The "strategy" in FFX

[ReloadPsi]

Something I noticed about this game is that it very often outright tells you what strategies to use on most enemies as you go through it. If it's not coming from Lulu telling you how to kill a Flan, it's the fact that tons of superior weapons are outright handed out early on in the game that have the Sensor ability so there's always a news ticker on the screen telling you how to win.

When I did play this game, at first I was somewhat impressed by the way even the random encounters had a bit of strategy to them, until I realised that they were just being spoon-fed to me, so really I wasn't making any fantastic battle plans; I was just doing what the game told me to and it happened to work.

Maybe it was just me, but I reckon this game was trying to make the player feel smarter, especially when the exact same enemy formations with different textures and elemental properties showed up in several areas and you'd think "oh yeah, so Tidus on the wolf, Wakka on the flyer, Lulu on the magic thingy, Auron on the armoured thingy! I'm a genius strategist!" The only time I started to find the game remotely challenging was when I fought some of the optional bosses.

Did anyone else notice the game's player-ego-inflation tactics? It got a lot more boring for me once I did.

[LostAmy]

Yep, really goes to show how games are a lot easier than they used to be.

But if they wanted to make me feel smart they could have done without the Bevelle Cloister of Trials. :P So much trial and error...

[Karifean]

I think Sensor is one of the stupidest things in this game. Not only does it usually simply tell you what to do to beat an enemy, it is also completely unnecessary to have it as an auto-ability. They should've sticked with just Scan (especially cause if you use Scan on an enemy, you get automatic Sensor anyways).

The other thing that annoys me the most about this game is that if you pick the correct character, 80% of the enemies can be killed in one hit. Sure, there were enemies like the Dual Horn, the Ochus or the Behemoths that weren't like that, but I also think there should've been more of those in the game. Aside from that though this game is awesome and the bosses are great.

[Jessweeee♪]

I only really felt smart when I learned how to take advantage of speed and recovery time and turned Tidus and Rikku into total game breakers xD

[Flying Arrow]

FFX's combat is cool in how quick and strategic it can be - in the sense that you have all the info set up to know who is coming up next and how to plan around that. It's neat like that and I wish they'd make another one along these lines.

But other than that, you make a good point about enemies dying in one hit if you use the right character. It does start to feel like a matching game after a while, especially with the high encounter rate.

[Nebulance]

FFX's combat is cool in how quick and strategic it can be - in the sense that you have all the info set up to know who is coming up next and how to plan around that. It's neat like that and I wish they'd make another one along these lines.

But other than that, you make a good point about enemies dying in one hit if you use the right character. It does start to feel like a matching game after a while, especially with the high encounter rate.

I don't think there's anything wrong with the game showing you how to effectively handle yourself in battle. Maybe it does turn into a matching game, but I'm fairly certain you'd start to realize how to handle certain enemies after a while. It's a hell of a lot better than the button-mashing that goes on in XIII...

[Jessweeee♪]

It's a hell of a lot better than the button-mashing that goes on in XIII...

In XIII's defense, FFX is probably the only game in the series where you don't just use the Attack option repeatedly in 99% of all encounters :p

[Jinx]

It's a hell of a lot better than the button-mashing that goes on in XIII...

In XIII's defense, FFX is probably the only game in the series where you don't just use the Attack option repeatedly in 99% of all encounters :p

My thoughts exactly.

[Roogle]

When I did play this game, at first I was somewhat impressed by the way even the random encounters had a bit of strategy to them, until I realised that they were just being spoon-fed to me, so really I wasn't making any fantastic battle plans; I was just doing what the game told me to and it happened to work.

Did anyone else notice the game's player-ego-inflation tactics? It got a lot more boring for me once I did.

Incidentally, these types of tactics exist in previous games to a degree. Final Fantasy IV, for example, can utilize a lot of strategy for random battles at lower levels, as there are certain monster types that are extremely susceptible to certain status ailments. For example, you can transmogrify the Ogre type of monster in Final Fantasy IV to make those battles a lot easier.

A very notable example is the fact that you can turn Malboros into Pigs to prevent them from using Bad Breath.

The game never tells you any of this, though -- it's up to the player to discover over the countless years that the game has been released. Unfortunately, because it is so obscure, I fear that many people will never learn the hidden intricacies of the game.

[ReloadPsi]

When I did play this game, at first I was somewhat impressed by the way even the random encounters had a bit of strategy to them, until I realised that they were just being spoon-fed to me, so really I wasn't making any fantastic battle plans; I was just doing what the game told me to and it happened to work.

Did anyone else notice the game's player-ego-inflation tactics? It got a lot more boring for me once I did.

Incidentally, these types of tactics exist in previous games to a degree. Final Fantasy IV, for example, can utilize a lot of strategy for random battles at lower levels, as there are certain monster types that are extremely susceptible to certain status ailments. For example, you can transmogrify the Ogre type of monster in Final Fantasy IV to make those battles a lot easier.

A very notable example is the fact that you can turn Malboros into Pigs to prevent them from using Bad Breath.

The game never tells you any of this, though -- it's up to the player to discover over the countless years that the game has been released. Unfortunately, because it is so obscure, I fear that many people will never learn the hidden intricacies of the game.

Exactly. You find the strategies, you find the way to curbstomp enemies that should be a lot harder. It's a hell of a lot more satisfying than being told outright how to do it.

[Jessweeee♪]

I liked making Lulu screw up the tutorial. See? Not so smart. I'll whack Elementals with a sword as I please thank you.

[Hollycat]

Gonna be honest here, I love ffX and can't wait to get it on VITA, but there is as much strategy in FFX as there are pterodactyls in my underpants drawer.

Which, despite the rumors, is only 6.

