Final Fantasy X and X-2

[Untamed]

I'm just curious about the hate-on for FFX-2, and all the praise for FFX.

FFX was the first PS2 game I purchased (along with MvsC2) in late 2005 when I finally got it. I was so excited, as I've enjoyed most of the FFs before that. I had heard amazing thing about it, and I was extremely let down. I dumped 23~ hours in the game before putting it down just before the fight with the Ronso guys and haven't touched it since.

In my opinion, there are numerous flaws in this game that, I feel, ruin the experience of a Final Fantasy to me.

Blitzball. Who's bright idea was this? From what I can see, the people who gravitate to RPGs aren't the Madden/NHL/NBA Live type people. I don't feel like managing my team and playing rounds and round of excrutiatingly boring and overly complicated Blitzball games so I can get Wakka's limit or a few rare items.

Linearity. I never felt like I could go off and do side quests, explore the world map (there was no world map!), find secrets, fly around the scenery, or anything. That's a major departure from a FF mainstay, and I find it unforgivable. The player's hand is pretty much held from the beginning, because there's only one way to go.

Item system. I can only equip how many items? That's like Bethesda taking away the pauldrons from Oblivion. I also don't like the item customizing, what happened to finding the uber rare Spear of Fire-Burns-J00 in the Cave of the Diamond Monkey in the top-middle-under-left of the map, only accessible by Neon Pink Chocobo riding on the airship? Oh yeah, no world map. Guess I'll get my flame attack by tacking it on... anything I want, that makes it easy and exciting.

Temple puzzles. Not fun. At all. Such a break in the already poorly paced story. At least the Aeons are cool.

Easy. Way too easy. Everytime I go through any FF the very first time I find myself thoroughly underpowered, because I miss things, didn't level enough, don't have the right equip, etc. FFX I had no problems. None. At all.

Those are my major gripes, and they far outweigh what I like about the game. I love the sphere grid, being able to guide and develop my character. Not enough of the special spheres though, very nifty they are. The battle system I also enjoyed, swaping out who I wanted. Controlling the Aeons was entertaining as well. But, you know, I just can't bring myself to pick it up again. I've already beaten VIII twice, and FFIV once since I started FFX.

I tried to like it, I really did. I don't understand what I'm missing.


As for FFX-2, I find it's a LOT more fun. Where FFX is a real downer, and took itself way too seriously, X-2 was upbeat and quirky. I'm seeing it for the shallow mission-based FF spin-off that it is, and it's very entertaining. The battle system is fun, the dress spheres and garment grids are an excelent take on the job systems of past games. Rikku is still funny. Still don't like Blitzball, but you know, whatever.

I've been reluctant to put too much time into it, as it is a sequel to a game I haven't beaten yet, but wanting to finish X-2 might be the motivation I need to finish X. But, then again, I may never touch either of them again, because I have to beat X.


Thoughts?

[Blitzwing256]

I hated the walking, it was like lord of the rings the video game


walk straight for an hour...cut scene...walk striaght some more...more cut scenes, heroguy whines about his da da walk some more...cutscene blah

i won't spoil the end part, but if you thought the game was easy thus far, ohh boy...


the one saving grace is after you've finished it you can do some fun monster hunting and if you "catch em all" you can fight some seriously tough monsters in the arena (where you can get a bunch of those grid spheres)

otherwise the game sucked chocobo balls something fierce.


every time i try to play x2 I feel very dirty and have to shut it off ;-)

[G-Boobie]

I'm not much if a Final Fantasy guy past six, but I actually enjoyed X myself. I can completely understand your points though; I guess whether or not you can forgive the game it's weird conventions as a Final Fantasy fan will determine whether or not you enjoy it.

I personally had extremely mixed feelings about X-2. I enjoyed the actual mechanics of the game, but absolutely hated the alleged 'story'; I especially hated Rikku's brother, his flying motorcycle ship, the dumb pop star situation and everything to do with Paine... Basically, I felt that the treatment of Luna and Rikku was pretty weak, especially considering that many people had fifty hours of emotional investment in the characters already. It was a very japanese sequel, and I just personally wasn't able to take it on it's own terms after playing through X.

[Untamed]

I just personally wasn't able to take it on it's own terms after playing through X.

