RTTP: Final Fantasy X

[Guileless]

It was the end of an era.

 

[Kev Kev]

UPDATE 15

BEVELLE - VIA PURIFICO

-found a few chests, used the transport things that you step on, but I couldn’t figure out if they took me to secret/hidden areas. oh well, fought the summoner and moved on
-controlling tidus and co now
-Leviathan! Yesssssss
-oops, never mind that’s a zombie, not leviathan lol
-took him down easy with two x potions... opened both gates first tho, not sure if I was supposed to do that? I saw I passed a couple chests on the way, hopefully I can go back.
-annnnnd looks like I missed the chests man I hate how bad this game is at foreshadowing when you’re going to be moving on to the next area or not. Oh wel, moving on....
-and Seymour is taking his villainy to the next level. This mfer is psycho... I hated his VA at first, but now he’s starting to fit right in. Self absorbed, holier than thou, psycho path who thinks everything should be dead, and talks down to everyone as if they are lesser beings. Whacko... but the VA fits perfectly
-Tidus running away from Seymours new form, “AAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!” Lmao
-O’aka randomly shows up lol. Ok let’s see if he’s got anything good!
-great place to grind right before Seymour fight. Yuna needs to catch up, plus I can steal a bunch of stuff from these enemies
-Bahamut is beast af!!!
-picked off the Use and Steal ability for Yuna.
I find myself trying to find a use for her and one in a while come up with nothing for her to do, having steal to use and collect more items could help alleviate my weapon customization complaint from earlier. Either way it’s so cool you can pick up these extra abilities that bleed into other characters sphere grids.
Love this leveling system! Really clever, fun, it’s even aesthetically pleasing! And it works great. Cant wait to have kimahri leveled up to a mobster magic user as well.
-Loaded up all my characters and aeons with overdrive and took Seymour out no problem.

MACALANIA WOODS

-awesome I love this area! Must mean I’m close to the call lands, not sure tho.
-Yuna and tidus scene is cheeeeeeesy lol but there are some nice parts. And I really like this song during the make out cut scene. Also, it it implied that they banged here? Lol, there’s this cut scene with them floating around and embracing each other and I’m pretty sure that’s the PG-13 way of saying tidus got at that thing lol
-looks like kimahri was being a peeping Tom what a creepo

CALM LANDS

-yes my favorite area in the game. Time to grind and explore. I think I’m going to be here for a while
-correct me if I’m wrong, but this is a little more than halfway through the game correct? Excluding side quests and 100%ing of course. Just asking strictly story wise
-lots of goodies to steal from these fiends. I’m going to enjoy grinding in this place
-just discovered that mug will miss sometimes, just like any regular physical attack, but steal will almost always work (although it can kiss sometimes as well, but it’s rare)
-the ridiculous amount of items it takes to customize weapons
-just found the capture fiend “mini game”. Love stuff like this! Gonna take even more time through here capturing all the fiends
-raising aeons attributes is a great idea. I can actually do something with these spheres

Gonna spend more time in calm lands, perhaps finish the fiend capture side quest.

 

[sublimit]

-correct me if I’m wrong, but this is a little more than halfway through the game correct? Excluding side quests and 100%ing of course. Just asking strictly story wise

You're correct. But the sidequests and making your characters Uber is half the fun of FFX.

 

[marquimvfs]

So, the wedding is half the main story?

 

[SkylineRKR]

So, the wedding is half the main story?

I think thats about 70%

Half the main story is generally considered to be the Desert towards Home.

 

[sublimit]

So, the wedding is half the main story?

I think thats about 70%

Half the main story is generally considered to be the Desert towards Home.

Hmm maybe i'm wrong but i think the desert is less than halfway through.The wedding is more likely to be around the halfway point. Especially if you add Omega ruins which although it's an optional area it's also kinda obligatory since it's the best grinding area for late/end game boss battles (excluding the Monster Arena).

 

[T_LVPL]

Wasted £60 on this back in 2001 (import), but got stuck on the final bosses, etc. Eventually completed it in 2018 on the PS4, starting again from scratch. Know it’s a fan favourite, and I understand that and accept it, but always hated the game. Don’t like the story, the art style, or the abysmal voice acting. The battle system is slow and rubbish. Wakka is the best character in battle and in the story, but you have to play Blitzball to keep him relevant and it’s so bad, I actually laughed during the tutorial at how silly the mini game is. It’s just laughably bad and I smile thinking about how terrible parts of the game are. It has that really soppy, girly main theme running through the entirety of the game and that’s annoying too.

