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[Ixion]

Ah. Started chapter 2 and ended up playing some awful minigame which is a version of on-rails shooter.

I tolerated the couple of minigamwa in chapter one thinking it is only for the beginning of the game but evidently not.

Think I'm done. Shame. The combat system is pretty good. Wish there was a tighter story. And no minigames.

I am in my thirties and as such there are very few games I'd be ashamed of playing in front of my wife.



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Final Fantasy X-2 is one of these games.

The job system they implemented is fun but the plot is simply demented. Embarrassingly stupid.

FFX-2 is good shit for the most part, but it's just such a left turn after FFX that you really need to be in the right mindset for it. Back in the day I was ticked off that my favorite game was followed up with some girl power crap, but once I played the remaster over a decade later I really enjoyed the game. It's girl power crap, but it's funny, sexy, light-hearted girl power crap with great combat, non-linear progression, good music, all set in the same world as FFX with some slight changes/additions. It's mainly the plot that is underwhelming, but there are some cool moments.

The original FFX gets its hooks into you with a strong, serious narrative, while FFX-2 is more like an after-party to fuck around in.

 

[Kev Kev]

FFX-2 is good shit for the most part, but it's just such a left turn after FFX that you really need to be in the right mindset for it. Back in the day I was ticked off that my favorite game was followed up with some girl power crap, but once I played the remaster over a decade later I really enjoyed the game. It's girl power crap, but it's funny, sexy, light-hearted girl power crap with great combat, non-linear progression, good music, all set in the same world as FFX with some slight changes/additions. It's mainly the plot that is underwhelming, but there are some cool moments.

The original FFX gets its hooks into you with a strong, serious narrative, while FFX-2 is more like an after-party to fuck around in.

I did really enjoy the battle taken in x2. It’s just the story and pretty much everything else that didn’t do it for me

had a chance to update this morning! Like I said earlier I’m a bit strapped for time, I think most of the others who were playing along have beaten it. Let me know if you have any tips as I go along, I always appreciate it, maybe go easy on the spoilers but I’m not too crazy picky about it so no worries!



UPDATE 9

THUNDER PLAINS

-as I said earlier itt, I didn’t even bother trying to dodge lightning strikes. Lol, no worries, I’m not a 100%ing kind of FF player. In fact, being this is only the 3rd time I’ve played through the game, and the fact it’s been so long, I’m more about just playing through and enjoying, while trying to do as much as I can without driving myself nuts. So, as such I will not be attempting 200 dodges lmao. Good luck to the rest of you tho!

-couldn’t quite figure out the cactuar statues. It seems cactuar just spawn around them, or I’m supposed to press square when they light but, I dunno I just kind of lived on what are they for? Should I go back later in the game?

-I may have missed an al bhed primer as well, but I’m pretty sure I can go back for that

-also I apparently missed some dialogue and cutscenes. The game does a bad job of moving the game forward without letting me do everything first. I wish it would give me an option with someone’s dialogue, or a warning that it was about to go to cutscene and give me a chance to do everything else first. I guess they were counting on replays, but I won’t be replaying it again for awhile. Oh well

-made it through the Thunder plains alright. Had some fun battling those enemies. But not much else to say about it. Off to macalania woods

MACALANIA WOODS

-love this area! The music and aesthetic is so mystical and cool

-man, that one fiend that’s like a beast, snake, fire, and i e demon all in one is a pain in th ass lol (Chimera is it’s name). And you run into him a lot! Lots of AP tho! Good chance to put all my party in for at least one nice, and try out all my new abilities.

-butterfly game is cool. Kind of annoying that the camera angles make it difficult to tell if you’re going to run into a red or not. Also annoying that I have to find the butterfly all over again there’s a lot of encounters in this game so that seems a little much to force us to do that, but oh well

-oops never mind about the butterfly. I went to the next screen, came back, and there it was. The mp sphere for completing the challenge was a bit underwhelming tho...

-beat the butterfly challenge again in the next area and received a ...drum roll... ether? really square...

-the boss fight was fun. I liked that you had to change up which element you used, however it was very unclear which element you were supposed to use. I thought it was the color of the boss that gave it away, but even that wasn’t consistent. Not sure why they didn’t make it more clear, but I beat him and watched the jecht sphere...

-what’s this!? Jecht showing some compassion and vulnerability, even if just for a second? Interesting.

-man, ffx2 should have been about jecht, Auron and braskas pilgrimage. Instead we got a shitty J-pop simulator lol. What a missed opportunity! Seeing jecht as evolution would’ve been really awesome. He seems like an interesting character but we have yet to learn much about him. Hopefully the jecht spheres will shed some more light on his character evolution

That’s all I have time for right now. The story is really starting to get interesting! The battle continues to be fun and the little mini games are a nice change of pace, even though I have my gripes and complaints about them. Cant wait to see what’s next, but not sure when I’ll be able to play more. Till next time

 

[Ixion]

UPDATE 9

THUNDER PLAINS

-as I said earlier itt, I didn’t even bother trying to dodge lightning strikes. Lol, no worries, I’m not a 100%ing kind of FF player. In fact, being this is only the 3rd time I’ve played through the game, and the fact it’s been so long, I’m more about just playing through and enjoying, while trying to do as much as I can without driving myself nuts. So, as such I will not be attempting 200 dodges lmao. Good luck to the rest of you tho!

