So we've begun. Narratively, the opening to FFX starts really strong. We get the pensive opening with the party reaching Zanarkand and the beginning of our narration. Past Zanarkand looks a bit like the Jetsons, and I find it weird we have highways but no seems to drive cars. It was weird watching Tidus have to hoof it to the stadium by foot while listening to some Baseball announcer reminisce about bonding with his father over Jecht disappearing. It was weird as I said, but a nice touch. I also always forget how much I like Bahamut just randomly showing up to either use subliminal suggestions to coerce Tidus to do what he wants or to basically tell us the player about his hidden thoughts like Tidus crying on the anniversary of his dad's disappearance. He's being a real bastard and I'm here for it. The cool CGI scene of the Blitzball game and Sin absorbing the city while Auron appears like a badass is always a pleasure and probably my favorite cutscene in the game besides Anima's appearance at the Luca Game. I ultimately played up until I reached Besaid village. Gameplay was a mix bag and I'm debating about whether I'm going to just mess with character roles or just keep it familiar. I technically reached the cloister of trials but sort of screwed up and want get Yuna's upgraded weapon in the trial the first time. I usually make it a point to acquire the Cloister Treasure the first time around so I don't have to backtrack to get Anima.

Pros:


  • Story-wise, the game hits the right balance of action, mystery, and intrigue to get you hooked. I've always found FFX to be sort of a bookends type game where the beginning and ending are the best parts and so far, I still find that assessment correct.
  • It is nice to be back to a more traditional turn based combat system. While XII and XIII are certainly still part of the ATB system, it's just nice not to feel rushed in combat anymore because we need to appeal to the ADHD generations.
  • Bahamut is a hoot.
  • Auron is still the best character in this game.
  • I will say this, the new arranged OST is okay, I was never a huge fan of X's OST, but they at least fixed the battle theme, it sounds so much better now that I don't have to listen to those awful MIDI Horn sections.
  • The HD graphical upgrade has certainly helped the monster designs. A lot more detail can be seen now and I'm for it because Nomura usually has good monster designs. The backgrounds and water effects also look great.
  • This game makes me always want to go to the pool since I don't live somewhere with a beach.


Cons:

  • I can't say the same for the human characters. XII's art direction looks just damn crisper with the HD upgrade, but here, it looks like botched plastic surgery. First, I never realized how big and pouty Tidus' in-game model lips look Dude looks like he had a lip job done. The second thing is the eyes. They are way too vibrant on all the characters and it makes it more noticeable how much the models fall into some uncanny valley territory when you see their eye movements. Not helped here is that the white part of the eyes, especially on Tidus kind of look pinkish on my TV, so the guy looks like he's stoned as hell. Beyond that, the NPCs get it worse, including a few names ones who all look like head shaped objects with faces painted on them with little definition. It's very noticeable when the party members are next to an NPC.
  • While XIII usually gets hell for having a ten hour tutorial, FFX is the OG of this phenomena. Battles are incredibly scripted and while I've had the option to heal, it's rarely necessary. The first two "bosses" if you want to call them that have gravity based percentile damage, meaning they can't actually kill you. All the scripted battles have some slow dripped tutorials going on as well and I know I have more to come.
  • Not helping this issue is the save points. I was never a fan of the save points heal the party idea SE introduced with this game, but I find the issue here is that coming off of FFXII is that save points are just too plentiful in this game. There is a save point after the first two scripted battles, another before you fight the second "boss" a third in the room after that before Rikku joins, one on the AL Bhed ship and then another in the first room when you enter the submerged base with only a short path between them. The encounter rate so far has also been low, so it feels like I can do two battles before I actually reach a point that restores all my health. Like I get this was meant to be an intro title for people who don;t play the genre, but I can't be the only person here who thinks this isn't a little excessive and a bit patronizing?
  • I always forget how whiny and insufferable Tidus is in the beginning of the game. Like his situation sucks but I'm getting tired of listening to him whine about being hungry all the time.