Final Fantasy X Community Playthrough

[Omega]

If need be, I can also do this thing.

[Flare]

I had Keepa block two shots from an opposing team today. His CAT is 9 and the other guy still had 13 left both times. And Keepa blocked them BOTH.
Keepa where did this amazing talent come from. o____o

[Omega]

Stats are mostly subjective; actual stats range from about 75-125% of their actual value. In this case, it sounds like his CA was treated as higher and the shooter's SH was treated as lower. Iirc there's a random number factor involved?

[Jason Tandro]

^ RNG is fairly unfair in Blitzball. Ive mentioned how Balgerda always seems favored in her attacks.

[Flare]

Godot wrote:

Stats are mostly subjective; actual stats range from about 75-125% of their actual value. In this case, it sounds like his CA was treated as higher and the shooter's SH was treated as lower. Iirc there's a random number factor involved?

There is a random element to it, yeah, which can either piss me off or work in my favor But it only goes so high, when there's a 4 number difference it's a really slim chance (thankfully) that the higher number will lose.

[Jason Tandro]

Chapter 8: Live And Fight Your Sorrow
(aka "There's not a lot of funny dialogue in this chapter")

Time: Monday August 14 to Sunday August 20

Target: Upon attaining the airship and having this conversation with Maester Mika in Bevelle.

This chapter is short but packed with story. It all takes place in Zanarkand. I wanted to give you all some time to breathe as we approach the end of the game (he says while he is still on Chapter 4...) so this will be fairly light and easy.

That said, making your way through Zanarkand is no easy task with some high level monsters and machina. The soldiers are undead so the usual tricks will work. It's a small area but with what feels like the highest encounter rate in the game.

You'll also get the fun of tackling the Zanarkand temple which is basically a series of "step on these shapes and do it 6 times" which is... ehhhh. But the following boss fight has some of the most interesting mechanics in the game and is really where the CTB begins to shine.

Then we have the mother of all boss fights. She has three forms and her third form has an ability called MegaDeath which can kill your entire party. Let me save you some hassle - save your Aeon Overdrives for this form to finish her quickly and make sure at least 3 of your party members have Zombie to protect your from MegaDeath. Once this calamity is behind you, you finally get the airship and can begin doing sidequests, though we'll have an entire Chapter 9 devoted to just sidequests. To finish this chapter off, swing by Bevelle and have a quick convo with Maester Mika.

Discussion:

• What do you think of the revelations we get from the shadows in Zanarkand, particularly the explanation of Seymour?
• Were you annoyed by the temple puzzle, or did you enjoy it? Or did you not really care?
• How did you fare against the mother of all bosses? Did her third form give you any trouble?
• New players, did the revelation after the boss fight shock you? Did you have suspicions? Returning players, what are your thoughts on this particular story moment?

[Flare]

Phew, finally got through chapter 4. I want to play more but my PS2 needs a break I think.


Discussion stuffs:

On the Moonflow we can benefit from O'aka's charity if we've been donating to him. So... have you been funding our friend O'aka?

I have been donating but I hardly buy anything from him. XD

Now that Rikku is in the party, do you have any plans for special Customizations you've been looking forward to?

No major plans yet, I usually don't do big customizations until closer to the endgame. Hoping to find a few more blank slate weapons and such, and nab some items for good customizing.

The Farplane is a bit iffy in the lore - the Al Bhed state that the pyreflies just create the vision of the dead, whereas the Yevonites believe it's truly the souls. It'd be easy to dismiss this if it weren't for other events later in the game and in FFX-2. What do you think?

I forget what X-2 states about all this so I can chat about it without that interfering.

The one fact that can't be ignored is that the pyreflies in the Farplane only show images of those that have died. Whether they can only react to one's memories of a deceased person and show them a vision of said person, or they really are bits of someone's soul... I mean, then you have the whole Jyscal fiasco, which seems to prove to me that Pyreflies do retain something of the person they once belonged too. Maybe not enough to be their full soul, but like, bits and pieces of it. They can recreate their former appearance and, if strong enough, they can become like Jyscal and even breach the Farplane to step into the realm of the living because of an unclean death, basically.

