Soon enough, Final Fantasy X is coming out after the getting the remastering treatment and is getting coupled with Final Fantasy X-2, the worst named game of all time. Seeing how this is one of my favorite games of all time, I am counting the hours until I can play this again. So, to celebrate the return of Titus, Yuna, Rikku and all our other favorites, here’s the five things I’m looking forward to the most.
Playing the Story Through Again
Yeah, yeah, could I be more obvious? But this was the first game that I truly fell in love with. It was the first time that cut scenes, voice over and story all spun together and emotionally invested me in a game. It helped that the game was hella fun and featured a very engrossing, albeit pretty convoluted, story line. I’m looking forward to everything from unlocking the Aeons, to the awkward love blossoming between Titus and Yuna down to casting deadly spells with a cute plush doll. I’ll be gleefully saying so long to a few whole weeks of my life!
Slaying Monsters with Auron
Everyone has their favourite character, so you just go ahead and slot whatever name you want into there. Auron, the bad ass mentor/warrior, was always my favourite for many reasons. The sword, the sunglasses, the gruff exterior with the soft heart, how he fights with one arm out of his robe to look like the ultimate badass as he crushes his opponents. To this day, he’s the only character I could actually finish their entire sphere grid for and I also managed to get him up to max damage fairly early, so suffice it to say, he was a mainstay on the battlefield my first couple of times through the game. I doubt that’s going to change the next time through.
Finishing X-2 (I know, shame on me)
To my embarrassment, I never did actually finish X-2 but I had ample reasons why not. It’s really obnoxious at the start, for one. Yuna is a pop star, it’s really cheesy and there’s no sense of danger at all, just a couple of ladies hanging out and playing detective. Then, there’s the fact of the dress spheres. Seriously, they make the cast all female and the power up system is dress spheres? Are there actually women in Japan or is Square Enix’s office’s completely made up of shut in guys whose entire interactions with women involve Hentai in some way? Anyway, I never made it through the whole thing, something I’ve always regretted and something I plan on remedying with this new release, dress spheres or no.
Playing Blitzball
Oh, Blitzball. The best fake sport that Final Fantasy ever came up with… maybe the best fake sport anyone has ever come up with (sorry Quidditch). Part soccer, part water polo, part life consuming mini-game, Blitzball was the common thread between the two worlds and was the thing that Wakka was obsessed with and Titus was a star at. Spira’s obsession with the game was really contagious because it leads to you being able to not only play pro games, but you can play a whole season, manage your team and try to win the championship. So, about that roughly 80 hour playtime? It just got a little bit longer.
Unlocking EVERYTHING
When Final Fantasy X first came out in 2001, I was merely 16 and not well versed in playing games to their full extent and leaving no stone unturned. Well, a few years have passed since then and I consider myself to be a bit more of a mature gamer and thus far more obsessive (it’s a serious problem). The other thing different about now and 2001 is the handy access to dozens of walkthroughs and online forums to help you get those particularly hard to find items or help with strategy on those insanely difficult bosses. Call it cheating if you will, but I like to call it maximizing efficiency. So I plan on finding all the ultimate weapons, finishing off everyone’s sphere grid’s and kill all the super bosses in the arena on the Great Plains… or at least lose my mind trying.
