And if by 'annoying brat' you mean 'somewhat believable', then I agree completely. Is it really so difficult to accept that not every protagonist has to be a gruff space marine with six inches of armour and a gun twice his own size? Final Fantasy X did something almost unprecedented in the gaming world and made believable characters who the audience can empathise with. I'd hate to see what classical literature would be like if people like you were in charge. 'And then Frodo pulled out his lightsaber and, bellowing "BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD!", eviscerated twelve orcs with a single thrust.'
Actually, that'd be pretty damn awesome, but my point is that there's room for the realistic and interesting characters as well as the hyper-macho supermen. If you only like the latter then that's fine, but don't expect everyone to agree with you just because you're close-minded.
I honestly expected more Final Fantasy X fans to rationalize their opinion. The fact that so many read my post and just respond with "Shut up, you're stupid, I liked it!" is kind of telling.
And I honestly expected you to rationalise your opinion. The fact that you expect people to write sophisticated and mature arguments when your original post was simply "FFX sucked, I hated it!" is kind of telling.
You are a crazy person and belong in a crazy bin! Now I'm really curious. Why FFX-2? That's like the Plan 9 From Outer Space of JRPGs. What specifically did you like about it? (please don't say bewbs)
Oh, where do I start? There are many things I like about FFX-2. The battle system was an awesome reinterpretation of the ATB battle system, I loved the class/dressphere system, Paine is awesome, Yuna became a pretty great character whenever she wasn't in Besaid and was reduced to her old self, and the game had plenty of enjoyable mini-games. Also the music. And I liked the story concerning the Dark Aeons, and the happily ever after I got at the end of the game.
Something I didn't like, however, was how Rikku had seemingly been struck by lightning one too many times and gone completely retarded. And I suppose Blitzball turning into Blitzball Manager wasn't all too entertaining either.
EDIT: And I guess I liked the silliness of the game, since I laughed a lot playing it.
And if by 'annoying brat' you mean 'somewhat believable', then I agree completely. Is it really so difficult to accept that not every protagonist has to be a gruff space marine with six inches of armour and a gun twice his own size? Final Fantasy X did something almost unprecedented in the gaming world and made believable characters who the audience can empathise with. I'd hate to see what classical literature would be like if people like you were in charge. 'And then Frodo pulled out his lightsaber and, bellowing "BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD!", eviscerated twelve orcs with a single thrust.'
Actually, that'd be pretty damn awesome, but my point is that there's room for the realistic and interesting characters as well as the hyper-macho supermen. If you only like the latter then that's fine, but don't expect everyone to agree with you just because you're close-minded.
You act like there are only two possibilities for characters - either a whiny, immature brat or a gruff, stoic space marine. And you seem to think that being whiny and immature is the same thing as being 'realistic and interesting'.
Zidane was a great character. He felt real, he had believable dialogue, and he was anything but a 'macho superman'. Kaim from Lost Odyssey is another great example. He had a great range of emotions and felt believably human (human in this case being figurative). Yuri from Tales of Vesperia (my favorite JRPG of this generation by far) is easily one of the most believable characters in JRPG history. He feels totally natural, has a great emotional range, and reacts to situations in a consistently interesting manner. He is also not any kind of stoic macho man. Shion from Xenosaga is a great character that goes through a massive amount of development throughout the series, and she's the right opposite of 'macho man'.
Maybe it was because I wasn't a whiny teenager when I played FFX, but I had no empathy for Tidus. I just wanted to smack him in the mouth and say "Quit bitching and man up already! Stop blaming everything on your Dad! Take an active role in your life, man!"
And I honestly expected you to rationalise your opinion. The fact that you expect people to write sophisticated and mature arguments when your original post was simply "FFX sucked, I hated it!" is kind of telling.
I don't know if you decided to read the original post or not, but I wrote a like 2,000+ word essay detailing the rationale behind my opinion. Maybe you should read that if you want to see my rationalization? Or should I have made it 3,000 words?
