About the story being about Yuna moving on, There is a scene that you can get if you press X on the cutscene that plays when chapter 5 ends, the one where Yuna and the girls are walking away. If you didn't do this in an earlier cutscene when yuna was stranded in the farplane. the scene you get really concludes yuna's arc very well. If you want to see it, look up "Final Fantasy X-2 Sad ending". To summerize, Yuna hear's Tidus's Whistle, looks around, and his spirit appears behind her, holding her like he did before he faded away. She realizes that Tidus was with her the whole time, even now. She tells him that she's not worried anymore, that they will always will always be connected. Tidus vanishes, and Yuna says the last words she said to him before. Either thank you or I love you, with a smile, and then leaves. This really does feel like a conclusion the game was always heading towards, but they couldn't commit and added the tidus coming back scene last minute. I'm happy that Yuna and Tidus can be happy together, but that ending feels more thematically fitting.
yeah I've always felt that's the best ending to yunas story. thematically it's consistent with X's ending. of course the fan in me wants them to be happy together so I'm glad that can happen but man the "Yuna moves on" ending is so consistent with X's themes it makes me upset the novel exists.
Not to mention that if you actually want the "Perfect Ending" you have to do a lot of relatively out of the way stuff to even get the option to want Tidus back, all of which are permanently missable per playthrough It's honestly really cool
I prefer the ending where it's Yuna moving on. Tidus was a dream, let's be real. The sad ending matches the bulk of X-2's story, because most of it is about Yuna respecting the past, but finding her way forward and making peace with it in the end. Why would the developers otherwise make the happy ending where Tidus comes back so hard for the player to even see? Also, they left room for the happy ending reincarnation to not even be the same Tidus from X, where he is a new dream or something, or from the same cloth as Shuyin, but that could be my own interpretation. Essentially, the Fayth was supposed to die off completely, but at the end of the original X, you see Tidus balled up in the water, alluding to the fact that something could still be creating versions of him. Either way, I was just fine with the sad ending concluding Yuna's character arc for X-2, and I wasn't less happy for her, because it made total sense - Tidus was never real.
hmm Strange I got 100% by getting all the specific spheres to do pine secret quest and doing all the mission objective. you can skip the cut scene every story level all the location have its own unique quest do them all and get all these spheres.
"Hey, you know that guy The Completionist? Let me know if he ever makes a video on this game." Don't worry, I don't think he's going to be making videos much longer.
19:22 - When you get your first Special Dressphere, you also get the Unerring Path Garment Grid. It's literally just two connected nodes, which makes it really quick and easy to go straight to a special form.
It is, but essentially, you can go straight into ultimate mode and unlimited power over and over. It's cheap and broken but fun. True worst stats. I think actually none just a blank excuse to go super sayin in 2 seconds. Riku's is my favorite. Paine's is second. Yuna's is aight.
As has been proven many times over the years... Just because someone wrote a good story in a certain world doesn't mean that they're only full of good ideas when it comes to expanding that world or characters... That being said, I literally laughed out loud while you were talking about the 2.5 book, so that's worth something.
To me the line Rikku says in Zanarkand Ruins "Oh yeah, it does sound like Issaru" always read as her saying "Oh yeah that does sound like Issaru's voice" not "Monkey sounds similar to Issaru" as it does in the Japanese.
The novel is NOT Japanese exclusive. It's been translated (officially, I mean) into a few languages. I have it myself in Spanish and I know it is in French too
X-2 is so underrated. the job class system is so fun with this one, and the remake added more jobs to the west. if you are someone that likes maxing out games, this is the one for you. 100% takes A LOT
My FFX/X-2 platinum trophy is my pride and joy. I hope FFX/X-2 gets a remake in my life time or even a spiritual successor with the same battle system as FFX-2.
A game that requires you to read ALL THE FUCKING DIALOGUE IN THE ENTIRE FUCKING THING WITHOUT MISSING ONE FUCKING WORD is an awful game for completionists.
@@darkenkil4416 Fucking this man. I loved getting 100% on X, but I missed one stupid optional cctv cutscene of a balloon floating and it locked me out of 100% on that playthrough. I like X-2 but the platinum is total aids
If we ever get a FFX-3.... I sort of hope it just treats 2.5/Will as if it never happened. I'd personally enjoy a next-generation sequel which followed new characters in a Spira decades in the future. I'd also enjoy a sequel where we explored the lands outside of Spira, expanding on X-2's theme of "forging a new path" in the process. If a theoretical X-3 did continue off of Will's ending... I probably would play it, though with some trepidation. Anyways, I really enjoyed this retrospective! Excellent work, as usual, BrandoSP ^_^
You are spot on about the CGI of X in 2001. The first time my roommate and I played through X, the transitions from gameplay to FMV would usually get a verbal exclamation of "whoa!" or something. It was stellar and those FMVs are still freaking incredible compared to many games these days.
