produced Sin. [[spoiler: He later finds out that the Grand Maester of Yevon is an Unsent, and Wakka has to participate in the slaying of both Maester Seymour ''and'' Lady Yunalesca]] (Yuna's namesake and the co-founder of his religion). Which naturally gets Wakka branded as a traitor to Yevon. He ends up sympathizing with the Al Bhed after they fall victim to an unjust massacre by the Guado. ''Then'' he has to ride in a "forbidden Machina"...then learns that Yuna is half Al Bhed...then learns that the great Sir Jecht [[spoiler:is Sin and that he was responsible for killing his little brother Chappu]].
--->'''Wakka:''' I, uh...I think I'll just pretend I didn't hear nothing. I'm getting a little confused, ya? Why...[[TraumaCongaLine Why'd all this have to happen?]]

** 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!" [[CharacterCatchphrase 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 [[Franchise/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 sadly, [[DroppedABridgeOnHim they die shortly after that]].]]

** Kimahri. His Ronso Rages (read: Blue Magic; [[PowerCopying copying certain enemy skills]]) are few, you won't get to use them much since they're Overdrives, and the ones that ''could'' hypothetically be useful are outdone by the skills and Overdrives of other characters (for example, Mighty Guard is entirely outclassed by Rikku's Mighty G line of Mixes that offer far more stat buffs). Otherwise, he's meant to be a JackOfAllStats who can slip into the Sphere Grids of other characters, but moving him around so much like that would be very resource intensive, and even when he's focused into just one character's skills he'll inevitably be inferior to them since it takes time to get him into their section of the Grid that they're using to advance through it. His main utility will end up being a shallow clone of Auron or Rikku, since they join the party later in the game and Kimahri is your default third physical fighter before Auron joins; once the party is filled out, Kimahri will probably get set aside unless needed for specific circumstances. Worse still, the process of obtaining his InfinityPlusOneSword is just as difficult as obtaining Lulu's.

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

** An odd inverse Type 2 in regards to the voice acting. There's a lack of ExecutiveMeddling when it would have been beneficial. Many of the flaws stem from the actors running on their own ideas and concerns: JAT came up with the idea of [[VocalEvolution starting Tidus off with his whiny tone and gradually deepening his voice]]; John Dimaggio invented Wakka's weird accent, which no one else uses (apart from his brother Chappu in ''X-2''); and Hedy Buress was hopelessly trying to match up her lines with Yuna's lip flaps (resulting in Yuna's HongKongDub). But it's the job of the voice director to worry about things like this, or at least to try and keep the actors' ideas consistent with each other.

* MisaimedFandom: Jecht. What was intended of him for the story and what the audience saw him as are two different things. In the story, Jecht is a boorish, overgrown kid who can do only one thing well: He can hit a ball. The point of his journey was to strip Jecht of his creature comforts and throw him into a world where he has to rely on his wits to survive -- not to mention getting thrown in jail for heresy, forcing him to join a ragtag duo on their trip to Zanarkand. Initially tagging along only to get home, Jecht forms a camraderie with these men and undergoes a change in personality, e.g. kicking the bottle after his vices prove to be a liability to the group, and coming to regret how he treated Tidus. The Jecht fandom focus mainly on his manlier aspects, and even ''glorify'' his abrasive personality pre-Spira; players who dislike Tidus may take delight in Jecht brow-beating him in flashbacks.

** Mika and Kinoc cross it with TheReveal that [[spoiler:Yevon is corrupt from top to bottom, and is governed by Unsents]].

** Rikku saying, "Let's see what ''this'' does" when using Mix.

** Much of the voice acting. While groundbreaking when the game came out due to being the first fully-voiced ''Final Fantasy'' game, the acting was harshly (perhaps ''too'' harshly) criticized from the outset, and is unfavorably compared with the later titles. It's obvious the translators and voice actors are trying to match their dialogue to the MouthFlaps to avoid LipLock, resulting in lines that sound stilted or hurried. And the result ''still'' doesn't match the lip movements very well, so one wonders why they even bothered.

** The dream sequence Tidus has after meeting Yuna involves him being stuck in an ImaginaryLoveTriangle between Yuna and Rikku, only for Jecht to show up and start mocking him about trying to pick up girls. ''Then'' Tidus is suddenly a child yelling at him about how much he hates him while Rikku and Yuna cheer him on. It's so jarring and out of no where that it's incredibly funny, especially for what seemed to be the games attempt to convey Tidus' views on his dad by giving Jecht an EstablishingCharacterMoment.

** Hedy Burress' attempt to lip-sync with the animation is frequently brought up when discussing the quality of the voice acting. On the other hand, it fits pretty well on the ferry to Kilika, since she's trying to chat up Tidus with lines like "Weather is nice" and "God wanted us to meet", so it makes sense for it to be awkward.

* OnceOriginalNowCommon: While the gameplay, storyline, and music still hold up extremely well (and it's considered to have one of the best turn-based battle systems, soundtrack, and even story 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.

