Final Fantasy X: A Walk Down Memory Lane
Platform: Ps2, Ps3, Ps4, Vita
Developer: Square Enix
Author: K.D.
Considering this game’s age (this year, it turned 14 in July), it’s quite remarkable how it holds up to current RPG games. Every gamer, at the very least, has heard of the series Final Fantasy whether they’ve played any or not. This franchise is one of the biggest game franchises, EVER. While everyone is gearing up for the re-release FFV and the anticipation of the launch for FFXV in 2016, I want to sit back and discuss one of my favourites.
The story goes as follows: Peaceful citizens of Spira live harmoniously with each other, following the teachings of their deity Yevon. But the tranquility doesn’t last because every 10 years, the great beast Sin (a whale-like embodiment of everything wrong, ever) returns and wreaks havoc across Spira. It’s up to religious summoners of Yevon to perform a pilgrimage to collect spiritual guides to determine who is capable of subduing the indestructible Sin, never fully capable of completely eradicating its presence.
Over the course of the game (which takes anywhere from 50-200 hours depending on your gameplay and perfectionist tendencies), there is intrigue, romance, loss, despair, hope, happiness, confusion, desperation, and a sense of urgency… just not enough to avoid the side quests!
The biggest change about this iteration of the Final Fantasy saga is the incorporation of the Sphere Grid, which allows you to personally customize the characters, their abilities, and their stats by following certain routes. Different versions of the game have different modes of the Sphere Grid, and the PS3/4 HD remaster lets you choose which you’d prefer at the start of the game. The standard grid, optimized for beginners, places characters into their natural skill tree. For example: Rikku learns all the thief stuff, Yuna gets all of the white magic, Lulu finds all of the dark magic, etc. Expert puts more management stress on the player because EVERYONE starts in the same place, and there are less power up spheres than the standard so your characters will have lower stats by completing the entire grid than the same character on a standard grid. Why is this good, then? Because it allows you to veer away from skills that you don’t personally use in your combat style earlier on in the game rather than being stuck in one path until much later into the game.
**(I picked expert and sent Kimahri down Auron’s path so he could get stronger because I was tired of him being, more or less, useless.)**
Another reason why the HD Remaster is bomb-diggity is the inclusion of Dark Aeons. So Yuna’s a summoner, right? She’s the best there is, right? THEN WHY DO PEOPLE SHOW UP WITH DARK VERSIONS OF MY AEONS AND OBLITERATE MY PARTY BEFORE I GET A TURN?! This is a valid question, and the only answer I have is, “Get good, scrub.” Essentially, along with the monster farm, the Dark Aeons are a way to test your mettle against someone else’s really freakin’ strong mettle. These aeons are disruptive in that they prevent you from accomplishing certain side objectives if you didn’t collect them before the apparition, but they also help you determine whether or not you’re ready to take on, say… Nemesis?
So why is Final Fantasy X a worthy game? Well, from a personal standpoint, this was the start of a very long journey into RPGs for me, and it taught me all of life’s greatest lessons: take things other people aren’t using; keep thwacking problems and they’ll eventually go away; and flying ships are freaking cool and defy all sorts of physics! But also, it taught me that love doesn’t necessarily have to be that gooey, syrupy, mushy stuff rom coms are always telling us it is! In this case, it’s fun, adventurous, resilient and persistent to the point of being downright stubborn, but more importantly, it’s unequivocal. Undeniable. And, really, what good is a game if you’re not emotionally invested?
(Trust me, after playing over 150 hours to get the ending I did, I bawled like a baby. I mean, I was 11 at the time. But I bawled nonetheless.)
That is the beauty of the Final Fantasy series. Simple mechanics (I hit you, you hit me), simple storyline (defeat Sin), but incredibly complex characters that you can’t help but want to like. As much as I love the newer installments of the series for their mechanical complexity and stunning visuals, my heart belongs to Final Fantasy X for being a complete package, and a childhood memory I won’t soon forget.
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