-couldn’t quite figure out the cactuar statues. It seems cactuar just spawn around them, or I’m supposed to press square when they light but, I dunno I just kind of lived on what are they for? Should I go back later in the game?

-I may have missed an al bhed primer as well, but I’m pretty sure I can go back for that

-also I apparently missed some dialogue and cutscenes. The game does a bad job of moving the game forward without letting me do everything first. I wish it would give me an option with someone’s dialogue, or a warning that it was about to go to cutscene and give me a chance to do everything else first. I guess they were counting on replays, but I won’t be replaying it again for awhile. Oh well

-made it through the Thunder plains alright. Had some fun battling those enemies. But not much else to say about it. Off to macalania woods

MACALANIA WOODS

-love this area! The music and aesthetic is so mystical and cool

-man, that one fiend that’s like a beast, snake, fire, and i e demon all in one is a pain in th ass lol (Chimera is it’s name). And you run into him a lot! Lots of AP tho! Good chance to put all my party in for at least one nice, and try out all my new abilities.

-butterfly game is cool. Kind of annoying that the camera angles make it difficult to tell if you’re going to run into a red or not. Also annoying that I have to find the butterfly all over again there’s a lot of encounters in this game so that seems a little much to force us to do that, but oh well

-oops never mind about the butterfly. I went to the next screen, came back, and there it was. The mp sphere for completing the challenge was a bit underwhelming tho...

-beat the butterfly challenge again in the next area and received a ...drum roll... ether? really square...

-the boss fight was fun. I liked that you had to change up which element you used, however it was very unclear which element you were supposed to use. I thought it was the color of the boss that gave it away, but even that wasn’t consistent. Not sure why they didn’t make it more clear, but I beat him and watched the jecht sphere...

-what’s this!? Jecht showing some compassion and vulnerability, even if just for a second? Interesting.

-man, ffx2 should have been about jecht, Auron and braskas pilgrimage. Instead we got a shitty J-pop simulator lol. What a missed opportunity! Seeing jecht as evolution would’ve been really awesome. He seems like an interesting character but we have yet to learn much about him. Hopefully the jecht spheres will shed some more light on his character evolution

That’s all I have time for right now. The story is really starting to get interesting! The battle continues to be fun and the little mini games are a nice change of pace, even though I have my gripes and complaints about them. Cant wait to see what’s next, but not sure when I’ll be able to play more. Till next time

-The Lightning dodging, butterfly hunting, and Cactuar stone stuff are all quests to get the Celestial weapon materials. All that stuff I would recommend just waiting until the airship/endgame when you have that No Encounters item. But yeah, doesn't hurt to dabble when you're first going through. Both the lightning dodging and butterfly hunt give you lower-level prizes, which it looks like you already did with the butterfly hunt.

-In regards to cut-scenes removing your ability to go back, you'll get the airship eventually and can return to every area in the game except one basically.

-Yeah, Macalania Woods is probably my favorite area in the game for the reasons you mentioned. So fuckin mystical!

-The Macalania boss doesn't visually show you which element he's on. Instead you need to just see which magic he uses on you, and then you adjust.

-There are 10 Jecht spheres in total, and yeah they're really cool and develop Jecht/Auron/Braska quite a bit. Collecting the Jecht spheres also gives you new overdrives for Auron. But again, this is a quest that is better to take on after you get the airship since you'll need to go all around Spira to find them, but you will come across a couple others on your way before that.

 

[Cutty Flam]

Kev Kev how would you describe the overall tone of the soundtrack for FF X ?

 

[Kev Kev]

Kev Kev how would you describe the overall tone of the soundtrack for FF X ?

Excellent. The ps4 hd version includes new arrangements and recordings and they are top notch. It feels fresh, tasteful and fits the aesthetic of the area in the game world it’s playing over. I was always a big fan of the music in FFX, and the new arrangements are even better than the old ones. If I had to be critical, I’d say the boss music is a little lacking IMO, it’s good but it doesn’t have the same energy as boss battle music in previous FF’s. Other other than that i give the music 10/10 in this game. Very well done.

 

[marquimvfs]

I am in my thirties and as such there are very few games I'd be ashamed of playing in front of my wife.

I agree, I won't play it near my wife too.
Really embarrassing.

 

[Ixion]

Kev Kev how would you describe the overall tone of the soundtrack for FF X ?

A big difference with the FFX soundtrack compared to other main installments is that it had three composers, whereas every other main installment just has one. Not to mention the jump from PS1 to PS2 saw a big jump in sound quality. So it's very diverse and experimental in a lot of ways.

To me, when I think of the overall tone of FFX in general I would say "Aquatic" and "Spiritual" with some slight futurism, and the soundtrack perfectly reflects that.

I agree, I won't play it near my wife too.
Really embarrassing.

lol On the topic of soundtrack though...I just want to point out how great the FFX-2 opening theme is.




