Let's Play Final Fantasy X: International (Expert Grid)

I'm holding my cigarette lighter in the air as we speak.

...why do I have a cigarette lighter? I don't smoke.

There's a reason Seymour's help blurb at the top of the screen tells you what order he casts his elemental spells in. The game does this for several other enemies as well I seem to recall.

Wait, what? It does? I've played this game something like three or four times and I never noticed this. Maybe this makes the battle with Seymour before Zanarkand actually winnable without crazy amounts of luck!

I've never understood why I've heard people call FF10 a hard game. I never had any problems (well, I mean, with the main storyline bosses. Optional things are a different matter), but I guess now I can understand why.

The chimera like things with the bull's head and snake tails do this too. Getting the order down is the only way I survived home being destroyed the first time I played. The null spells are among the absolute best in the game, without being the system breaker that hasteaga is.

This is why I love FFX's battle system. All those years of sloppy mediocre ATB finally back to their good, clean turn based roots where good decisions and strategy are rewarded. It's a shame the series falls right back into that mire as soon as this game's over.

Yeah, that was actually a design goal if you watch the DVD that came with International: they wanted the freedom to build more strategic battles, which is why nearly every mook needs a bit of thought to defeat it and all but a handful of bosses require a strategy.

*nod* That's why I knew even if most of the cast got screwed by Sphere Grid scrambles, I could just use Low Level Challenge walkthroughs to know the most efficient way through rough spots. It can be tempting to retire all the equipment with "sensor" but so not worth it. Yuna still has sensor equipment in my game.

I really need to remember to take screenshots of everybody's status screens. Kick me if that's not in the next update.

I'm 100% serious when I say that I think FF X has the best battle system of the entire series. And it's so fast. I could weep for the sheer beauty of it all.

You can tell I really loved X's battle system, because there's no other reason I would've gone through the *entire* friggin' arena. X and XII are the only games from the last few generations that I've just enjoyed playing enough to sink way beyond 100 hours into.

It's true; Final Fantasy X's battle system was super good. It's sort of making me want to play again... but I'm sure Yuna's voice acting will cure me of that sentiment.

Last time a yeti busted a hole in Shiva's frozen lake and everybody fell to their watery deaths. Right? ...right?



Not exactly. Everybody fell to the bottom of an inexplicably 2-D lake, taking a couple bumps but that's it. They're not under water but they are under a lake. This is friggin' retarded. (Also what I feel is the most visually unappealing part of the game.)



Even the selective water-breathing can't explain this one away, as Kimahri says they're going to have to climb out of this place. I wonder if the guado know the lake is 2D or if they think the party's all dead. That would be useful, at least.

Yuna, having the lowest CON of the party, wakes up last and explains her silly Seymour plan that everybody figured out two updates ago.



Auron tells her to shut up, we don't need her damn exposition. Instead, let's look at what's next.



"Look, kid, the Yevonites might not be happy with you but you still got summons, right? I figure you've got at least a 50-50 chance of Yevon still being okay with you. Besides,"



Everybody freaks out a bit at Auron's bold remark, but naturally Wakka freaks out the most.



Can't you just lash yourself with one of Lulu's belts while we travel?



Oh FINE. Damn fundies.

Actually it's not that bad, since Maester Mika is probably in Beville, which just happens to have another cloister. Only one more after that!



Uh... no? Wakka's question's a little unfair but the screen's not shaking so Lulu must be imagining things. Wait a sec... SPARKLE ALERT! The sparkles are massing!!



Aw not this shit again!

All the water in the lake froze. It's just a sheet of ice above a dry lakebed.

Does. Not. Make. Sense.

There shouldn't be an ice lid over an empty bowl.

It's super cold.

The surface of the lake froze and then someone pulled the drain at the bottom of the lake emptying the liquid water?

Hey, Macarena Temple is a stalactite hanging from another frozen lake-lid, above a bottomless abyss, and there's a path (also made of ice, with no visible support) leading down into it from a cave at the edge of the lake.

Shiva's just weird like that.

Water is densest at 5�C, right? When winter comes around IRL, only the top part of the water freezes and becomes ice, while the water underneathe remains at that temperature. That's how frogs and fish stay alive during winter. With the water being frozen for so long by Shiva it could've just drained away over the years, as the solid sheet of ice over the lakebed would've prevented any precipitation - rain or otherwise - from refilling the lake.

SCIENCE!

Just remembered:

KICK!

Yeah, I'm still waiting for them to put Yuna back in my damn party! x_x

That's gonna be a loooong wait then.

;_;

The farther along I get, the more I realize I don't remember the order of events very well. So I keep hoping "maybe she'll be back this update!"

When last we left off, Sally and friends had yet another brush with Sin. You know what that means!


That's right, Sally waking up face down in a pool of water yet again. This might be the last time that happens but no promises! As you might guess from the dull orange around this random pool of water, it's time for


Chapter 23: Obligatory Desert Area

Sally's all alone again too but thanks to the red arrow on the mini-map and invisible walls, she isn't at risk of getting lost and eventually dying of thirst and sunstroke.


