*SPOILERS!*


Kuja Highwind: I've played FFX International PAL version, and it isn't that much better than the US version. You'd get a bonus DVD that contains trailers and interviews concerning various Square games and staff. It isn't such a big deal. Even (SPOILER)the secret ending, Another Story: Eternal Calm (available in FFX International Japanese only), isn't that big a deal, and you can probably see it in FFX-2 anyway. For other additions, there's Normal and Expert Sphere Grids. The Expert grid, which wasn't in the US version, is more flexible lets you customize your party better (or turn all your characters into clones of each other faster). IMHO, Dark Aeons are more an annoyance than a good new addition because they prevent you from returning to various temples in case you didn't get their destruction sphere treasures (so you can't get Anima). Training for 50-200 extra hours just to beat them and Penance doesn't sound worth it at all, especially since it makes the normal game a big-time breeze. Overall, IMHO, FFX International is full of useless additions.

Since I don't think adding the International version's elements to the US version would make a better game, I guess I should explain what I would have wanted the game to have so it could be better. Note that these are all my opinions.


1. Graphics
I don't think graphics make a game, so there's nothing much to add here. Well, the game's graphics are excellent anyway. But my problem was with the FMVs. The characters look Japanese in them. Not sure which nationality they're trying to present with the actual game graphics, but their facial structures look entirely different.

2. Sounds
Not sure how music could be improved. Maybe by replacing the annoying battle music with a better one. For sounds, Square should have hired some talented voice actors. Tidus, Yuna and Seymour all sound like "shoot me!". Especially Yuna. She sounds so much that she's got tired of living, and her fast lines like "okay", "yes", "thank you", "I-I'm sorry" etc don't help at all. If Square could have done nothing to improve voice acting, they should have at least done it like DVDs sometimes have, let the player to select between the English and Japanese voices, especially when the Japanese voices sounded very professionally made. I wouldn't have minded playing a Japanese-spoken game with English texts, menus and subtitles.

3. Storyline
The story shouldn't reveal everything right away. (SPOILER)Sin is Jecht is told way too early, for example. The story should have twists. The story goes pretty much by how you were told in the beginning that it would, and only the (SPOILER)events in Bevelle and Al Bhed Home have some plot twists. A third problem is that there's hardly any emotionality in the story. Unlike in many other FFs, such FF4-9, I didn't feel anything when (SPOILER)Rikku told Tidus that Yuna's going to die if she summons the Final Aeon, or when your group decided to beat Yunalesca. Maybe that's because the game didn't try hard enough to get you involved in the story or grow attached to the characters (I'll speak more of characters later). Even the infamous (SPOILER)make-out scene at the lake seemed boring and insignificant. And finally, I think Square should have just (SPOILER)let Tidus stay dead, and not revive him for any sequels.

4. Characters
None of them really develops much in the game, except for Wakka, who learns that it's not good to (SPOILER)follow religion blindly and be a racist because of that. Yuna's personality was quite nonexistant, the only lines she ever says are "I will defeat Sin", "I'm sorry" and "okay". Her bad voice acting also removes a part of her personality. Who knows, maybe she could have been a slightly better character if she hadn't had a voice actor. Rikku and Auron are cool characters with pretty good voice actors, but they don't develop, either. Lulu doesn't get much story or personality. Don't even get me started on Kimahri! Tidus is an annoying, whining little loser kid who needs some serious help. Seymour is probably even worse. An annoying fool with annoying voice and extremely crappy dialogue! So what Square should have done is, give the characters more story and personality, and make them develop during the game. You know, change in a way, learn something new, become better people etc.

5. Controls
I don't like it how you move in the game. I'll copy & paste what I've said before: In games like Final Fantasy IX and Kingdom Hearts, I can easily tell where I can go and where I can't, but in FFX, I need the help of the mini-map to move. Otherwise I wouldn't be able to find my way anywhere. It's like you're wandering in a desert and there are lots of places where you should be able to go according to the landscape graphics, but you can't because of some invisible walls, and you're forced to go some route which you can't see unless you're using the mini-map. So the game should show the borders where you can move and can't move better. The camera should also be enhanced, or probably made so that you can rotate it yourself. It's horrible in some mini-games such as the final 10-Sphere game, and in battles, it's easy to accidentally target an enemy with a healing spell or an ally with a physical attack due to the confusing battle camera.