Somber, chill inducing stuff. Then you start the game and it goes right into a J-pop concert. lol

 

[TheContact]

New video from FFU

 

[sublimit]

A big difference with the FFX soundtrack compared to other main installments is that it had three composers, whereas every other main installment just has one. Not to mention the jump from PS1 to PS2 saw a big jump in sound quality. So it's very diverse and experimental in a lot of ways.

To me, when I think of the overall tone of FFX in general I would say "Aquatic" and "Spiritual" with some slight futurism, and the soundtrack perfectly reflects that.



lol On the topic of soundtrack though...I just want to point out how great the FFX-2 opening theme is.




Somber, chill inducing stuff. Then you start the game and it goes right into a J-pop concert. lol

That incredibly beautiful opening theme was really misleading lol.

 

[Ixion]

That incredibly beautiful opening theme was really misleading lol.

For the most part it is, but FFX-2 does have some moments and aspects to the story that go along with that feeling, especially the closer you get towards the end. For example, while I love Macalania Woods in FFX, I think FFX-2's portrayal of that realm is even cooler with how it emphasizes the magic fading from the woods with the Fayth now destroyed. The Guado show a real attachment and sorrow around that. There's a real tragic beauty there.

There's also the whole mid-game section where you descend into the Bevelle underground to find Vegnagun, which is pretty dark and probably the coolest part of the game. And lastly, there's the whole Shuyin/Lin plot thread, which is kind of tragic (but also kind of stupid).

 

[sublimit]

For the most part it is, but FFX-2 does have some moments and aspects to the story that go along with that feeling, especially the closer you get towards the end. For example, while I love Macalania Woods in FFX, I think FFX-2's portrayal of that realm is even cooler with how it emphasizes the magic fading from the woods with the Fayth now destroyed. The Guado show a real attachment and sorrow around that. There's a real tragic beauty there.

There's also the whole mid-game section where you descend into the Bevelle underground to find Vegnagun, which is pretty dark and probably the coolest part of the game. And lastly, there's the whole Shuyin/Lin plot thread, which is kind of tragic (but also kind of stupid).

Yeah of course there are some moments like that.However the overall tone of the game is completely different from the tone of that theme.That's what i meant by "misleading".

 

[Komatsu]

lol On the topic of soundtrack though...I just want to point out how great the FFX-2 opening theme is.

That incredibly beautiful opening theme was really misleading lol.

Eternity Memory of Lightwaves is one of the greatest RPG themes of all time. Noriko Matsueda's masterpiece.

This cover, in which it is mashed with one of the OST vocal themes by the great Japanese band Meine Menung, which blew up in the early 2010s, is absolutely stunning:



Too bad the game is a bad shoujo manga as conceived by gyaru-obsessed salarymen on drugs.

For the most part it is, but FFX-2 does have some moments and aspects to the story that go along with that feeling, especially the closer you get towards the end. For example, while I love Macalania Woods in FFX, I think FFX-2's portrayal of that realm is even cooler with how it emphasizes the magic fading from the woods with the Fayth now destroyed. The Guado show a real attachment and sorrow around that. There's a real tragic beauty there.

But that is the great tragedy of the game. FFX-2 had ENORMOUS potential of being perhaps the greatest game in the franchise, a story about Yuna coming to terms with the passing of her love while Spira witnesses the fading of the Fayth. It gives me goosebumps to think what a Matsuno or a Kato could have done with that plot hook.

But FFX-2 still does not reach the towering heights of cringe that is the Audio CD that "closes" the story. That shit did actual violence to cherished memories of my gaming youth.

 

[Ixion]

FFX-2 still does not reach the towering heights of cringe that is the Audio CD that "closes" the story. That shit did actual violence to cherished memories of my gaming youth.

I still have not listened to that audio story. As soon as it became available all I read online was that it should not be listened to by any means necessary lol.

If they really do make an FFX-3 at some point, then maybe I’ll listen to it. Otherwise...ignorance is bliss.

 

[ConanTheKing]

So I've been playing X-2... it is not a bad game, the combat system is actually really good but for some reason the game doesn't hook me. I'm more like "guess I play X-2" than "can't wait to get to play."

Maybe it's the story and atmosphere. It felt a lot more light hearted even though it's got themes of dealing with...

Spoiler: SPOILER

grief

. The atmosphere didn't feel as strong and the story was not as gripping but it was decent. The combat system was fun.

 

[Kev Kev]

UPDATE 10

LAKE MACALANIA

-clasko mentioned something about Chocobo breeding. Wonder if that means we will get to breed Chocobos in this game, or something similar? I don’t remember that from before. Either way tho, I chose that he should be a chocobo breeder instead of knight bc it suits his personality more.

-the boss fight against the al bhed contraption was great! Required a little strategy and timing, nothing weird or vague. Pulled out Ixion and laid into that thing pretty good!

