Drakey Plays FFX More · 10:27pm Mar 17th, 2017
Thinkin' I may make this a daily thing as long as I have stuff to say.
Time to leave Besaid.
So, a time out here to discuss the Sphere Grid. I love FFX's skill system, it's possibly the best of the series IMHO. I like a balance of rigidity and flexibility, but you have to balance it right. Too rigid and you get FF4 and FF9, where party members do exactly one, maybe two things, thus making some decisively more useful than others no matter if you like the character or not. Too flexible and you get FF2 and FF12, where party members do anything you want them to do and are only as unique or not as you train them, robbing them of individuality. FFX though has every party member start in a pre-defined role, but they have enough utility in those roles to all be useful in different circumstances, and as you level up you can start expanding their skills to other areas to customize them more freely.
That said though, the battle system is a terrible letdown due to how these ideas are implimented. Party members hard counter enemy types, and usually they kill them in one hit. Lulu goes for flans and elementals, Wakka goes for flying enemies, Auron for armored enemies, Tidus for speedy enemies. And the game encourages you to do this every fight. It ruins the challenge of combat when many random encounters concern me seeing "oh, flan, flyer, armored," and then I swap party members around to kill them all one by one without any real effort. Not all random encounters are like this, but many of them are, and will be for much of the game.
There's no challenge or strategy to these fights; just switch to the party member corresponding to the enemy you want to kill, and kill them. You're even berated for not sticking to this strategy; I noticed if I had Tidus attack a flying enemy, or Kimahri an elemental, just for the sake of letting them get a turn, the other party members tell them to stop and let them handle it. Not only are you unable to fight effectively if you don't follow the rules, but you're discouraged from trying. The only reason fights last long enough for enemies to damage me is because you have to ensure all party members get a round to get AP, which is just annoying busywork.
So, are the other three just standing and watching as Kimahri ambushes Tidus and the two get into a fight?
Seriously, what the hell is Tidus doing here? He's basically mugging a random NPC for his binoculars, and for what, to ogle Lulu and Yuna? Asshole, just ask the guy if you can borrow them, or better yet, grow a pair and go talk to Yuna, that crabby old lady didn't come on the pilgrimage!
"I hear in Zanarkand, there's a great blitzball stadium that's all lit up, even at night!" Um, well, yeah. Of course the building will be lit up at night. Why is this something impressive? I'd get it if Yuna said the stadium was lit so bright as to be visible from far away or something, but that's not what she said.
Again the half-assed way the game was upgraded to PS3 graphics distracts, Yuna's beads and hair are wigging out here and her face doesn't look quite right. This is specific to Yuna, the other faces look fine, but something about hers looks off. I won't rag on the constant clipping going on when characters move their hands or arms through objects or clothing, I'm aware that's kinda universal with games, noticed it in FF15 too when Noctis slid through the tight passages and had his hands on the wall.
Ah, my favorite place for early grinding, got 8 sphere levels out of this boss.
0_0 Well damn, I didn't realize the destruction of Kilika was so graphic.
This is starting to bug me, Tidus is clueless and the party gives exposition for him. But by this early point it should be increasingly obvious to them that this is not a case of Sin's toxin fucking up his mind, the guy is ignorant of virtually every facet of normal life save for blitzball. Also, the usage of Tidus as ignorant of Spiran culture as a plot device to give exposition about it, has quickly worn out on me. Surely there's other ways this could be done. Maybe a kid in the crowd wonders what's happening because he's never seen a Sending, so his dad or Lulu explains it to him and Tidus overhears.
That aside though, the Sending remains an eerily beautiful and haunting scene.
"We protect her until the end." This is another thing that bugs me about FFX - spoiler alert, Yuna dies! Or is supposed to, anyway. But this is not a twist. I knew FFX's plot going in, but there's so much Jesus imagery going on (walking on water, healing the sick and poor, a rebel against the mainstream religion, a peaceful pacifist that everyone loves) that finding out Yuna is supposed to die to destroy Sin is not much of a shock. By the time she gives herself up to Seymour to save the party and is then put on trial by Yevon and condemned to death, I'm just up to this mindset.
"I'm gonna be a blitzball when I grow up!" I wonder if they leave this in on purpose because they know how famous that line is.
Yuna: "Not as a guardian then. I just want him nearby."
Tidus: "What do you mean?"
Wakka: "I think she wants to play with your blitzballs, ya?"
Lulu: "Help you handle your sword?"
Tidus: "I don't follow."
And now Lulu is a bitch again for no reason. "Chappu is dead, and by the way, so are Jecht and Braska." I'm surprised she doesn't turn her head as Kimahri passes her and say "And no one can replace your horn, either." Seriously, Lulu is just nasty to everyone here when only Wakka said anything, and what he said wasn't even deserving of scorn, he was voicing a theory Tidus himself has pondered. I have trouble reconciling Lulu comforting Yuna back in Kilika on her Sending, and her here where she insults the entire party with no provocation.
