On replaying FFX

[owlmoose]

I've been thinking about replaying FFX again for awhile, and being at home sick for the last week ended up being a good time for it. (I'd also thought about playing along with moogle_university, but I decided I couldn't hold out until October. :) I can always replay again then if I'm inspired.) I haven't played FFX at all for several years, and I hadn't done a top-to-bottom replay in even longer; then again, I know the game so well by now I doubt there will be many real surprises. But that's not the point of a replay like this. It's more about sinking back into the world and spending time there, reminding myself of the voices and the faces and the story. I'm about twelve or so hours in, just reached the Thunder Plains.

A few stray thoughts:

• The Jecht Shot is ridiculously hard. I think I reloaded seven or eight times before I got it to work. FFX was the last game before the ability to skip cutscenes was introduced to the series, and there's also no way to reload besides restarting the PS2, so that was also annoying. I don't intend to play much blitzball, so I didn't really need the Jecht Shot. But I so much prefer the way the characterization works if Tidus is able to make it work that I decided it was worth it.


• The other choice I really care about: who dies at Operation Mi'ihen. Nothing against Gatta, but the scene with Luzzu and Wakka at Djose Temple is one of my favorites in the game, so when I accidentally kept Gatta alive I found myself going back to a previous save.


• One thing I noticed at Operation Mi'ihen: after Yuna performs her Sending, there are still bodies on the beach. I remember having a discussion about that issue either here or someone else's journal a few years back: do human corpses disappear after death the same way that dead fiends do? At least based on this evidence, the answer is no. I'll have to keep an eye out in future scenes.


• Tidus's voice acting is better than I remember. Yuna's, sadly, is worse. Maybe it only seems that way because she gets so much better in FFX-2, so that's the impression that remains in my head.

Comments

[jerkface]

I've been replaying FFX this week as well!

I actually just finished Operation Mi'ihen. I let Gatta live this time because I've never seen what happens, and it's mildly disappointing. Luzzu's story had more...umph, I guess. Gatta, on the other hand, doesn't really do anything memorable for me. Alas, it is too late to go back and get him killed now.

Also, I distinctly remember this game being easier the last time I played it. Maybe it's because I just recently finished VIII, which is a walk through Caketown, and X only seems difficult by comparison? Is it supposed to be this challenging?

[auronlu]

All of the above, yes, except that for some reason my arthritic hands can handle the Jecht Shot minigame, probably because I've replayed so many times. It sometimes takes a reboot, though. (What's frustrating is that you can come back to the ferry and try again later, but for story purposes it feels more satisfying to do it right then.)

Interesting thought about Mi'ihen. I guess this is also true of the bodies in the Kilika sending and in Al Bhed Home (although there, Dona and Isaaru are a little slow on the uptake, and the pyreflies start gathering into fiends before they can finish the ritual.)

I completely agree with you about Luzzu and Gatta. Hence my keeping Luzzu alive for LHAD. Also, he's got a better voice, so he conveys the emotion much more strongly.

VA trivia time!
John DiMita: VA for Luzzu & Barthello
married in RL to:
Julie Fletcher: VA for Elma and Yunalesca (And Drace in FFXII)
in-game being bossed around by or sleeping with:
Candi Milo: VA for Lucil and Dona

Yes, I'm a little obsessed.

Please, keep posting thoughts! It's hard to replay this game when we know it so very well, but it's also our favorite -- er, my favorite, and I assume yours, still?

[zen_monk]

I remember when replaying FFX that I was bracing myself for Tidus' dialogue and then finding myself surprised that it wasn't that horrible as cultural osmosis claimed it to be. Really, it's only when he's distressed and frustrated that the voice is grating, but I chalk it up to bad voice direction.

Oh PS2 and unskippable cutscenes. I believe we've been spoiled by current gen hardware capabilities where we can reload stuff by going back to the main menu without having to shut off the console.

[lassarina]

Doesn't soft reset work on FFX? It ain't much, but it's something; at least you don't have to get up. XD

I replayed FFX about a year ago for paladin. I'm going to be really interested to do it in October.