Final Fantasy X

Final Fantasy X
"Listen to my story. This may be our last chance." — Tidus
Protagonist(s): Tidus Genre(s): JRPG Rating(s): T Platform(s): PlayStation 2 PlayStation 3 PlayStation Vita PlayStation 4 Microsoft Windows Nintendo Switch Xbox One Release Date: Original (PS2) JP: July 19, 2001 NA: December 18, 2001 AU: May 17, 2002 EU: May 24, 2002 International JP: January 31, 2002 PlayStation 3, Vita JP: December 26, 2013 NA: March 18, 2014 AU: March 20, 2014 EU: March 21, 2014 PlayStation 4 NA: May 12, 2015 JP: May 14, 2015 AU: May 14, 2015 EU: May 15, 2015 Windows WW: May 12, 2016 Switch, Xbox One JP: April 11, 2019 WW: April 16, 2019 Engine: PhyreEngine (HD Remaster) Developer(s): Square Product Development Division 1 Virtuos (co-developer; HD Remaster) Publisher(s): Square Enix Country: Japan Series: Final Fantasy Predecessor: Final Fantasy IX Successor: Final Fantasy X-2

Final Fantasy X is the tenth mainstream Final Fantasy game in the franchise. It was released in 2001 for the PlayStation 2. It was developed by Square and published by Square for Japan and North America and Sony Computer Entertainment for Australia and Europe, and it was the last Final Fantasy game to be published by the original Square company before their 2003 merger with Enix to form Square Enix.

In 2014, an HD port of the game was rereleased for the PlayStation 3 and the PlayStation Vita. Later, a PlayStation 4 port was released in 2015, followed by a PC port in 2016, and a port for the Nintendo Switch and Xbox One in 2019.

Plot

Tidus, a young Blitzball player who lives in the futuristic city of Zanarkand who, while at a Blitzball tournament, encounters the giant sea monster Sin and is flung to Spira seemingly a thousand years into the future. He joins with and eventually falls in love with a young summoner named Yuna and joins her and her guardians on a pilgrimage to the temples of Yevon and acquiring Aeons, which will help her train to obtain the Final Aeon which can destroy Sin. But along their journey, the group learns about the corruption of Yevon, the truth of the Final Aeon, and Tidus' connection to Sin.

Why It Rocks

1. To get the chocobo out of the room: This game has absolutely gorgeous graphics that push the PS2 to its limits, even by 2001 standards.
2. This is the first game in the Final Fantasy series to feature voice acting and it sounded terrific.
3. Immense landscape.
4. Well-written story.
5. Proper character development, shown most with Tidus (despite occasionally being annoying and unlikable), who at the beginning, just wanted to go back home but near the end becomes a selfless hero willing to sacrifice himself for Spira and Yuna.
6. While there's plenty of dark, terrifying moments in this game, it also has some heartwarming and occasionally funny moments (such as the infamous scene in which Tidus and Yuna laughed in the most awkward way possible, which became a meme).
7. Nearly every main character has an attack most useful on certain enemies:
   • Tidus can use his quick attacks to easily defeat nimble enemies.
   • Wakka can use his Blitzball to attack airborne enemies and infuse his Blitzball with status changing effects like Bindness.
   • Kimahri can steal the abilities of fiends with Lancet.
   • Lulu can use her Black Magic on enemies susceptible to certain elements.
   • Auron can pierce heavily armored enemies and defeat them with ease.
   • Rikku can steal from enemies and stealing can dismantle machina.
   • Yuna can use white magic to heal her guardians and can summon Aeons to help against stronger enemies.
8. The combat system is a massive improvement over its predecessors in which your character immediately does his/her action upon selecting it.
9. Playing Blitzball can help get the party some useful items.
   • Plus, the party members you can recruit for Blitzball each have different stats that can be upgraded by experience points, which are obtained by playing the character.
10. Fighting created monsters in the Coliseum can grant the party special spheres to upgrade specific stats and get some powerful items.
    • Many of the monsters in the Monster Coliseum are also super-bosses.
11. For the first time in the series, you get to control summons in-battle (save for Yojimbo, who you need to pay in order for him to fight, and the Magus Sisters, who do random actions).
12. As you progress in the game, you obtain the ability to customize weapons and armor.
13. Hidden throughout the game are Al Bhed Primers. Collect all 26 to learn the Al Bhed language.
14. The Cloister of Trials in each Temple of Yevon require puzzle solving.
15. Hidden Aeons to obtain that are stronger than Bahamut. You can even obtain Seymour's Aeon, Anima.
16. Awesome music (though not done completely by Nobuo Uematsu).
17. This game, along with its direct sequel, Final Fantasy X-2, was also rereleased on a HD remaster for the current generation of consoles.
    • The HD remakes use the international version allowing North American gamers to fight the Dark Aeon Super-Bosses. Defeating them all will allow gamers to fight Penance, the most powerful Super-Boss in all of Final Fantasy.
    • Unlike most remasters, the HD Remaster of the game was entirely rebuilt rather than updated graphics.
18. It, along with Final Fantasy XII, is arguably the best PS2 game in the Final Fantasy franchise.