All the pre release hype made the storyline sound amazing, it was a complete Catfish because the storyline turns out to have pretty much bugger all to do with saving the world from a big monster as soon as you get about 3 hours in. It also turns out countless people have beaten Sin before yet he just comes back again, rendering the whole thing pointless. Ive played most FFs and I fully know there’s millions of people who see this as the best one and better than FF7. But I am simply baffled by this and always will be. My brain simply can’t understand how anyone can think that, but I’ll leave it there.

 

[Kev Kev]

Wasted £60 on this back in 2001 (import), but got stuck on the final bosses, etc. Eventually completed it in 2018 on the PS4, starting again from scratch. Know it’s a fan favourite, and I understand that and accept it, but always hated the game. Don’t like the story, the art style, or the abysmal voice acting. The battle system is slow and rubbish. Wakka is the best character in battle and in the story, but you have to play Blitzball to keep him relevant and it’s so bad, I actually laughed during the tutorial at how silly the mini game is. It’s just laughably bad and I smile thinking about how terrible parts of the game are. It has that really soppy, girly main theme running through the entirety of the game and that’s annoying too.

All the pre release hype made the storyline sound amazing, it was a complete Catfish becayse the storyline is bugger all to do with saving the world from a big monster as soon as you get about 3 hours in. It also turns out countless people have beaten Sin before yet he just comes back again, rendering the whole thing pointless. Ive played most FFs and I fully know there’s millions of people who see this as the best one and better than FF7. But I am simply baffled by this and always will be. My brain simply can’t understand how anyone can think that, but I’ll leave it there.

i hear ya. everyones got different likes/dislikes. i think most polls ive seen people usually choose FF6 and FF7 as their favorite. 8, 9 and 10 vary between 3rd, 4th and 5th place (and i honestly want to say 10 usually winds up in 4th or 5th). so a lot of people agree at least on the idea that its not as good as 7. i think there is a lot to enjoy here tho, and its been worth the asking price so far. the updated graphics are gorgeous and the new music arrangements are better than the originals. but a lot of your complaints are valid imo, and not much else to say except, its not for you and hopefully you find enjoyment in future final fantasys.

 

[T_LVPL]

i hear ya. everyones got different likes/dislikes. i think most polls ive seen people usually choose FF6 and FF7 as their favorite. 8, 9 and 10 vary between 3rd, 4th and 5th place (and i honestly want to say 10 usually winds up in 4th or 5th). so a lot of people agree at least on the idea that its not as good as 7. i think there is a lot to enjoy here tho, and its been worth the asking price so far. the updated graphics are gorgeous and the new music arrangements are better than the originals. but a lot of your complaints are valid imo, and not much else to say except, its not for you and hopefully you find enjoyment in future final fantasys.

Yeah agree with a lot of that except, regrettably, having been around for the entirety of that 20 years since release I usually see FFX as talked about as the best one along with FF7. My theory is that the PS2 had far more owners than the PS1, and huge numbers of people played FFX first, so they hold it on a pedestal despite it not being very good. It is outrageous how highly rated it is. It’s the dictionary definition of an overrated thing.

FF13 is the far better of the 2. Better story, better voice acting, better characters, similar (but better) art style, similar game design, similar (but far better) girly theme tune running through the game but a ridiculously quick and brilliant battle system which makes the game really addictive to play. Hilarious how one is held as a masterpiece and the other is seen as a joke. Like I said, its baffling!

 

[sublimit]

Yeah agree with a lot of that except, regrettably, having been around for the entirety of that 20 years since release I usually see FFX as talked about as the best one along with FF7. My theory is that the PS2 had far more owners than the PS1, and huge numbers of people played FFX first, so they hold it on a pedestal despite it not being very good. It is outrageous how highly rated it is. It’s the dictionary definition of an overrated thing.

FF13 is the far better of the 2. Better story, better voice acting, better characters, similar (but better) art style, similar game design, similar (but far better) girly theme tune running through the game but a ridiculously quick and brilliant battle system which makes the game really addictive to play. Hilarious how one is held as a masterpiece and the other is seen as a joke. Like I said, its baffling!

Actually my first FF was FFVII but i've come to realize that my favorite is FFX even if i feel more nostalgic towards VII (or even IX for that matter).
As for reasons why people think this is the best there are plenty in this thread.But it's totally cool if you don't like it or even hate it.That's the great thing with this series,it offers so much variety it has something for everyone but that means that it also has games that many fans don't like.

 

[Ixion]

Wasted £60 on this back in 2001 (import), but got stuck on the final bosses, etc. Eventually completed it in 2018 on the PS4, starting again from scratch. Know it’s a fan favourite, and I understand that and accept it, but always hated the game. Don’t like the story, the art style, or the abysmal voice acting. The battle system is slow and rubbish. Wakka is the best character in battle and in the story, but you have to play Blitzball to keep him relevant and it’s so bad, I actually laughed during the tutorial at how silly the mini game is. It’s just laughably bad and I smile thinking about how terrible parts of the game are. It has that really soppy, girly main theme running through the entirety of the game and that’s annoying too.