There are words for how I feel about this sentence but if I said them I could never use my voice around my mother again.
Veldt Falsetto said:
SHUT THE FUCK UP!
Realise that just because it's called Final Fantasy doesn't mean it has to be exactly the same as the one before it.
Seriously, if they changed the name we wouldn't have any of this bullshit and you absolute idiots who call yourself fans wouldn't feel the need to spout this kind of crap.
You act like there are only two possibilities for characters - either a whiny, immature brat or a gruff, stoic space marine. And you seem to think that being whiny and immature is the same thing as being 'realistic and interesting'.
Zidane was a great character. He felt real, he had believable dialogue, and he was anything but a 'macho superman'. Kaim from Lost Odyssey is another great example. He had a great range of emotions and felt believably human (human in this case being figurative). Yuri from Tales of Vesperia (my favorite JRPG of this generation by far) is easily one of the most believable characters in JRPG history. He feels totally natural, has a great emotional range, and reacts to situations in a consistently interesting manner. He is also not any kind of stoic macho man. Shion from Xenosaga is a great character that goes through a massive amount of development throughout the series, and she's the right opposite of 'macho man'.
Maybe it was because I wasn't a whiny teenager when I played FFX, but I had no empathy for Tidus. I just wanted to smack him in the mouth and say "Quit bitching and man up already! Stop blaming everything on your Dad! Take an active role in your life, man!"
Tidus is actually in a rather stressful situation. Everyone he ever knew has been killed by the giant monster that destroyed his city. He was taken away from an advanced society, similar to our modern world, and thrust into a backwards and superstitious world in which everyone lives in constant fear of the giant monster that just killed everyone he knows, and that monster seems to be following him. He first wakes up in the middle of nowhere, without food and freezing to death (his Blitzball uniform is hardly suited for such environments), and the first people he encounters speak in gibberish and then shoot him. How would you feel if you were trapped in another, technologically backwards world, where you are branded a heretic because you don't conform to the oppressive religion enforced by the hypocritical and corrupt church, and seemed to attract the apocalyptic monstrosity that was responsible for you getting trapped there? Tidus is actually surprisingly calm and composed for someone in that situation. I can't compare him to any of the people you mentioned, because I haven't played those games, but I don't see anything wrong with him not being completely happy with the current arrangement.
Tidus is a protagonist who fits his game. You don't ask for Halo's protagonist to be an emotional metrosexual who constantly writes soppy letters to his wife, and you don't ask for someone like Auron to be the main character of a game that's focused around despair, hopelessness and being betrayed by the only people you thought you could trust completely.
AcacianLeaves said:
I don't know if you decided to read the original post or not, but I wrote a like 2,000+ word essay detailing the rationale behind my opinion. Maybe you should read that if you want to see my rationalization? Or should I have made it 3,000 words?
I completely ignored it, just like you completely ignored all the rational arguments that have been made in support of FFX in this thread.
EDIT: I'd also like to point out that using a lot of words does not make an irrational argument objective and rational. It just means that you have plenty of spare time. Nothing I read in your post seemed logical or well-supported, it was simply a case of 'this sucks and this sucks and this sucks and this sucks', albeit with longer words.
Final fantasy X has something in it that I would like to see reflected in all games, and that is gameplay as a reflection of story.
At it's heart this is a story of two young people being drawn inexplicably down a path, not of their choosing, whose end is ultimately self sacrifice. This is reflected in the linerality of the world with each small distraction reminding you of the horribleness of your advisory and the necessity of what your doing. (site the guardian battle with Sin) This would lead to a long hard miserable journey, if not for the main characters desire to put on a stiff upper lip, as they say in Briton. (which perhaps explains the balcony scene) The linerality of the game breaks off in two main areas: the calm lands which represent the hesitance of the main characters to approach the surely tragic climax of their journey, and finally upon the defeat of Ultimecia, when the linear scripted part of their Journey is over. What happens next is a complete break in the format of the game. You go from only being able to visit locations in a linear path to being able to visit any area in any order. Their journey has been shattered and the structure of their world is broken.