I always assumed Rikku's "that sounds like isaaru" was just remarking on yknow, hearing Isaaru's voice. If you hadn't told me here that it's a saru isaaru pun I never would have guessed! I'm willing to bet the localizers probably misinterpreted it that way too and overlooked the pun.
The infamous "Price of Eternity" X.2.5 novel has been translated in a few languages. I've had the opportunity to read the french translation and I can now proudly say that the book sits at the top of my shelf as the worst piece of litterature I've ever had the displeasure of reading. truly something that has to be read to be believed.
This video was awesome it's great to see such great and though content about a series that's so near to my heart also moonbow is amazing I can't stop listening I lover there rendition of beside island
Haven't seen the video yet, but i think X-2 is the funniest FF I've ever played, sure the story can't be compared to the best ones but gameplay wise very few come close to it. Looking forward to watching it.
There was a certain garment grid with two slots. This would allow you to access you Limit Break form after sacrificing one turn. I remember this was a pretty good tactic for the end game.
That 100% completion thing isn't really that big of a challenge because the game never expected you to get it in one playthrough. Is it possible? Yeah, but trying to do so leads to it being a nightmare like you said. But the game has a NG+ feature that keeps your progress on that percentage, and the choosing the other decision in Chapter 2 gives you access to more percentage points throughout the game since there are some different cutscenes. I remember getting 100% with the original release back in the day, and there was no guide back then at my disposal. It took a few playthroughs but in NG+ you can speed through to parts you missed very quickly because you'll have items and such that make things go much quicker. In HD it might be a bit harder though, depending on what all is added. On the other hand, there are probably more resourrces available for completing it. Like I know there is a sphere break program that can you can use if you aren't good at that minigame. PS. I hated the FFX-2 Blitzball Minigame. I like it even less than the X's Blitzball. Maybe because I was so young when playing back in the day, but X-2's Blitzball felt like you couldn't really do anything to improve your odds, that it was all RNG. And even raising one stat would feel like it was hurting the character just as much, even in the role they were being trained for. X's blitzball had a bad first impression, because the game was designed to stack all of the RNG against the player at the start, but beyond that, it was possiible to get quite good at the minigame by learning who to recruit and such. It's main problem beyond that was that some good items were behind the leagues and tournaments and you would need to save scum to get some of them to show up.
Final Fantasy X there is no such thing as trying not to 100% every time I played that game. I always ending up wanting the celestial weapons all aeons, but I'll tell you this I ended up getting ptsd from the chocobo balloon challenge race....
..... I have been burned so many times trying to 100% x2 in one play through... since the ps2 release. Even with the official ps2 guide with pictures and step by step. The HD version, I've tried one walkthrough, and mixing 2 or three to confirm I'm doing everything right... But still, I'm missing percentages. You're right. This is one of the games we're it's not worth it to 100%... but I can't stop it's an obsession at this point 😂 Enjoying your video dude, good job
I think the characters still have some stat Differences even as the same job so there still not identical. The much bigger difference is the animations that the characters have in each class. Since its not full turned based like 10 it can actually make a big difference. While it might not matter a lot of the time in harder content it can mean the difference in Winning or dying. For example rikku as a gunner does a twirl with the guns before firing which makes her much worse as a gunner than yuna or even Paine.
The characters have the same stats, but different EXP growth, Paine levels up faster per example, some Dresspheres are unique for each character though (Mascot, Festivalist, and their limit break Spheres for example). Also I didn't even know the animations had some kind of impact gameplay wise, so tbh I feel like it is an FFXII situation where a lot of people exaggerate how much the tiny animation difference matters, if I run the game blind, don't even notice that and manage to beat all the content fine, with the difficulty coming from the fights and not slightly slower animation speeds that is all I need to know.
@@madlaz9575 like i said most of the time its not a big deal but when your trying to do the secret end game dungeon and a enemy can hit you for 50000 damage or cast ultimate ect the animation difference can matter ive literally had riku die before shooting something before it reached her because of the twirl i mentioned earlier
I was actually one of the weirdos who played X-2 before playing X back in the day. In fact, X-2 was my first Final Fantasy game ever and therefor has a very special place in my heart. Even without the context from X I loved it a lot.
