Final Fantasy X

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Final Fantasy X (jap. ファイナルファンタジーX, Fainaru Fantajī Ten) is a computer role-playing game developed and published by Square. It is the tenth installment in the Final Fantasy series and the first game in the series to be released for the PlayStation 2 console. Final Fantasy X was released in Japan in 2001 and sold 8.05 million copies worldwide. The game won both the PlayStation Grand Prix and Sony's Double Platinum PlayStation Award in Japan in 2002 (awarded for 2 million to 3 million units sold in Japan from May 2001 to May 2002). Due to this success, Square announced it would release a remake of the game. This was released in Europe in March 2014 under the title Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD Remaster for PlayStation 3 and for PlayStation Vita, in May 2015 also for PlayStation 4 and in April 2019 for the first time for Xbox One and Nintendo Switch.

Set in the fantasy world of Spira, the game follows a group of adventurers on their journey to defeat a creature called Sin. The game represents a turning point in the Final Fantasy series, as it is the first time in the series' history that pre-rendered backgrounds have not been used, but instead completely three-dimensional areas have been created. While pre-rendered backgrounds have not disappeared entirely, they are limited to less interesting areas, such as the interiors of buildings. For the first time, a wide range of realistic facial expressions were used, with further technical developments in graphical effects such as showing the variation of light and shadow between different parts of a character's clothing. Final Fantasy X is the first game in the series to feature voice acting, and received a direct sequel (Final Fantasy X-2).

Final Fantasy X brought more major advancements to the Final Fantasy series. For example, scenes were timed according to the spoken dialogue, while previous games in the series still had scrollable subtitles. Other changes have been made to the design of the game world, which this time places special emphasis on realism. In addition, gameplay principles have seen old familiar elements discarded and new ones introduced.

Gameplay

General

As in previous games in the series, Final Fantasy X is played in a third-person perspective. The player mainly controls the character Tidus and interacts with objects and people. Unlike previous games in the series, the world and city maps have been fully integrated and areas outside of cities have been scaled to fit the characters. To engage in combat, the character and opponent are placed in a turn-based "battle arena."

As with previous Final Fantasy titles, players can develop and improve their characters by defeating enemies and collecting items. In place of the traditional experience point system, a system called the Sphere Board has been introduced.

The game was originally supposed to have online elements, but these were dropped during the production phase and multiplayer online elements didn't make their way into the Final Fantasy series until Final Fantasy XI.

Terrain

Unlike previous Final Fantasy games, Final Fantasy X does not feature a bird's-eye interactive overworld map for navigation. Previous games used a zoomed-out representation of the vast areas between cities and other important locations for travel between far-flung destinations. In Final Fantasy X, however, nearly all game locations are directly connected. For the most part, the regional connections form a continuous path through all areas of the game, though later in the game the player can use an airship to navigate the game world in seconds.

Terrain director Takayoshi Nakazato explained that with Final Fantasy X, he wanted to introduce a more realistic concept to the world map than that of traditional Final Fantasy games. This was mainly in accordance with the realism created by the 3D backgrounds as opposed to pre-rendered backgrounds, which he calls "pseudo-3D environments".

Combat system

Final Fantasy X replaces the Active Time Battle (ATB) system with the Conditional Turn-based Battle (CTB) system. While the ATB concept has elements of real-time, the CTB system is turn-based and pauses the battle at each player turn. This gives the player any amount of time to choose an action. In the CTB system, the status values of characters and opponents, as well as actions taken, affect the number and order of moves available. In the game, the timeline of when a character's turn is and what effect their actions have on the timeline is displayed graphically.

Character-specific special abilities (known as Change Limit in Final Fantasy VII, Special Technique in Final Fantasy VIII, and Trance in Final Fantasy IX) are referred to as Ecstasies in Final Fantasy X. Most of these ecstasies (with the exception of those performed by the game's characters Rikku, Yuna, and Kimahri) require a bit of skill on the controller: for example, Auron's ecstasy requires the player to quickly type a sequence of buttons, Lulu's ecstasy requires turning the analog stick, and Wakka's ecstasy requires stopping three raffle wheels at the right moment. If successful, the ecstasies are more powerful. Furthermore, the game introduces several learnable ecstasy types, allowing the player to set the conditions under which the ecstasy bar fills. For example, with Asceticism, the bar fills up with damage taken in battle, with Battle Spirit, with damage dealt to enemies, or with Fury, with damage taken from fellow combatants.