Bad Qualities

1. Unskippable cutscenes.
2. No option to switch to Japanese voices (though the HD Remaster has that).
3. The PS2 PAL version has a lower framerate than the NA/JP versions and has black borders.
4. Final Fantasy X features some of the most infamous side-quests in the entire Final Fantasy franchise. Many of these side-quests are unfortunately required to be beaten in order to obtain the components to upgrade the Celestial Weapons: the most powerful weapons in the game which are needed to beat Penance and the Dark Aeons. Some of them require gamers to dodge an outrageous 200 Lightning Bolts in the Thunder Plains without missing one, touching every Blue Butterfly in the Macalania before the timer run outs, capturing one monster from every area to unlock Area Conquests, etc.
5. Minor plot hole: The reason why the Magus Sisters are dressed in insect outfits is never explained. Even the fighting game spin-off Dissidia: Final Fantasy questions this.
6. Despite improvements, the HD Remaster of Final Fantasy X/X-2 has been heavily criticized for its jarring texture models (especially on NPCs), faces lacking expression in many cutscenes (especially Yuna's and Tidus' new faces), no gameplay improvements aside from the international versions' content, and the remastered soundtrack has been slammed for ruining some of Nobuo Uematsu's best work. Square Enix at least try to remedied this by fixing the texture issues and including an option to switch to the original soundtrack in the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC Versions.
   • The audio drama included in the remaster, Final Fantasy X -Will-, has been universally panned by fans of the series, saying that it makes the entire events of X and X-2 moot, Tidus and Yuna being completely out of character, and the whole story feeling like a poorly-written fan fiction. Because of these controversial changes, many fans pretend the audio drama never happened.

Game Tips

• When you have Clear Spheres, use them on the weaker stat spheres in the Sphere Grid and replace them with the superior 4+ Stat Spheres you get from the Monster Arenas (HP Spheres are 300+ and MP are 40+). Clear Spheres can only be purchased by the Monster Arena owner if the player unlocks the Original monster, Ultima Buster.
• With the exception of Luck Spheres, the enemies that drop the stat spheres are found in the Species Group of the Monster Arena. The following enemies drop these spheres:
  • Fenrir: Agility Spheres
  • Pteryx: Evasion Spheres
  • Hornet: Accuracy Spheres
  • Vidatu: MP Spheres
  • One-Eye: Magic Defense Spheres
  • Jumbo Flan: Magic Spheres
  • Tanket: Defense Sphere
  • Juggernaut: Strength Sphere
  • Ironclad: HP Sphere

• Luck Spheres are obtained by fight the Original monster, Greater Sphere, and Fortune Spheres are obtained by defeating the Original monster, Earth Eater.

Trivia

• This is one of the only three mainline Final Fantasy games to not have the franchise's theme song, the only other two are Final Fantasy II (not as in the English title for Final Fantasy IV) and Final Fantasy XIII.
• It's the first game in the series since Final Fantasy IV that has the Magus Sisters in 10 years, as well the first in series to have them as summons.
• Due to depictions of blood (albeit mild), numerous death scenes, and terrifying moments in general (mainly involving Sin, Anima, and Yunalesca's true form), Final Fantasy X is one of the darkest entries in the series (next to Final Fantasy IV, Final Fantasy VI, Final Fantasy VII (and its remake and numerous FFVII subseries entries/spin-offs), Final Fantasy XV, Final Fantasy Type-0, Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin, and especially Final Fantasy XVI).
• Alexander O. Smith, the localization director, admitted to the infamous laughing scene to be intentionally ridiculous, but funny. This sentiment shared by James Arnold Taylor (Tidus' voice actor).
• The developers put an Easter egg in the game that referenced Final Fantasy VII, leading many to believe that the game is a prequel to FFVII which is confirmed by Nojima and later by an Easter egg from Final Fantasy VII Remake.