-Wakka hating rikku for being al bhed is really synonymous with racism and things like that in our real world. And his indoctrination into the teachings of yevon as well. But with Wakka, I think he’s running from the pain of losing his brother more than being naive or gullible. Kind of said really bc it’s not his fault in a lot of ways, this was just how he was raised. Kind of makes you feel anger towards these maesters and the facade of the teachings of yevon, again synonymous with religion and racism in our real world (or what seems to be like some kind of fuckery with yevon and it’s “teachings”, haven’t figured it out yet)

-I’m not sure if I like the consistency in enemy variety or not. On one hand, I know what to expect so each battle isn’t a guessing game, but in the other hand, it’s be nice to have a little more variety. It seems they just reskin the fiends in each area, only throwing in one or two new ones. battle is still fun as hell

-still coasting on all those grenades I stole at the beginning of the game. They come in handy in a pinch really liking rikku as a character so far too. She seems really pure and innocent, but also tough in battle

MACALANIA TEMPLE

-lord jyscal shedding light on Seymour being a bad dude. He even blames himself. More father and son turmoil, like jecht and tidus. The game is really heavy on this theme of cycles. The cycle of father and son, cycle of sin, death and rebirth. I’m not great at analysis, but I think sublimit mentioned circles and spirals being a theme in FFX, and I’m definitely seeing that. I wonder what it is Seymour went through that caused him to turn bad...

-also, the lead up to macalania temple was so cool. I love that it’s underground and just floating there. Looked super cool.

-got my first game over because they gave Seymour three attacks in a row, and each attack was a one hit kill against each of my party members. Like, I get that using nul and strategy and all that is important, but that situation is kinda bullshit.

That’s it for now. Still loving the game. Gonna put it down for now and come back to take out Seymour next time.

 

[marquimvfs]

-got my first game over because they gave Seymour three attacks in a row, and each attack was a one hit kill against each of my party members. Like, I get that using nul and strategy and all that is important, but that situation is kinda bullshit.

That happened to me everytime I faced him. Needed to go back and raise party HP a little. How's yours?

 

[Kev Kev]

That happened to me everytime I faced him. Needed to go back and raise party HP a little. How's yours?

I think around the 2000’s for most characters. I’ve grinded quite a bit too. My characters weren’t low health when he released those attacks, they were all three somewhere around 1,500 HP and he was still able to one shot all three of them (with three attacks in a row come ooonnnn maannnn).

but yeah, I will probably go back and do a bit more grinding. I don’t care to lose battles, especially to shit like that, so I will make sure to be over leveled for most of the game. I love grinding tho so it’s all good!

 

[Ixion]

I think around the 2000’s for most characters. I’ve grinded quite a bit too. My characters weren’t low health when he released those attacks, they were all three somewhere around 1,500 HP and he was still able to one shot all three of them (with three attacks in a row come ooonnnn maannnn).

but yeah, I will probably go back and do a bit more grinding. I don’t care to lose battles, especially to shit like that, so I will make sure to be over leveled for most of the game. I love grinding tho so it’s all good!

Make sure you caste Shell on your characters if you have it. Next most important thing would be Haste, which I would prioritize putting on Yuna for both her healing and summoning abilities. Having summons out for most of the fight helps a lot since they can take the hits for you. But in general I would just try to caste Haste on all the characters you'll be using mostly.

Using the Nul spells would be kind of inefficient for this boss since he can cast any element, while you would have to cast each Nul spell individually.

 

[Komatsu]

Gotta say I am loving this thread so far. Never thought I'd start 2021 replaying FFX - a game I must have finished something like 5 times in the past.

So, I started playing it on the PS2 in JP but eventually reverted to English. I know the voice acting in this game was savaged (Edge called it "nauseating" at the time) but, upon reflection, and with some grey hairs in my beard, I have to say that James Arnold Taylor's Tidus (pronounced tee-dus, as he loves to say) has a certain melancholy, reflective quality that the Japanese seiyuu Masakazu Morita, who's now playing Lechter in the Kiseki series, simply lacks.

Yuna's voice in Japanese can often be a bit better than the languid tones we get in English, but dub director Jack Fletcher did wonders with the script, given that half of what she says in Japanese seems to be "sou da ne..".

 

[Kev Kev]

Make sure you caste Shell on your characters if you have it. Next most important thing would be Haste, which I would prioritize putting on Yuna for both her healing and summoning abilities. Having summons out for most of the fight helps a lot since they can take the hits for you. But in general I would just try to caste Haste on all the characters you'll be using mostly.

Using the Nul spells would be kind of inefficient for this boss since he can cast any element, while you would have to cast each Nul spell individually.

ah shit why didnt I do that. Haven’t had to use shell very much yet. Ok perfect thanks for the help, I’ll try all of that!

 

[Kev Kev]

UPDATE 11

MACALANIA TEMPLE

-ok beat Seymour. Geez, can’t imagine how difficult that fight would have been had I not grinded as much as I did. He seems a bit OP, no? It’s not even that I wasn’t using strategy, it’s that he gets multiple attacks in a row and they are potentially one hit kills. Lol, typical square tho, tbh. Anyways, past that now, onward...

-the gang gets labeled as the bad guys despite having the sphere as evidence? Seems bizarre that they wouldn’t just show the gusto the sphere video. Maybe they will in the future, we’ll see how things pan out... kind of an overused plot device tho, but I like the idea of being a gang of fugitives lol

-Shiva! I didn’t even use her against Seymour, totally forgot. Whoops. Excited to have her tho

-ok here’s why the cloister trials suck: there is no rhyme or reason to doing anything, it’s all trial and error. If there was more tutorial on what the spheres do and more indication of where they are supposed to go in order to unlock things, that’d make it kind of fun. But as it is, I’m just picking up and placing spheres over and over until something happens. It’s not exactly fun, just time consuming. Either way I got all the things from the trial at least, so I’m happy.