But this is still an illusion of freedom. The evils of the world remain and must be met, represented by a big flashing yellow exclamation point. Sin shatters the holy center of Bivelle literally shattering the structure of faith that has held the story together and in order to find a new way to beat Sin the main characters have to face their own past. Tidus faces his father, Yuna faces her destiny, and in defeating their own shadows cause the dreams of the past to literally disappear and they gain a chance to build something new.
Now the connection between game play and story wasn't fully realized here and the dialog writers could have used a little more...time to write, but any attempt at this sort of thing is commendable. To those of you who believe my analysis is ridiculous for this game please, please watch extra credits, those guys know what they are talking about!
I don't think you guys are following why I didn't like Tidus. Let's review the primary characters in FF4-X
FF4 - Cecil, Dark Knight and leader of the most powerful paramilitary group in the world FF5 - Bartz, a traveling warrior and adventurer wandering the land seeking his fortune FF6 - Terra, a magical demigod brainwashed to be a military superweapon FF7 - Cloud, an ex-mercenary/soldier now working for an underground terrorist organization FF8 - Squall, a member of an elite group of soldier/spies powered by summoned monsters FF9 - Zidane, a genetically engineered demigod turned master thief FFX- Tidus, an underwater soccer celebrity
One of these things is not like the other...
So maybe part of the problem isn't just Tidus' character its the way that he's introduced to us and the way that his character fits into the plot that bothers me (and many others). It's the lazy "Kid in King Arthur's Court" plot device that gets him involved in the story in the first place. It may be perfectly natural for his character to be weak, whiny, arrogant, androgynous (?), and bratty - but that doesn't excuse those problems.
If him being an annoying brat didn't bother you, then that's one thing. At least we can agree that he was an annoying brat.
Also a lot of the character problems have to do with the voices. Tidus may not have appeared as whiny if his voice wasn't a high pitched whine for most of his lines. Yuna may not have seemed so apologetic and submissive if her voice wasn't so meek and mousy. Lulu might have been more than a mature seductress if her actress weren't trying to rape me with words. Its not the core of their problems, but their voices reinforce the characteristics I disliked about them.
First of all I must confess I have never finished FFX (I do remember riding the shoopuf) but I have seen plenty of real life (friends) and internet footage.
Anyway, it can be argued that there are in fact two versions of Tidus: the calm narrator and the noisy brat. I got the impression the narration was retrospective (probably from a point in time after the ending of FFX) meaning the narrator WAS the noisy brat, then experienced a lot of stuff and is now telling his story.
This is not an argument to redeem Tidus...as he's a noisy brat 90% of the time...but considering the ending and Tidus' narration...it does strengthen the "character development" argument. Whether this is something us gamers were "supposed to get" I don't know...then again there's no sound way of ensuring anybody "getting anything".
Since I haven't played X yet (I have the UNDUB version, thank God), I can't really agree or disagree, although what little X I played, I can easily agree with the ridiculous voice acting and the fact that the main character is a god damn idiot. BUT, what I agreed most is this:
AcacianLeaves said:
Oh and Cloud doesn't count. He wasn't a whiny androgynous teenager in FF7, he didn't take on that role until Advent Children. In FF7 he was an action-oriented mercenary badass.
I've been saying this for the longest time and everyone just looks at me like saying "what the hell are you talking about?", like they played the original VII yesterday and heard Cloud whine a lot. HE'S NOT A WHINY ***** ON THE ORIGINAL FF VII. HE'S A BADASS FIGHTER THAT WANTS NOTHING BUT REVENGE. DEAL WITH IT, JAPAN.
