I do agree with you about how death was handled in IX (my all time favorite game). It was brilliantly done, showing different stages of dealing with your own (Vivi's) impending death ranging from confusion to acceptance. And the way he finally accepted it was subtle and touching and wonderfully done.

But I guess that's a topic for another thread :P. X certainly has its flaws, and it isn't one of my favorite games in terms of story telling. I think the best story telling it has is with Yuna through the course of X and then even more so in X-2. But I know a lot of people who would disagree with me on that one. I think they did great with Yuna, and I think they had so much potential with Kimahri and they kind of fell short. He had that great scene on Mt. Gagazet, but he didn't have much else going for him, which was a shame, because he's my favorite character in game.