-they destroyed the jyscal sphere!? Lol what, why are he guado suddenly evil? What happened to them following the teachings of yevon now and all that happy horse shit? Are the guado in on some kind of conspiracy? Perhaps those closest to Seymour have some kind of other motive? Otherwise, it doesn’t make sense that they’d destroy it, not yet at least...

-o’akas prices went up guess I didn’t give him enough Gil in the beginning? Or is that just a natural part of the game? I haven’t bought much from him in general because it just hasn’t been worth it. Oh well

-run tidus! You slow ass POS

-as far as battle is concerned, so far my MVP is Lulu. I need her in nearly every single battle, for her magic. Sometimes I need auron to take out tough guys, I need Wakka for flyers, tidus for fast fiends... but indent always have those fiend types in each battle. But with Lu, I need her magic almost every single battle bc there is always something weak to a certain element. So, I went ahead and put kimahri on a track to pick up black magic abilities with his sphere grid. Hopefully magic keeps proving essential through out the game. I thought about looking up a guide for this decision, but I said eh fuck it, I want to play the game the way I want to, even if it’s not the most efficient. I really prefer to enjoy the game and make my own decisions, the way it’s meant to be done. In subsequent play through me I will use a guide.

-oh great, this yeti mother fucker can also take me out with one hit kills wtf is with that lol.

-looks like using steal with rikku stops the guado from using auto potion, at least I think. I love when I do things like that in battle. I have this light bulb moment and try it out and voila, it works! Good job on that square

-ok now this is some BULLSHIT! ok check this out, the guado have 1200 HP, I attack with fora for 1297, so he’s dead right? RIGHT!? lol no, he casts protect on this abominable snowman mfer and THEN he dies. Fuck you for that one square makes zero sense but okay. Hopefully I make it through this fight in one try...

-annnnnnd he on hit kills all my summons too..... tHiS iS fUn lol

-i could try out all my status effects and stuff, figure out how to thwart his attacks, perhaps protect on chars would help? He’s immune to slow, dark attack didn’t work, and if I waste a turn using scan I could risk all my characters being taken out... not really sure what to do. If he didn’t have one hit hit kills it wouldn’t be as annoying, but he does lol... oh well...

-HAHA dark attack worked the second time! Woo, eat shit yeti bitch!

-oh shit check it out! I got a grand summon right after my dark attack worked, pulled out Ixion (bc my other aeons were dead) hit the yeti and the remaining guado with Thor’s hammer, kill the guado, but asshole casts shell before he dies (again, bullshit), the yeti then gets three attacks IN A ROW (wtf!?) but since he’s blind he misses all three, this also raises Ixion overdrive to max again, I use thirs hammer one more time and he’s dead! Phew, that was close, I was about to rage lol.

Well that’s it for now. Fun boss fight that was kind of clutch at the end, glad I win it tho. Not a fan of the multiple one hit kill attacks in a row, not sure why square thought that was a great idea. But still enjoying the game a lot, and I’m really interested to see where the story is going now that the guado are obviously up to some fuckery.

Wish I had more time to play through. I’m just too busy at the moment so I only get an hour on wednesdays and Sunday mornings. So, unless I find some time befor then, see you guys Sunday!

 

[peronmls]

I specifically remember the first time I saw this cutscene. Think I was 13 or 14 when this came out. Me and my friend watched in, partially cringing at how bad the scene was (yes I know it’s supposed to be stupid, but even that was done horribly) and we both just looked at each other and my friend says “what a faggot”

I don’t think an hd remake can fix that

With strong emotions like that I believe you and your friend kissed right after that scene.

 

[Kev Kev]

With strong emotions like that I believe you and your friend kissed right after that scene.

weirdest post ever

 

[dwish]

I'm also RTTP, currently trying to get the Sun Sigil...... ekfkgn3kfocoek3flcco3tglg

 

[Ixion]

Just came across this and thought it was cool. Some good background music when reading this thread...

 

[ROMhack]

Doubling up on posting about FF today but this one's a real double-edged sword for me. The gameplay is the most fun in the series but the characters - which I gather is a huge reason people like it - didn't work for me. It has this great setting and looks mostly great but also seems held back by technical limitations making it a little too linear. I rank it alongside FF8 as being okay.

Admittedly the final battle is really cool (I didn't even mind doing it 15 times).

I'm sure of one thing too - Tidus is the Hayden Christensen of videogames.

 

[sublimit]

Doubling up on posting about FF today but this one's a real double-edged sword for me. The gameplay is the most fun in the series but the characters - which I gather is a huge reason people like it - didn't work for me. It has this great setting and looks mostly great but also seems held back by technical limitations making it a little too linear. I rank it alongside FF8 as being okay.

Admittedly the final battle is really cool (I didn't even mind doing it 15 times).

I'm sure of one thing too - Tidus is the Hayden Christensen of videogames.

I think the linearity was more of a design choice than anything else. And i actually think it worked on its favor.

 

[Carna]

I am in my thirties and as such there are very few games I'd be ashamed of playing in front of my wife.



