I haven't played Final Fantasy X in eleven years. I haven't beaten Final Fantasy X in even longer because the Dark Aeons are too strong. I tried to play this a year and a week ago, but my disk was scratched, and I got stuck on this "We call him Sin" cutscene. So, since I was out, getting my first Covid Shot a few days ago, I decided to buy a new (used) copy. Unfortunately, that copy is also bad, but it's bad in (so far) a different way. It plays all the movies, but many of the locations don't load. My first copy doesn't play a few of the CGI scenes, but rooms load in! I'm gonna be playing this like an old school PS1 era game for the next three weeks, and, assuming I can get through it, am so excited!
To Zanarkand plays in the background. The game begins with a group of adventures looking somewhere between apathetic and morose around a campfire and their weapons of choice. One of them walks up a hill to overlook a dead, flooded city and tells us to listen to his story.
The scene cuts to a happy, joyful megalopolis down near the river, while the worst version of the Final Fantasy Prelude plays in the background. A dozen people are in front of a houseboat, waiting for someone to come out of a house. A mysterious hooded child appears from thin air. The man who exits is the same guy who asks us to listen to his story. As he comes out to greet them, they ask for his autograph, and we can name our not main character. Despite no one knowing how to pronounce his name, I keep the default, Tidus. The kids ask him to teach them how to blitz, but the mystery kid says tonight isn't a good time. Tidus then talks to the girls, who he hits on. He says that when he scores, he'll make a hand motion in their direction. They giggle. As our hero exits, the entire crowd wishes him luck, and they do an elaborate hand gesture and bow combination.
The next scene is him walking down a highway. He looks at a billboard of a man, and a narrator gives us the skinny. Someone named Jecht disappeared ten years ago. Everyone in town, especially the narrator, Zanar, was crushed. But that was ten years ago! Now it is time for the Jecht Memorial Cup. It's a Blitzball tournament in his honor as he was a legend of the game. The first match is between the Zanarkand Abes and the Duggles. As Tidus, star player of the Abes, reaches the stadium, he is swarmed by fans. He navigates his way through the masses, enters a magical blue barrier, and the best cutscene in Final Fantasy plays.
Otherworld was my Final Fantasy Music Challenge win for the song that gets me pumped. It's a metal riff with unintelligible lyrics. It plays over the game between the Abes and Duggles, but I can't really tell what's going on. Blitzball is a game that combines American football, handball, and water polo. I say water polo because it takes place in a massive, magical sphere of water. While this is going on, though, we see a man in a red jacket looking cool as a wave approaches the city. He makes his way down to the footpaths as people run away. He, however, casually strolls. Eventually, the wave shoots ki blasts at the city and stadium. The game is canceled on account of Zanarkand's destruction. Tidus fell out of the water sphere and landed in front of the stadium. He walks a little away from it to see the man in the red jacket, Auron. Auron tells him he was waiting for him, and we return to the highway, following Auron.
As we reach the overpass, the mystery kid shows up, stops time, and tells Tidus that "it begins" and "don't cry." When Tidus comes back to reality, he catches up to Auron, who introduces him to Sin, a giant thing floating in a dirty sphere of water over the city. The rest of this highway has him introducing us to the battle system after he gives Tidus a sword, "A Gift from Jecht." A larva strikes a nearby building, and it launches its children at us. We're surrounded, but Auron tells us to only kill the ones in our way. We do this for a time until we find another larva. This battle introduces us to Overdrives, which is the triumphant return of Limit Breaks. FFIX used Trance, and Trance sucked! Unless you choose to, you can't lose the fight. We fight on until we reach even more small insects, too numerous to allow us to fight. To pass, attack the tanker until it falls and blows up the nearby building projecting Jechtt's face. Tidus gets mad at the billboard, indicating that he's the great Jecht's son and has some issues with his father. The building collapses, destroying the highway. The two men run across the exploding road in action movie style until Tidus falls. He's able to grab onto a ledge, and Auron walks up to him. Rather than help him up, Auron talks to someone behind him and tells Tidus that, "This is your story." There's a vortex above us, and the city is being sucked in. Eventually, we follow the rubble in.
