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

This.

Magical thread, Yuna's Panties. Keep it up! =)

A lot of these things don't even occur to me until I'm looking at the screenshots, trying to figure out what to do with them.

That forum outage certainly gave me plenty of time to work ahead!

Words that every self-respecting samurai lives by.

I really like how you don't (typically) notice it in your first playthrough, but then, you realize that they're digging up the Fahrenheit in later ones. Sometimes, little touches like that help to flesh out the game's backstory quite nicely. What could have happened during the war? Was there a battle near Baaj/Besaid, and if there was, whose side was the airship on? Was it shot down (or smashed down with a giant flipper) so it ended up embedded in rock a thousand years ago?

That's probably the best description of Tidus I've read yet.

Ahem. Wait, I got this one.

Nomuraaaaaaaaa!

Once again, Sally finds herself adrift in the seas of Spira... This one, at least, is far warmer than the last. Bright and friendly, easy to see what's going on without messing with the brightness/contrast settings... The serenity is interrupted by the smack of a Blitzball against the back of Sally's head.

Oh that familiar feeling.



Sweet! Finally fate has taken Sally someplace cool. A Blitzball team waves to her from the beach. Sally's soon-to-be adoring public. She effortlessly pulls off the Jecht Sally Shot. They are suitably impressed, as well they should.

Let them wait a bit. Sally wants to enjoy this lovely grotto. The clear blue water, the sandy beaches, the loot in an obscure inlet that won't be useful for a very long time... Man, I could really use a vacation.

Okay, back to the story.



At the behest of her adoring fans, Sally performs the Sally Shot again. That's right, boys, she's beautiful and consistently awesome. The rooster-headed man knows a professional when he sees one and asks which team Sally plays for. "The Zanarkand Abes!" ... Awkward. Rikku told her not to say that kind of thing. This is why.

Activate Generic Excuse #1!

"I, uh, got too close to Sin's toxin? So... I don't know what I'm talking about? Yeah, that..."

Whew, it works. "You been 'round Sin? You lucky to be alive, brudda!" says rooster- head. "Praise be -" Drat, perfectly nice place and it's gotta be inhabited by religious folk. "- to Yevon!" Wait, what's Yevon? Shoot, Rikku used a word like that before Sally steered the conversation back to more interesting matters (her). Maybe she should have listened after all....



"I got crazy high accuracy, but rest o' my speed's shit, ya? An' I attack with a Blitzball you know I'm hardcore, ya?" Ya.

"Um, right." Don't try to fill Sally's little head with gameplay information, Wakka. "So why do you keep calling me 'brudda'?" Sally asks. "I'm not anyone's brother."

"Ah, sorry 'bout dat, just what I call all my friends," Wakka answers. "No offense, ya know?" Well... okay. Still seems weird. Sally's stomach chimes in with its own contribution to the conversation. Damn girl, you just ate last scene!

"Hungry? Okay, we head back to the village, ya? I get you somethin'!" He might be a little weird and religious, but the offer of free food makes up for a lot.



Sally figures Wakka might be a good candidate to verify Rikku's story of Zanarkand's destruction. Wakka verifies it alright. Adds a good dose of fire and brimstone to the mix for good measure, too.

Way back when, people used machine to do all their work for them, getting lazy and corrupt. Sin was sent as punishment for all that sin (creative naming, guys!) and destroyed all the big technically advanced cities in the world. But Sin didn't stop there. Sin still wanders the waters of the world, destroying anyplace people gather.

Sally wonders if she'd be able to take the Sin Express back home if she found it again, but finds her heart somehow calmed by having her questions answered. She can probably get along here and now if she has to. Pretty beaches and Blitzball. What else does a girl need? A man.



Oh Wakka, you scamp!



I think Wakka may have a crush on Sally. He shows it like a ten-year-old boy, but it's kinda cute in a way. Sally's flattered and caught off guard by the situation. She's always been to preoccupied with her career to bother with men (except hating dad!!) so she's not sure what to do. Thank goodness the blue of the water hides her blushes.

Wakka makes the first move but it's not the kind of move Sally might have expected. He asks her to play for his team in the upcoming Blitzball tournament. Oh. Well, that's flattering too, she guesses... just in a "duh" kind of way. "Yeah, sure," she murmurs and continues swimming toward Wakka's village.