So, I'd say that pyreflies are bits of one's soul. As everyone knows, when fiends and people die, a lot of pyreflies appear. I assume they separate and such after death and in the Farplane but each one contains a memory of whom they were before, so that's how they can project that image again in the Farplane, but only in the Farplane (because of the unique realm it is).
I think the Al Bhed say it's just creating images based on one's memory because they feel that the soul thing is a religious element and relates to Yevonites, which Al Bhed typically are not religious at all. Thus they feel such a thing can't be true, because it's what the religion feels is true, and they don't agree with much of the religion on a general basis.

But I think there's enough evidence to support that pyreflies, someway, somehow, retain something of the one they used to belong to. Whether they're actual pieces of one's soul, or just fragments of a dead man's memories, or something in-between/even different, I'm not entirely sure.

Do the Thunder Plains annoy the ever-loving shit out of you or do you not mind them so much?

I think the thunder can be annoying (and I'm not the best at dodging it!), but very atmospheric at the same time, and I wouldn't honestly change a thing about the location and the 'mechanics' of the area. Except change the requirements for getting a certain ultimate weapon because fuck that challenge.
But yeah, I don't mind the thunder plains, and I actually think the music suits it perfectly somehow. I love the clock ticking sound in the song, almost like you're counting the seconds between thunder and lightning. It's a very interesting tune, atmospheric I think; not overbearing and definitely it's own. I love it! A very unique location in the game.

Did you go against my advice and face the butterflies? Do you enjoy that sidequest?

I just ignored them this time. I usually give the butterfly hunt a try or three when I first run through, but I don't think there's any dire need to do it now, so I'll just come back to it. Maybe when I'm catching some beasties.

Given the last cutscene we see this chapter it's time to open up the Jecht can of worms. Do you think his feelings being expressed later make up for how he treated Tidus as a kid? Do you think there is more for him to repent for?

That's a tough question. I don't think it's a matter of 'should he repent more for how he treated Tidus', I mean the guy is fucking Sin now and killing people all then time and you know Jecht doesn't want to do it. Neither do I think his later actions can erase the way he treated Tidus before.

Look, Jecht was just a shitty father. He didn't know how to treat Tidus. He didn't know how to show his love for his child. I do think Jecht always loved Tidus, even though he was an asshole father when Tidus was growing up. I've seen similar father/son relationships irl.
And sadly, Jecht had to come to Spira and have those experiences before he started to change and slowly, eventually, realize how to love his son and show it. If Jecht had raised Tidus during that journey, their relationship would've been different.
Jecht learned a lot. He changed a lot. You get little hints from Auron, and then big hints from the spheres you find and seeing Jecht chat about it all.

And also this scene shows more of Tidus's feelings too. Tidus doesn't just have hate for Jecht. When Auron tells him 'Jecht loved you, he just didn't know how to express it', and walks away, Tidus murmurs 'thanks'. Tidus wanted Jecht to show him love. I think Tidus sees this more and more as his journey goes on, that Jecht did love him. And it helps ease something in Tidus. It's fascinating because, their relationship changes and grows and becomes something stronger and it's all happening through events where the two of them aren't actually around each other in real time.

If you couldn't tell, I absolutely love the relationship these two have. It's got a lot of realism to it, a lot of heart, and it changes as the game goes on. So much depth to it.



Side note, I missed two Al Bhed dictionaries, nooooo ;-; Must've been in Guadosalam!

[Omega]

Flare wrote:

Side note, I missed two Al Bhed dictionaries, nooooo ;-; Must've been in Guadosalam!

Thankfully, there are only a few missable primers, and they're all in Home. You'll be able to go back for them if they're in Guadosalam.

[Kionae]

Chapter 8

What do you think of the revelations we get from the shadows in Zanarkand, particularly the explanation of Seymour?

I was never quite sure how to interpret that. His mother says "I don't have much time left." Was she referring to the fact that she would soon be a fayth and couldn't go back at that point? Or was she already dying, and choosing to become a fayth was an effort to remain with Seymour in some form or another. If the former, I can understand her wanting her son to be accepted by becoming the hero of Spira, but I think she would have done him more good had she stayed with him. If the latter... that's just plain heartbreaking.

