Re-Playing Final Fantasy X, 22 Years On.

The Story

Final Fantasy X takes place in the world of Spira. You begin the story as Tidus, a star blitzball player for the Zanarkand Abes, suddenly his life takes a turn, resulting in his arrival in the world of Spira. This is where his adventure begins, its time for you and Tidus to learn why he has been transported to this foreign world. Along the journey Tidus meets Yuna who is a summoner, travelling the world on a pilgrimage with her guardians. Throughout the journey Tidus, Yuna and her guardians will learn and discover more about their purpose and the state of the world.

Back when I was 19 I remember finding a lot of the story and characters in this game quite cringe at times… But 22 years on after replaying this game again, I kind of appreciated these particular moments in the game, why? Because it’s what brought these characters and their stories together… Tidus and his fellow adventurers went through some hard times along their journey, anything like the famous ‘cringe’ laughing scene would have been a great distraction from some of the realities Tidus and Yuna were facing along their journey. I understand that now, having gone through my own hardships in life, we all need distractions when going through hard and uncertain situations.

Overall the story is probably one of my favourites in the Final Fantasy series, as the story develops you will start to connect with the characters which will lead to emotional moments throughout your play through.

Battle System / Sphere Grid

Out of all the Final Fantasy games I have played, I think the battle system in this game is the easiest to understand and master. There are two versions of the Spear Grid in the remastered version, regular and expert. I highly recommend using the expert version, as you’ll have more control over the grid and how you spend your ability points per character.

As you encounter and fight enemies and bosses you will gain ability points for winning those battles, using those ability points via the sphere grid allows you to learn new abilities and upgrade your characters stats.

While I enjoyed using the expert version of the sphere grid, I found Khimari had been drawn a bit of a short straw… if you use the sphere grid correctly and plan ahead, most of your characters will end up learning their own unique skills, except for Khimari. It became apparent that he has been drawn a short straw, thanks to Square Enix! The abilities and skills are very limited for him compared to all of the other characters you play, I felt he deserved better when it came to the sphere grid.

Blitzball

Being a sports and football fan myself, I really enjoyed blitzball… I definitely spent more time playing this mini game vs 22 years ago, mainly because of wanting Wakka’s fully upgraded ultimate weapon. Though this mini game still has its flaws, the AI of the opposite team’s players still seemed a bit busted at times, players still spin on the spot, like they’re not sure which way to turn or swim… I thought Square Enix might have worked on this for the remaster version.

Side Quests & End Game

I love doing end game stuff! min-maxing and fighting the hardest monsters the game has to offer in the monster arena is a challenge and a fun one. Spending hours working on the ultimate weapons and fully upgrading them is a lot of fun too. The only weapon I did not bother upgrading was Lulu’s weapon… Trying to dodge 200 lightning bolts consecutively just seems a bit extreme for me. I did manage to obtain everyone else’s weapons, which I never took the time to do 22 years ago.

The main story took me roughly 45 hours to finish, with a further 30ish hours doing end game stuff, totalling to 70+ hours of gameplay. I definitely enjoyed and appreciated this game a little more now that I am older.

Conclusion

This game is still a masterpiece even by todays standards. There is plenty to do, from side quests, mini games, item collecting and monster hunting. If you are an old Final Fantasy fan, or thinking of trying the games for the first time, then Final Fantasy X is still worth picking up and playing in 2024.