All the pre release hype made the storyline sound amazing, it was a complete Catfish because the storyline turns out to have pretty much bugger all to do with saving the world from a big monster as soon as you get about 3 hours in. It also turns out countless people have beaten Sin before yet he just comes back again, rendering the whole thing pointless. Ive played most FFs and I fully know there’s millions of people who see this as the best one and better than FF7. But I am simply baffled by this and always will be. My brain simply can’t understand how anyone can think that, but I’ll leave it there.

Yeah agree with a lot of that except, regrettably, having been around for the entirety of that 20 years since release I usually see FFX as talked about as the best one along with FF7. My theory is that the PS2 had far more owners than the PS1, and huge numbers of people played FFX first, so they hold it on a pedestal despite it not being very good. It is outrageous how highly rated it is. It’s the dictionary definition of an overrated thing.

FF13 is the far better of the 2. Better story, better voice acting, better characters, similar (but better) art style, similar game design, similar (but far better) girly theme tune running through the game but a ridiculously quick and brilliant battle system which makes the game really addictive to play. Hilarious how one is held as a masterpiece and the other is seen as a joke. Like I said, its baffling!

Everything you said sounds like bizarro world to me, which I guess is the fun of Final Fantasy. Hopefully my responses will help make things clearer as to why FFX is rated so high.


-FFX battle system is slow while FF13's is fast? It's the exact opposite.

• In FFX your commands are instantly responsive, and then it proceeds to the next move instantly. You can go as fast or as slow as you want. Each move is also generally significant since you'll more often than not be killing an enemy or causing significant damage with each of your moves. The battles are both fast and snappy as hell, while also fully retaining strategy every step of the way.
• In FF13 the characters may be jumping around on-screen more, but your actual commands occur less frequently as its more about just occasionally rotating between presets. Also, it takes a fucking eternity to build up the stagger gauge in FF13, which makes battles slower. So in terms of the player controlling the battle, and the lengths of battles themselves, FF13 is far slower than FFX.

-You have to play Blitzaball to make Wakka relevant?

• You only need to play Blitzball to get Wakka's extra overdrives and his ultimate weapon, so definitely not needed for the main story at all. Only necessary for the elite endgame stuff (and even then none of that is really necessary). Also, I have to wonder if you were playing Blitzball with the wrong settings for you to pass it off so quickly. The game puts movement on auto-pilot by default and also uses an unintuitive camera by default. You need to change both of these for the game to be played properly.

-The story has nothing to do with saving the world from a big monster? What?

• The entire story and world revolves around this. There are many scenes throughout the game showing the big monster do big monster stuff with cutting edge visuals, including pivotal sections at the beginning, middle and finale of the game (which includes a climactic battle with him). Also, the entire point of the story is about BREAKING the cycle that you mentioned.....so that it's no longer pointless. For you to say this, it's almost like you got halfway through the story and then stopped.

FF13 has a better story than FFX, while FFX is also too girly?

• The vast majority of the dialogue in FF13 is trite melodrama. Anything world/plot related is hidden in the menus while in the actual game the main cast just pours out their hearts to each other via overly saccharine platitudes. THAT to me is girly and annoying. On the flip side, most of the dialogue in FFX centers on world-building for a world encapsulated by death (mostly from the aforementioned big monster) and the ways they try to cope with it, all with just a very light amount of romance. And that romance is done pretty well, with the climax of that sub-plot making for one of the most iconic ending scenes in gaming. Yeah, Tidus might look like Meg Ryan, but besides that I don't get what you're saying here.

FFX and FF13 have similar game design?

• In FF13, the entire game is literally just jogging forward to the next battle. That's the game design. Jog-battle-jog-battle-jog-battle-jog-battle. And maybe there's an occasional chest on the side. That's it. No exaggeration needed.
• In FFX, the jogging and fighting is accompanied with towns and cities, NPCs to talk to, temple puzzles, expansive mini-games, side-quests, etc, all while still being able to access the entire varied game-world with the airship, whereas in FF13 you can't go back anywhere. So there's a HUGE difference between the two game design approaches. FF13 is static, one-dimensional repetition. FFX is lively and varied.

 

[TheContact]

 

[AJUMP23]

FFX is fun, FF13 is terrible, I stopped before the first disk completed. The best one out of that era is FF12. I thought the Gambit system and the story was a lot of fun.

 

[T_LVPL]

Everything you said sounds like bizarro world to me, which I guess is the fun of Final Fantasy. Hopefully my responses will help make things clearer as to why FFX is rated so high.


