One of the finest JRPGs I’ve played in years was a Final Fantasy remaster; the surprise hit Final Fantasy Type-0 HD. A game I had never played before in any form. It left me wanting to revisit other games in the franchise and luckily along came the Final Fantasy X/X-2 Remaster on the PlayStation 4.
Final Fantasy X is the JRPG that made me fall out of love with the genre for a while when it was first released. It was by no means a bad game, but there was something about it that didn’t quite sit right with me. Maybe it was the far more linear storytelling than what the previous games in the series had offered? Maybe it was the fairly cringe worthy voice-acting? It could’ve been a lot of things, but it still meant I went in to this review not with nostalgia, but with a hope that I was wrong.
Luckily it seems that I might’ve been wrong, or at the very least I have grown to appreciate the positives of Final Fantasy X. The game still has bad voice-acting but the story being told, although ridiculous, has a lot of touching and intriguing moments that might’ve gone over the head of a younger me. It’s a story that looks at religion, following in your parent’s footsteps and young love. Having it contained in such a straight forward manner is refreshing considering how open most games are these days.
Although as Final Fantasy X progresses you will develop a bit more freedom in where to go, the bulk of the game is spent on a linear path, but it is one that is constructed to greet you with battles that are more than just “hit this monster until it dies”. The early parts of the game throw up boss battles that require a bit of thinking and the battle system is one of the finest in the Final Fantasy series when it comes to turn-based battle.
Each character has their role to play if you start on the normal sphere grid. Wakka deals with flying or ranged enemies, Yuna is the healer, Lulu is the black mage etc, etc. Being able to swap them in and out of battle during a fights means you can always readjust and meet a battle in the most effective way possible. It means that you can actually use your whole party in a fight instead of over levelling only a few members of your team, like what normally happens in JRPGs. If however you would rather use just a few characters that have less strict rules straight away, you can start the game with the expert sphere grid. This is perfect for those that have played through the game before and want a different challenge. It means you don’t have to wait until further in to the game to teach Yuna some offensive magic, or give Tidus some of those useful Auron stats.
The expert sphere grid isn’t something new to us Europeans. Unfortunately, minus the updated graphics, better load times and a better framerate, the game is more or less unchanged from the version PAL regions received upon initial release. That’s not necessarily a bad thing. The updated graphics for the most part look lovely, minus a few NPC models. The framerate and load times are also to a high standard. Even the remastered musical arrangements sound quite nice. It’s a shame really that the game is let down by the issues the game has always had. Those issues being the voice-acting, the linear nature of progress and a terrible end game.
The dark aeons may be new to those that did not play the PAL or International version of the game, but for those that did they remain as overpowered bosses that discourage you to explore the world, when it does eventually open up a bit. Although it is possible to kill them they require a lot of grinding and that is the issue with most of the things that you can do in the end game. There are just a lot of battles against overpowered enemies that will destroy you unless you’re willing to put a lot of time and research into levelling your team.
Overall though Final Fantasy X is a much better game than I remember. The combat is some of the most fun you can have with a random encounter turn-based battle system, the story is quite touching and the characters are actually quite endearing. Combine that with boss fights in the earlier parts of the game that are different to the usual “throw everything and the kitchen sink” tactics, an addictive levelling system and some fun side-quests and mini-games, then you’ve got a good reason to pick up the remaster.
However, there’s more to the remaster than just Final Fantasy X, and that’s what makes it such excellent value for money. The game contains the Eternal Calm short film that bridges the gap between X and X-2. As well as this, there is a new audio drama and Last Mission, an expansion of X-2 that was originally only available in Japan. The other main part of the remaster though is, of course, X-2, the first direct videogame sequel in the Final Fantasy franchise. It’s a much faster paced game than X, with an active battle-system in place that means you can’t wait patiently for your next move. Depending on your style of play, you will either love this or hate this. Luckily there are options to slow down the speed of the battles that are incorporated in a way that doesn’t ruin the game.
Unlike Final Fantasy X the team don’t really have set roles this time around. Instead what you have are dresspheres, which can be changed at will during the game. The way the dresspheres work is they set you up with a specific set of skills, such as a black mage, a thief and so forth. If you spend enough time with a character using a certain dressphere you will learn new moves. It’s an interesting set up that, if you arrange your dresspheres correctly, will give you a chance to adapt to any situation. If you’re up against an enemy that is strong to physical attacks but weak to magic you can make all your characters utilise a role that uses magic. If you’re up against an enemy with strong attack and high defence you can mix it up with healers, attackers and debuffers.
Dresspheres aren’t the only thing that makes the battle system intriguing though. The game also features an almost Pokémon like battle system which allows players to capture foes from around the world and use them in battle. With the main cast limited to just 3 in this game, this allows you to have more variety in battle and create a team with various traits. Some creatures are so large there’s only room for one of them in your team; others are small enough to have 3. It adds a nice variety to the game and allows you to get a closer look at character models.
Being able to have a closer look at character models in the remaster is a huge plus. X-2 is definitely the better looking of the games in the package, with more detailed models and better animations. The fact that you can revisit a lot of the same places that you see in X makes a comparison even easier to do. The camera angles that X-2 uses however makes it so the game feels like it is trying something a bit different, rather than just rehashing old locations.
It’s not just camera angles and fancier models that the game tries something different with. Whereas X has the issue of being a highly linear experience, X-2 is a sprawling ‘choose your own adventure’ kind of affair. Its missions act as bite sized story development making it feel like you’re watching a television show, as opposed to the epic film feel that X went for. If you don’t feel like triggering the next mission just go to another part of the world and fight some enemies, or see what’s happening.
In fact going to other parts of the world is key if you want to reach 100% completion in the game and unlock the true ending. If you decide it is the true ending you want to achieve it may be better to dig out a guide, as obtaining every percentage is not an easy task. Due to the sprawling nature of the world it’s hard to really know what non-mission places will have something that will add to your percentage. Getting 100% might’ve been something you just didn’t bother with the first time you played the game all those years ago. In fact Final Fantasy X/X-2 Remaster is perfect for those that only ever played the games once before. There’s a lot to explore in each game and various things to master if you’re the kind that likes to defeat every boss.
If you’ve heard friends talk about the games in the past, or if you just want to see if your nostalgia was right, then it’s hard not to recommend Final Fantasy X/X-2 Remaster. The PlayStation 4 instalment is the best version of it and although both games have their flaws and are a bit dated, they are still extremely solid JRPGs. The fact that you can now get the ultimate version of both games in something that costs less than £40 is great. Especially when you consider the 100+ hour’s worth of gameplay the game has to offer.