Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD Remaster [PS3/PS4/Vita]

[Alex Strife]

I had seen that trailer before. And either way, it's typical for things to be graphically less capable when the real game comes out. Okay, maybe not typical but it's not that strange.

You make something, it looks great, you run it on a computer. You put it on the console and... uh-oh! Surprise! It's slow. Or you add too many details outside of the character and it's too much for the console's memory to handle, etc.

Bear in mind FFX's development was overlapped with FFIX and FFXI, at some point. So it means it came early in PS2 development, so it's not surprising they would misjudge its capacities.

 

[Tennyo]

From my point of view, no stories are really "new", ever. They're a cocktail of stuff we've heard in some way or another - family drama, romance, culture clashes, daddy issues, etc. When I say 'fanservice', what I mean is that all the events in X lines up so neatly for kids to like. There's two teenagers who act like they're in their late 20's, there's that old dude we all like, there's that dumb dude who doesn't understand anything because he's religious, and they're all pretty much Mary Sues (except for that old dude who learned his lesson; obviously, because he's missing an arm and an eye.) There's different cultures and races and shit and we have to put them in because if we don't it's not Final Fantasy, but all we bother doing is mentioning some strange things they do because they're Of A Different Culture, which doesn't give them personality or life at all.

It just bothers me. They set up a really nice machina vs gods thing but failed to make it interesting because they made Wakka easy to misunderstand and Rikku too smart, which really makes her very uninteresting. They needed to balance her out with something which isn't there.

My opinion, which is very much an opinion and probably needs a fact check. X) Maybe if I played the game again I'd pick up more of the story, and I know I'm being unfair towards many... no, all of the characters. There's probably a lot to be said for XII's characters too, but at least the teenagers act like teenagers. I fucking love how they made Vaan that dumb. Makes him a lot more lovable (and realistic!) in my eyes.

But then again I come from a country where we love Donald more than Mickey, because he is such a major fail.

I have to say that I think Lex is more spot on with his previous comment. FFX may suffer from its fair share of tropes (just like every other FF game ever made), but fanservice doesn't come into play THAT much until X-2. The only things that I would consider fanservice about X are Lulu's boobs and Donna, that other summoner who runs around in a thong. Maybe Yunalesca, too, in her barely-there attire. Maybe Wakka and Tidus being practically shirtless to appeal to the other end of the spectrum. Stuff like that.

Wakka was also never presented as being dumb. He was raised his whole life on a certain set of beliefs, and now he is seeing his beliefs challenged. He's reluctant to let go, and rightly so. It's not easy to have something that has been the basic foundation of your life since birth be proven false. I've never viewed him as stupid just because he's religious. He can be insensitive and stubborn, yes, but stubborn about religious views held all you life does not equal stupidity. The culmination of his personal arc is that he eventually learns to accept the truth of everything that he has seen. He's the one who tries to comfort Rikku when her home is destroyed, which was a big step considering his previous hatred for the Al Bhed due to said previously held religious beliefs.

As for Rikku, this is the first time I've EVER heard anyone say they didn't like her for being too smart. I don't even know how to defend against that, because everyone I've ever discussed FFX with who hated her seemed to hate for for the same reasons they hate Yuffie in FFVII; being that they think she's TOO DUMB. But if you think she's intelligent I suppose that's something. Better than too dumb.

 

[Fangu]

FFX may suffer from its fair share of tropes (just like every other FF game ever made), but fanservice doesn't come into play THAT much until X-2. The only things that I would consider fanservice about X are Lulu's boobs and Donna, that other summoner who runs around in a thong. Maybe Yunalesca, too, in her barely-there attire. Maybe Wakka and Tidus being practically shirtless to appeal to the other end of the spectrum. Stuff like that.

I used that word wrong. I see now that the most used purpose of that word is the half nekkid thing, however it is also used to describe a way of taking a very cheap way out to please your fans, which I think X did in a lot of ways.