-FFX battle system is slow while FF13's is fast? It's the exact opposite.

• In FFX your commands are instantly responsive, and then it proceeds to the next move instantly. You can go as fast or as slow as you want. Each move is also generally significant since you'll more often than not be killing an enemy or causing significant damage with each of your moves. The battles are both fast and snappy as hell, while also fully retaining strategy every step of the way.
• In FF13 the characters may be jumping around on-screen more, but your actual commands occur less frequently as its more about just occasionally rotating between presets. Also, it takes a fucking eternity to build up the stagger gauge in FF13, which makes battles slower. So in terms of the player controlling the battle, and the lengths of battles themselves, FF13 is far slower than FFX.

-You have to play Blitzaball to make Wakka relevant?

• You only need to play Blitzball to get Wakka's extra overdrives and his ultimate weapon, so definitely not needed for the main story at all. Only necessary for the elite endgame stuff (and even then none of that is really necessary). Also, I have to wonder if you were playing Blitzball with the wrong settings for you to pass it off so quickly. The game puts movement on auto-pilot by default and also uses an unintuitive camera by default. You need to change both of these for the game to be played properly.

-The story has nothing to do with saving the world from a big monster? What?

• The entire story and world revolves around this. There are many scenes throughout the game showing the big monster do big monster stuff with cutting edge visuals, including pivotal sections at the beginning, middle and finale of the game (which includes a climactic battle with him). Also, the entire point of the story is about BREAKING the cycle that you mentioned.....so that it's no longer pointless. For you to say this, it's almost like you got halfway through the story and then stopped.

FF13 has a better story than FFX, while FFX is also too girly?

• The vast majority of the dialogue in FF13 is trite melodrama. Anything world/plot related is hidden in the menus while in the actual game the main cast just pours out their hearts to each other via overly saccharine platitudes. THAT to me is girly and annoying. On the flip side, most of the dialogue in FFX centers on world-building for a world encapsulated by death (mostly from the aforementioned big monster) and the ways they try to cope with it, all with just a very light amount of romance. And that romance is done pretty well, with the climax of that sub-plot making for one of the most iconic ending scenes in gaming. Yeah, Tidus might look like Meg Ryan, but besides that I don't get what you're saying here.

FFX and FF13 have similar game design?

• In FF13, the entire game is literally just jogging forward to the next battle. That's the game design. Jog-battle-jog-battle-jog-battle-jog-battle. And maybe there's an occasional chest on the side. That's it. No exaggeration needed.
• In FFX, the jogging and fighting is accompanied with towns and cities, NPCs to talk to, temple puzzles, expansive mini-games, side-quests, etc, all while still being able to access the entire varied game-world with the airship, whereas in FF13 you can't go back anywhere. So there's a HUGE difference between the two game design approaches. FF13 is static, one-dimensional repetition. FFX is lively and varied.

So much wrong there and so many lies. It’s simply a lie to say the battles are faster than FF13 and also a lie to say you don’t need to play blitzball to keep Wakka relevant. How would you know anyway? You are clearly a big fan of blitzball and therefore will always have Wakka as a great character in battle on all your playthroughs.

I havent got time to respond to all of that and since there’s quite a fair bit of you misquoting me in there, making up your own narrative instead of what I actually said, I don’t really see the point replying in detail. I stand by the posts I made. People who don’t like it like yourself will just have to live with it. I played and finished both games, in FFX’s case I finished it twice essentially. And I formed my view myself going by what I played. I disagree with all your massive praise of FFX because the game is nowhere near as great as you make it sound. You make it sound so good you should be in marketing in fact. It’s a shocking game.

 

[SlimeGooGoo]

The last GREAT Final Fantasy

 

[Kev Kev]

UPDATE 16

CALM LANDS

-spent the time to collect ten of every fiend. I was really happy to learn that I can go back and collect all other fiends in the game, and can use the arena to grind. Really colle monster hunter-esque side quest. Looking forward to doing some these side quests. Excluding things I may have already missed, or missed the opportunity to initiate, what are some of the best side quests to do before I beat the game?
-grinded all my chars up to the point where they need level 3 so where grids to advance on their sphere grids. The exception being Lulu, who either somehow got behind, or just happens to have a larger sphere grid. She close behind tho. And also kimahri, bc he is now following Lu’s sphere grid (a choice I made a while back because I wanted another magic user). He’s getting close to the -ga level spells! Cant wait to have him as an extra for powerful magic users
-I cousins figure out what the horn that had al bhed written on it was asking me to do “with your back to me go twenty, and then twenty to the right” or something like that. I tried it every which way but gave up. Again. I am opting to not look up guides or anything in this game as I just want to enjoy as organically as possible. If something is really bothering me I will look it up, or if I think it’s missable I will look it up. This is an Serra I’m pretty sure I can come back to tho, so I’m not worried about it.
-defeated all the aeons and won the Chico o race at that castle looking area in the cal lands. There may have been more I could with the Chico o race as it was indicating picking off markers and chests on my subsequent go around a, but I decided to move on. Is there anything else to win after beating the Chico o the first time?
-also, I’m pretty sure that is the place I come back to to fight dark aeons, no? I remember never being able to beat them before
-I purchased 99 of every item I could, optimized my weapons and aeons and I still got half a million Gil left . Time to move on