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Final Fantasy X-2 is one of these games.

The job system they implemented is fun but the plot is simply demented. Embarrassingly stupid.

Rikku's ffx-2 design is hot

 

[sublimit]

Also since Ixion posted those nice remixes i thought i could also post some of my favorite electronic/trance OCRemixes from FFX. Some them i've been listening to them for more than a decade and i'm still not tired of them.

 

[Ixion]

I'm sure of one thing too - Tidus is the Hayden Christensen of videogames.

C'mon now. I like Tidus, but he'll never be this cool

 

[Komatsu]

Rikku's ffx-2 design is hot

FFX: "Only death rules in Spira"

FFX-2:

Why is she wearing a bikini? Why the frilly whatevs on her arms? Nomura is RIDICULOUS.

 

[Ixion]

I think the linearity was more of a design choice than anything else. And i actually think it worked on its favor.

Yeah, I've never really liked the old-school JRPG approach of mixing random battles with open-ended exploration. The old-school SNES/PS1 JRPGs (including Final Fantasy) often had pretty high encounter rates, and so I just never really got excited to go around exploring a big overworld or land mass or something since you would just keep getting interrupted, would spend much of that chunk of time in battles, and of course you never know when a random battle would pop up. All in all that aspect is just kind of an anxious and annoying experience for me.

What I've always loved about FFX is that the pacing of encounters during the journey was perfect since there isn't much open-ended exploring in the fields/dungeons that make you sick of battles. You always get to the next area right before you start feeling tired of battles popping up (plus there's usually a lot of people to talk to and things to do along the way to break things up). And then once you do get the airship and can freely hop around the game world, you'll probably have a "No Encounters" item by that point, so that's when I really like to do a lot of exploration and side-quests without that annoyance of random battles.

Basically, FFX is linear, but expertly paced. And you still get fun open-ended exploration and quests once you can freely hop around with the airship.

FFX: "Only death rules in Spira"

FFX-2:

Why is she wearing a bikini? Why the frilly whatevs on her arms? Nomura is RIDICULOUS.

You just need to take it less seriously. The devs decided to just make a wacky Japanese Charlie's Angels game based in Spira. On one hand you can say that's disrespectful to the original game, but on the other hand...."wacky Japanese Charlie's Angels" sounds like a fun time, and the game successfully delivers exactly that.

 

[Kev Kev]

UPDATE 13

OASIS

-Tidus seems to want to help Jecht. It shows that he still cares about him in some way, despite Jecht being kind of an asshole towards him. They have a complicated relationship, hope we get to see more of that fleshed out

-I wonder why we ended up in the desert? Did sin/jecht spit us out here on purpose to protect tidus? Something else?

-lol kimahri is too chonky to climb up the sand slopes

-man, that sand worm is tough, and doesn’t give a whole lot of AP thankfully easy to take down with out taking much damage tho, since it’s vulnerable able to dark and sleep.

-oh shit aurons bushido took him out in one hit! Noice

-machina! Alright time to steal some grenades

-that reminds me, are there any good mixtures for rikkus overdrive that I should utilize? I usually mix one grenade with an elemental item, so if it’s a fire based fiend I’ll use an ice item to target their weakness. Any other good combos I should look out for?

-any good trick to defeating cactuar? Kimahri ronso rage overdrive took it out in one hit, but other than that I can’t seem to figure out the trick. Guess I should try scanning it and all that, but I know from past FFs that these guys can be tricky

-using bio on Zubis extremely effective! It rocks him 4500 hp every turn he attacks once he is poisoned

-I’m loving this desert area. Good place to grind and cool atmosphere. Once again the music nails the aesthetic and aura of the surrounding area.

-my al bhed is good enough to read most anything now! I don’t being able to read much before. Must be exploring more this time around. Awesome, I’ll actually be able I read some of the warning signs and what not.

-bio is just as effective on sand worm! Woo that helps a lot since he’s got 45,000 hp

-damn it’s like the cactuar know I have my overdrives loaded up they are just running away immediately now. Bummerrrrrrr.... I’d really like to find a way to keep them from fleeing so I can score some big AP for all my characters

-ok enough grinding... strong fiends the left, weak to the right.... ?!? LETS GO LEFT!

-whoa, Wakka had an attack that was able to kill the cactuar.... uuhhhhh? Now I’m really confused lol. So randomly attacks will hit for what they regularly hit for? I thought cactuar just had insanely high defense?

-got lucky and scored a turn with each character, then hit a cactuar with one of my overdrives and scored some big AP! Hell yea

-finally made it through the desert. That was fun! I really enjoy grinding and trying out all the different moves in this game. The battle system really makes you feel powerful and is just a lot of fun.

-made the the al bhed home. It looks cool, except for being on fire or course lol.

-guado and yevon bs the al bhed? Yeah seems to make sense. There is some kind of conspiracy going on here, still not enough info to figure it all out, but it’s clear to see yevon and the guado are up to no good, and possibly full of lies and deceit. Cant wait to see what happens.

Extra long play sesh today. Only made it though the desert but I gained probably ~20 spheres for each character, so I’m feeling pretty strong now. Don’t think I’ll have time to play anymore today, but we’ll see. Till next time

 

[peronmls]

weirdest post ever

More like love at first sight.

