Sora96's FINAL FANTASY X/X-2 HD Remaster Review

[Sora96 17,256]

FINAL FANTASY X/X-2 HD Remaster is a HD collection of titles developed by Square Enix for the PlayStation 2 remastered in high definition for the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita. It also marks the first time additional content including a movie titled Eternal Calm and a short game titled Last Mission are released in English.

 

FINAL FANTASY X is the first game from the FINAL FANTASY series released on the PlayStation 2 and was voted by Famitsu readers as the greatest video game of all time in 2006. FINAL FANTASY X was also the first game in the series to feature voice acting both in battle and in cutscenes. It was also my first FINAL FANTASY game. I loved it on the PlayStation 2 and remastered in high definition on the PlayStation 3 was no different.

 

Square Enix's 1st Production Department did an amazing job remastering it, and the re-arranged music was also amazing.

 

I already got to enjoy the additional content on the PlayStation 2, but it's great that North Americans were able to finally enjoy this title's additional content.

 

FINAL FANTASY X has a truly amazing story, enjoyable gameplay and plenty of side quests. It is to be noted there is no way to skip cutscenes, but you probably won't want to since they look and sound fantastic. There's also noticeable lip sync issues but that's understandable considering that's how they were originally.

 

After completing this amazing adventure, I grew addicted to Blitzball. Blitzball is a mix of Soccer and American football. Everything about it was great fun.

 

Love challenging trophy lists? This game is for you.

 

Replaying the game will also prove beneficial as you'll be able to actually understand the Al Bhed language.

 

All in all, FINAL FANTASY X is the greatest JRPG of all time and it looks great in HD. If you've played it before, there's plenty of reasons to revisit this adventure or if you're to venture through it for the first time you're in for a treat.

 

Eternal Calm is a short movie based after FINAL FANTASY X which shows what leads Yuna onto her journey in FINAL FANTASY X-2. It's definitely worth watching, especially since you get a silver trophy just for watching it.

 

FINAL FANTASY X-2 was the first sequel in the FINAL FANTASY series and since it we've had sequels for FINAL FANTASY VII, FINAL FANTASY IV & FINAL FANTASY XIII.

 

It revisited the Active Time Battle System which brought a faster pace to battles. It was a nice change, and I definitely enjoyed it.

 

It also introduced a mountain load of mini-games, this can be good and bad. Some of these are connected to story events which unfortunately means you will miss out on completing the story 100% if you don't complete them. They also re-envisioned the addicting Blitzball as a coaching simulator game which I found was a shame. I'd love to see Square Enix develop a game called "FINAL FANTASY X -Blitzball World Cup-".

 

The story wasn't as good as FINAL FANTASY X's but it would be very hard to top that anyway, I still enjoyed the story a lot.

 

Another challenging trophy list, but not quite as difficult as X's I feel.

 

Once again, another great job has been done by Square Enix to remaster this game in high definition.

 

A ton of replay value, you have to replay it via New Game+ just need to complete the story 100%. It has the most replay value in the series till this day. It also has a huge amount of side quests and cutscenes you're bound to miss if you aren't careful.

 

I feel this game is underrated.

 

A short game was added in the game's Japan exclusive reissue titled Last Mission. And it has now finally been released in English. Only problem is it's nothing like other main series games. I'd compare it to Pokémon Mystery Dungeon. It can also prove to be quite frustrating. There's 80 floors to complete and if you die you literally have to restart the game. The story here, if you can call it one is enjoyable but I honestly believe it would have been better told like they did for Eternal Calm.

 

Last but not least there's also an audio drama titled FINAL FANTASY X -Will-, set one year after the events of FINAL FANTASY X-2 and several months after FINAL FANTASY X-2.5, a novel written by the same person. Once again, I would have preferred this like Eternal Calm rather than just audio, various artwork and credits. It's an interesting story, but one that's also a bit crazy. Auron's daughter's childhood friend falls in love with Yuna who in turn falls in love with him and breaks up with Tidus and Yuna announces she will defeat Sin. And there's also a strong possibility characters like Sir Auron, Lord Braska and Sir Jecht will return if someone wishes them to return from the Farplane. Crazy right? I think I would have preferred it end with X-2, but since they've done this they better end it with a "FINAL FANTASY X-3" be that as a video game or movie.

 

All in all, FINAL FANTASY X/X-2 HD Remaster is the best way to play the greatest JRPG of all time and it's underrated sequel.

 

9/10

[Lu Xun 2,069]

Just started playing it last Saturday. It's amazing! I'm close to the end of X, and I'm loving it

[Sora96 17,256]

Just started playing it last Saturday. It's amazing! I'm close to the end of X, and I'm loving it

 

Great to hear!

[Soravids 1,056]

Nice review. I do think X-2 leaves a lot to be desired in comparison to the original FFX though. I really hope X-3 happens, but don't think it will.