Final Fantasy X allows the player to control up to three characters in battle, but it is possible to replace any of these characters with a character from the reserve at any time. Thus, once all seven normally playable characters are available, three characters are active and four are on the "substitution bench." The player is encouraged to frequently substitute the active characters by two factors. First, characters who have not participated in combat do not receive experience points to improve status stats and skills. Second, each character has certain strengths and weaknesses throughout much of the game; for example, Yuna is particularly good at healing and is the only one who can use invocation spells, Rikku is particularly good at stealing and using items, whereas Tidus excels at fighting fast enemies. Specialized enemies are generally particularly difficult to defeat without the appropriate character.

Final Fantasy X saw a major revamp of the summoning spells from the previous games in the series. Whereas in previous games the summoned creature only performed one action and then disappeared, the summoned creatures called Bestia remain for the entire duration of the battle or until they are recalled or defeated by the opponent. Bestia have their own evolvable stats, spells, abilities, commands, and ecstasies. In addition to supporting the player with powerful attacks, they can also be used as protection against particularly difficult opponents, as the enemy must first defeat the bestia before they can inflict damage on the party. The player receives five Bestia during the course of the game, and three more can optionally be obtained via side quests.

Originally, the plan was to have enemies roam freely visible on the game's terrain, creating a seamless transition to combat and allowing the player to move around the environment during combat. Director of Combat Shintaro Takai has stated that it was his intention to present the combat in Final Fantasy X as a natural part of the story, rather than independent elements. Due to hardware and limitations in the system, these ideas, later christened Active Dimension Battle (ADB) system, did not come into play until Final Fantasy XI and Final Fantasy XII. In place of the ADB, there was a compromise so that in some battles, primarily boss battles, a relatively seamless transition from game terrain to battlefield was created using a motion blur effect. The desire for seamless transition also led to the implementation of the new call system in the game.

Spheroboard

Final Fantasy X's character development system, the Sphere Board, is unique in the RPG genre. Characters do not receive predetermined status and ability bonuses after a certain number of levels, as is usually the case, but instead gain so-called Sphere levels by collecting enough Ability Points (AP) after defeating enemies. These sphero levels, in turn, allow the player to move the character around the sphero board, which is a predetermined grid of several connected squares that grant various status value and ability bonuses. Items called spheroids (obtained by defeating enemies, from treasure chests, and during certain events) are used on these squares, unlocking their function for the selected character. In this way, the development of the playable characters resembles a board game.

Producer Yoshinori Kitase explained that the Sphere Board is meant to give players an interactive way to raise character traits while allowing players to experience the change in those traits directly. The sphere board also allows players to customize characters as opposed to their intended combat roles, so White Mage Yuna can become a strong fighter or Swordsman Auron can become a healer. In the International and PAL versions of the game, there is an optional pro variant of the sphere board. In this variant, all characters start in the center of the sphere board and the player can immediately take any path with them, but the sphere board has slightly fewer squares, which at first glance allows for fewer status value increases overall. However, since it is possible to clear the board later without losing the gained traits and attributes, the board can be run multiple times.

Blitzball

Blitzball is a minigame in Final Fantasy X. It is a fictional sport played underwater and has similarities to the real sport of underwater rugby. Two teams of six players (5 controllable field players and 1 computer-controlled goalkeeper) face each other and try to put the ball in the opponent's goal by making tactical decisions. You give commands to your players, for example dribble, pass or shoot. There is a cup mode as well as a league mode, where the player can play several seasons and win prize money or items. You meet other Blitzball players during the game, who can be signed for your team. At the beginning of the game, one Blitzball game must be completed, after which the player is free to play more.

Plot and scenario

The world of Final Fantasy X is called Spira and consists of a large landmass divided into three subcontinents and surrounded by several islands. Spira has different climates, so there are the tropical islands of Besaid and Kilika and the moderate Mi'hen region, but also the arctic areas of Macalania and Mount Gagazet.