CAVERN OF THE STOLEN FAYTH

-pretty easily defeated the stone fiend in the last area. I just made sure to exhaust all my aeons, switch out characters, utilize dark attacks and heal when necessary. Kind of a pain in the ass boss bc of his counter attacks, but I managed.
-explored the area just outside the cave before going in, found a rusty sword but it’s a key item that I’m not sure what to do with
-new fiends to capture! I’m going to enjoy doing this throughout the game. Some new items to steal of course. This may be a good place to grind as well. But until I get some level 3 key spheres, there really no point.
-I’m getting the feeling this is where Wakkas brother died. Lulu seems to be getting a little of her back story fleshed out here. One of my favorite things about ff6, and most FFs, is the side journeys/stories where you see the past and character of your companions fleshed out. It’s a really nice break from the epic main story, and helps you connect with the characters more. I feel like FFX does this pretty well, but not quite as good as other games like ff6 for example. Still tho, there’s a lot of game left to play, maybe I’ll get to see more before the end.
-oh man I was way off about wakkas brother, this is a different summoner that Lulu guarded (oh yeah that’s right, wakkas brother was with the al bhed... I think?). I love the music and feel of this fight. And the summon that this chick has. I want it!
-Lulu - “I thought it would be sadder somehow, maybe I’ve gotten used to farewells...”
Wakka - “You’re stronger now.”
Man what a great quote. I can really apply this to my own life. Being 34, people I know and love in my real life are dying more frequently. It’s never easy, but there are times where I’m asking myself the same question as Lulu “shouldn’t I be more sad?” I never thought about it the way Wakka said it, that you’re stronger each time it happens. And it’s kind of part of what life is about, growing, hardening, becoming wiser, more mature... I think this loosely ties in with the theme of the game too. Seeing Jecht and Tidus’ evolution sort of mirroring that same idea of maturing and growing as a human, even if it’s futile bc we die in the end... but that’s why we have to make the most of our story while we’re here. Part of that is experiencing sorrow and loss. Really thought provoking exchange that otherwise would have gone unnoticed by the 14 year old me, bc I had no experience of loss at that point in my life. Good stuff!
-paid 245k for yojimbo. No idea if that’s good or not but I had so much Gil it doesn’t matter. Off to the next area

GAGAZET

-kimahri backstory hopefully being fleshed out more here
-This next cut scene is really nice. Heavy themes of truth, justice, honor and remaining true to ones self and their goals.
-good to see that Wakka accept the truth about yevon being a bunch of bullshit
-beat ronsos with little problems. The bigger story here is what the hell is it with this Biran wearing a thonger this game has a thing for thongs and it’s kind of bizarre lol
-could have done without the corny rondo singing scene lmao. Man, I really stand behind my earlier statements that voice acting should be removed from video games until it is at a point that it’s indistinguishable from live action acting. It’s just not there, and I’m shocked they felt they were ready for that 20 years ago. It’s just.... not great. I think they did a good job for what it is, but using my imagination to hear their voices and going off body language and text cues is so much more enjoyable (like reading a book). I at least wish there was a way to turn off the dubs and just have subs, or at least English subs with original Japanese dubs.... but no there is not unfortunately
-the encounter rate on mt gagazet is ridiculous
-annnnnnd most annoying part of the game award goes to ... drum roll.... mt gagazet! Jfc glad that’s over...
-beat Seymour on the first try, but man that one hit kill shit is so annoying. He almost downed my entire party several times. Feel like I got lucky to be honest

That’s it for now. Excited to see what the next area is.

 

[SkylineRKR]

The music of Gagazet is awesome, and the PS4 port made me realize I prefer the PS2 OST.

 

[Rexket]

Wasted £60 on this back in 2001 (import), but got stuck on the final bosses, etc. Eventually completed it in 2018 on the PS4, starting again from scratch. Know it’s a fan favourite, and I understand that and accept it, but always hated the game. Don’t like the story, the art style, or the abysmal voice acting. The battle system is slow and rubbish. Wakka is the best character in battle and in the story, but you have to play Blitzball to keep him relevant and it’s so bad, I actually laughed during the tutorial at how silly the mini game is. It’s just laughably bad and I smile thinking about how terrible parts of the game are. It has that really soppy, girly main theme running through the entirety of the game and that’s annoying too.

