Final Fantasy X

Cecil's stupidity was related to multiple events in the game that left my jaw hanging in more recent years. Trusting the tyranny of the King of Baron is understandable in his character arc, and not necessarily stupid, just a bit naive.

No, my issues with Cecil being rock stupid are:

1. Leaving Rosa and Rydia behind. Twice. Because they were women. The first time is somewhat understandable though still stupid. The second time is just insane. 2. The earth crystal incident. Golbez has proven at this point in time he is not remotely trustworthy. Cecil trusts him anyway. Golbez gets the Earth Crystal and...once again proves he was lying again. 3. Turning his back on a defeated Golbez...who just takes the Crystal he came for anyway. W. T. F. Not as bad in the original when it was just a hand...

BTW, as several people have noted, Tidus was getting away with some of what he did because they all assumed he was nuts. They still didn't treat him nicely - for example, most of the people of Besaid shunned him after he broke the taboo to enter the temple. Lulu flat out didn't trust him and pretty much assumed the only reason Wakka was keeping him around was because of the loss of Chappu. It took a long time before she warmed up to Tidus, and the game never acted as if this was a character flaw either.

Finally, Tidus' action was just another point the game was making about how brainwashed the people of Spira were into the cycle of destruction. Tidus ran into the temple out of concern that Yuna was in danger. We were told in the game that the Summoners could in fact die in the temple. The people went along with it because they were told it was necessary for Yevon's will. Tidus, not being brainwashed into this, saw no reason to just leave a teenaged girl to fend for herself in a death trap.

I don't remember anything about him leaving anyone behind because they were women. If you could please further cite Cecil's sexism.

Goodness, my whole day is getting in the way of me playing Final Fantasy X. This is terrible. Not only that, but people are giving me new posts to respond to to remind me of it!:X

edited 9th Nov '10 4:42:34 PM by Ukonkivi

"Regarding XIII being optimistic: Wah? This is the one where everything the heroes do plays right into the villain's hands until the end, where everyone falls into despair every 5 minutes, And where 2 main characters kind of die (sort of) at the end. Blowing things up and hoping for the best is pretty much all the characters could do in that game, and apart from Snow, who as I mentioned earlier is a complete fucktard, none of them are too optimistic about their chances."

The entire last chapter was filled with "believe in yourself" speech after "believe in yourself" speech, it's on optimism overload.

^^ In Fabul, Rydia and Rosa were dismissed to be "healers". The party got trounced. Then after defeating the Giant of Bab-il, Cecil told Rydia and Rosa to stay behind on Earth. He got called out on it the second time.

I will always bang my head on the wall when anyone, Spoony included, claims that Tidus isn't important to the game's story. As people here have argued, he made the entire outcome possible! In the end, it WAS (at least partially) his story. The Fayth chose him to play the role of Spira's savior and for his father to be the one he'd face to make that salvation happen. That was his entire purpose and he embraced that in the end without whining.

That last part bears repeating; the one thing that it would feel justified to angst about (him being a dream who will fade from existance once his role is played) and he accepted in and ended up sacrificing himself instead of Yuna. Now that is Character Development for ya.

Disagree with Rebochan about Auron, though. What makes him cool is not just that he's Bad Ass, it's that he totally sells being Bad Ass. Longcoat, shades, big sword, whiskey bottle, gruff voice, Bad Ass Mentor role, Deadpan Snarker, everything! That and his backstory and role in the present storyline is really intriguing.

edited 9th Nov '10 5:58:03 PM by ManwiththePlan

Oh Tidus serves a role. It's just a role that Auron could have made irrelevant with one sentence of dialogue with Yna.

I get the intent; I really do. You neeed someone outside the setting, who had not been indoctrinated by "the system" and thus could offer fresh perspectives and ideas to the other characters and thus make them consider alternatives.

I just don't think that was handled well because the only reason such a being is necessary is because the one guy who could tell everyone the truth chooses not to.

Why? The only answer is Plot-Induced Stupidity.

edited 9th Nov '10 6:14:45 PM by Nikkolas

Not "one line of dialog". It would have taken rewriting most of the game.

Okay. Let's say Auron tells everyone the truth from the beginning. Who exactly is going to believe him? On top of that, he's an Unsent, so he can be easily dispatched by any of the Summoners offended by his blasphemy.

Plus there's zero character development for him. It's already finished at the start of the game. He wants revenge. That's it. It's no loss to him if Dream Zanarkand goes bye bye, nothing will happen to him. It is a loss when it's Tidus making a conscious choice to sacrifice his entire existence.

Auron is a terrible main character, and that's why he's not a main character. He can't support it without rewriting everything that makes Auron...Auron.

You can't just send powerful Unsents. Seymour proves that. Not like I'm proposing Auron shout his truth to the heavens anyway. If he was gonna tell anyone it be Yuna. And she'd believe him because she's naive.

And no, it really does just take one line of dialogue.

Auron: When we get to Yunalesca, ask her if Sin will ever go away.

He doesn't even have to tell her. Yunalesca will gladly volunteer the information that the Final Summoning is worthless and pretty much counter-productive.

edited 9th Nov '10 6:49:32 PM by Nikkolas

If just that happened she'd sacrifice herself anyway. It took Tidus' optimism and constant questioning to get her into the state of mind where could consider rejecting Yunalesca.

Eh. Nevermind.

edited 9th Nov '10 7:02:42 PM by Nikkolas

Not to mention this whole "you could replace X character with Y" point is meaningless.

There isn't a single character in fiction whose role couldn't be replaced by someone else. Any writer with half an imagination could pull it off.

I'm sure.

So that topic is boring now.