Behind her, Wakka whoops with joy at the prospect of actually scoring a point or two. Thankfully the water muffles the sound so Sally doesn't have to hear.

As they approach Wakka's village, Sally wonders if she should have come here after all. Everyone seems to be subtly threatening her! First the Anti-Sin Coalition, then even Wakka! Wakka only likes religious girls it seems. ;_;

"Sin... toxin..." Generic Excuse #1 continues to be Sally's salvation.



The locals even use the excuse to rationalize Sally's quirks and gaps in knowledge.

In the Anti-Sin Coalition Headquarters, Sally is given the usual recruitment lecture. They are a world-wide militia dedicated to fighting Sin, started by some dude eight hundred years ago, and they're still fighting Sin.



Yes Sally, these guys suck. But you don't have to be so blunt about it. I mean, do you think you could do better? I didn't think so.



In the temple, Sally gets another lecture. This time it's about summoners. And high summoners. And Aeons. And this "Lord Braska" guy. Sally's eyes glaze over before the lecture's through. Too... much... talking. Want.. lunch...

Sally leaves to hunt down Wakka and the promised meal.



You bastard! And don't call Sally "man" either.

Wakka suggests Sally take a nap until lunchtime. B-but Sally has trouble sleeping when she's hungry! And isn't it weird to sleep in Wakka's hut when they've only just met? People might talk! Even if there aren't doors in this village...

Sally lies down, intending to just pretend to sleep - just until Wakka leaves so she can raid the pantry - but finds herself drifting off into another flashback dream instead.



It was the day after Sally's father disappeared. Her mother hadn't slept the entire time. Word of Jecht's disappearance spread quickly and some fans began searching even before the authorities even. Sally hated her father even more then, because even in his absence he was the center of attention.

"Hate... hate... haaaate..." Sally mutters in her sleep but thankfully there is no one there to hear her. Wakka has slipped away while she slept. She riffles through Wakka's stuff till she finds something to snack on (ew, fish jerky), then heads out in search of her host.

She gotta eat.

Welcome to Spira's most advanced society!

Wakka is the most Hawaiian character in a video game ever. The way he speaks is reasonably close, though just a little bit different, to the local dialect. Aside from the orange hair, he pretty much looks the part, too.

Something about Wakka always bothered me. It's not the religious fanaticism. It's not the idea of Hawaiian Bender (bite his shiny metal ass, ya?) It's not the fact that the Besaid Aurochs' pants are designed to drag them to watery graves (maybe that's why they suck so hard?)

It's the fact that his rooster crest stays upright even though he regularly spends half his day underwater.

Whatever kind of hair gel Cloud et al use, it has nothing on Wakka's product of choice.

Yeah, the way people in this game interact with water in general is pretty wacky.

Heh. Having grown up in Hawaii, I was always a little bothered by the almost-but-not-quite Local (read: Hawaiian) voice acting for Wakka. I know that Besaid wasn't actually supposed to be Hawaii and all, but damn, if you're going to lay it on so thick, why not go all the way and get the accent right?

wakka's not hawaiian. he's a puerto rican catholic, hard core.

Why you so stupid, stupid?

*triple snap*

/fixed

Yeah, I've never been clear why Wakka gets so much hate, just that he seems to get the most (after the leading ladies). Though he's like Zell 2.0 sometimes. He and Auron were mainstays in my party first time I played.

Wakka is a-ok by me. I liked most of FFX's cast. Except Kimahri. He was a pretty boring dude.

I like how Sally's showin' the cleavage.

His HAIR is Zell 2.0, but I liked Wakka. I think most of the hate gets hung up on the accent and his close devotion to religious dogma (not exactly a "fire and brimstone" fanatic, but he does get quite vocal about machina, Al Bhed, and everything in between.) However, even that is given appropriate character development later on.

I love Wakka, because I think his voice acting is seriously pretty great. I thought this before I knew he was Bender, even!

The characters with accents all have the best voice acting in this game. O'aka, Rin, that old scholar guy, etc.

I really liked Wakka (okay, I stopped after Tidus finds out he isn't real, bear with me). His relationship to the religious thing is quite interesting.

Ti-Sally, on the other hand, is only interesting as long as she talks about her oedipal relationship. With Yuna or, uh, the world, is another thing. Sigh...

Question: Anybody have a burning desire to see the Cloisters of Trials done in detail? That's my sticking point right now. I don't know how I want to deal with it or if I should just gloss over it.