 

[marquimvfs]

After a couple weekends without being able to play, I played a little bit today and made some progress. I'm about to face Evrae, any tips?

 

[TLZ]

I am in my thirties and as such there are very few games I'd be ashamed of playing in front of my wife.

Try this then:

 

[sublimit]

After a couple weekends without being able to play, I played a little bit today and made some progress. I'm about to face Evrae, any tips?

Riku's Al Bhed potions helped a lot in this battle for me. Also be sure to cast slow on him.

 

[marquimvfs]

Riku's Al Bhed potions helped a lot in this battle for me. Also be sure to cast slow on him.

Winned it pretty easily by just taking care and using Al Bhed potions. Thanks for the tip. Now I've saved in the Bevelle trials entrance, I know i can't go back here so need to take care to not forget anything. Probably will reach for a guide later.

 

[sublimit]

Winned it pretty easily by just taking care and using Al Bhed potions. Thanks for the tip. Now I've saved in the Bevelle trials entrance, I know i can't go back here so need to take care to not forget anything. Probably will reach for a guide later.

Good luck with the Bevelle cloister of trials! That was the most annoying one in the game!

Also don't forget to use Riku's steal/mug ability when you have the chance. You can get some pretty good stuff especially from bosses.

 

[marquimvfs]

Played a little tonight. Reached Macarena woods again. Having said that, the battles where all pretty easy. But the trial was annoying as fuck. It was very hard to decipher and, even control the character, since the timing to press X to choose direction (for moving the platform) was, somehow, screwed. I think it's something related to input lag, just like the Tidus overdrive is way harder than before.

 

[Kev Kev]

Reached Macarena woods again.

Lmao

if I remember correctly that means your close to the calm lands, or whatever area that is called where it’s a big open field? That’s one of my favorite areas in the game

---

UPDATE 14

HOME

-went through a door and it locked me out from going back thankfully I had saved just before. So I reloaded the save, went back and found a room with some goodies in it! Special sphere and skill sphere or something like that. I’m glad I reloaded!

-this guy screaming over the intercom is so annoying! It sounds like he yelling “annoying cunt!” Lol, which is what he is being.

-level 4 key sphere! Woo, been looking for one of these. Didn’t know we would see them so early

-I know this is kind of a hot take... but they need to get rid of voice acting in final fantasy, and maybe in video games in general. It just never feels right, the editing, timing and cadence is all off, and the sound mix never feels right either. It’s like the music and sound effects drop out way too much to make room for the voice actors, but then it feels over produced and weird. And in general, the voice acting just isn’t done that well. I think the voice actors themselves do a good job, but the content they are given is just b movie level, at best. I know this won’t happen but, just had to mention that

-Airship! Cool, I didn’t know we got that this early in game.

-these cutscenes are pretty sweet!

AIRSHIP

-exploring the airship...

-not a fan of the customize weapons and armor just yet. Maybe it will get better. But a lot of the really useful perks cost a lot of rare items. For instance, there is an mp +20% that would be great for Lu or Yuna, but it costs 5 elixirs! I don’t even have one. Auto Jed is 20 remedy, ive barely used any remedy and only have 27 total. I imagine as the game goes on I’ll find more of this stuff. But as of now I’m still using the same armor and weapons I’ve been using for the past several hours of gameplay. I miss the feeling of finding new powerful equipment, and customize isn’t fun or useful yet so...

-so yuna is half al bhed? Didn’t remember that from the first time around. I wasn’t paying close attention to that scene, but it sounds like cid is her uncle. Interesting

-another things with the weapons and armor... I have soooo much, and no idea what to sell and what to keep. Honestly just want to sell everything except what I have equipped, just to help keep it organized. Kind of annoying that it’s so hard to keep track of all the equipment I have. I honestly just don’t even want to mess with it, I seem to do fine with the weapons and armor I’ve been using this whole time. It’s like the have a simple concept with weapons and armor in this game, but then they drown you in different weapons and armor and I just feel overwhelmed and don’t want to fuck with it might have to look up a guide soon. I’m just gonna sell everything for now. I’m not utilizing any of the status effect equipment anyway, I’m just focusing on the ones that have +hp, +mp, etc...

-worm battle was tough but fun. Dudes poison breath almost got me...

BEVELLE

-awesome cutscene. I forgot about them grinding down on the ropes to crash the wedding. Really cool moment with the whole party together making a bad ass entry

-the music in the crashing the wedding area! I love it. Intense and dynamic. When the battle gets heated and the arrangement picks up and it gets real intense. Amazing music once again

-that “wedding” was co creepy

-yevon sure is using a lot of machina for being so against it

-I feel bad for wakka. He feels so betrayed

-missed one of the chests in the trial, but I got bahamut so fuck yeah and fuck yoouuuuu

-and finally the corruption and lies are revealed. “Death is eternal” is a peculiar angle, control through lies and deceit, cycle of death, etc. interesting cut scene. Still have questions, but I’m sure they will be answered soon

-man, these mother fuckers are evil. Creepy music and everything.