Although predominantly populated by humans, there are other races in Spira. Among them are the Al Bhed, a technologically advanced but disenfranchised subspecies of human with green spiral pupils and their own language (the letters are swapped for other letters). The Guado, with their elongated fingers and other subtle differences, appear less human; they also have a natural penchant for magic and summoning monsters. The large, lion-like and one-horned Ronso and the frog-like Hypello appear even less human.

Spira's flora and fauna is not only based on real animals, such as dogs, cats, birds, and butterflies, among others, but is also populated by some fictional species, such as the giant amphibious snus that resemble elephants, or the emu-like chocobos with yellow plumage often used as transportation in the Final Fantasy series.

Spira is very different from the primarily European-influenced worlds of previous Final Fantasy games, and is modeled more on Southeast Asia, especially in vegetation, topography, architecture, and names. Character designer Tetsuya Nomura cites the South Pacific, Thailand, and Japan as major influences on the cultural and geographical design of Spira, and Besaid and Kilika in particular. Furthermore, he said that Spira differs from the worlds of previous Final Fantasy games most noticeably in the level of detail brought in, which he deliberately tried to keep high during development. Although Southeast Asia is a strong theme, Final Fantasy X, like other games in the series, borrows from other cultures and references demonology, Hindu, Arabic, Norse and other mythologies.

Spirituality and metaphysics

A prominent and fundamental trait of the Final Fantasy X universe are the Illumina, wandering swarms of life energy from the recently deceased. If they are not blessed by a medium after some time, Illumina are capable of becoming jealous of the living and manifesting as monsters. In most cases, these are the enemy creatures in the game. However, should there be no negative feelings at the forefront, it is possible for the deceased to possess the will to practically stay alive as a "Leibloser" and continue to exist physically. One of the Media's tasks in Final Fantasy X is to escort the wandering Illumina to their final resting place, a mystical area guarded by the Guado called the Abyssum. This is done through a ritual known as a blessing. The other great task of the Media is to call the Bestia, fierce magical creatures that came into existence when humans sacrificed their lives so that their souls would be encased in stone statues and they would become Asthra. Asthra grant the Media the ability to summon their corresponding bestia, which are called dreams of the Asthra. The third important task of the Media is to defeat Sin, a gigantic monster that has plagued Spira for 1000 years and can wipe out entire cities and armies with ease.

Spira's human population is very religious and follows the Church of Yevon, a thousand-year-old organization with great influence. The faithful of Yevon consider Sin a holy punishment imposed upon them for their high-handed use of machines (called Maschina in the game), and forbid any advanced technology. Eventually, however, it is revealed that not only Yevon itself, but three of the four high priests in particular have become corrupt, with great interest in forbidden technology.

Media go on pilgrimage to attain bestia and increase their own power. They are accompanied by a bodyguard; the task of these experienced fighters is to protect and support the Media on their way. The end of the journey lies in the ruins of the city of Zanarkand, where the Media obtain the High Summoning, the only known power that can destroy Sin. Towards the end of Final Fantasy X, it is learned that the bestia for the High Conjuration is created from someone close to the Medium: thus, it is necessary for a bodyguard of each Medium who defeats Sin to sacrifice his or her own life. Using the High Incantation against Sin also costs the life of the Medium himself. However, even this measure is not permanent; after ten years of peace, called the Silent Time, Sin is reborn and terrorizes Spira anew.

Characters

Tidus

Tidus, the young star of the Zanarkand Abes lightning ball team, is hurled by the mysterious power of Sin, apparently, a thousand years into the future. He can no longer find a way out of this world, but initially has hopes of finding more clues in Zanarkand, the destination of Yuna's pilgrimage. However, he is often dejected and feels out of place. He also takes an increasing liking to Yuna, accompanying her to Luca and eventually becoming part of her bodyguard.

Yuna

Yuna is the daughter of the High Medium Braska, who lost his life fighting Sin. In the temple of Besaid, she gains her first summoning of Valfari and becomes a medium. As the game progresses, she gains the power to summon other bestia (Ifrit, Ixion, Shiva, and Bahamut). In order to gain the High Summoning in Zanarkand, which she can use to destroy Sin, she must become a more powerful Medium by gaining more summons. She also returns Tidus' affections early on.

Wakka

Wakka is the coach and captain of the blitzball team Besaid Aurochs, with whom he has never won a match in 10 years. With Tidu's moral support, the team makes it to the finals in Luca, which is then controlled by the player himself. Depending on the skill of the player, the team can win the championship. After that, Wakka devotes himself fully to Yuna's pilgrimage. He considers Yuna like a little sister and would protect her with his life.