There is, however, a risk of being eaten alive by giant birds. Man those things are icky looking. It can eat Sally in three bites but after two...


Help arrives! It figures Auron and Lulu would be the only members of the group competent enough to start finding the others right away. Unfortunately the only water magic we've got with this party is Lulu's level one spell so it's a lot tougher than it's meant to be. Which is still not very.


Lulu has forgotten the "stay in place until the others can find you" rule was mostly to make sure Yuna doesn't wander into trouble before her guardians can find her. This trio of the leader, former leader, and "main character" are really best suited to go find the supporting cast, as Auron indicates by walking off alone and expecting the other two to follow.


Why yes, Wakka, we're fine. And you?


Good to see you too, Kimahri. How are you enjoying this giant litter box?


At least Rikku thinks to greet us before inquiring about the absentee summoner. Because gamer eyes always gravitate towards big shiny chests, I'll tell you that one contains a few Al Bhed Potions. It's an all-purpose status-fixer and hp-upper for the whole party and we'll have 99 of them before this area's done.

With a desert filled with Al Bhed super soda, you might guess Rikku would know something useful about this place.


You'd guess right! The look on Wakka's face makes me crack up every time.


So yeah, this is the Island Of The Al Bhed. They live on this shitty island because nobody else wanted it and it sucks so much nobody bothers visiting it so nobody ever learns the heathens are here. Yay! Rikku says her buddies probably "rescued" Yuna and so they should find her if they just head for Home.


We haven't been fighting a whole lot of machina since the first time the Al Bhed kidnapped Yuna but using Steal on them makes the whole thing fall apart. Since Sally has Steal too, these are pretty much the fastest and easiest battles ever. Back when Rikku fought us in her underwater robot suit I tried Steal on it. Didn't work. Boo double standard!


Also inhabiting this island: Everyone's favorite Nazi Cacti!


Giant worms!

Al Bhed Primer 18 Get!


In case you get lost, I assume this sign gives directions on which way to go. Plus there's a sale!


Those directions suck. They sent us to the land of quicksand whirlpools inhabited by unpleasant plant monsters that make Auron confused every other round. The battle was taking so long I tried Rikku's Mix Overdrive since it kicked so much butt last time. Turns out Grenade + Grenade = Big water attack. And water cures these bastards.

So... that's your home, Rikku? It's supposed to look like that, right? Maybe your mom heard you were bringing friends over and tried to make cookies and forgot to set the oven timer.


Or not. I know the words "Guado" and "summoner" so I guess we can figure out what happened.


Dude knows English! Cool. Dead guy there might be one of the guys Sally met on the Al Bhed boat a long time ago but I don't care enough to check. All Al Bhed look the same anyway.


Final Fantasy Cliche Cid located! Hehe, Sally is Sinspawn and Rikku is Cidspawn.


Yes I totally looted that guy's body.

Al Bhed Primer 19 Get!


Damn Guado and their damn bombs! We're better at healing than causing damage so I just try to make the bombs explode as quickly as possible. These Guado cast Silence on Lulu and leave everybody else alone so it's a good time to have switched roles up a bit.


Um, whatever you say Rikku Daddy.

I find it odd they've got a place in their Home called the Summoners' Sanctum even though they're all athiests. How long were they planning this kidnapping project, anyway?


Don't go through that left door yet!

Al Bhed Primer 21 Get!

What, where's 20? Anyway


Through the right door is delicious treasure puzzle. The first one's not too hard provided you've picked up enough of the Al Bhed language to figure out what basic math they want out of you. Or you could try every combination until you get the right one, like some people's mothers...


This one's tricker, particularly the second question. Rikku's brother is named Brother but that hasn't really come up yet. I'm thinking this Skill Sphere will let me give Kimahri Steal, which is handy a bit later.


Aww, look at Rikku - developing a dynamic personality! ^_^


These shits are a real pain to kill. You can blind them so their physical attacks won't hit but their magic attacks aren't effected by silence (even though their Scan info says "silence is effective"). But I discovered Kimahri's Stone Breath Overdrive utterly destroys them. Yes, an instant-kill ability actually worked. Frickin' sweet!


The group finds a pocket of calm in the burning monster-infested fortress and have a little heart-to-heart.


Sally says it's stupid for the Al Bhed to try to play guardian to all the summoners 'cause they already come with guardians equiped but nobody really says anything in response.


They just walk away in super slow motion... Sally's starting to freak out a bit by now but is still firmly in denial.

Before moving on... I need to see if there's anything I really want on the Sphere Grid that's hidden behind locks. I have several stocked up by now.


KHAAAAAAAAAN!!!


The Al Bhed supposedly collected a lot of summoners, so I guess the penalty for not meeting Sally along the pilgrimage is a horrible death by Guado and monsters.

Pacce has learned a new word from the Al Bhed. He says they said the summoners are being sacrificed by Yevonites. D:


For serious?!


