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

More god-damn guado! These guado pose no real threat, however. They're just there in case you need to power-level before facing the real threats to come.



Little known fact: This scene also served as tryouts for Final Fantasy X-2. Two guesses who made the cut.



There's that real threat I was talking about.



Cid = Charon?

That's a different way at looking at this series icon, eh? Doesn't make a lot of sense, but different.



O'aka pulls the same crap when it's him instead so I'm not really surprised. Travelling merchants hafta have nerves of steel, since they're often stationed right near or inside death traps.



Yeah, it's big.



Sally and Rikku can give orders to Cid to move the airship's position in relation to the Legendary Beast. When they're far apart the Sacrilege can fire missiles at it but only magic and Wakka can hit it. (Would not make Wakka the mage again. Too much overlap.)

So I take Cid's advice and keep our distance and then



Shit.

No, not like that.



Much better.

I resorted to using some fancy pants spheres to give people Drain for non-elemental magic and Lancet for... non-elemental magic. Anyway.

Somewhere nearby...



Eeek! Eeek! Everybody from the wedding planning thread (or at least the females) come fawn over Yuna's dress!

Considering Square-Enix is selling a replica Gabranth helmet now, I figure it's only a matter of time before they start selling Yuna and Ashe wedding gowns.



Ptew ptew! Rescue from the heavens!



It's the welcoming committee!



Embarrassingly enough, these unavoidable goon fights nearly took me out. They consist of rifle guys, flamethrower guys, and hopping robots. Yeah, it'd be hard to live that down.



Kinoc, I welcome your gun pointed at Sally's head, for that means I have reached the last of the painful, painful battles. Sally and friends are understandably less happy about this.

So, Yuna, what do you have to say for yourself?



Good answer! And please don't ask where she was hiding that all this time.

Yuna would play at marriage to make the random masses of Sphera happy. Yuna would play at pop star to get her own game. Yuna is perfectly happy dressing up as anything to do whatever is necessary to achieve her preferred ending.



There's a decent chance that if Sally and friends hadn't come to rescue Yuna, she could have gotten rid of a whole lot of boss battles in our future. On the other hand, we would have had to pick an alternate summoner like *shudder* Dona.



Why yes I do wish I knew how to make animated gifs with the software I have on hand.



The staff falls, bouncing down the steps to Sally's feet. Could it be? Is Yuna trying to say Sally must take up the staff and complete this pilgrimage on her own?? Clue - no.



Seymour kissing Yuna is icky so let's instead admire her dress some more. Feathery. ♥



Poor Sally looks heartbroken at such a sight. Seymour's just a jerk.



And Yuna, having prepared all her life to commit suicide, is ready to do so whether or not Sin is present.



That smile creeps me out.



And then, without waiting for Sally to escape, she falls falls falls



"Moon Power... MAKE UP!"





Magical girl go go go!!

She doesn't go all "Moon Healing Escalation" on Seymour, instead she flies off on her own, letting the rest find her on their own.



Vilg.

IMO, Yuna is the only character who actually looks better in the CG cutscenes than in the normal gameplay graphics.

And to quote HIMYM: "Short in front, long in back... That is the mullet of wedding dresses."

I'd forgotten how much Seymour looks like pre-insane-hip-hop-beardo Joaquin Phoenix.

I love that style of dress. Most wedding dresses do it, just longer and dragging on the ground.

Man, I forgot how snide Auron was to everyone in this scene, especially to Cid et al. His reaction to the thing in question Cid wanted to fight, i.e. the leathery-winged dragon-thing flying around outside wreaking havoc?

"The Red Carpet has fangs."

I can't tell whether this makes him an asshole or a complete badass.

This nearly killed me from laughing too hard, but not quite. Better luck next time, Elfir!

On that note, this reminds me: someone (Elfir? Merus?) should totally do FFX-2 as a follow-up to this sometime after this LP ends. Preferably International + Last Mission, if you can get it in English - for the Psychicer job sphere, y'know? Mind Blast a go-go, baby!

Classic. Wakka, you're my main man, but you're a real dick sometimes.

Wakka channelling Bender, there.

Those fights are actually pretty rough, I know the first time I played they tore me apart. The robots hit for obscene damage while out of everyone but wakka's range and the flame throwers are no slouches, either, dealing moderate amounts across the whole party.

Yeah, I finally decided struggling to survive is kind of a pain and am taking the time to grind as I play the next update's worth.

For an idea what the Bevelle trial is like, watch this or any similar video and imagine trying to make right and left turns with very specific timing throughout. Note: The trial never makes you go upside down at least. I'm not even trying to make an image to show what it's like because it's all about the motion sickness.

So let's just skip ahead to the inner sanctum bit.



As usual, Yuna disappeared into the summoners-only room. Sally isn't having any of that shit today.