Many years ago I was in an electronic shop and saw a copy of FFX for the PS2. I knew nothing about FF and didn't know it was a series back then but the game's description and pictures on the back really intrigued me. My dad refused to give me my allowance early though and so my impatient self decided to look for the game on ebay. The only problem, I didn't really memorize the game's title. I only vaguely remembered "Final Fantasy" and an X and the cover being white with a colorful image. You can probably imagine I had a bit of trouble when there were suddenly a lot of games called Final Fantasy with a white cover and a colorful image. Anyway, once I was sure I finally found the one I saw in the shop, I bought it. As it turned out though, I DIDN'T buy the correct one. I bought X-2 instead of X. (So to answer your question in the video, this was how I, unknowingly and accidentially, skipped X) So this game was basically my first entry to the Final Fantasy franchise and I gotta say, as an 11 year old girl I loved the game so much!! Some parts of it, obviously, were a bit confusing since I was missing some crucial information from the first game, but to this day I have very fond memories of this game. Looking back, it's hilarious how jarringly different it is to X, but since I had never played the first one back then, my experience of playing X-2 was great. Thanks for making me remember this amazing game.
This was my first final fantasy. I was definitely lost but I had a ton of fun with it, so much so that I was willing to play 13 stop, try again years later, stop, and then try again and then play 14, 15, and then 7R
It's funny that I was just thinking "wonder if that guy who puts out those interesting long-form game videos has done anything recently" and then notice that there's one from a day ago
well its been 2 days since this was posted and i thought it would be fun to share that the video of eternity that gets recommended is now 12 years old XD
This game is an absolute blast to play despite how different it is from X. It's definitely short compared to most final fantasies, but you can pretty much triple the length of it by doing all the creature creator content. Catching every single creature and getting all thier fiend tales, plus completing all the tournaments takes ages. Plus it lets you cheese any of the hard boss fights from the main game because you can pop into the arena at any time to farm ap and levels
42:25 Funny thing about the Fate character is that the Einzberns were trying to summon the Zoroastrian god of darkness but accidentally wound up getting a nameless kid given the name who had "the six billion curses of the world" and then he merged with the Greater Holy Grail (not to be confused with the Lesser Grail that the Fuyuki Holy Grail Wars were fought over in Fate/Zero and the original Fate/Stay Night, I do not know why there are two Holy Grails) to become a proper daemon and the embodiment of "All the World's Evil" (don't ask me why that phrase is treated like a proper noun, it makes about as much sense as the lack of capitalization in "hollow ataraxia" ))
the god of darkness and the kid are one and the same, they just weren't aware of how the rumours of him were overblown so he got pwned. also no need to spoil FSN and FZ for no reason 💀
@@mattwo7 saying that Angra Maiynu merged with the Greater Grail and also the part about the Lesser Grail even existing, you don't even learn about there being 2 Grails until the UBW route
THe thing about the "international" edition is... FF did this in many of its games. They usually released the game in Japan first, and then started working on a tweaked version with more content and all sorts of adjustments... and that's the version the west got. These versions then also get a release in Japan and is called "international" ... on some of the later games, they actually didn't do it this way. for 10-2 and 12 they just released the initial game internationally, and then worked on a new "international" version, but gave up halfway through and never released it outside of Japan lol
For the Zanarkand bit with Isaaru in english, I always answered Isaaru cause I figure out who he was base on his voice, and interpret this answer as Yuna not wanting to play along his game (which makes sense considering she's not to happy that Zanarkand was made a touristic attraction, why would she bother to play along ?) and calling him out to cut the BS, however the "That does sound like Isaaru." in english for me is Rikku realising that the VOICE sound like Isaaru, which since the pun in the japanese couldn't be save seems like the most logical interpretation to me, especially since she only tells it if you put the Isaaru answer, you can even compare with your clip in japanese she is clearly trying to understand the pun, which of course doesn't happen in english, if anything it's Isaaru "is that your final answer ?" That seems off in english. All that being said..... as far as I'm concern there's nothing after the ending of FFX, everything else is just fan fiction level content that I'll just ignore.
The moment you introduce a character named Shinra who ends up having ideas about harnessing the lifeforce of the planet as energy you basically open the floodgates for them "FF7 and FF10 share a universe" discussions. Ultimately I'm in the camp of they share a universe. It's just a neat thing to me. Also, Tidus comin back basically out of nowhere is like the opposite of how KH basically built up that Roxas, Xion, TAV, and Naminé[her sorta less so]would come back through like three games before KH3. Their returns were built up, X-2 Tidus is just...boom, there he is. And then X-2.5 is fucking...boom there he goes cuz he's fucking stupid. And then boom...there he is again.
Surprised you don't care for Real Emotion nor 1000 Words. I love both of those songs. Anyway, I remember this game getting a ton of hate when it came out, and here I was secretly enjoying and 100%-ing the game.