Wakka was also never presented as being dumb. He was raised his whole life on a certain set of beliefs, and now he is seeing his beliefs challenged. He's reluctant to let go, and rightly so. It's not easy to have something that has been the basic foundation of your life since birth be proven false. I've never viewed him as stupid just because he's religious. He can be insensitive and stubborn, yes, but stubborn about religious views held all you life does not equal stupidity. The culmination of his personal arc is that he eventually learns to accept the truth of everything that he has seen. He's the one who tries to comfort Rikku when her home is destroyed, which was a big step considering his previous hatred for the Al Bhed due to said previously held religious beliefs.

Well that's pretty much my thoughts as well, it's just that because of some reason, a lot of people have said (on this forum too) that Wakka is an idiot, doesn't have a brain, etc. In my opinion he's the most interesting character of the entire game (I did vote him my favorite character of the game in the poll, in the end he's pretty much tied with Kimahri), but people seem to hate him. He has flaws, so he appears more real, and well, when you compare him to the other wax dolls in the game I guess that makes him look bad

As for Rikku, this is the first time I've EVER heard anyone say they didn't like her for being too smart. I don't even know how to defend against that, because everyone I've ever discussed FFX with who hated her seemed to hate for for the same reasons they hate Yuffie in FFVII; being that they think she's TOO DUMB. But if you think she's intelligent I suppose that's something. Better than too dumb.

Well it's not like I think she should apply to Mensa, but she shows a lot more maturity than some of the older characters. I never saw her as dumb - cooky maybe, but never dumb. She just seems to magically conjure up the right answer to everything. I guess it's supposed to be cute, but to me it's just annoying.

 

[ForceStealer]

I don't see the rest of FFX's cast as being flawless. Yuna is incapable of doing anything for herself and is too concerned with how the world sees her, for instance. Auron's trying to make up for his when the game starts. Kimahri is superfluous, but beyond that I didn't have a problem believing the characters.

Rikku can be annoying in the same way Selphie, Eiko, Penelo, and Vanille can be; I don't think I noticed anything about her being smart or dumb though.

 

[The Twilight Mexican]

I love Rikku. She's my favorite of the cute, bouncy girl cast members across the series.

And, really, it makes sense that she's smart. The Al Bhed are supposed to be tech savvy people and have the enlightenment of being on the extreme losing end of generations of apartheid rule. Added to that, her dad's the smartest one of them all and united their scattered race.

They're not quite displayed as flawless -- though that argument could certainly be made for Rikku.

Cid admits to hating the Yevonites, so there's been prejudice there as well. He even stopped speaking to his sister when she married Braska and later regretted it when she was killed by Sin before they could make amends. Maybe they could have given more focus to the faults of the secular crowd, but the secularists weren't the priveleged persecutors, so it's not what you would really expect.

 

[Lex]

I see them all as intensely flawed characters to be honest, they all have pretty massive personal issues in one way or another.

Tidus : Severe daddy issues.
Yuna : Too concerned with what other people think.
Wakka : Set in his beliefs which are completely ripped away mid story.
Lulu : Severe, unyeilding (sounds like a harry potter wand)
Auron : Let's face it, he's dishonest as fuck. He might have his reasons, but he's a deceiver.
Kimahri : Runt of the litter, bully victim.
Rikku : One of those people that's still incredibly nice when she shouldn't be, has to deal with discrimination etc.

I don't know, I just don't see the characters as fan-servicey in any way. Aside from Rikku they're surprisingly original and real to me when compared with some other FF characters.

 

[The Twilight Mexican]

In what ways would you say Auron is dishonest? I've never heard him called that.

 

[Fangu]

Yuna : Too concerned with what other people think.
Kimahri : Runt of the litter, bully victim.
Rikku : One of those people that's still incredibly nice when she shouldn't be, has to deal with discrimination etc.

I think that's the thing, I have problems seeing these as "flaws". I know being too nice to people and never thinking about your own needs can be a flaw, but having that as your biggest flaw is... I don't know, to me that doesn't make a very interesting character. I hate to bring up the Mary Sue term again, but to me "being too nice" and "struggling with something in the past (as a victim)" (being bullied, for instance) is a "Mary Sue flaw" if I ever saw one.