Tidus walks up, alone, in a flooded temple. I've forgotten what the game calls it now, but it's an optional location later called Baaj Temple. In the first room, we can load our Al Bead primer data. I choose to do so from my save game from twenty years ago... I'll try not to spoil what the Al Bead are saying. If you have no clue what the Al Bead are, then this means nothing to you. North of here is a large pit that Tidus falls into because everything is in ruins. Down in the water, he fights three sahagins. He kills two before something far worse appears. He tries to challenge that but has to run after two rounds. It chases us into the temple, nearly swallowing Tidus whole. But his plight has only just begun. "From out of the fryer and into the freezer."
This flooded room is cold. We can even see Tidus' breath, which was mindblowing in 2001! The next sequence has us finding stuff to light a fire with. Flint is in a desk behind the save sphere, and Withered Flowers are on the stairway up. In the middle of the first floor is burnt wood that can still be used somehow. Tidus lights them and takes a nap. He has a dream. Sometime recently, Auron scolded him for losing a big game before telling him not to cry. The kid shows up and says that Tidus cried. His hunger wakes him up, but he sees something out of the corner of his eye. But the dying fire draws more attention at the moment. This doesn't hold it long as the thing in the corner of his eye becomes the only thing in his eye! We fight the Klikk.
This is the first actual battle of the game, and I'm excited. I always felt that FFX takes the longest of the Final Fantasies to get going, and the first fight forty five minutes in proves that. This is a two part fight. Part one is Tidus fighting alone. He's slightly faster than it, so the advantage is his. After a few rounds, though, the locked door near the fire bursts open. Out come four heavily armored men and one small girl. For reasons, I'm sure, the girl is the only one to join the fight. The game points out her ability to throw grenades, which do 300 damage. When you run out, steal more from Klikk. For reasons, I'm sure, he has an endless supply for them. The guy isn't too hard, but don't be afraid to use a potion. They'll be in plentiful supply soon.
After that fight, everyone surrounds Tidus with guns drawn, speaking a language he doesn't know. The girl walks up to him and knocks him out. Dude got KO-ed by Rikku. Maybe he does suck? Tidus wakes up on a ship in the middle of the sea. Everyone keeps yelling at him in not-Common. The girl comes out, and it turns out she speaks Common! She informs Tidus that he was captured because the others thought he might be a fiend. If he wants to live, he'll have to earn it. Beneath the ship is an archeological site that the two of them will scavenge. Tidus agrees and dives right down. It's a 3D world, which is interesting, but we're swimming the whole time, so it feels a bit empty. The two make their way down to...something. Tidus bangs on a console to open a door and then gets close to a light source. This triggers the next boss!
The Tros attacks, but is a simple fight. It reintroduces the concept of Trigger commands, though. From time to time, the boss will flee to the otherside of the room. Rather than give chase, our characters can stay put and regain HP. Alternatively, ??? can throw grenades from afar.
The two return to the ship, and she brings Tidus some food. She finally introduces herself as Rikku, and the two of them get to talking while Tidus narrates the game thus far. She seems skeptical and tells him not to tell anyone he's from Zanarkand because Zanarkand was destroyed 1000 years ago and is a holy site to Yevon! Tidus is quite shocked, seeing as he was there not too long ago. Rikku says that he might be suffering from the effects of Sin's toxin, an agent known to alter people's minds. She then suggests heading to Luca, the home of Blitzball! If he really was a player, someone should know who he is. She has other stuff she needs to attend to, so she leaves. Later that night, the boat begins to rock, and the dudes from before trip out of the ship. The only word we can understand is "Sin." Water sprouts attack the ship, and Tidus gets dragged into the sea below.