All the pre release hype made the storyline sound amazing, it was a complete Catfish because the storyline turns out to have pretty much bugger all to do with saving the world from a big monster as soon as you get about 3 hours in. It also turns out countless people have beaten Sin before yet he just comes back again, rendering the whole thing pointless. Ive played most FFs and I fully know there’s millions of people who see this as the best one and better than FF7. But I am simply baffled by this and always will be. My brain simply can’t understand how anyone can think that, but I’ll leave it there.

It doesn’t sound like you remember the game well. Blitzball only gets Wakka his overdrives, and only the first prize is useful, and the pieces of his ultimate weapon. It doesn’t affect his stats and plenty of players ignore blitzball after the mandatory game. Not sure where you get this idea that he’s the best with Overdrive Rikku and Yuna with Aeons and giving her black magic. Wakka usually on endgame teams because of attack reels hitting multiple times and Tidus can do the same.

The story starts with the quest to kill Sin and ends when you kill Sin. You just learn there’s more going on. Not sure how other people killing Sin makes it pointless since this is addressed in game. What exactly was the story about if it had bigger all to do with saving the world from a monster?

 

[Ixion]

What are some of the best side quests to do before I beat the game?

You're very close to getting full control of the airship, so a lot more will open up to you. Overall, I'd say the main optional content in the game is:

• Getting the secret Aeons
• Getting the celestial weapons
• Beating the secret dungeons (Cavern of the Stolen Fayth, Omega Ruins)
• Finding all the Al Bhed primers
• Finding all the Jecht Spheres
• Beating the Dark Aeons
• Beating the monster arena super bosses

Unless I'm missing anything, that is all the side content at a high level. With that said, the act of getting the celestial weapons involves completing a handful of different types of side activities, which includes:

• Blitzball
• Cactuar Hunt
• Butterfly Hunt
• Monster Arena
• Lightning dodging
• Chocobo racing

All those quests/minigames are fun IMO with the exception of the infamous Lightning dodging and Chocobo racing. But again, the lightning dodging can be done quick and easy if you use the trick posted earlier.

Personally, once I get the airship I usually go right for Anima and also try to get a No Encounters item if I don't have one by that point. It looks like you already got Yojimbo and beat the Cavern. Then I would go after the Magus Sisters as well. Having both Anima and the Magus Sisters will make the final bosses a lot easier. Omega Ruins is also a cool dungeon with a great final boss. Lastly, getting all the Al Bhed Primers and Jecht Spheres is mainly just about hopping around the world and finding them all, which is fun. However, I mainly played the US version for a long time, so the Dark Aeons weren't around. With this remastered/international version I noticed the Dark Aeons will sometimes block access to some of the primers/spheres.

And ultimately, it's the Dark Aeons and monster arena bosses (Nemesis, Penance) that provide the motivation for finding and powering up the celestial weapons (and also maxing out your character sphere grids). So if you aren't interested in going that far, then there is really no need to get the celestial weapons. Omega (in the Omega Ruins) is also technically a super boss, so he might give you trouble if you don't have suped up weapons (whether it's the celestial weapons OR strong customized weapons).

 

[T_LVPL]

It doesn’t sound like you remember the game well. Blitzball only gets Wakka his overdrives, and only the first prize is useful, and the pieces of his ultimate weapon. It doesn’t affect his stats and plenty of players ignore blitzball after the mandatory game. Not sure where you get this idea that he’s the best with Overdrive Rikku and Yuna with Aeons and giving her black magic. Wakka usually on endgame teams because of attack reels hitting multiple times and Tidus can do the same.

The story starts with the quest to kill Sin and ends when you kill Sin. You just learn there’s more going on. Not sure how other people killing Sin makes it pointless since this is addressed in game. What exactly was the story about if it had bigger all to do with saving the world from a monster?

I said I replayed it in its entirety in 2018. You're right in the fact I can’t remember the specific intricacy of how useful or not Wakka was in battle 20 years ago, but I can remember 3 years ago. My experience was that Wakka is a beast at the start of the game but gradually becomes less useful, because you need to play blitzball to get his best gear. And that’s true isn’t it? You say so yourself. You need it for his best overdrives and his best weapon. So I am right to say that, because everyone knows in an RPG the entire point of the gameplay, and the fun of the gameplay, is to slowly work towards getting the best gear and spells in the game.

Youre right to say he’s not the best in battle, because without playing blitzball he very quickly becomes useless once you get to the harder enemies say, 50% into the game (which isn’t that long, it’s a fairly short game in terms of the story and locations, I did it twice in 35-40 hours both times).