We're breaking in, guys! Damn that door is heavy. They must automatically open in the presence of a summoner. Even though Sally has Yuna's staff (again, don't ask where), she doesn't count.



And here comes the kitty cat! Kimahri uses his mighty kitty strength to open the door and hold it up so Sally can get inside. Within, Sally finds...



Yuna conversing with the creepy little Egyptian boy who's been haunting Sally since day one. Weeeeird.



Auron, being the asshole he is, made Kimahri continue holding the door open so he could come in, explain the weirdness, and exit again. Sally has been haunted by fayth since her blitzball game back in Zanarkand. Weeeeird.

After a bit more prayer, the spirit boy enters Yuna's body and she collapses.



Aw, what a pretty little dead bride.



Crud. We're gonna die. This is the trouble with being on such an utterly predictable pilgrimage.



Meet the only maester we haven't met yet: Kelk Ronso, the holy kitty cat. Being the summoner, Yuna is on trial for herself and all her guardians.




Yuna goes on to list Seymour's crimes. Namely killing his father (a maester) and already being dead. Kelk is pretty disturbed by Yuna's words so Mika takes over center-stage.



With a rather disturbing revelation of his own. Yes, 50% of the maesters of Spira are dead and unsent. Next thing you know, Lulu will reveal she's also been dead this whole time and give birth to a whiny patricidal little shit.



So this is what they mean by "culture of death"... The maesters go on about how death is awesome and Spira's all about death. Sin can't be destroyed, it just dies for a little while and then returns to cause more death. Yevon's all about death. Spira's all about death. Death death death death death.



Moral of Final Fantasy X: Organized religion sucks.



You'd be yelling like crazy if you were locked up in a birdcage with Auron for hours (days?) on end. Auron won't shut up about death any more than the maesters.



Oh good. All this talk of death was making Sally a little emo.

SPLOOSH!



Execution method #1: Throw everybody who can breath underwater into the sewer system that's infested with fish monsters and undead.

Sally has the right idea. Throwing everybody who can't breath underwater into the sewer system would be a lot more effective.



Due to his very brief stint as a player character, Seymour recognizes their resilience and wants to wait at the exit to kill them when they inevitably emerge. Especially his wife. That's just kinky!



Execution method #2: Throw everybody else into some slightly confusing passageways with teleport panels and weak monsters.

And, um, yeah... I kinda left Lulu in there by accident.



By the exit awaits Izzi, with orders to finish them off. It's time for a summoning battle! This is the first one other than those practice battles, isn't it? Belgy sure was looking to the future when she started training Yunie, eh?



To start things, Yuna tries out her newest aeon, Bahamut. Yaaaay Final Fantasy staple! Bahamut kicks lots of ass and will be Yuna's primary summon because he starts with third tier elemental magic. The others would require spending rare items to give them that good stuff.



Then Isaaru whips out his own giant dragon and beats up a couple aeons with it. And that's it. Somehow Isaaru skipped a couple temples because he's only got three to Yuna's five. Or... does that match up to when he was captured by the Al Bhed? Hmm... it's possible more thought went into this than I initially believed.



And thus, Auron executed Isaaru and the pool of summoners was reduced to one.

With Yuna safely delivered at the exit, we return to Team Aqua.



This is about the time I realized how grossly underleveled my team is. It's partly the Let's Play format making me want to rush along to the next story scene all the time. Team Aqua swims around in circles near the save sphere until they stop sucking so much. Wakka gets the tier three elemental magic, Rikku makes her dagger lightning element and finally does triple digit damage, and Sally gets up to four digit damage sometimes. It really helps to unequip the water-element Brotherhood for once.



This, boys and girls, is the bad kind of sparkle. It's the same monster that attacked the airship last time and we killed it then, therefore...



Oh yeah, I'm a dirty, dirty cheater. I could have done it the hard way but that requires giving up some kinda cool treasure along the way.

From here it's a straight shot to the exit, where Yuna and friends have been waiting the extra hour or so of grinding. Oh, and Lulu IS there so she hoofed it solo out of the death trap.



"I like hugs too" is what Sally is trying to say but doesn't get a chance.



The welcoming committee is here. Oh, but Kinoc's already dead. He was always pretty lame so I don't think he'll be coming back as a zombie maester.



Remember: Death is good.

This is what Seymour's been plotting since the beginning. Become Yuna's guardian, ensure he's the top pick to turn into Sin in the end, and welcome everyone in the world into death's warm embrace. If he were successful, it'd be a pretty horrifying Sin. Presumably most incarnations of Sin are like Jecht - not wanting to hurt people but not being able to prevent the Sin aspect from doing so. If there was a Sin completely committed to destroying the world, it probably could.



While everybody else is listening to Seymour give the obligatory villain speech, Kimahri runs up and stabs him in the chest. It is remarkably ineffective.