Tidus wakes up and immediately gets hit by a ball. Rather than be upset, he notices that it's a Blitzball! He performs a cool trick that impresses the onlookers, and he goes to introduce himself to them. The yellow uniformed group gathers around him, and their leader, Wakka, asks him some questions. Tidus forgets what Rikku told him, but Wakka mentions the toxins again, so it's swept aside. He also tells us about Sin and how he's attacked the world for 1000 years because of how lazy and slothful people were back then. As he says this, the camera pans around to various ruins on the isle. Wakka then escorts the washed-up boy to the nearest city of Besaid, the theme of which begins to play. It's a strange escort as he pushes him into more water. The two fight their way through, and I think Wakka might be this game's archer. But more on that later. At one point, Wakka asks Tidus to join his Blitzball team, The Aurochs. Tidus agrees in a very nonchalant way as he's a little more concerned with getting home and figuring out if this is his world. When they get back to shore, Wakka begins to tell us his backstory. He's been captain of the Aurochs for ten years, but they've never won a game. They almost did last year, but something else was on his mind. That was when he decided to retire from the sport but wants to go out on one big event. Tidus turns into Vince Lombardi and tries to teach Wakka about victory, not just doing his best. Just outside the village, we meet Luusu and Gotta, two Crusaders. Tidus has no clue what those are. Regardless, when they reach the village, Wakka tells Tidus to walk around the town. He suggests the Crusader lodge and the temple. If he's going to the temple, Tidus should pray for the toxin to be released. Wakka teaches Tidus how to pray, and it's the same hand and bow gesture Tidus did at the start of the game: the Bltizball sign for victory.
Spira Unplugged plays as we walk around the town. The Crusaders are a group of people who have been fighting Sin for 800 years but never won. Tidus is unimpressed. At the temple, we learn about the prevalent religion called Yevon. They deploy summoners to pilgrimage across the world and fight Sin. Only four have ever won, but Sin keeps coming back. We're told that praying might help with the toxin, but Tidus doesn't pray. Instead, he returns to Wakka and takes a nap. He has another dream about the day his father went missing, where he seems pretty excited that he's gone. When he wakes up, Wakka isn't there. Tracking him down in the temple, we learn the summoner inside the depths has been missing for a whole day. Ignoring the concerns of Wakka and the religious precepts, Tidus rushes in.
This is the first Cloister of Trials. To advance, move several magical rocks/spheres around the room and push a pedestal. I forgot to find the destruction sphere, so I'll be back. Wakka catches up to us and tells us that only summoners and their guardians are allowed in here. Wakka is allowed to be here because he's a guardian now. It's a strange thing to retire to.
The two go down the elevator and into the waiting room. As Wakka and Tidus get there, they notice the upset woman wearing a belt dress with massive cleavage and the silent blue beastman. We don't wait long as the summoner, Yuna, comes out of her room, excited she's become a summoner.
Tidus's punishment will wait as everyone goes outside to revel in Yuna's win. She summons a harpy/bird thing named Valefor, That night, Tidus is introduced to the rest of the Aurochs, and he gives them the same Lombardi speech. He keeps taking glances at Yuna because seventeen-year-old dudes are perverts. He tries to talk to her, but the citizens get really mad at him, probably for ignoring their religion. Yuna settles them down, and they speak for a bit before Tidus goes to bed.
That night, we overhear Wakka talking to Lulu. She's upset that Tidus is here and mentions someone named Chappu. When we next see Wakka, we learn Chappu is his brother who died a year ago during the last tournament. He was a Crusader who died fighting Sin. Tidus has another dream where he and Yuna are on a dock wanting to go to Luca. Rikku runs in and gets jealous. Then his dad shows up to ruin it. He tells Jecht he hates him, and the two girls cheer him on. And I thought I had strange dreams. In the morning, I wake up, save, and call it a night.
I hate day one plot dumps, but I really wanted to get to Besaid. When I got there early, I really wanted to get to Yuna. I skipped over so much, but it'll be brought up again. I love this game and hope my disks don't break!
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