Tidus is actually in a rather stressful situation. Everyone he ever knew has been killed by the giant monster that destroyed his city. He was taken away from an advanced society, similar to our modern world, and thrust into a backwards and superstitious world in which everyone lives in constant fear of the giant monster that just killed everyone he knows, and that monster seems to be following him. He first wakes up in the middle of nowhere, without food and freezing to death (his Blitzball uniform is hardly suited for such environments), and the first people he encounters speak in gibberish and then shoot him. How would you feel if you were trapped in another, technologically backwards world, where you are branded a heretic because you don't conform to the oppressive religion enforced by the hypocritical and corrupt church, and seemed to attract the apocalyptic monstrosity that was responsible for you getting trapped there? Tidus is actually surprisingly calm and composed for someone in that situation. I can't compare him to any of the people you mentioned, because I haven't played those games, but I don't see anything wrong with him not being completely happy with the current arrangement.
Tidus is a protagonist who fits his game. You don't ask for Halo's protagonist to be an emotional metrosexual who constantly writes soppy letters to his wife, and you don't ask for someone like Auron to be the main character of a game that's focused around despair, hopelessness and being betrayed by the only people you thought you could trust completely.
Again, what you're saying here is that "it is perfectly reasonable for Tidus to be a whiny, annoying brat. You would be just as whiny and annoying in the same situation". I don't dispute that. You're not refuting the problems I have with Tidus, you're justifying them as reasonable reactions to his circumstances. He may be reacting to the situation exactly as I would, but I would make a really fucking terrible RPG protagonist. I prefer heroes that rise to the occasion and become heroic, not heroes that act like I did when I was 13.
I completely ignored it, just like you completely ignored all the rational arguments that have been made in support of FFX in this thread.
I'm working on it, there's a lot of responses in this thread I'll get to everyone in time.
EDIT: I'd also like to point out that using a lot of words does not make an irrational argument objective and rational. It just means that you have plenty of spare time. Nothing I read in your post seemed logical or well-supported, it was simply a case of 'this sucks and this sucks and this sucks and this sucks', albeit with longer words.
I'm not writing a dissertation on quantam mechanics, I'm writing an opinion on a forum. It's objective and irrational by definition. I pointed out what I didn't like and why I didn't like it, is there some 3rd dimension to an opinion piece that I'm unaware of? I felt directly quoting bad lines of dialogue or poorly written scenes was an unnecessary step here.
Also I do have a lot of free time, but I am technically getting paid right now so I'm okay with wasting it here. Besides, storytelling in video games is an important topic to me and I enjoy discussing it.
i disagree
Final Fantasy X is my personal favorite in the series because of its deep storyline.
now im going to address one of you faults with the game
one that particularly bothered me
that is that the female characters are useless and cliche
i disagree with this, now lets look at the female characters
1.Yuna
now Yuna is a particularly important character as the entire plot revolves around her
she is a deep character who has to face giving up her own life for the sake of a country
she doesn't know
all this for the sake of only momentary peace.
id say this is enough for a good character without all the development she gets throughout the story and the bizarre love triangle she falls into (Tidus-Yuna-Seymour)
2.Rikku
now Rikku is also a complex character for many reasons
she is of a race that is hated by majority of the world of Spira and one of her own party members
she is the cousin of Yuna, another complex character
she has to deal with the fact that her race wants to kidnap the summoners(Yuna) but she wants to help them, basically making her an outcast everywhere she goes except with Yuna
she also has a complex relationship with Tidus
3.LuLu
LuLu is also an interesting and complex character
she is a guardian because her dead fiancée, Chappu, was a Crusader(they fight sin) and died fighting him
Chappu is Wakka's brother making Wakka and LuLu's relationship strained and awkward
Tidus looks like Chappu, and Wakka treats him as much going as far as to give him his brothers sword, this further complicates the 3 characters relationships
i could go on but this should be enough
btw i liked Blitzball
First of all, why would you format your post like that? Every sentence doesn't need a new line
In my original post I accept that these three characters do have interesting backstories, but it's something that's not exploited in the actual dialogue and actions of the game.