Seymour "sends" the living Guado next to him and Kinoc into himself, transforming into some kind of super undead monster, a "Soul Eater" if you will.



Kimahri tells everybody to run away but halfway gone, Yuna insists on going back for her kitty.



It's a guardian's job to protect the summoner. If the summoner decides to go charging into danger, well...



Yup. Everybody chases after Yuna. Auron is the funniest. He's the last to follow and runs until right before joining the others, at which point he pretends he walk walking calmly after them the whole time.

Time for a whole pile of talk triggers!



Strength up!



Strength up!



Magic defense up!

That last one is useless, since the whole strategy of this battle is centered around casting reflect on everyone.



Seymour has some kind of death familiar in this battle. Seymour counterattacks everything with horrible death but the pet takes damage like a champ and drains HP out of Seymour whenever it runs out. It's tedious but not super-hard... Provided you've got reflect turning most of the bad guy attacks back on Seymour.

Seymour dies and disappears - NOT sent, mind you. I hate that guy so much.

Oh god am I anticipating the next update.

You know what's in the next update? Romance.

Or blood.. lots and lots of blood.

I like how they went to the trouble of naming Isaaru's Aeons as well. Pterya, I choose you!

Wow, I... really wasn't paying attention to the story the first time I played the game, as this completely flew right over my head. Who knew Seymour actually had a decent (if somewhat batshit insane) motive for his actions? Then again, the fact that he follows you around like goldfish feces instead of actually doing something to further his goals doesn't really help his case. Why doesn't he just find another chump summoner, woo them off their feet and use them to become Sin? It's strange.

History has shown that the two are not mutually exclusive.

Also, Seymour's ambitions do seem kind of odd, it's true. I mean jeez, the guy can summon Anima at will. Just find a weak-willed summoner, cow them into being your cabana boy/girl, get them to Zanarkand, and get the job done! Picking a strong-willed (or at least well-protected) summoner who killed you and then tried to kill you again, repeatedly, does not strike me as good tactics.

Yeah, I don't look at enemy names often but I noticed it after the first one and thought it was awesome.

Evidence seems to suggest there are only three summoners on pilgrimage right now, but Isaaru probably swings that way and there's nothing to stop Seymour from working on the apprentices. My best guess is he's a Braska fanboy and wants only the best? Stupid reason but bad guys tend to be pretty stupid.

I don't think of Seymour as really being the model of good judgment, myself. Dude's a little bit crazy.

I didn't like Seymour after he came back from the dead. It felt like they just wanted to give you really odd battles so they took a potentially interesting character and shoehorned him into disparate situations that never quite fit.

After the third fight, I just shook my head and stopped playing the game. I haven't finished this.

For that matter, I still need to finish MGS3 >_>...At least I liked that one, and I'm right before the Boss <_<...

Couldn't quite make this a Valentine's Day post.



As you can see from the pretty purple-blue scenery, the team has escaped into the wilds of Macalania Forest. Auron, suddenly a high level ranger, reports the inquisitors have lost their trail.



That is the question, isn't it? The leaders of the church just spat on Yuna's dreams and told her the only good thing about it was it ends in death. Rikku comes to the conclusion if Yuna really wants to finish her pilgrimage after all that, she shouldn't go against it. (Her dad's gonna be mad at her for that one.)



Whenever I'm feeling down, it always helps to have a kitty to pet. But kitties aren't that great at conversation... well, most aren't. Anyway, Lulu suggests Sally check on her.



Gosh this place is pretty. The water is so clear it's hard to tell at first Yuna isn't standing on the water like she did way back when.



And come so far. But in the end, did it ever really matter?




"For being excited about going to Zanarkand, for talking about things we'd do after you beat Sin, for saying innumerable other really inappropriate things."

"It made me... happy... I could pretend... my story had a happy ending... for me too."

"Let's make it a happy ending, Yuna!"




Rikku would be thrilled. Maybe Yuna could live in Cid's airship with Rikku and her other Al Bhed kin and go on cool adventures. She probably shouldn't go back to Besaid, except maybe to visit once or twice. Kimahri wouldn't care either way, as long as Yuna was happy. Auron might be mad but Auron's a dick and who cares about him?




Yeah! With balloons and cupcakes and orange soda and ice cream! And we'll stay up all night in our pajamas, telling scary stories and painting each other's nails. We'll sleep until noon and when we get up we'll go to the beach and play in the surf for hours and hours! Wait no, that wouldn't work 'cause Sin might show up. Well, we'll just have another party! It'll be great!!



Yu-Yuna, you're crying? ;_;

"I have to finish my pilgrimage. Not for you, or me, or the maesters... I have to keep going for the people of Spira!" Tears pour down Yuna's cheeks.

"I-I just want... I want you to be happy."



