Al Bhed Salvage Ship
Let me start this section by once again ripping the Al Bhed a new one. I love them as a race and how they function throughout the game, but for this first section (and indeed, up until post-Luca) they are shown to be inexplicably dickish. Final Fantasy X wants you to feel like the Al Bhed are misunderstood, and perhaps they are, but if people grab me by the hair, threaten to cut my throat, smash me in the head with the butt of their gun and then aim it at me, I'm probably not going to listen to their motives.
The way Brother interacts with Tidus is conflicting. On the one hand, I am really happy to see the Al Bhed legitimately trying to communicate with Tidus. Brother knows he doesn't understand a word he's saying, so he tries to sign it. On the other hand, it still gives me the same vibe as if he were simply speaking louder and slower like people do for foreign tourists. It's a little condescending, and it still doesn't explain why Rikku doesn't just talk to him. Indeed, both Brother and Rikku can speak english (spiran?) so they should be trying this. Instead of seeming mysterious or different, the Al Bhed just seem like malicious morons.
The voice acting for Al Bhed is interesting though. I hesitate to say "good", but when you're speaking a fictional language based on a cipher, it must be really tough.
"Alright, alright, you don't have to shout!" Tidus shouts. You moron.
The first achievement/trophy I encounter is the one for finding the Al Bhed Primer onboard the ship. I don't know if I missed anything prior to this, but I do like the absence of "you started the game!" or "you won the first (tutorial) battle!" crap. Final Fantasy VII's achievements are stupid and it is good to see SE somewhat learned from that.
The sphere grid tutorial is a pain in the ass - tedious, one might say - but it is comprehensive and easy to follow. Visual demonstrations certainly help this. Of course, understanding how it works doesn't mean you will be any good at it. I wholeheartedly expect to fail at using the expert sphere grid right up until I cry and quit the game again But this is far better at explaining it to you than, say, the Junction system was (from memory, anyway).