EoFF RPG Thunderdome 2020 Round 2: Match 8

[Wolf Kanno]

Match 8 is up and the categories are Side Content/Replay Value and Art Direction

Final Fantasy X

vs.

Romancing SaGa 2

[Fynn]

Ugh why did it have to go against X? Romancing SaGa 2 is actually great in both those respects, considering its completely non-linear and has some hauntingly beautiful art by Tomomi Kobayashi. It really should win, by all accounts, but...

[Wolf Kanno]

To be fair, we are talking side content here and FFX is...

[Lord Golbez]

Well, I've already said that side content is not a category that matters to me terribly so I'd weigh art direction more heavily on the equation anyway, but yeah FFX has some awful annoying side content, but it also has some great stuff. I feel like the hidden treasure puzzles in the temples are really good. Then there's also stuff like getting Yojimbo, Anima, and the Magus sisters. Really just because FFX has some crappy mini-games for ultimate weapons doesn't spoil the side content as a whole. Even the monster hunting thing is kind of fun. Then there's the whole Al Bhed translation thing which is pretty nice and adds replay value, because you can carry it over and have early dialogue you would have missed the first time translated. I think FFX actually scores very highly on side content. It's just those stupid balloons, butterflies, and lightning bolts that leave a sour taste.

On art direction, I really love the design of summons on FFX especially, but there's a whole bunch of imaginative stuff throughout.

[Fynn]

See, Wolf? RS2 is doomed

[Lord Golbez]

I don't think my opinions are representative. If they were the only Xeno game that advanced past the first round would be Xenogears. Plus WK will almost definitely pick RS2 in the event of a tie which isn't unlikely at all given the vote totals.

[Karifean]

Call it karma for what happened with Trials of Mana :P

[maybee]

I'm going to give the vote to Saga. FFX side content is infamously terrible and the art direction isn't great either. I love it's more Eastern theming but it's ruined by Nomura-ness and early '00 fashion weirdness. I hope one day we get another main title FF again that does the Eastern theming again but without the "dress made of only belts". FFX i love you, but can't give you the vote here.

[Wolf Kanno]

Call it karma for what happened with Trials of Mana :P

To be fair, I would have voted for Trials over RS2 in that category. You people were the ones who were weird about it.

For RS2's defense, it's pretty much built for replay value. Your final character's gender is based on a choice you make in the beginning and comes with their own strengths and perks such as unique weapons you can carry over to NG+. There are multiple ways to approach some of the game's scenarios such as three ways to resolve the Crusader quest, two ways for the Landship, the mermaid quest is completely optional, the Seven Heroes will evolve and change their strategies as boss fights depending on the order you fight them, it's impossible to get both dark magic and all of the classes in one playthrough so each playthrough will always be slightly different depending on the choice you make, and it's even possible for hardcore people to beat the game without ever reaching the final age, which is actually very challenging to do so.

I also just find Kobayashi's artwork to be more emotional than Nomura's.

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[Lord Golbez]

I'm going to give the vote to Saga. FFX side content is infamously terrible and the art direction isn't great either. I love it's more Eastern theming but it's ruined by Nomura-ness and early '00 fashion weirdness.

Obviously you missed that Square was up to something with Tidus' yellow shoes.

[Karifean]

I guess I might as well actually make a case for my choice as well; Final Fantasy X remains the game with one of the most fun postgames for me and has kinda thrown a shadow over so many of the JRPGs I've played since, as it just keeps pushing the combat further and further, way beyond what you get in most games. For most games have basically an "Omega Ruins" kind of dungeon with an "Omega Weapon" kind of extra boss and that's about it. FF4, 5 and 6 Advance also more or less did that. While FFX lets you go so, so, so much further beyond. Best way I can describe it I think is, it doesn't leave you hungry for more at the end of it. So long as you enjoy its combat, FFX continues to provide. Monster capturing is actually fun somehow, in spite of being just grindwork it remains a good balance of not taking too long and waiting with good and interesting rewards in the form of extra boss battles, which are just fun to go through, while consistently having you get and feel more and more powerful.

It has its share of valleys ofc which are pretty notorious, but they're basically just the celestial weapons' sigils which for some reason take more or less low effort minigames are require you to achieve absolute mastery of them. I maintain that the minigames themselves aren't actually bad, if they'd just been a slight diversion they'd have prolly generally been remembered fondly. But the sigils throw all that out and require way too much from the player. It's like if they'd locked Zidane's final weapon behind getting 1000 jumps on the rope, you just don't do that. But, overall, I don't care that much. It got to me the first time, but I've played this game so many times by now, and fitting to the poll question, replaying again and again has only made it better, not worse.

For the most part, FFX's postgame left me wishing more games did more like it. FFV's combat for instance is so cool, but you reach the point of being utterly unstoppable way earlier, and I just ended up being hungry for more with the battles - even against endgame foes - feeling more like a formality and chore than even the capturing part of FFX ever did.

As for the art direction, well, it's not why I voted it, but FFX is doubtlessly the most beautiful looking game in the series for me. I love the aesthetic, the designs, the animations. It's certainly a frontrunner in that category for me.