The story was a complete and utter Catfish. Pre release, it was made to sound like a Godzilla style doom laden epic. The most incredible 10/10 amazing game and story we had ever seen at that point. All the teasers and illustrations of Sin, lovely drawings of Spira, it all looked phenomenal but the actual game was a big soppy silly Pilgrimage doing very little of note, with abysmal voice acting, and the big monster turns out to be your father. ahaha Brilliant! Honestly I am in humeruous mood thinking of FFX, I don’t find it bad in an angry way, just a funny way.

You don’t think it’s silly, and removes the air of menace once you know Sin gets beaten countless times over the thousand years yet simply comes back again? We clearly disagree, which is fine.

Its pointless telling me Wakka doesn’t start off good and become useless though, since that’s exactly what happened to me. If you can’t get his best gear and limits without playing it, then I couldn’t progress him. I really liked the character and he was great in battle. I don’t know how you can get into my brain and tell me he was never great in battle, when I played the game through twice and found him great in battle until blitzball gets in the way of his progression? It’s weird.

 

[Azelover]

Not sure if posted already

 

[Rexket]

I said I replayed it in its entirety in 2018. You're right in the fact I can’t remember the specific intricacy of how useful or not Wakka was in battle 20 years ago, but I can remember 3 years ago. My experience was that Wakka is a beast at the start of the game but gradually becomes less useful, because you need to play blitzball to get his best gear. And that’s true isn’t it? You say so yourself. You need it for his best overdrives and his best weapon. So I am right to say that, because everyone knows in an RPG the entire point of the gameplay, and the fun of the gameplay, is to slowly work towards getting the best gear and spells in the game.

Youre right to say he’s not the best in battle, because without playing blitzball he very quickly becomes useless once you get to the harder enemies say, 50% into the game (which isn’t that long, it’s a fairly short game in terms of the story and locations, I did it twice in 35-40 hours both times).

The story was a complete and utter Catfish. Pre release, it was made to sound like a Godzilla style doom laden epic. The most incredible 10/10 amazing game and story we had ever seen at that point. All the teasers and illustrations of Sin, lovely drawings of Spira, it all looked phenomenal but the actual game was a big soppy silly Pilgrimage doing very little of note, with abysmal voice acting, and the big monster turns out to be your father. ahaha Brilliant! Honestly I am in humeruous mood thinking of FFX, I don’t find it bad in an angry way, just a funny way.

You don’t think it’s silly, and removes the air of menace once you know Sin gets beaten countless times over the thousand years yet simply comes back again? We clearly disagree, which is fine.

Its pointless telling me Wakka doesn’t start off good and become useless though, since that’s exactly what happened to me. If you can’t get his best gear and limits without playing it, then I couldn’t progress him. I really liked the character and he was great in battle. I don’t know how you can get into my brain and tell me he was never great in battle, when I played the game through twice and found him great in battle until blitzball gets in the way of his progression? It’s weird.

I did see that you said you replayed it. I think that there’s a lot of the battle system you misunderstood and that’s why you think Wakka is a beast early on and useless without blitzball.Not sure how you can see him as the best character early on. Each character has a role they are best suited for initially and abilities to supplement that. Wakka is best for flying enemies. He is less likely to hit fast enemies and can’t take down enemies that have high defense. Other physical characters are less likely to finish flying enemies and magic users will need to expend more to deal with them. Wakka is the most efficient way to deal with them. He also learns status effect abilities that, if the enemy is vulnerable, can be useful regardless of damage. He is only useless if you build your party poorly. If you don’t go for his ultimate, build a sufficient weapon. It sounds like you used him as a crutch and was punished for neglecting your other party members.

Even then, not sure how having one “useless”character in a party makes a game garbage. If a character is not useful, you have others to choose from. Plenty of FF games have characters that don’t measure up.

I also think you haven’t thought the story through. Yes Sin can be killed temporarily but at the cost of lives and it comes back to wreck havoc. The destruction we see in the story has been going on for generations. It sounds like you think that killing Sin is some mundane task since when the story very clearly demonstrates that that is not the case.

 

[Ixion]

I said I replayed it in its entirety in 2018. You're right in the fact I can’t remember the specific intricacy of how useful or not Wakka was in battle 20 years ago, but I can remember 3 years ago. My experience was that Wakka is a beast at the start of the game but gradually becomes less useful, because you need to play blitzball to get his best gear. And that’s true isn’t it? You say so yourself. You need it for his best overdrives and his best weapon. So I am right to say that, because everyone knows in an RPG the entire point of the gameplay, and the fun of the gameplay, is to slowly work towards getting the best gear and spells in the game.