Still on the very-rough writeup of the next one so don't give orders to skip it in anticipation of a sooner update, certainly.

No burning desire for it here.

Unless you want to show just how mind-numbing running around putting those glowing spheres in the pedestals really is (especially if you want to get the special treasure in each cloister), I'd say gloss over it.

And as for Wakka, the first time I played through FFX I kept imagining Dr. Drakken playing blitzball.

I don't mind them, especially because of your writing style... but I can see how they would be a giant PITA to transcribe (especially when you have several Cloisters to push through.) Feel free to take whatever route you're more comfortable with.

I like the fact that Wakka can mean 3 different things depending on how many times it's said.

Wakka

Wakka Wakka

Wakka Wakka Wakka

The cloister is probably the worst part of the game. Skip it if you want.

Maybe the interesting parts of the cloisters (ALL NONE OF THEM if I remember right) but nobody needs to suffer through those things all the way.

Sally tracks Wakka to the temple where, no, he is not holding a sandwich for her. He talks in hushed tones to the bald priest guy, so Sally knows this is the perfect time to interrupt. "So... are we having lunch sometime soon?"

"The summoner hasn't returned from the trial," Wakka replies. Not an acceptable answer, try again. "It's been a day already. Gonna wait till the summoner returns, brudda." Translation: Maybe.

Sally has little confidence in her ability to scavenge in this village after the fish jerky. "So... When the summoner returns, is there a celebration or something? Maybe a... feast?"

"Ya, big party then," Wakka nods.

"Right then. Be back in a jiffy!" Sally runs up the stairs, into the cloister.



Welcome to the Cloister of Trials, Round 1.

You got annoying puzzle dungeons in my Final Fantasy! You got Final Fantasy in my annoying puzzle dungeons! Either way, this sucks.



This dungeon has three kinds of spheres, and a bunch of identical sphere holes that you get to mix and match. Oh, and you can only carry one at a time. Fun! Much like an evil piáata, there is also delicious treasure inside, but if you miss it you'd better just reboot and try again, 'cause your next chance is in 40+ hours!

I'm glossing over them but rest assured every time I mention one: I suffered. For you.

Wakka has the right idea. He trails behind Sally as she tries her best to loot the temple, appearing only when she reaches the exit. The temple probably resets once the magic elevator activates, so he's gotta hustle to not get trapped inside. So what's Wakka doing in here anyway? Isn't it forbidden? Something about precepts?



You could have mentioned that earlier, Wakka. And maybe sounded a bit less like an ass while saying it. Guardians, Wakka explains on the long elevator ride, protect summoners on their long pilgrimage around the world, visiting all the temples before defeating Sin.

So Wakka has two jobs: Guardian and Captain of a really crappy Blitzball team. Why on earth does he introduce himself as a Blitzball captain? Actually scratch that. He wanted to get in Blitzball girl Sally's pants. I forgot.

Deep in the temple's belly, Sally meets the other two guardians of the summoner. The ones who didn't put Blitzball over their duty as guardians.



What a little bundle of venom she is, hmm? She's not particularly concerned about the presence of a heathen in this sacred place. No, she's pissed at Wakka. Wakka who has the gall to show up after a whole damn day of waiting, just in time to look good in front of the summoner. She has this weird little puppet that resembles a white teddy bear and makes it speak in a shrill voice, mocking Wakka. "Oh, but your team... they need you more right now. I'm fine, really. Thank you Wakka, you've done so much for me!" Wow that's disturbing.

She barely gets started on Sally when the entrance to the inner sanctum opens.



Everyone turns to behold the summoner in her backlit glory. She stumbles, as if drunk, and perhaps she is. Drunk with power. Unused to the new power twisting about within her, she loses control of her corporeal form, stumbling at the top of the stairs, then falling, falling



Caught!

Warrior Cat make sure you land on feet too! =^_^=

Sally inches closer, eager to lay eyes on this summoner who might rival she herself in fame. (Former fame but don't remind her.) It's actually a cute girl, about Sally's own age, in a super pretty outfit. Sally wonders, for a moment, if she could ever pull off that look but dismisses the idea. Sally doesn't fit with any definition of "elegant" she's ever heard and this girl is most definitely elegant.



And so plucky too! Go you!