I can completely understand that. The differences of the games on those two levels is too far apart. The gap left seems to be like jumping off an emotional cliff to the rainbows and puppy dogs below. You see them, but it's hard to adjust. If they had toned them both down to more reasonable levels, and closer in feeling to each other, then maybe there wouldn't be such a hate-on for X-2.

[108Stars]

Personally, I just love FF X. It is probably my favourite videogame of all times.
I agree that it has flaws; it is too linear and Blitzball was not a good replacement for the card games of VIII and IX.
However, I just love the atmosphere and the story. Never before or after was I so emotionally moved by a story. The graphics were gorgeous for their time and the soundtrack Uematsu at his best. The battle system was a nice shift to more strategy, and the sphere board a fun way to level up; also very open to your personal preferences if you used the pro-board. I ended up with Rikku as my best damage dealer in my first playthrough.
I cannot say that I found the game easier than FF VIII or IX; maybe easier than VII. Especially in FF IX I never died until very late in the game. In the contrary, FF X offered me the longest boss-battle I have ever had, against the strongest hidden boss it took me 2 1/2 hours to beat.
Well, and the linearity is a flaw I accept for the greater good of an awesome story.

The problem with FF X-2 was that it kind of ruined the great story of FF X. It was a storywise bad sequel of a game that was shining in this aspect. Some stories just have a fitting end, and if you try to do a sequel it just feels unnatural. Also FF X-2 seemed pretty rushed; the great facial animations of FF X were hardly used again, mostly we had to live with the clumsy in-game-faces. And if they were used, they just had a very standard set of expressions.
The gameplay itself was flawless; the best version of ATB ever, and the job-system ruled. But for me the story is still the most important part of an RPG.

[Fuyukaze]

Myself, I realy liked X. After XII, XIII, and IX, I wasnt overly thrilled with how X could be. I didnt even bother getting it till the GH release was out. After playing it though, I found I enjoyed it alot. Once I read the strategy guide for it though I must admit I didnt enjoy knowing all the stuff I'd missed. The parts I thought were great about it were the story and the charcter development. Yes, there were faults in the game. A useless world map (yes, you did eventualy get a "world map"), the amount of FMVs, and the mini-game blitzball which felt out of place for the most part. I say for the most part because it did help devolope the main charcter's persona a good bit.

X-2 on the other hand I couldnt stand. I waited for this to drop some in price but got it with a bit of dread. I'd heard rumors about how the number of playable charcters had been reduced, certain charcters from X were no longer playable, and how there was a new female charcter. The pop icon music thing didnt sit well with me .Playing barbie fashion dress up to get magical powers wasnt big with me either. Did I go in with a bad impresion? Yeah, I guess I did. After playing X and seeing how it ended, I was actualy happy with the ending. While I liked the idea X-2 was going with it's story, I just could not tolerate how it was executed though.


On a personal note, you should give X a bit more of a go past that 21 hours. Atleast till you get the air ship. Not getting that far is like playing half way thru disc 1 of FF VII and getting upset because there's no grand world of towns and cities because your stuck in just the one. The game will eventualy open up to you but like many others, it takes time.

[smokehouse]

On a personal note, you should give X a bit more of a go past that 21 hours. Atleast till you get the air ship. Not getting that far is like playing half way thru disc 1 of FF VII and getting upset because there's no grand world of towns and cities because your stuck in just the one. The game will eventualy open up to you but like many others, it takes time.

Quoted for truth…

Once you get the airship the game opens up…big time. Secondly, skip Blitzball completely…it’s a complete waste of time and all you’ll really get for you efforts is Wakka’s ultimate weapon…something you can easily live without.

As for the trials, just download the walkthroughs for each if you decide they’re too boring…that’s what I did. I got sick of walking around pushing stupid shit and grabbing those damn orbs.

All-in-all FFX is not perfect but it is one hell of a good game…give it more time.

[108Stars]

After XII, XIII, and IX, I wasnt overly thrilled with how X could be.

Do you work at SE or how did you get to play FF XIII already?;)

[heybtbm]

In my opinion, there are numerous flaws in this game that, I feel, ruin the experience of a Final Fantasy to me.

Blitzball. Who's bright idea was this? From what I can see, the people who gravitate to RPGs aren't the Madden/NHL/NBA Live type people. I don't feel like managing my team and playing rounds and round of excrutiatingly boring and overly complicated Blitzball games so I can get Wakka's limit or a few rare items.

