The Silent Protagonist – Final Fantasy X

Welcome back to the little corner of Ready Up where I go “AHHHH JRPGS ARE AMAZING.”

I do, however, have an apology to make. In my previous blog I said that I would look at the latest title in the Tales of series which has been announced to be localised… Tales of Xillia 2.  But when I finished writing it, I decided to scrap it because there was no way to hide all the spoilers that were riddled throughout.

So instead, I’m going to launch into my next series. I’m going to start on the Final Fantasy series, seeing as Final Fantasy X and X-2 are getting HD remakes. It seemed more appropriate than starting on the Suikoden series, so that’ll come after.

Welcome to Spira – a beautiful land full of chocobos, people, religion, discrimination… and Sin.

So Spira doesn’t sound too peachy. It’s full of danger and all manner of beasties from big to small, all of which are wanting to kill you, might I add. Fear not, however, as the story revolves around the Summoner, Yuna, and her Guardian, Tidus, who are trying to purge the land from this monster.

Tidus woke up just like every other normal day and went on his way to play Blitzball in the city of Zanarkand. During the match however, Sin attacks and decimates the city. With the help of Auron, Tidus survives, until the pair are absorbed and taken to a far away land. Now separated, Tidus must survive by himself in the Baaj region, until “help” arrives, in the form of the Al Bhed. Unbeknown to Tidus, the Al Bhed are a group of citizens outcast by the Yu Yevon faith, because of their use of machines called Machina.

Sin is eternal.

After this brief encounter, Sin appears and ushers Tidus to Besaid Island, where he meets the Summoner Yuna and her Guardians, Wakka, Lulu, and Kimahri. During his short time on this Island, we learn that Summoners go on a pilgrimage across Spira, to train in the use of Summon Spirits called Aeons, until they reach the city of the dead, Zanarkand, where Summoners get the final Aeon and defeat Sin, sacrificing their life by using such a strong Aeon, but bringing peace to Spira in the process. However, Sin is eternal and regenerates, causing the cycle to being again. Until the group takes their final stand against Sin, preventing his regeneration and thus bringing the Eternal Calm.

I actually really enjoyed Final Fantasy X, I thought that the story was refreshing and new, the character interactions were pretty damn amazing, the battle system simple – but smart, and being the first title in the series to be voice acted brought a new depth to the story. Also, who doesn’t love Rikku? She’s pretty damn amazing.

Final Fantasy X is pretty unique and is different to the previous titles, in the sense that it doesn’t have the conventional world map. There is one, and it shows you where you’re going, but you don’t run across large open spaces, until you get to the Calm Lands.

The battle system was also a first for the series, with the ability to swap team members in and out as you pleased – which was essential if you wanted to have a well rounded party. Unlike previous titles in the series, members who do not participate in battle do not get any experience.

If you’ve played Final Fantasy X already, then you must be pretty bored, and I’ve not even broached the topic of the HD remaster, other than in the opening paragraphs. So what’s different? The Final Fantasy X HD Remaster will be the Final Fantasy X that was released… over… ten… years… ago… Christ does that make me feel old? It was also the first game that I ever bought myself, with money that I’d saved from pocket money. There’s a random fact you probably didn’t want to know!

The copy we will be getting will be the International version, but the edition that was released in Europe was the international version. The original version didn’t have the Dark Aeons, some skills or abilities and a few other nick nacks here and there. If you buy the PS3 bundle pack then your getting both games for the one price, however the Vita HD remasters will be sold separately. Due to this, however, it is possible to pass your save games between the consoles.

The game is due to be released later on this year, with a limited edition version available, but the question remains – when exactly? As soon as I know, I’ll fire it into a blog.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=20dK5j8Kjbc[/youtube]

In my next blog, I’ll take a look at Final Fantasy X-2 HD Remaster… it’s a bit more exciting in terms of what new stuff we’ll be getting, too!

… To be continued…