This... is actually quite disturbing. Two girls running around inside the temple, one says she likes studying the scriptures because the monks give her candy when she does, and the other says she's told to study hard to become a nun, but would rather play at the beach. Yevon is actively taking children into the church and using candy to manipulate them into becoming nuns when they otherwise don't want to. I don't know if these kids were conscripted or sent here by their parents, and I'm not sure which possibility is the worse option.
While Dona is thoroughly hateable, I do like they show other summoners on pilgrimages. It shows this is bigger than just our party, we're not the only summoners out there. It also shows the varying attitudes towards the pilgrimage that the world has.
Oh NOW the party cares about Tidus defiling the temples.
Also a general note, I really do love the lore given for summons and monsters in Spira, really ties things together very nicely. Except for the concept of Unsent but I'll get to that later.
"My, you're kinda cute, too. Wanna have some fun?" Did Tidus just get propositioned by a random NPC?
And now to simplify the mental blockages of parental abuse and neglect and overcoming them into a button-pressing minigame. Psychology is for suckers! And so I learn the Jecht Shot.
Aurochs. Beasts. Psyches. Goers... Give me a break. What kind of team name is that? And speaking of ill-fitted names...
Let's play a game. Pick out the least-intimidating name from this list of villain names: Garland. Mateus. Xande. Golbez. Exdeath. Kefka. Sephiroth. Ultimecia. Kuja. Seymour. Vayne. Barthandelus. One of these things just doesn't belong here!
You can't defend it, you can try but it'll fail and you know it. Seymour is a terrible name for your main villain. You want to give your villain a real life name? Joseph, Derek, Jacob, Lance, Victor, Eric. All of those are real normal names and they all sound far more impressive for your villain than Seymour! That is one of the most sissy names in the English language! And if you happen to be reading this and are named Seymour, I'm sorry, but you have a terrible name and deep down you know it. But it's okay, I don't think Seymour is a badly designed villain because of his name. No, I have his COSTUME to thank for that! That gigantic billowing blue robe two sizes two big that he leaves open to expose his chest hair, and the bright hair that he styles into horns. A man who looks in the mirror every morning and decides this is how he wants to look today, that is not a man who is mentally stable. Oh wait, I just answered my own question, nevermind. Moving on.
Okay, a time-out to discuss blitzball. I won't touch the idea of the game itself or how it works, because Magitek is prolific in Final Fantasy and rarely explained. What I want to know is - why play it? If Sin is angered by machina, what's up with the huge stadium utilizing machines to operate? They say the Crusaders protect the stadium, but as we'll see later at Operation Mi'ihen, they suck at their jobs. Why is blitzball the sport of Spira when it requires this level of technology to play? Get some bases on the ground and play some baseball, or set up some metal poles and nets and place soccer, or basketball, or football! I never understood this and still don't.
I like seeing Wakka in pain, can we set the scene of him being tackled to a loop?
And now the main reason why I hate Wakka - his racism. His hate of the Al Bhed is just insufferable, and every time he rants about them I want to punch him in the mouth. Yeah I know they're heathens and he blames them for his brother's death, but that is not justification. Say you had a friend whose brother happened to be killed by a black guy when he was a kid, so now as an adult he doesn't trust black people. He is a racist. Changing "black" to "Jewish" in that analogy to come at it from the religious angle doesn't make it any better. And poor Yuna, having to grow up hiding her heritage because of Wakka, and how every time he hates on the Al Bhed she has to listen thinking that her mother and uncle and cousins are Al Bhed too. Wakka is a racist, hateful asshole, and his development out of this mindset comes are too late in the game for me to care anymore.
And I win blitzball 2-0. Jecht Shot FTW!
Aaaand time to mute my TV. No I don't care if it's supposed to sound forced and awkward, it's still forced and awkward and annoying. AHAHAHAHAHA!
Now to play some more blitzball. See ya tomorrow!
I don't think this was officially stated, but somewhere it says that there are two places that Sin does not attack: Bevelle and Luca. This was due to Yunalesca having made a deal with the Bevelle higher ups that these two places are to be left alone. Apparently, she has just enough control over her father, Yu Yevon, to do this. Fiends can still attack these cities, but not Sin. This also brings up the question of why doesn't everyone just move to these cities and leave the places that Sin attacks.
Bliztball is fun at first... and gets old real fast.
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It only really gets old if you assemble the most OP team of Tidus, Brother, Naida, Zalitz, Wedge, and the Al-Bhed goalie whatever his name is. Otherwise it can be a great challenge. I tried playing blitzball in X-2 and got completely lost though. Noped right out of that one.