Besides, Yuna's backstory just reinforces her submissive characterization. She agrees to sacrifice herself for the good of the world without so much as a peep. Until Tidus comes along, it doesn't even seem to occur to anyone to try and find some other way to stop Sin.
Rikku COULD have been an interesting character if they tried to write in any of that conflict to the game. But no, Rikku is constantly giggling and bouncing around and generally doing whatever she can to fulfill the 'kooky ditz' character type.
Lulu is probably my favorite female character, but she never really gets developed much throughout the course of the game. Her only character traits are sexually motivated, she's Chappu's ex-fiancee who may love Wakka but also kind of has a thing for Tidus who looks like Chappu. She's a character defined entirely by her male cohorts. Also boobs.
Because I think Tidus is a great main character. The best on a Sony console.
He's *supposed* to be a fish out of water. That's the point. He's a (relatively) ordinary guy thrown into a situation way out of his element who doesn't grasp so many of the fundamental points of the new world that he finds himself in. Hence the impact in him not realizing that Yuna's pilgrimage to Zanarkand and to defeat Sin means that she will die, and then what happens when he does.
Tidus is "whiny" for the first few hours of the game. Otherwise he's pretty damn upbeat. What other FF lead would accept (practically cheerfully) that to do the right thing means that they would completely cease to exist - not just die. As far as Tidus knew, defeating Yevon meant that he would end. No afterlife, no Farplane, nothing.
Cloud and Squall would have moped about it forever.
There are words for how I feel about this sentence but if I said them I could never use my voice around my mother again.
Veldt Falsetto said:
SHUT THE FUCK UP!
Realise that just because it's called Final Fantasy doesn't mean it has to be exactly the same as the one before it.
Seriously, if they changed the name we wouldn't have any of this bullshit and you absolute idiots who call yourself fans wouldn't feel the need to spout this kind of crap.
Well yeah, I guess that is my argument, because these games are really connected by name only there is nothing else, if they weren't connected by name then they wouldn't be hated as much.
[li]Pretty cutscenes: Seriously, I'm still impressed by these. They are among the best on the PS2, easily.[/li]
[li]Great Graphics for the PS2: Again, this is a very pretty game. The textures are generally smooth, the colors are vivid, the particle effects look great, etc.[/li]
[li]Amazing sound design: It's not the best in the series (I'd look to 6 for that), there aren't any truly memorable tracks or effects, but it does its job and you notice the high quality throughout.[/li]
[li]Engaging and Interesting Combat System: One of the few things I've liked consistently since FF7 has been the changing combat systems. I like that they've tried to make each game's combat feel unique and interesting. I liked the semi-automated combat of 12, I liked the super automated combat for most of 13, and I think that FFX took the old turn-based style and more or less perfected it.[/li]
[li]Auron is awesome: Auron isn't just the coolest character in this game, he may be the coolest in the entire FF series.[/li]
[li]Kimahri is alright, too: Yeah, fine I'll give you this one too. He's a 7 foot tall blue horned Lion-man, and I am okay with that.[/li]
[li]Sin is kind of cool: I love this kind of villain in a game. A Cthuloid metamonster that is basically an indestructible force of nature. It's also a throwback to Lavos, which I love. Too bad FFX goes and ruins everything by giving it the dumbest explanation possible.[/li]
I'm in the crowd of "FFX is not just my favourite JRPG, it's my favourite game", so I feel I should comment.
I'll start by saying that I largely agree with your pro points (obviously), with 2 exceptions:
Firstly your assertion that there aren't any memorable tracks. All I can say is that there are a large number of people (fans of FFX and others) who praise it as one of the best parts of the game, and I personally liked it a lot. That's not to say you're wrong (if anything, debating the merit or lack thereof of music is even more futile than debating games), just that I and others disagree with you on this highly subjective point.