* 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.

** 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, but the difficulty of the match is enough to where some people thought it was supposed to be unwinnable.

** 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 one's parents is valued 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 someone else's family affairs. 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 America, it's completely different. A phase when teenagers resent or "hate" their parents is so common it's practically considered a normal part of child development, and therefore Tidus talking about how he "hates his Dad" is not taken as seriously, and is often dismissed as whinging from an angsty kid with [[WellDoneSonGuy "daddy issues"]]. Meanwhile, Jecht is viewed as a MemeticBadass (especially by male fans) who rightly calls Tidus out for being a scrawny, wimpy crybaby.

** This goes as far as the Church of Yevon and TheReveal that [[spoiler:they're continuing the cycle willingly out of fatalistic defeatism, and in order to keep power for themselves]]. Both Japanese and western audiances can agree this is a bad thing, but the difference is that many in the West likely see Yevon as [[CrystalDragonJesus an analog of Christianity]]. Therefore the revelation [[spoiler:that they are a CorruptChurch]] can come off as a CaptainObvious reveal because [[spoiler: Christianity as a whole, and organized religion in particular, is almost always portrayed as cruel, deceptive, and hypocritical in mainstream Western media]]. 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, which are central to a lot of eastern religions. To Japan, the idea of refusing to accept the inevitable and breaking the cycle is truly revolutionary, and in defiance of a lot of commonly-held ideas there, making the point where [[spoiler:Tidus and the group betray the Church to end the cycle]] all the more poignant to Japanese players.

** You haven't seen a RuleThirtyFour thread on 4chan until you've seen someone request Tidus and Jecht.

* UglyCute: When spotted head-on, Sin's face has a pug-like (if pugs were covered in eyes) CatSmile which is slightly adorable.

* ValuesResonance: On a flip of the above, though he is still a BaseBreakingCharacter, increasing discussion and criticism of [[MachoMasochism toxic masculinity]] in the years following the game's release have made Tidus more relatable to Western players, as well for [[https://femhype.wordpress.com/2015/10/13/tidus-video-games-answer-to-toxic-masculinity/ subverting the stereotype of men not being allowed to show emotion other than anger]]. Meanwhile, with emotional and mental health awareness on the rise, it's being recognized that even if he didn't ''physically'' hurt Tidus (as far as is known), Jecht's manner of parenting was still emotionally abusive, which is just as harmful and something a child would struggle with well into adulthood. The game is, in UsefulNotes/TheNewTens and beyond, seen as having been a bit ahead of its time in being willing to discuss the concept so frankly.

** Most endgame parties will end up having Tidus, Wakka, and/or Rikku, if not just all three. Tidus' Blitz Ace/Slice and Dice and Wakka's Attack Reels are two of the most damaging Overdrives in the game beyond what other characters can acquire, making them your best source of DPS, and Rikku's Mix lets her grant the party powerful buffs and fully heal them, making her the best support character.
Tidus, Wakka and Rikku are also the only party members who can fight underwater, so using them for the whole game is a good way to make sure they aren't underpowered when the game suddenly [[CharacterSelectForcing forces you to use them,]] like against [[OptionalBoss Geosgaeno]] or [[{{Superboss}} Shinryu]]. Fourth place goes to Yuna, as her aeons are invaluable as meat shields against some of the games most devastating attacks your party otherwise cannot survive (such as Dark Anima's Oblivion, or the Dark Magus Sister's Delta Attack). Fifth place goes to Auron, whose Tornado Overdrive is good against groups of enemies and his Celestial Weapon comes with First Strike and Counter-Attack, and since Tidus and Wakka's Celestial Weapons have Evade & Counter, this creates an entire party that will counter enemy hits with an attack of their own.

** Most endgame parties will end up having Tidus, Wakka, and/or Rikku, if not just all three. Tidus' Blitz Ace/Slice and Dice and Wakka's Attack Reels are two of the most damaging Overdrives in the game beyond what other characters can acquire, making them your best source of DPS, and Rikku's Mix lets her grant the party powerful buffs and fully heal them, making her the best support character. Fourth place goes to Yuna, as her aeons are invaluable as meat shields against some of the games most devastating attacks your party otherwise cannot survive (such as Dark Anima's Oblivion, or the Dark Magus Sister's Delta Attack). Fifth place goes to Auron, whose Tornado Overdrive is good against groups of enemies and his Celestial Weapon comes with First Strike and Counter-Attack, and since Tidus and Wakka's Celestial Weapons have Evade & Counter, this creates an entire party that will counter enemy hits with an attack of their own. Tidus, Wakka and Rikku are also the only party members who can fight underwater, so using them for the whole game is a good way to make sure they aren't underpowered when the game suddenly [[CharacterSelectForcing forces you to use them,]] like against [[OptionalBoss Geosgaeno]] or [[{{Superboss}} Shinryu]].