Now, if you add to it, like:

Yuna : Too concerned with what other people think - so she becomes apathetic, is unable to make choices and keeps close with relatives or other people she knows well and lets them make her decisions for her, making her slowly turn angry and depressed
Kimahri : Runt of the litter, bully victim - which in time turns him into a bully himself, or at least show bully traits which he has to constantly struggle with. Or, one day he just seeks out revenge
Rikku : One of those people that's still incredibly nice when she shouldn't be, has to deal with discrimination etc - being nice to everyone no matter what means she has problems bonding with people or making good friends, i.e. trusting everyone means you don't really trust anyone or simply is very egocentric because she can't stand to be disliked, and will do anything to avoid being seen in a bad light - this means she will never take a strong standpoint in anything

It's all the good sides but nothing of the bad, if you get what I mean.

If you throughout a game can't say "that wasn't very nice" at least one time about something a character said or did, to me that's a sign of an unbalanced character.

But then again I like them treading on the dark side. X)

 

[Tetsujin]

So apparently in the Jump magazine it was confirmed there's gonna be a new 30-minute episode included for the credits(?). That might be what the new voice recordings they hinted at are for.

Can't link to a source though since the only one I have is someone on neogaf confirming it.

 

[ForceStealer]

Here you go, Tets. Apparently it was in Weekly Shonen Jump.
http://www.jefusion.com/2013/07/inal-fantasy-x-hd-remaster-to-include-short-drama.html?m=1

Very intriguing, wonder what it's gonna be about. Hopefully they get original voice actors if its with main characters.

 

[Pixel]

I wish they would do this with OTWTAS

 

[Strangelove]

It says there's 'new cast and characters' on the scan.

And is that going to be on the Vita ones as well?

 

[Tetsujin]

It's an audio drama

Square Enix has confirmed the nature of the new 30-minute episode that has been appended to the endigns of Final Fantasy X and Final Fantasy X-2 as part of their ongoing events at the popular Japan Expo over in Paris.

Giving those at the event a sneak preview of the new story chapter written by series scribe Kazushige Nojima, game producer Yoshinori Kitase revealed that the 30-minute addition will take the form of an audio play, recorded with both the English and Japanese cast of the game.

The short preview featured Tidus, again voiced in English by James Arnold Taylor, recalling some of the final events of FFX and FFX-2. He sets the stage - it's two years later, and he has been given an all-new life to walk alongside Yuna.

From here, a thirty minute story will unfold, as revealed a few days ago in this week's Japanese magazines.

We'll bring you more from Japan Expo as it happens, so be sure to keep an eye on the site! We're heading to Japan Expo to chat to Kitase and some other Final Fantasy big wigs tomorrow - so be sure to drop us a tweet on Twitter or a message in the comments if you have any burning questions!

 

[Groodon]

So no new cutscene or anything, just 30-min audio?

 

[Alex Strife]

That's what seems to be, indeed.

 

[ForceStealer]

I'm looking forward to it. See how being with Yuna for two years as been (given that they are overtly together as opposed to wishy-washy Cloud and Tifa )

 

[The Twilight Mexican]

It seemed a little unclear to me whether this is two years after FFX or X-2. If it's the former, then he may have only been back with Yuna for a short time at this point.

 

[Tetsujin]

2 years after X-2 seems more likely.

 

[The Twilight Mexican]

What I'm hoping for at least.

 

[Lex]

Well that's a genuinely nice addition IMO. Something new to look forward to for the people who care about the story. Nice little extras like this are what make these remakes worth buying. I can't wait now.

 

[The Twilight Mexican]

I'm wondering if this new addition will be on a CD or something you unlock after beating both games (with 100% completion in X-2's case)? Seems like it would be a lot of work, so hopefully it's just on a CD.

 

[Tetsujin]

 

[Cthulhu]

I'd buy it. Everyone knows Auron is the best character in FFX,

 

[Marcus]

Unless I get a Rikku only game I will not be interested

I need my Rikku fix!

 

[The Twilight Mexican]

A man after my own heart.