The Guardians gather around her like mother hens and despite being right there, doesn't even get a chance to say hi to the summoner. The cluster of bodies is handy, however, when trying to sneak out of the temple behind the big guys without getting in trouble. Nope, wasn't there. Really. Don't stone Sally.

Before the feast, the whole village gathers around the summoner to watch her do some kind of miracle with her sparkly new god power. Wakka drags Sally up for a front row seat, no doubt hoping to inspire some faith in his new gal pal.



Damn that's sparkly.



Damn that's horrifying.

Everyone else is in a state of rapture, gazing at this horrible flying abomination. Sally, meanwhile, recoils and makes a horror check. To think such an innocent seeming girl could summon such weird beast as that - !



That evening, after Sally has thoroughly stuffed herself, Wakka pulls together his team to introduce the new member. Everyone gets really excited over the prospect... Almost too excited, but, well, it is Sally who's joining the team, not your average Blitzer off the sea. After the initial pep talk, it turns to team bonding. These guys have known each other their whole lives; it's kinda hard for Sally to fit in among them and in time she stops trying.



Sally approaches the gathering around the summoner but they're not as welcoming as the Blitzball team. Her holiness, however, accepts all people of the world, be them goths, giant kitties, or heathens. She excuses herself from the gathering to meet Sally.

"Hi, I'm Sally."



Gosh this is awkward.

"So... that thing you summoned. That was... neat," Sally struggles to not vocalize her earlier horror.

"Do you... think so?" She seems pleased but hesitant.

"Oh sure!"

Awk-waard.

"... Do you... think I can... become high summoner?" she asks, in time.

Sally nods. She still isn't clear what that means. Maybe something like team captain, but with a team of other summoners. She shudders despite herself at the thought of six of those things from earlier. Please not that.

Yuna doesn't see Sally's discomfort, for at that moment a small child approaches to rescue Yuna from the dirty heathen. Before returning to her circle, Yuna says, "We can... talk more... tomorrow."

"Tomorrow?"



Wait, what?! When did Wakka have time to tell her about that "Zanarkand Abes" slip? Is Yuna just humoring Sally or does she believe her from some freaky mystic reason?

As Sally watches Yuna go, Wakka approaches to see what Sally thinks of the summoner.




It's not long before Sally declares she's "tired" and Wakka "shows her to her room". Rrr!

Sleep does not come easily to Sally. Her thoughts are too busy, wondering what happened between her and Wakka. Was it her? I mean... why had Wakka freaked out like that? And why had he muttered something like "Sweet Yevon, he's a girl!?" as he fled the hut?

When at last Sally finds sleep, it's restless, thick with more strange dreams.



Sally finds herself alone on a pier... No, not alone. Yuna is there, waiting for her. "I thought... We must go... The two of us..."

"Are you sure?" Sally asks, though the rational corner of her mind still aware wonders what Yuna is talking about.

"Take me... to Zanarkand."

"HEY!" That peppy voice - Rikku? "I'm taking Sally!"

"But she's... mine!" Yuna counters.

"I, uh, you guys," Sally stammers.



What? Now dad? "I hate you." He mercilessly mocks Sally, as he always did. "I hate you." Yuna and Rikku are suddenly no longer on Sally's side. They're at dad's. "I hate you." Cheering. What the hell?!



Though entirely unrested, Sally is grateful to leave sleep behind. What is with all these weird dreams? She never had such vivid dreams back home. Maybe it's something about this place... this time. She shakes her head, trying to free herself of these thoughts. All this thinking is giving her a headache.

The sound of voices comes from outside. Who could still be awake at this hour? She slips out of bed and peeks out the cloth draped doorway.



The goth chick is chewing out Wakka again, this time directly, not via marionette. It's hard to figure out what they're talking about but it seems to center around someone named "Chappu." "But she needed our help!" Wakka protests but the woman cuts him off with a glare. With a swirl of belts, she stalks off.

Wakka sighs and returns to his hut. Sally doesn't bother pretending she wasn't listening in. That bit at the ended sounded suspiciously like talk of Sally herself, so eavesdropping is absolutely justified. "Who's Chappu?"



Er... that's... weird.

Sally is kind of glad things didn't... progress further earlier in the evening. Wakka has some serious issues to deal with and she doesn't particularly want to be how he works through them.

"Look..." how to say it? "I don't know that much about you or anything, but... I'm really glad you've done so much to help me out and..."



Friendship salvaged? For now, at least.