I think I'm qualified to say the Blitzball is the single worst idea in the entire Final Fantasy series. That being said, you can ignore it for the most part and still enjoy FFX.

Oh BTW: FFXII > FFX. Suck it haters.

[108Stars]

Oh BTW: FFXII > FFX. Suck it haters.

FF XII is the worst part since NES-times.

[Mad Gear]

I wasn't a fan of FFX tbh. After the superb IX, X was a real let down. I think that they had major time restictions due to getting used to the new hardware, i was just expecting to be blown away with my fave frachise on new and much more powerful hardware.
I thought X-2 was a real breath of fresh air and felt kinda lightweight but fun and breezy at the same time.
I must admit to hating XII at first, but once i got used to the real time battles i absoutely adored it. It's one of the very few RPG's i've put 80+ hours into (and i still missed loads of stuff).

[108Stars]

I hate FF XII because the story is extremely lame and unemotional, characters haven´t much personality...and I miss good old Ifrit, Shiva, Bahamut etc. It just doesn´t feel like FF to me. It´s more of a dungeon-crawler than a story-based RPG.

[Untamed]

On a personal note, you should give X a bit more of a go past that 21 hours. Atleast till you get the air ship. Not getting that far is like playing half way thru disc 1 of FF VII and getting upset because there's no grand world of towns and cities because your stuck in just the one. The game will eventualy open up to you but like many others, it takes time.


Hmm... I thought Zanarkand was the end? I got pretty close, the calm lands.

I can't quite remember everything, but I know it's still disappointing. :P

[G-Boobie]

I hate FF XII because the story is extremely lame and unemotional, characters haven´t much personality...and I miss good old Ifrit, Shiva, Bahamut etc. It just doesn´t feel like FF to me. It´s more of a dungeon-crawler than a story-based RPG.

I can get behind missing the old summons, but I thought the story in FF XII was one HELL of a lot better than the usual FF stories. I think more RPG's should experiment with political intrigue and more mature themes.

[108Stars]

I can get behind missing the old summons, but I thought the story in FF XII was one HELL of a lot better than the usual FF stories. I think more RPG's should experiment with political intrigue and more mature themes.

I like political intrigue. But in FF XII it is so damn simplistic I feel it is just laughable. There is not much in the way of complots going on that the player cannot recognize at first sight. NPCs get killed after 1 or 2 cutscenes, resulting in the player hardly knowing their names and ruining the impact to the story this could have.
And when did you have a FF where the party consisted of such mindless generic characters? Vaan and Penelo only show signs of character in the first few hours, no developement after that. Same with Basch and Fran. There is no emotional bond between the player and them because they act so generic. You could exchange them for other generic RPG characters and it wouldn´t mkatter for the story. In any other FF, characters and story go hand in hand; they need each other.

[Untamed]

I actually can't wait to try XII. I seem to like the FF games that have the most mixed feelings, or are considered generally bad. VIII is my favorite, and X-2 is fun.

But, unfortunately it's in my queue behind Persona 3 and quite a few other games. *sigh*

[DeputyMoniker]

"Political" and "more mature." I read those reviews too and I still didn't like the game. I put far more time into X than I did XII. I didn't quit X until I was fighting Seymour on the cliff. You know, when he is in his big thing and that little guy keeps healing him? I couldn't beat him and i figured I needed to go back and level up some more. It's a long long long long walk back to a good leveling area with a rest spot...I walked as long as I could stand and I stopped playing. I've picked it up a few times since then but I just can't get into it. I quit XII after about 3 hours.

[G-Boobie]

I like political intrigue. But in FF XII it is so damn simplistic I feel it is just laughable....

...And when did you have a FF where the party consisted of such mindless generic characters? ...In any other FF, characters and story go hand in hand; they need each other.

Yeah, I agree... The overall plot and such was pretty simplistic. I just liked it better than VII through IX and X-2. :) ... I also have a thing for games that at least try to take an established franchise somewhere new, so I was inclined to like it more from the get go.

As far as other FFs' stories' go... That's your opinion, and that's cool; I can respect that. I think the entire pantheon of FF stories are pretty 'meh', myself.