Secondly with your praise of Auron and Khimari as particularly interesting characters. You did touch on this yourself, so again we can put this down to a difference in taste, which I will discuss in response to your con points:
As you said they all seem to be "classic" JRPG stereotypes. But this is true of almost every story ever - probably because every type of conceivable character has been used in fiction and so to create a character who does not fit into a stereotype is difficult or perhaps even impossible - "doesn't conform to stereotypes" is probably a trope in itself. I think the use of the various character fit well within the story and they all had their parts to play so I was satisfied. I wasn't expecting Shakespeare afterall. I will comment on Tidus though:
Tidus being a whiny ***** is the main argument seen against him. I would defy anyone to go through what he does and not get upset about it. Not only that but once he gets over the initial culture shock he turns right around andthrows himself into he pilgrimage with gusto. He serves as the perfect main character because he discovers the world as you do and reacts in largely the same way that I would. In fact, I never even noticed his whininess or anything myself because he seemed so natural in the stting he was in.
Terrible Dialogue and Writing: Terrible Voice Acting:
As far as voice acting goes I think it was pretty good actually. Any problems people have with the voice acting seem to stem from the dialogue rather than the actors themselves. As for the dialogue and writing no doubt some things were lost in translation, and we know that some dialogue was forced to fit into the videos with the Japanese timings so it's not ideal. As far as how it affected the story though I thought it meshed well. There certainly weren't any immersion breaking lines that I noticed. I even thought the laughing scene was kind of fun.
An absurd, silly, and often incomprehensible plot:
It certainly is an ambitious plot and it can get very complicated; a lot of people need an explanation afterwards so maybe that's a valid point in some ways.The plot does sound absurd if taken out of context but then what doesn't? In the context of the game everything makes sense and it's all explained to you in a sensible way. I ccertainly don't think the plot is ridiculous in terms of other JRPGs.
I'm just going to give you this one, but since when have there been any sensible ones? FF8 and 12 probably have the most sensible characters, but all the other 3D FFs have ridiculous characters up the arse. It's just how they are. Either way, stupid clothes/hair haven't ruined a game for me yet.
I feel that this is the crux of your belief that FFX made the series go downhill. If you think that the merit of Final Fantasy lies within the ability to explore a world map then I cannot argue this point with you. Personally I didn't miss the lack of a world map at all. There were still plenty of areas off the beaten track for the explorers among us and at the same time we get a beautifuly realised world. Do you think they could have made a world map look good with the graphics they had at the time? Would you have prefered FFXII's style? It definitely handles the linearity better than FFXIII. At least you can run backwards in FFX.
Blitzball is probably the deepest minigame in the whole series. It's interesting, cool and loads of fun. It's not without it's flaws though: It's difficult to get into without a guide. The opening game can be particuarly brutal for a first-timer and is likely to turn people off, and it takes a few games before your players level up and the game becomes more interesting. Also the games last longer than they need to, especially if you keep getting bogged down in menus. I can understand if you found the game tedious and boring. A waste of time though? It serves the same purpose as all other minigames: a detour from the main quest that can unlock powerful rewards. Blitzball can make or break Wakka as a fighter. If you put the time into it Wakka becomes the most powerful character in the game (with the possible exception of Yuna and her summons depending on which version of the game you have).
I did intend to go into more detail on a few points but time is against me. I hope you can see at least why I enjoyed the game as much as I did.
Final fantasy X has something in it that I would like to see reflected in all games, and that is gameplay as a reflection of story.
At it's heart this is a story of two young people being drawn inexplicably down a path, not of their choosing, whose end is ultimately self sacrifice. This is reflected in the linerality of the world with each small distraction reminding you of the horribleness of your advisory and the necessity of what your doing. (site the guardian battle with Sin) This would lead to a long hard miserable journey, if not for the main characters desire to put on a stiff upper lip, as they say in Briton. (which perhaps explains the balcony scene) The linerality of the game breaks off in two main areas: the calm lands which represent the hesitance of the main characters to approach the surely tragic climax of their journey, and finally upon the defeat of Ultimecia, when the linear scripted part of their Journey is over. What happens next is a complete break in the format of the game. You go from only being able to visit locations in a linear path to being able to visit any area in any order. Their journey has been shattered and the structure of their world is broken.