Lulu

Lulu is also a member of Yuna's bodyguard. Just like for Wakka, Yuna is like a little sister to her. She is a black mage and is proficient in many elemental spells. Lulu has a very closed and controlled nature, which often makes her seem a bit cold and uncaring. It is later revealed that she has accompanied two Media on their pilgrimages before, but they both ended prematurely in the Silent Plane. Because of this, she blames herself.

Kimahri Ronso

Kimahri is a silent Ronso warrior who has dedicated his life to Yuna's protection since her early childhood. He first speaks to Tidus very late in the game, and then reveals himself to be a thoughtful Ronso. Among his people, his reputation has fallen far since another Ronso broke off his horn.

Auron

Auron is a former, world-renowned bodyguard who accompanied Braska on his pilgrimage. He swore to Jekkt - also Braska's bodyguard - and Braska to watch over their children. He goes to the "Dream Zanarkand" and saves Tidus from Sin's attack. There, he hands Tidus a sword and teaches him how to fight. At the end, we learn that he is a Leibloser who initially did not accept that Jekkt and Braska sacrificed themselves and died after fighting Lady Yunalesca. With his promise fulfilled, he returns to the Abyssum.

Rikku

Rikku is a bubbly, extroverted girl from the Al-Bhed people. She is the first person Tidus meets in Spira, where she explains to him that Zanarkand was destroyed by Sin a thousand years earlier and Mashina are considered forbidden. After Tidus learns during the attack on the Al-Bhed home in Bikanel that Yuna will die after the High Conjuration, she tries to find a way with him to save her cousin Yuna.

Other characters

The antagonists in the game are Seymor Guado and the other primas of Yevon's religion, while the marauding Sin serves as the main source of conflict. Additionally, there is a wide range of named characters to support, recruited from more than just those traditionally found in other Final Fantasy games.

Character Design

Character designer Tetsuya Nomura paid special attention to the individual character designs. For example, he based Yuna's overall appearance on traditional Okinawan clothing. When he learned that this character would be performing the Blessing Dance, he gave her clothing something that would flow. For this reason, he chose a special long-sleeved kimono version, the furisode. In addition, he used flowers called yuna (Hibiscus tiliaceus) for her dress and necklace, and her name carries the meaning "night" in the Okinawa dialect. In direct contrast, Tidus' Japanese name, "Tida," means "sun" in the Okinawa dialect. Nomura explained that these subtle details may be superfluous, but he didn't want his designs to stand without explanation.

For the supporting characters, the lead designer for supporting characters, Fumi Nakashima, focused especially on making the characters easily recognizable as belonging to their respective groups, thanks to the clothing styles characteristic of certain nations and cultures. For example, according to her, the Al Bhed's masks and goggles give the group a "strange and eccentric" look, while the Ronso's clothing allows them to easily get into a fight.

History

Final Fantasy X begins late in the story. Main character Tidus is waiting outside the ruined city of Zanarkand with Yuna and the other bodyguards. From this in-medias-res beginning, Tidus recounts the series of events that brought him to his current situation, this lengthy flashback encompassing much of the game's story. The flashback begins in non-destroyed Zanarkand, a high-tech metropolis and Tidus' hometown, where he is a well-known star of the underwater sport Blitzball. When Sin attacks Zanarkand during a game of blitzball, Tidus - along with his longtime guardian Auron - is sucked into the creature and, upon awakening, finds himself alone in the ruins of an abandoned temple.

Tidus is rescued by some Al-Bhed divers; one of them, Rikku, tells him that his city was destroyed a thousand years ago. Before he has time to process this news, Sin attacks again and Tidus is separated from the others. Eventually, he washes up on the tropical island of Besaid. Here he meets Wakka, captain and coach of the local blitzball team, the Besaid Aurochs. Impressed by Tidus' skills, Wakka asks Tidus to support his team in the upcoming tournament in Luca.