Were you annoyed by the temple puzzle, or did you enjoy it? Or did you not really care?

I liked the temple puzzle. I even liked the battle with the Spectral Keeper afterwards, because the dynamics were different from previous battles. It was a nice change of pace.

How did you fare against the mother of all bosses? Did her third form give you any trouble?

I made it through that battle on the first try by the skin of my teeth.

New players, did the revelation after the boss fight shock you? Did you have suspicions? Returning players, what are your thoughts on this particular story moment?

I've played before, so I knew it was coming. What surprised me a little was how blatantly obvious it was (since I already knew) before they actually came out and said it... There were plenty of hints. Though I can't remember if it was so obvious on my first playthrough.

[Kionae]

So... I guess we're minus a community manager again. Still willing to take over on finishing out this playthrough.

[Flintlock]

That would be appreciated, Kionae.

[Flare]

Yeah I'd very much love for the remaining chapters to be posted and whatnot, so go ahead kionae. I may be behind in the playthrough but I'll be finishing it for sure! I love writing out posts answering questions and such.

[Mr. Ite]

Chapter 4

Guadosalam introduces some really awesome stuff, both in the lore and in the plot development. I suppose this is how FFX tackles the elf tropes, and the guado have a couple of cool distinctions in this regard. Allowing a half-breed to become their leader is seen as the more common choice, with racism against the other nations of Spira seeming to be the attitude held by old conservative has-beens. The fact that Seymour happens to be an insane villain will probably fuel that old fire.

And Seymour is SO OBVIOUSLY an insane villain. During Operation Mi'ihen, Sarah turned to me and asked "Are we supposed to be surprised later when this guy becomes evil?" And she's right. With all the long close-ups and creepy music cues, he might as well have moustache antlers to twirl. My equivocation here is that FF is playing with the unreliable narrator thing, but this is pretty much the only place where the game does it.

On the Moonflow we can benefit from O'aka's charity if we've been donating to him. So... have you been funding our friend O'aka?

I'm rolling in dough. My blitzball contracts number in the dozens. I have 99 Ability Spheres. This is a Final Fantasy, yo. O'aka has enough to buy his own shoopuf.

Now that Rikku is in the party, do you have any plans for special Customizations you've been looking forward to?

I would like to call out this game on sexualizing an underage girl. That's not fucking cool. If you put that shit in your game, show, book, or movie, you'd better have the goddamn stones to address it maturely. FFX throws her striptease in as pulp - as a little wink to the men in the crowd. If you must do that, DO THAT WITH ADULT WOMEN. Rikku is fifteen years old -- that's not even legal in Canada, and we're lax as hell. If Tidus has sexual thoughts about her, acting on those thoughts would be illegal in Canada, so the excuse of "he's young too" doesn't hold any water.

Gameplay-wise, she's fine I guess. I use her at the beginning of fights to steal from monsters, but even after leveling in the woods for hours she still hasn't developed any other useful skills.

The Farplane is a bit iffy in the lore - the Al Bhed state that the pyreflies just create the vision of the dead, whereas the Yevonites believe it's truly the souls. It'd be easy to dismiss this if it weren't for other events later in the game and in FFX-2. What do you think?

What are we if not visions of the dead?

Do the Thunder Plains annoy the ever-loving shit out of you or do you not mind them so much?

I dodged five lightning bolts in a row. Otherwise, I got through there as quickly as possible.

Did you go against my advice and face the butterflies? Do you enjoy that sidequest?

Tried it twice. I won't again.

Given the last cutscene we see this chapter it's time to open up the Jecht can of worms. Do you think his feelings being expressed later make up for how he treated Tidus as a kid? Do you think there is more for him to repent for?

Um, leading the witness? I think Tidus is a whiny shit who didn't appreciate his parents until he lost them.

[Channy]

I'm with you Kion, just say if you ever need a hand with anything. Would be more than willing to help out, I love this game. <3

[Lex]

Flintlock wrote:

That would be appreciated, Kionae.

This. If you're willing it's much appreciated <3

Sorry there's been so much upheaval everyone.