So that's why it's the "Final" Aeon...


Because Yuna and everybody else thought it was generally really nice having someone around who didn't know the journey will end in sadness. Awkward or ironic at times but still nice.


Liars. Auron didn't say anything because he likes keeping secrets and this one promised great hilarity if Sally didn't find out until the last minute.



When Yuna was a little girl, she said "I wanna be a martyr when I grow up, just like my dad!"


I know she's your cousin and all, but "one for a million" is generally considered a good trade. No, the real problem is the attrocious success rate and the limited shelf life of peace.


The summoners summon some Aeons because it looks cool and Sally gets even more depressed because she knows Yuna will never give up either.


Memories... Sweet memories...

This scene is almost ruined by the laughing scene being the memory Sally latches on to but the laughing itself is silent so you only have to suffer through your own memories of that stupid scene.


Booyah! I think it's time for some adventuring music!

This game's being a jerk and won't let me have Yuna back for a stat review for the whole party but I'm gonna have to do it anyway or you guys are gonna kick me again.


Sally has high strength and agility. On her default path, Sally would have high strength and agility. No wonder she doesn't suck!


Lulu still has really high magic and really low strength. The only place where she shines is the disgustingly high evasion. She doesn't have a high defense but she's still a tank. Just a very hard to hit tank. Her hit points are hot stuff too.


I'm surprised to see Wakka's magic as high as it is but his spell damage has started to catch up to Lulu recently. He's very... balanced.


I told you we're better at curing than damaging. Kimahri's magic stat is beastly. Much like Gau, Kimahri's magic-dependent rages really shine when magic is developed. I highly recommend this build.


Auron hits decently hard and has a ton of hit points. That's enough to get him plenty of party time in this crowd, really.


We've only had her for a little while but Rikku's job is to use her high agility to get in and out of the active party to earn XP before something can kill her.

I prefer this arrangement, personally. The bittersweet intro really fits the tone of these scene really well, before building up into the wonderful fanfare near the end (then it shifts into the CC arrangement, which... fits the status screens well, strangely enough).

So, no kicky? Aww. Can you grab a few shots of their equipment while you're at it? I'm curious what abilities you've slapped onto them to use.

The music popped into my head looking at Sally's determined expression there. Then I had to go hunting for it.

I haven't done anything interesting with equipment, I just make a habit of keeping everything even remotely useful. The Guado in Home seem to cast lightning spells a lot so I swapped to the Lightingward and Lightningproof equipment I picked up on the Thunder Plains.

That twist floored me when I first played this game. I didn't see it coming at all, and I still think it's one of the best-executed twists in the series. Final Fantasy has a habit of doing mythology dumps in the late game and trying to extract a twist out of them, and it never really works. FFX is no exception - despite the mythology twist in this one being a little more straightforward than in some installments, it's still not nearly as good as the revelation that Yuna's fixing to kill herself and Tidus is the only one who didn't know.

I didn't play FFX until several years after it came out and got it for under $20 so I don't really know how it would feel to someone who came into it fresh. Though most of my spoilers came from AMVs that never quite spelled it out (and the existence of FFX-2 threw me off the scent) so while I knew something bad was coming, I didn't know what. But even replaying it now I teared up at Rikku and Sally's breakdowns.

A fantastic hybrid of Figaro Castle and the Blackjack, the B.S.S. Sacrilege is birthed from its desert womb. Shiny gold and purple, it is a god among airships.



Captain Cid barks orders to the helm and even with only two letters untranslated, Sally has no clue what the heck he just said.



Rikku translates for the benefit of the non-Al Bhed. It is more horrible and strange than any could have imagined. The Sacrilege is named most aptly, for it will take on the role only god - or Sin - ought have. Wiping a settlement off the face of the sphere.



BOOM!

Just like that, it's gone.



In a futile and belated attempt to knock the age rating of this Let's Play down a notch, I will not be translating Rikku's response.



[Technobabble]



Translation: We're all going to die.

And not in the happy fun summoner sacrifice way.

While the Yuna-finder-thingy does it's thing, Sally wanders the halls of the airship, almost as if hunting for the trigger to further advance Her Story.



She finds a likely contender in her travels in Dona. Sally talks her out of suicide and moves along, confident she will never have to encounter that overly sexed-up summoner ever again.



It worked! Back on the bridge, the two older male leader archtypes discuss what to do with our girl Yuna once she's collected. Cid doesn't realize quite what he's dealing with, however. No matter what Auron says, he's either lying or hiding something. There's no way he'll give up his power over these adventurers to that shiny-headed idiot.




Yay! Yuna located, standing next to her recently deceased fiancé and some gunner types goons. Oddly they've decided to hang out on the roof of a very tall building, as if they want to be attacked by an air-born foe. I guess we'll have to oblige.



"Something you'd know nothing about, hmm? You certainly show no inclination to man-up and propose, giving our future spawn some degree of legitimacy."

Speaking of air-born foes and being attacked from within...