But this is still an illusion of freedom. The evils of the world remain and must be met, represented by a big flashing yellow exclamation point. Sin shatters the holy center of Bivelle literally shattering the structure of faith that has held the story together and in order to find a new way to beat Sin the main characters have to face their own past. Tidus faces his father, Yuna faces her destiny, and in defeating their own shadows cause the dreams of the past to literally disappear and they gain a chance to build something new.
Now the connection between game play and story wasn't fully realized here and the dialog writers could have used a little more...time to write, but any attempt at this sort of thing is commendable. To those of you who believe my analysis is ridiculous for this game please, please watch extra credits, those guys know what they are talking about!
I myself am all for game play and narrative become intertwined, but what you have taken up seems far more like coincidence to me than an actual crafted decision, merely because linear progression is in many many many, many games. And since they all have linear progression they have linear story, normally pushed by some situation or circumstance, and I can therefore interpret it as a symbol for the driven plot.
This would suggest that all these games are using the same form of symbolism, but I have no reason to believe this is intentional rather than just reading into it as it's a standard practice in our medium to create linearity, and a story that justifies linearity. The relationship here is cause-and-effect not really symbolic or supportive. I mean, if EVERY horror game in the time of Silent Hill 2 used feminine humanoids with slightly sexual undertones, except for one masculine monster with imagery heavily connotating burden and behavior of rage and sexual assault. I wouldn't believe it's the game being symbolic, but just the game doing what is standard of the medium.
That was a good analysis that I didn't see coming, for sure. But what you've picked up on I have no reason to believe was actually a crafted decision, as LOTS of games do the exact thing. If I had more evidence of symbolism I'd be inclined to believe it. However, good show. I'm happy that you presented an argument. And an argument that works for the most part. The problem is the relation between these things could easily not be artistic.
An example of this kinda thing would be Portal, which had linear narrative and plot. I could say that it's symbolic for your trapped nature, and hopelessness. But it's not, you actually are trapped and fairly hopeless. The gameplay is reflecting the narrative sure. And the point you made above is true, FFX's gameplay and linearity, does reflect it's plot, so they are appropriate in context and make sense together. However, the choice of linearity doesn't actually add any new ideas into the narrative or truly build on them. It certainly reflects the narrative, completely.
If you argued that you enjoyed FFX because the story and gameplay were appropriate with each other, and didn't have the characters contradict themselves in the gameplay and plot would be a different point.
In which case I'd ask why doesn't Tidus have sniveling breakdowns or have his mindset have a noticeable effect on his performance in battle. Which would make a lot of sense when Tidus first appears in this world. Being way too freaked out to fight, or being noticeably shocked or afraid from his circumstance.
Anyway. Yeah, thank you for actually presenting your reason. Rather than just saying you like it. You earn my respect even if I don't agree with your point of analysis.
EDIT: Oh, and same thing. I'd love to hear more evidence or a counter argument. It would make me consider fighting my bitterness for this game and playing it again.
10 wasn't all that bad, not the best, but its problems were minor, i actually liked the characters, for the most part. the story could have been put together better, but whatever, i think thats all stuff that gets lost in translation.
I enjoyed 12 as well, it was a nice change from the others, even if it was KoTOR with a FF paint job.
I haven't played 13, i friend of mine showed it to me & i didn't really like what i saw, but i can't pass judgement on something i haven't played.
7 was fun back in the day.
6 was very good, i love the older games, we don't need no stinking graphics.
8 was okay, i didn't think it was so bad.
And FF9 the forgotten game, was awesome, my personal favorite.
I enjoyed 10 and although it wasn't my favorite I still enjoyed it a lot. Although it wasn't a "world map" type game I though it still allowed exploration and backtracking well and didn't get too linear (ala XIII).