[kainemaxwell]

X's sphere system is what keeps me from playing it.

[Fuyukaze]

Do you work at SE or how did you get to play FF XIII already?;)


I was so worried about getting X right I didnt even notice that. Still, replace the X for V with them and keep IX and it'll be more clear. I didnt like the PS1 FF games that much. I didnt play XI though as it's online only and still doesnt feel like a part of the FF series so much as just an online version. XII was realy good at first but somewheres along the way it got so damned boring and drawn out. The system for equipment, magic, and abilities could have been good but the arangment of stuff and so many other things just did nothing for me. All the side stuff to be done distracted from the game in many ways as well. Yes, it's nice that you can go around doing things that dont progress the story. They shouldnt outlast the story though.

[Cinder6]

Chalk me up as another who doesn't understand the praise FFX gets. I played it about a month or two after it got out. Sure, I only got 16 hours into the game (maybe more; I'll have to check my save, if I still have it), but the story up to that point was extremely (IMO) uninspired and predictable. I finally quit when I realized I wanted all of the characters to die, just so something interesting would happen.

[108Stars]

Well, I find that the story is indeed one of the most original ones I have ever experienced. It is basically about a fundamentalistic world that where an outsider from a world as ours appears and sees it through his eyes, learning about the truth behind it that the citizens of this world could never realize by themselves. Think for yourself, do not believe because everybody does. And the characters have great depth, with interesting variations of their handling of parent-child/lovers-connections. Damn, I just deeply love this game more than any other!:)

[grolt]

I thought FFX was one of the stronger episodes in the franchise, despite its flaws. I'm more a fan of the modernist approach of FFVII, and next to that I think this had the most compelling story. Where FFVIII sort of fizzled out after a strong first half, this one keeps a compelling story (with inseparable ties to Japan's patriarchy fixation) and a beautiful and vivid world. I didn't mind the linearity so much, and thought that the battle system and grid leveling was the most balanced and successful Final Fantasy system to date.

Blitzball though, was absolutely terrible. The concept wasn't so bad, but the execution was definitely clunky, complex and an overall bitch to control. It just didn't work, at all. Usually, the draw for me in the mid-sections of these games are the mini-games (like the Golden Saucer in VII and the card game in VIII) but I just wasn't interested at all here. The monster ranching made up for it a bit, but still, I felt a tad underwhelmed.

The voice acting on the lead's behalf was annoying, but I thought it was a solid addition to the series and really helped make it more cinematic.

I've yet to delve into FFX-2 (the lack of male leads is puzzling for a series so rooted in deconstructing masculinity), but hope to some day make the time.

[FantasiaWHT]

I can get behind missing the old summons, but I thought the story in FF XII was one HELL of a lot better than the usual FF stories. I think more RPG's should experiment with political intrigue and more mature themes.

Yeah I got enough of political intrigue to last me a LIFETIME from FFT, thank you very much. Never been all that impressed by any of it, really.

FFX wasn't great, but it was significantly better than 7 and 8. I actually really liked the story. The part I hated the most was the battles... 3 on 3... 3 on 3... 3 on 3... oh, boss time, 3 on... 3....

The hot-swapping characters was a bad idea... stupidly easy, and the game just held your hand so much... oh! It's a flying creature! Bring out Wakka! Oh! It's armored! Bring out Auron!

[Wolfrider31]

I have to agree with Untamed for pretty much every reason he brought up. Blitzball was definitely what I hated most though. I would have had fun with it if they turned it into an arcadey NBA-Jam style minigame, but trying to mix RPG elements and real-time sports action just didn't work.

I think the setting bothered me to. I couldn't get into Tidus as a character, or Wakka, or the squeaky clean Yuna. And while the plot was interesting, it wasn't executed particularly well, which would have been fine (I love MGS2's plot after all) if I had care about any of the characters.

The battle system was awesome though, as was the Sphere Grid. Too bad they ditched both in X-2 (a game I also didn't like).

(I'm still waiting for SquareEnix to get over its hard on for Cloud and co. and give me some more FFVIII sequel action.) ;)

[Untamed]

(I'm still waiting for SquareEnix to get over its hard on for Cloud and co. and give me some more FFVIII sequel action.) ;)

Agreed! VIII is one of my top FFs. It definitely needs more love!