Tidus is introduced to Yuna, a young medium following in the footsteps of her late father, Sir Braska. Braska was also a medium and gave his life fighting Sin ten years earlier. His bodyguard was Auron and Jekkt, Tidus' father, who is believed to be missing in Tidus' Zanarkand. Tidus also meets Lulu and Kimahri in Besaid, who along with Wakka form Yuna's bodyguard and accompany her on the way to Zanarkand so that Yuna can obtain the High Incantation and defeat Sin.

The group travels by ship to Kilika, where they once again encounter Sin, who ravages the city. After Yuna blesses the deceased and learns to control a new bestia at the local temple, the group travels on to Luca. With the end of the Lightning Ball Tournament there, Auron joins the group.

Not long after another run-in with Sin, who destroyed an entire vigilante army, Rikku joins them.

The party also encounters Seymor Guado, leader of the Guado and a primate of Yevon. Although he initially presents himself as an ally and even assists the party in a fight under the player's control, it later becomes apparent that he is a madman who wants to merge with Sin to "gift" the population of Spira with death. For this reason, he tries to force Yuna to marry him so that he can become her final summon and thus Sin. Even though the group kills him in the first battle, he remains unblessed and returns in further battles.

Throughout the course of the game, Yuna and Tidus grow closer, but to his horror, Tidus learns that Yuna will die as soon as she uses the High Incantation against Sin. Yuna is aware of her fate and wants to use her life to give the people of Spira the Quiet Time, the brief peace after Sin's destruction. Complicating matters, Auron opened up to Tidus in Luca that his father Jekkt is still alive, though turned into Sin. Tidus resolves to find a way to free his estranged father and defeat Sin once and for all without sacrificing Yuna's life.

Just before the group reaches Zanarkand, Tidus learns that his father, he, and the Zanarkand they come from are "dreams," summoned beings similar to bestia. Their city, the "Dream Zanarkand", was created a thousand years earlier when, during the conflict known as the Mashina War, Yevon, leader of Zanarkand and powerful medium, took desperate measures to preserve the memory of Zanarkand. He had the survivors of the city become Asthra, to conjure from their memories a new city in the image of Zanarkand, far away from the battle on Spira's mainland. Sin was created at the same time by Yevon to serve as protection for him and the Asthra. During the ongoing summoning of Dream Zanarkand, Yevon lost his humanity and became known as Yu-Yevon ("The Curse of Yevon"), a being that exists solely to ensure the existence of Dream Zanarkand. Over the course of the next thousand years, Sin repeatedly attacks the inhabitants of Spira to prevent them from evolving technologically enough to find Dream Zanarkand.

Once the player completes Yuna's pilgrimage to Zanarkand - concluding Tidus' detailed flashback of events thus far - Yuna and her companions learn from the unblessed spirit of Yunalesca - daughter of Yevon and the first medium to defeat Sin - that the High Conjuration is created from the spirit of someone very close to the medium. Furthermore, she explains that after Sin's death, Yu-Yevon takes possession of the High Conjuration and makes it the new Sin. Additionally, the player learns that Auron also met his death when he attacked Yunalesca ten years ago after the deaths of Jekkt and Braska, but was never blessed. Yuna and her bodyguard decide to seek a new way to defeat Sin: one that destroys Sin forever and requires no further sacrifice. Yunalesca cannot accept this decision, and a battle ensues in which Yunalesca mutates several times and is eventually defeated. Without having received the High Incantation, the group uses an Al-Bhed airship to attack Sin directly and penetrate his body.

Inside Sin's, the group battles Seymor, Jekkt's imprisoned spirit, and finally Yu-Yevon himself, managing to defeat them all and send them into the Abyssum. In doing so, they end Sin's cycle of death and rebirth forever. Auron also crosses over into the Abyssum, having fulfilled his promises to Jekkt and Braska to watch over their children. Finally, the spirits of Asthra are also released from their prison, and with that, the Bestia, Dream Zanarkand, and even Tidus dissolve. Though Yuna mourns the loss of Tidus, she encourages the people of Spira to forge new paths now that Sin is gone. However, she also reminds them not to forget the people who fell victim to the conflict.

Cosplay: Yuna summons the Bestia ShivaZoom
Cosplay: Yuna summons the Bestia Shiva

A cosplayer as Rikku (outfit from Final Fantasy X-2)Zoom
A cosplayer as Rikku (outfit from Final Fantasy X-2)

A cosplayer as YunaZoom
A cosplayer as Yuna


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