-oh interesting, it seems Seymour isn’t trusted by the other maesters. Seymour doesn’t seem to give af however lol

-man the music in via purifico is fantastic. Again a big improvement over the original, not that it even needed it, but still it amazes me how much better each new arrangement is. Here it is:



Seems like a good place to end for now.

 

[TheContact]

the via purifico is such a bond villain move. "i could line you up against the wall and put a bullet through your skull, but let's put you in an underwater environment (where tidus thrives even) with all your weapons against a boss who can be taken out with a phoenix down." er...but it's ok they put guards at the exits. wait, there's an exit? why?

 

[sublimit]

BEVELLE

-awesome cutscene. I forgot about them grinding down on the ropes to crash the wedding. Really cool moment with the whole party together making a bad ass entry

-the music in the crashing the wedding area! I love it. Intense and dynamic. When the battle gets heated and the arrangement picks up and it gets real intense. Amazing music once again

Yeah that's one of my most memorable scenes in the whole series. And the music really matched the whole scene perfectly from the point they are gliding down from the airship up to the point where

Spoiler

Yuna summons Valefor.

 

[marquimvfs]

if I remember correctly that means your close to the calm lands, or whatever area that is called where it’s a big open field? That’s one of my favorite areas in the game

That's right. Have reached a big open field, but haven't explored it right yet. But I'm very annoyed with all the random encounters...

 

[sublimit]

That's right. Have reached a big open field, but haven't explored it right yet. But I'm very annoyed with all the random encounters...

Haven't you got a No Encounters weapon yet? I think by the time i reached Calm Lands i already had one for Tidus but i don't remember if it was a random drop from an enemy or loot from a chest.

But if you do the first Chocobo trial (which is very easy) you'll always have free access to Chocobos to move freely in the Calm Lands (but everytime you want one you'll have to ask the Chocobo trainer).

 

[Ixion]

That's right. Have reached a big open field, but haven't explored it right yet. But I'm very annoyed with all the random encounters...

Yeah, as sublimit said, there is a chocobo breeder woman near the Al Bhed shop that lets you ride a chocobo for free whenever you want as long as you beat the first trial (which is really easy).

As for a No Encounters item, there's a chance you might have gotten one as a random enemy drop by this point in the game, but there's also a chance you haven't gotten one. If you do definitely want one, then here is a little guide that tells you the different options for getting one.

 

[marquimvfs]

Haven't you got a No Encounters weapon yet? I think by the time i reached Calm Lands i already had one for Tidus but i don't remember if it was a random drop from an enemy or loot from a chest.

But if you do the first Chocobo trial (which is very easy) you'll always have free access to Chocobos to move freely in the Calm Lands (but everytime you want one you'll have to ask the Chocobo trainer).

Nop. Haven't found it yet. Will try to do it ASAP.

Just did a little research and found that I can have it on the temple where I get anima or dropped by some monsters on the monster arena. Meaning that I'm almost there to get it. But the truth is that I'm not very inclined to do the monster arena. Will I miss a very important part of the game by not playing this particular side quest?

 

[Ixion]

But the truth is that I'm not very inclined to do the monster arena. Will I miss a very important part of the game by not playing this particular side quest?

You need to partially complete it in order to get the ultimate weapons for Yuna and Auron.

For Yuna, you need to capture all the fiends in the Calm Lands. For Auron, you need to capture all the fiends in at least 10 different areas (which would include the early game areas that only have 3 or 4 fiends each).


With that said, you wouldn't actually use a No Encounters item for the monster arena stuff since you need to fight and capture monsters via random battles. I'd say the No Encounters item helps the most when doing the following:

• Cactuar Hunt quest in Bikanel Island (which gets you Rikku's ultimate)
• Lightning dodge mini-game in Thunder Plains (which gets you Lulu's ultimate)
• Butterfly hunt mini-game in Macalania Woods (which gets you Kimahri's ultimate)

It definitely helps for the "endgame" period in general, but those are the three quests off the top of my head that I know are much less annoying when you don't have to also deal with random battles.

 

[Komatsu]

Finished the game last night. I thought I'd find it sillier as a much older person - I was in high school when I first beat it all these years ago - and... wow.

Many of the story beats resonated that much more. I literally got goosebumps when I first reached Gagazet and Servants of the Mountain started playing. That battle with Yunalesca... when Auron says "This is it! Make your choice!"... It was incredible. I used to rag on the localization team's choice to replace Yuna's "arigatou" at the end with "I love you" but... man... that hit hard.

Best plot & combat system in the entire franchise and it's not even close. I love FF7's plot as well but Gaia is not nearly as well realized.

 

[sublimit]

Best plot & combat system in the entire franchise and it's not even close.

Absolutely agree. For a time i was letting my nostalgia win and regard FFVII (the original of course) as my favorite FF but that also had to do a lot with it being my first FF. So for a long time i considered FFX as my second favorite. However noe that i replayed FFX (my fourth time) i finally realize this is the best (main) FF ever and as you say it's not even close.

Best combat system and character progression,best story,one of the best and most solid settings of which you can see how much thought was put into it in order to tie perfectly with the story and probably the best soundtrack in the series.
Its linearity may be its only flaw but i think due to the story and characters being so solid it actually works at its favor and was a wise choice by the developers.