6. Mini-games and side quests
I don't even want to speak about these. FFX has probably the most idiotic mini-games ever. Blitzball is utter garbage. Cloisters of Trials are repetiting and annoying, and they aren't even optional but totally compulsory! Dodging 200 bolts is just plain stupid, catching butterflies is boring, chocobo racing is meh, and I myself wouldn't level up for literally dozens of hours to fight secret bosses. The final 10-Sphere game is also a pain. Side quests are mostly battles, and the game doesn't even tell you about them. You might only be able to find out about (SPOILER)Yojimbo without reading game guides and walkthroughs. Square should have put a lot more effort on mini-games and side quests.

7. Battle system
Battles should be a lot more faster-paced. I know Square said they wanted strategic battles that make you think more, but does that mean the battles have to be slow and boring? The battles in ATB made you think and not mash the attack button constantly (try to beat FF4 hard type by just tapping the attack button), and they were more faster-paced. Real-time battles are my favorite, but even ATB would have been enough. Meh, even turn-based battles would have been enough if they had been faster. There's also the problem that you can make each character an identical version of other characters if you wander the sphere grid enough. The battle encounter rate is extremely annoying. Battles come practically right after the previous one stops. It took me 50 minutes in Mt Gagazet to walk through two screens because of so frequent battles, especially when the battles were always so slow.

8. Other things
There is no world map or other ways of free movement! This makes the game extremely linear. It's all town-dungeon-dungeon-dungeon-town-dungeon-town-dungeon-dungeon-etc and no world map travelling, airship flying or any form of relaxing in the middle (quitting the game doesn't count). This keeps you moving all the time, and it gets stressful in the long run. It's too bad that most of the time, you can't even return to the places you've formerly visited. That might at least somewhat help. Instead of getting straight from one point to another and instead of just simply selecting next destination from the airship panel, why couldn't Square give us free travelling in the world map and let us steer the airship around the world ourselves and explore different places while at it?

Another gameplay-related thing is that the final battle design is extremely lousy. First there's the 10-Sphere hunt mini-game, accompanied by a camera from hell. The camera rotates slowly and you can't customize it. Instead, you blindly try to make your way into a sphere, and you might not even see a crystal blasting into your face right in front of you because of the stupid camera. When you complete that mini-game, you have to watch a five-minute-long cutscene that is pretty boring and you can't even skip it. If there's one thing Square should have done with the final battle, it's putting a save point here. It's so annoying... if I lose the final battle or want to beat the last boss again, I have to go through the 10-Sphere hunt and 5-minute-long cutscene all over again.

After all those cutscenes, we get some great music and a big bad boss. The battle can be very different for different people. For those who leveled up for 50+ hours, the battle is over in 30 seconds. However, for those who didn't do the side-quests and only decent leveling up, the Pagodas will become really frustrating and the batle can drag over 30 minutes. After that, there's another boring cutscene. Then you fight an annoying battle with annoying music, and your task is to (SPOILER)summon all your Aeons and kill them. Looks like Square wants to "reward" the players who did more side quests by (SPOILER)making the battle longer based on how many Aeons you've collected. This battle is pointless, especially when you can't even lose there. Then comes one more battle, which is another stupid filler fight that you can't lose. Then it's finally over.

While I usually feel quite satisfied for beating a last boss, especially if it's a tough boss, and like watching the ending, I felt really disappointed and angry by the final battle. Square should have designed the final battle better. Fortunately, the ending was very good, unless you wait for the ending credits to get over. The final scene with (SPOILER)Tidus swimming towards the surface should have just been cut off, IMHO. Otherwise, the ending FMV was awesome both visually and musically. Ending Theme and Suteki Da Ne (Orchestral Version) were an excellent treat.

What does this all mean, then? It means that IMHO, FFX had loads of stuff it could have improved. Maybe this was because of release dead line, maybe it was because of low budget (Square's financial situation was very bad after making Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within), I don't know really. So how could Square fix all these problems? Fixing all these problems I mentioned would almost feel like making a new game, wouldn't it? Well, maybe, but the good news is that Square is making a game that can redeem the whole thing. And that is FFX-2. Hopefully it will be a lot better, and hopefully Square has learned from their mistakes in FFX.