The leveling system was personally my favorite. By FAR. I'm not sure if FF8 or FF7 would be better if you could switch out the main character and actually level your characters equally but it's fun guiding your character's progress along the sphere grid.
The story I had little trouble following. It was a bit crazy at first but that was the point of the whole thing like Funk said the whole "fish out of water what the hell is going on here?" thing. It was nicely resolved and well told all throughout and personally I think the Al-Bhed as a race had the most interesting storyline what with the whole "machina forbidden by god" thing they tried to fight.
The characters... hit and miss for me. I liked Rikku and Auron, disliked Lulu and kinda didn't care much for Tidus, and was fine with everyone else.
My favorite is FF8 although for reasons that couldn't carry over for anyone else (let's just say it's my girlfriends favorite by far due to a certain protagonist that she also finds me a near mirror image of. And loves me for it).
Oh, and blitzball was the shit IMO. It got boring after a bit but it kept me coming back more than ANY other side game in an RPG that I can remember. Fear the midfielder that is called Ropp and will take the ball away from you. By FORCE.
It's definetly my friend's favorite though. With his Yuna in the game getting EVERY. SINGLE. SPOT ON THE SPHERE GRID. You haven't laughed until you see Yuna bashing some giant super turtle of the final dungeon for 99,999 damage and an insta-kill.
Final Fantasy X is not just my favourite final fantasy, its my favourite game of all time. People have different tastes so dont think you've written an academic review - you just published your opinion in extensive detail. I now ask you to kindly shut the hell up =)
Edit: And the story was one of my favourite things about it, as well as the charcters. And I found Blitzball fun too! Its all down to people's tastes.
Please elaborate as to WHY it is your favorite game of all time? I know I just published my opinion, but I tried my best to justify it and explain why I feel the way that I do. Why was the story your favorite? What did you like about it? Why did you like the characters? What do you think Rikku and Lulu added to the game, other than eye candy and fan service?
You don't have to justify it to me, obviously, I'm asking because I am actually curious.
The story, to me, was original and very interesting compared to most games these days in which the sole objective is 'shoot the bad guys'. Tidus's whole world was obliterated around him and he was sent 1000 years into the future where his father is ending the lives of thousands in a monstrous form. I cant say Ive seen it done before! And how the game makes you feel like Tidus is unreal. We know nothing of Spira and are only told little by little about the world as does Tidus. We feel new and alien to it all. The plot twists, like finding out Yuna's fate, had me gaping and the tense moments, such as facing Yunalesca, had me in suspense. Operation Mi'hen had me excited but then sad. As well as that, the story deals with so many other themes like racism/sectarianism - when Wakka found out Rikku was Al Bhed - Tidus: You two have gotten along fine until now!
Then the characters. Tidus was a great main character since he was happy go-lucky (which I admire particularly in his situation) and he doesnt hesitate to question the conventions of the normal. If he hadnt of washed up on Besaid then nothing would have changed. Yuna is also an incredible character for me since even though she is quiet and apologetic, she is determined to do what she must. She inspires those around her and is so ready to sacrifice herself. It seems like utter tragedy that someone like that is off to her death, while the world is looking forward to that and her friends have accepted it.
Rikku is there for comic relief but also to add to the Al Bhed parts of the story, such as the destruction of the Al Bhed home.
I'll admit Lulu doesnt add a lot but she is needed for a realistic voice of reason, such as when she talked to Wakka outside Kilika temple about his brother being dead. And eye candy? Fan service? Are you serious? She's hardly wearing anything revealing whatsoever! I'll admit that Rikku's clothes are a little but its not like the camera constantly focuses on her!
Auron is the wise one who is also undeniably badass.
As I said, I found Blitzball fun to play (although I admit I didnt play it much the first time I played the game). The music was fantastic, the graphics stunning, the combat allowed for a lot of strategising and the side characters/stories kept it all interesting.
I could give more reason but I think thats enough for now at least?
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I'll get to everyone in time.