And for that night, at least, Yuna got her happy ending.



Hidden nearby, the pervy catman's watch never wavers.

The next morning

The team continues along to the next pilgrimage-mandated area.



Welcome to the Calm Lands. I never found this place to be very calm, seeing as it has lots of random encounters, some of which are malboros, summoners seem to find it calming. Some find it so calming they give up their pilgrimages on the spot.



See also: Final Fantasy X-2

The big battle wiped out any settlements that might have been here and as you wander around you can see craters all over the place. They make walking around inconvenient because nobody learns how to jump until next game.

Nowadays only a few crazies live here and it's traditionally the place where summoners battle Sin at the end of their pilgrimages. It's used for that because there's very little risk of bystander deaths.



Tee hee, it's Rin's Travel Agency but mobile! This area is so big there are three shops. Let's move along to the next one.



Former Summoner Zuke brings us up to speed with the story the Yevonites are spreading to explain the shit that went down yesterday. It's fun being a scapegoat.



Auron always looks at the bright side. The ronso left and the fat man's dead, so now it's just Mika and Seymour calling the shots. I wouldn't place my bets on that being a perfect partnership for long.



Okay, that clears up a bit of backstory. Just imagine how crummy those two would feel if Yuna gave up her pilgrimage at this point too.



Th-that's very helpful, Sally...



Rikku and Sally decide to put their tiny minds together to find a way to prevent Yuna's death. Rikku's getting whiny lately. Sure her cousin's marching on towards death, but c'mon!



"Kimahri has no family. When Kimahri horn broken and Kimahri cast out, Kimahri family kill selves with remains of Kimahri horn to regain honor."

Nyo! =^_^=



This monster arena is... special. The guy doesn't have anything to fight in stock and tells us if we wanna fight stuff so bad, why don't we wander around the Calm Lands instead? Oh but use these special weapons that don't have the cool stats we're used to and kill stuff with them? Can't use magic, can't use most cool abilities, just gotta stab.*

* Mug works, at least.
** Mechs aren't captureable.

This is as good a time as any to go backtrackin'.



Movie time! This sphere shows when Braska recruited Jecht to join his pilgrimage.



Yeah, and you totally don't spike your milk jug, Auron.



HOLY BACKSTORY, BATMAN! Sorry, just surprised to find backstory for pre-Braska Auron.



This one's real valuable. It shows Jecht falling on his ass in the Thunder Plains. That's it.

We can't backtrack any farther than the Thunder Plains because the guado will kick our ass, so let's check out where else we can't visit.



Well damn. Shiva just TPK'd us.

Blocked in on all sides, we have no choice but to... explore the plains some more.

I find it annoying the person in the farthest out of the way corner looks at you like you're crazy for hoofing it. You should go hang out by the entrances, guy!




Grr!



That's more like it. This now becomes a mini-game but with balloons and birds to deal with. It's not fun.

Like the last time we had a chocobo, there is a spot where the chocobo can jump to an otherwise unreachable platform. This time it's more than treasure.



It's a bonus temple! There's another chocobo racing game here too. It's also not fun.



That would be a lot more impressive if we hadn't just met the council of dead guys, y'know.



Belgemine is a benevolent lich who just wants to help Yuna improve as a summoner. This time Yuna fights Valefor but you can eventually go through all of them. Eventually she lets Yuna collect one of the optional Aeons, the Magus Sisters.



Lack of patience is the only thing keeping me from thoroughly beating her down right now. The Aeon's Soul is a neat item that lets you turn extra spheres into minor stat boosts for Aeons. It takes a lot of spheres to boost a score by just one point but it's better than maxing out on them.



This is a pretty sad excuse for plot to cap off the area. A long boring battle vs golem with too many hit points and a resistance to physical attacks.



... Didn't we just hear summoners return to the Calm Lands to summon the Final Aeon and fight Sin?

A little late, but as I understand it the ideas presented by the Maester's about death is a pretty good inversion of Buddhism. It probably had more of an impact in Japan.

Also I have an undying hatred of that Chocobo race, coming from someone who doesn't mind the butterfly and lightning dodging, that's saying something.

I loathe lightning dodging, but quite enjoy the chocobo race. Go figure.

Reading this LP makes me realize just how much I had forgotten about the plot. Thanks Elfir!

Oh, and I hated chocobo racing and lightning bolt dodging equally, though I had an easier time of racing.

Oh, Elfir, I heart this, and I don't even use heart as a verb.

I remember hating that Golem boss a lot when I first played through FFX all those years ago for those exact reasons. Stupid physical resistance. The rest of the Calm Lands are pretty boss, though.

...Wait, where's Yojimbo?

They don't let you go down into Yojimbo Valley until after you've fought the golem and reentered. So I'll go back for him while I prepare for the next God Damn Seymour Battle.