[Jiro]

I think it was a good idea to make each character have a speciality which made you use them in combat. Except that Kimahri and Rikku are effectively useless unless you send them down another person's path. Yuna, too, lacks a dedicated enemy to fight, but at least she has Aeons to make up for that. But I mean, look at it:

Tidus - Fast, nimble
Wakka - Aerial
Lulu - Elemental, magical
Auron - Armoured

None of the other enemy types have strengths that Kimahri, Yuna or Rikku are designed for. Sure, I typically send Kimahri to bro out with Auron and Rikku plays with Tidus, but neither of them does it as well as the dedicated. It's almost not worth the effort. Abusing the game to make Rikku and Tidus super quick is the only way Rikku even becomes useful.

[blackmage_nuke]

Well to be fair, the white mage and thief are never meant to deal big damage to anything in most rpgs and making the thief super fast IS the typical strategy

[Pete for President]

I think it was a good idea to make each character have a speciality which made you use them in combat. Except that Kimahri and Rikku are effectively useless unless you send them down another person's path. Yuna, too, lacks a dedicated enemy to fight, but at least she has Aeons to make up for that. But I mean, look at it:

Tidus - Fast, nimble
Wakka - Aerial
Lulu - Elemental, magical
Auron - Armoured

None of the other enemy types have strengths that Kimahri, Yuna or Rikku are designed for. Sure, I typically send Kimahri to bro out with Auron and Rikku plays with Tidus, but neither of them does it as well as the dedicated. It's almost not worth the effort. Abusing the game to make Rikku and Tidus super quick is the only way Rikku even becomes useful.

This is true, but it also depends on how you play the game. For example, beating the game without using the sphere grid would be impossible without Rikku. She's also the main character for collecting items for customization and her overdrive can make bosses cry in their sleep. That's her role. She may not be a 'main' party member for defeating enemies, but she does add depth to the gameplay. And then there's the story-events part of Rikku substituting Yuna as a healer while she's missing, the part where she and Tidus give commands on the airship and of course the underwater battles.

Kimahri is obviously meant to be a blend between the other characters (makes sense, considering his Blue Mage role?). Personally I always send him down Wakka's path at first because Wakka's MP count is ridiculously low, making him a weak green mage. Kimahri is an excellent replacement in the beginning of the game. Once again, he may not be a main party member, but he can be if you want him to. His overdrives can be a blessing for the mobs on Mount Gagazet and further.

Which leads to my conclusion on this topic; sure the game tells you how to defeat enemies at first, but later on the learning curve kicks in and you're forced put to practice what you've learned plus some creativity. The game is so well-paced I never feel bored of repeating the same tactic, cause there's always a boss battle in between. I praise the balance of the battle system.

[Karifean]

That's why I liked the Omega Ruins: You actually had to devise strategies to go through enemy encounters while making sure that you capture the enemies and that you take as little damage as possible (the more rare enemies barely spawn around the save sphere). Things like figuring out Master Tonberries are very vulnerable to sleep or that using Sentinel against Halmas was very worth the turn just felt rewarding. Well, except for the fact that the entire area was fucked up because of random forced-ambush encounters with Great Malboros...
Once you get past the correct-character-to-win-parts - which I think happens around Mt. Gagazet - the entire game just feels much more challenging and rewarding.

Also, Rikku is one of the most versatile characters in the game. Stealing is the only convenient way to obtain items for the Use ability and those can deal more damage than Auron - not to mention when you mix two together. Aside from that, she has a healing item that heals the entire party and greatly outclasses Pray, she can instantly kill any machina enemy and she can also cast Shell, Protect and Haste.

[Nebulance]

I think it was a good idea to make each character have a speciality which made you use them in combat. Except that Kimahri and Rikku are effectively useless unless you send them down another person's path. Yuna, too, lacks a dedicated enemy to fight, but at least she has Aeons to make up for that. But I mean, look at it:

Tidus - Fast, nimble
Wakka - Aerial
Lulu - Elemental, magical
Auron - Armoured

None of the other enemy types have strengths that Kimahri, Yuna or Rikku are designed for. Sure, I typically send Kimahri to bro out with Auron and Rikku plays with Tidus, but neither of them does it as well as the dedicated. It's almost not worth the effort. Abusing the game to make Rikku and Tidus super quick is the only way Rikku even becomes useful.

I agree with this. Kimahri continually ends up as the worst character in my games -- largely due to his position on the Sphere Grid, and also because he gets captured at what I consider to be a crucial point in the game -- right before the second battle with Seymour on the bridge in Bevelle. That's the point where I really start leveling up to handle him properly, and Kimahri ends up missing out. Recently, I've forced the issue of just leaving him in all battles and he's finally useful. I still go to Auron/Tidus in the so-called 'big battles' however when I need someone that can pierce armor.

Until recently, I've never really given much attention to Rikku but I've become more interested in obtaining all the items I need to design weapons and armor that I want to make me invincible to Marlboros and whatever else. Due to that, she's seen a lot more time and is actually quite formidable now.

I think with Kimahri and Rikku one really needs to pay more attention to giving them time to develop, as it seems a lot more natural and easy to do so with all the other characters due to their intrinsic strengths against certain characters, as you've mentioned.

[Jessweeee♪]

Kimahri is as much a Red Mage as he is a Blue Mage I think. A jack of all trades, a master of none :p

Rikku is...different. If you steal from enemies often she'll gain experience as well as anyone else while simultaneously making Use a lot more useful. Her high speed makes her and Tidus a great team for those boss fights where you manipulate the CTB system so it never gets a turn.

[Jinx]

Rikku was always one of my best characters. I usually have Rikku, Tidus, and Auron. Tidus and Auron do between 12-15k damage, and Rikku does about 10k damage.

I don't care what people think, Wakka is a shitty character.