I rather liked the Yevon religion. One of the best parts of X-2 was examining how much Spira has changed, ans is kind of worse, without them around.

edited 9th Nov '10 7:26:55 PM by Nikkolas

I never played X-2. I never heard much about it except how "girly-girly" it was. I wanted to buy it, but could never find it (which is funny because the base exchange here has a bunch of strategy guides for the game at full price...which is like $20 but still...).

Is it worth buying a used copy to play? Or should I just do what I'm about to do with X (to refresh my memory of the game's storyline) and watch a playthrough/Let's Play on Youtube?

And was the soundtrack any good?  ^*

It's a final fantasy soundtrack; it's good. Though, how much it stacks up to the rest of the series is up to you.

Start menu theme is the best music in X-2.

Best ATB based battle system in the series. Job system is also back, but with the ability to change jobs mid-battle. Equipment is reduced to two accessories and a Garment Grid(you need this to switch jobs, quite a few of them have different effects but they also have a limited number of slots for you to put jobs in. number of slots vary between grids. you can have all 3 characters using the same Grid, have them all using different grids, or anything in-between).

Most of the environments are reused from X, but you are able to access almost all of them in any order since you have the airship from the beginning.

As I said earlier, mainline FF games never get much praise from me for writing, so ask someone else about the story. It's pretty tongue in cheek a good amount of the time.

VA is improved, especially since sound editing isn't so bad this time around and Yuna's VA grew a spine.

Game is divided into 5 chapters, in each chapter you'll have Hotspots to land in from your airship. These are your main missions, doing all of them in a given chapter will complete that chapter. You have the option of going to non Hotspot areas to complete side missions. If you advance a chapter all side missions you missed from that chapter will be lost forever.

There's a New Game Plus feature that gives you pretty much everything but your levels back.

edited 9th Nov '10 8:12:20 PM by JotunofBoredom

X-2 was actually quite fun, but it's really easy and you probably don't need a strategy guide. I rented a copy, which I think is the best idea, although I bet you can buy one really cheap. The plot is fluffy but not terrible, and the battle system's pretty interesting, although Rikku's and Payne's Limit Breaks are pretty underwhelming compared to Yuna's.

The soundtrack is very good, especially the battle themes.

1. None of the Let's Plays on YT are that great. I didn't think so anyway. Unless you just want to watch a walkthrough. There is an okay video walkthrough of it up.

2. I would suggest buying it. It's pretty cheap used or new and with the amount of sidequests in the game, it's worth it. Honestly...I'd say at least 65% of the game is optional sidequests. Seriously. My first time through I barely did anything outside what the plot demanded to progress and I think I only got around 30% completion. Know I didn't get 40%.

That being said, a lot of said sidequests suck. T Here are some realy fun ones mixed in though so it's worth it.

3. The music is.....interesting. Overall it has to be the weakest soundtrack of any of the main series games but tut there are some real gems in there.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t6imJKgRDrQ

That being said, while there is more traditional RPG music in there, a lot of it is pretty pop/synth inspired. Still, I think some of it really works. like Rikku's Theme.

So, overall, a decent soundtrack. Nothing special.

I'd say buy the game. It is by far the most unique numbered Final Fantasy. Whether that is a good or bad thing is YMMV.

As long as you can get past the fanservice, X-2 is a perfectly good addition to the series. It's interesting to see how Spira reacts to change for the first time in at least a century. And the story is pretty lighthearted compared to the rest of the series, X especially.

Plus, even among haters of the game, it's agreed that the battle system is one of the best in the series.

On the soundtrack, while it's pretty weak, IMO, I wouldn't necessarily say that it's bad. I mean, I've heard the composers' work on the Front Mission series, and they're certainly not incompetent. Rather, it felt to me as if their musical style didn't match up with the general tone of the game. Like they were trapped in a genre that they weren't at all used to.

That being said, there are a few tracks that easily rival the best of what the series has to offer. Eternity ~Memory of Lightwaves~, in particular is generally agreed upon to be the best track in the game. Besaid (the only track that I feel is even better than its predecessor), Kilika, and Vegnagun Fires are top-notch, too.

Overall, I really enjoyed it. 100% completion bullshit and Brother's attempted cousing-fucking antics aside.

edited 9th Nov '10 8:17:28 PM by Electivirus

I never really got the hate for the game, outside of the "girlishness".

I haven't played it in years, but some of the characters from X return in X-2. I think knowing the outcome of the previous game would help. I don't remember most of the music, so I can't help you there.

Oh yeah. Don't bother with 100% completion. It's really beyond my ability to express how tedious and unrewarding it is.

Also I forgot. This is possibly my favorite track in the game. It also happens to go with one of the things I thought was done really well in the game. (not the fight but the character in teh fight)

"It's interesting to see how Spira reacts to change for the first time in at least a century."

You mean a millennium. The last big change to Spira's society was Sin's creation after all.

Ah, right. It's been a while. ^__^;

Also if you really want to buy a PS 2 JRPG, Customer, might I recommend you try out Xenosaga instead?

It's much better than X or X-2.

Well I'm sold. When I get a system  ^*

I don't know what to think of the music based on the samples given (except that Final Boss theme sounds like something from Metal Gear Solid, not that that's bad), but I'll probably get the soundtrack regardless. Thanks for the input.

I remember that game. Never got far into it, but enjoyed what I played. My brothers have the first and second Xenosaga games, so I can just have them mail the games over to me  ^*

edited 9th Nov '10 8:50:05 PM by Customer

^^ YMMV on that point. I've got Xenosaga 2 and I think its shite.

edited 9th Nov '10 8:50:34 PM by OmegaKross

Indeed, I think the Xenosaga franchise has to be even more polarizing than the least well-received Final Fantasy game.

I'm pretty neutral on it since I never really finished the first game and thus haven't given the series much of a chance.