Youre right to say he’s not the best in battle, because without playing blitzball he very quickly becomes useless once you get to the harder enemies say, 50% into the game (which isn’t that long, it’s a fairly short game in terms of the story and locations, I did it twice in 35-40 hours both times).

The story was a complete and utter Catfish. Pre release, it was made to sound like a Godzilla style doom laden epic. The most incredible 10/10 amazing game and story we had ever seen at that point. All the teasers and illustrations of Sin, lovely drawings of Spira, it all looked phenomenal but the actual game was a big soppy silly Pilgrimage doing very little of note, with abysmal voice acting, and the big monster turns out to be your father. ahaha Brilliant! Honestly I am in humeruous mood thinking of FFX, I don’t find it bad in an angry way, just a funny way.

You don’t think it’s silly, and removes the air of menace once you know Sin gets beaten countless times over the thousand years yet simply comes back again? We clearly disagree, which is fine.

Its pointless telling me Wakka doesn’t start off good and become useless though, since that’s exactly what happened to me. If you can’t get his best gear and limits without playing it, then I couldn’t progress him. I really liked the character and he was great in battle. I don’t know how you can get into my brain and tell me he was never great in battle, when I played the game through twice and found him great in battle until blitzball gets in the way of his progression? It’s weird.

On the Wakka stuff, the part we disagree on is that you need his ultimate weapon and extra overdrives or else he starts to become less relevant halfway through the game. Ultimate weapons are not necessary at all for the main story, and even much of the optional content. And I say that as someone who has done all of that without the ultimate weapons a bunch of times. And overdrives are more of a bonus. The main thing is that you can still level up Wakka's sphere grid just like any other character. You're correct if we're talking the endgame period. If your goal is to get everyone's ultimate weapons and also fight the super bosses, then yeah I would see your point. But not for the main story.

As for your opinion that Wakka is the best character in battle, I would say he's the best at ranged attacks. In terms of the default character sphere grid paths, Auron will be the strongest physically (and is able to pierce armor) while Lulu might be the strongest overall with her magic. Not to mention Yuna brings the heat with her summons. So Wakka by default is definitely useful and important, but so are most of the characters.

In terms of Sin and the story overall, I think it's interesting how you were expecting more of a straight-up monster story, and instead were disappointed that the story has more layers than that. I have to disagree with you on this wholeheartedly since the game both provides a bunch of epic monster sections to scratch that itch....

....while also tying the monster into a deeper web of ancient deception that you need to unravel. If you just wanted the story to be "See big monster, kill big monster, the end", then I can see why you would be disappointed. I love a good Godzilla movie as much as the next person, but for a 40-hour epic RPG, there needs to be more layers and more intrigue.

 

[Kev Kev]

You're very close to getting full control of the airship, so a lot more will open up to you. Overall, I'd say the main optional content in the game is:

• Getting the secret Aeons
• Getting the celestial weapons
• Beating the secret dungeons (Cavern of the Stolen Fayth, Omega Ruins)
• Finding all the Al Bhed primers
• Finding all the Jecht Spheres
• Beating the Dark Aeons
• Beating the monster arena super bosses

Unless I'm missing anything, that is all the side content at a high level. With that said, the act of getting the celestial weapons involves completing a handful of different types of side activities, which includes:

• Blitzball
• Cactuar Hunt
• Butterfly Hunt
• Monster Arena
• Lightning dodging
• Chocobo racing

All those quests/minigames are fun IMO with the exception of the infamous Lightning dodging and Chocobo racing. But again, the lightning dodging can be done quick and easy if you use the trick posted earlier.

Personally, once I get the airship I usually go right for Anima and also try to get a No Encounters item if I don't have one by that point. It looks like you already got Yojimbo and beat the Cavern. Then I would go after the Magus Sisters as well. Having both Anima and the Magus Sisters will make the final bosses a lot easier. Omega Ruins is also a cool dungeon with a great final boss. Lastly, getting all the Al Bhed Primers and Jecht Spheres is mainly just about hopping around the world and finding them all, which is fun. However, I mainly played the US version for a long time, so the Dark Aeons weren't around. With this remastered/international version I noticed the Dark Aeons will sometimes block access to some of the primers/spheres.

And ultimately, it's the Dark Aeons and monster arena bosses (Nemesis, Penance) that provide the motivation for finding and powering up the celestial weapons (and also maxing out your character sphere grids). So if you aren't interested in going that far, then there is really no need to get the celestial weapons. Omega (in the Omega Ruins) is also technically a super boss, so he might give you trouble if you don't have suped up weapons (whether it's the celestial weapons OR strong customized weapons).

dude great post, thank you so much!!!

 

[Rickyiez]

The last FF that feels magical