This was the game that got me into final fantasy, I saw a friend playing it and the freely shifting between job classes mid-battle was just so cool to me, so I got the game and played it before playing any other game in the series, including the game this was a sequel of 😅
As far as X-3 goes, I went from despising everything it stood for to cautiously intrigued after replaying FFX. I could be completely insane, but I thiiink what it's leading towards is a story about memory. With all the talk about things coming back from the Farplane... that's not how the Farplane works? It's not the afterlife, it's a place where your memories take shape thanks to the pyreflies. So Yu Yevon isn't back, Spira just remembers Sin (which, of course it does, it spent a thousand years terrified of a giant whale appearing and wrecking everything) and that memory took shape. That, at least, seems like a fresher angle to take than just "FFX but again." (it also makes sense of some of the... odd dialogue in the audio drama). A manifestation of the trauma and fear leftover since FFX. Plus while Yuna's character regression isn't what I'd have chosen, I could justify it as 'She spent most of her life finding comfort in the temple, and unconsciously fell into old patterns, and her arc is accepting that memory can lie.' The audio drama and novella are atrocious follow-ups because people didn't want a lazy sequel hook, they wanted something that reminded them why they loved FFX and those stories completely failed to deliver. Still there's genuinely something interesting there for the story, iif they actually go there. At the very least, it doesn't feel completely irredeemable to me. The worst thing they do imo is solidify Tidus's return as the 'canon' ending to X-2. I always liked the fact the game gave you the choice, and especially as an adult I can really appreciate the strength of those two options, from "Yuna has moved on and won't live in the past," to "Yuna refuses to sacrifice anyone just as Tidus refused to let her die." Both feel like valid endings. Follow-up material that opts to specify that one happened feels like a downgrade inherently.
the idea of ffx-3 that the peeps at Got it Memorized theorized, that Yuna and Tidus dont work out in ffx-3 and Tidus wishes for Sin to come back since thats when his life had purpoose.
As for the "Isaaru" bit i don't know if it's been adressed : since the joke is impossible to translate the "Isaaru" answer implies that Yuna recognizes his voice, because they already met. If my memories are good even if you didn't play the first game you meet him at the entrance of Zanarkand. That's why Rikku adds "that does sound like Isaaru" as in the guy asking the riddle, not the answer of the riddle. Besides this all takes place in a greater thing in first act where you go and meet npcs frm first game and you almost have a dialog option where you recognize them if you remember them from the first game.
While most people hate FFX2, X2 was the first FF i played. I think it also put a permanent debuff on me, cause all the FFs i enjoy the most are the ones people hate. X2, 8, Dirge, XIII-2. All of them are games i have a really big bond with. All of them very fruits of the early to late 2000s
Great video! To this day I still believe that Nojima is a hack writer and that the original X was reworked around some draft he made to make it actually emotional. They should leave the entry alone and I'm sad fans just gobble bad stories because they like the characters so much.
i can confirm i followed a guide step by step only to get 98% at the end of the game only to find out I didn't interact with yuna dressed as a moogle AT THE START OF THE GAME
X-2 was my first time playing a FF game with the ATB system. Its so fun. Has anyone tried the monster capture? Its fun to make a party of super fast monsters that spam kick attacks to destroy everything in the game. Its also fun to have the Ultima weapon or the Almighty Shinra as party members.
Way back in 2003 at Otakon, I met someone who was obsessed with/cosplayed as Paine - she was crazy, unpleasant, pretended to be an artist, and invited herself into my friend group's hotel room to sleep (a complete stranger, along with two of her friends we didn't know who were also cosplaying FFX characters). I literally cannot play this game without remembering this tweaked-out cosplayer and putting that personality onto Paine. Thanks for having this retrospective so I don't have to play FFX-2 and deal with my memories.
To be fair, the guardian type enemy that you show in the second clip regarding bosses from the first game being used as regular enemies in the second one, that particular enemy was also a regular enemy in the Zanarkand ruins in the first game. I also don't think that the monks that you fight in Kilika are the undead ones from Zanarkand. I think those are just regular members of the faction that you have to get past at that point of the story. Remember you have to give the guards on the stairs the right password depending on the amount of guards there is. That's what these guys are. Notice how they don't have the zombie effect and don't have the death smoke coming off of them. They are not zombies they are alive. You also fought living versions of these guys in Bevelle in the original
I've always theorised that sin was always one of the dreams of zanarkand. Jecht became sin so of Yu-Yevon existed still so would Tidus. Maybe everyone who became sin in the past was originally a dream
Granted, I haven't played Final Fantasy X-2 since it was new, something that I do intend to rectify sometime soonish, I've never really shared the same opinions you expressed here. Granted, I was 13 at the time it came out, so I wasn't as emotionally mature then as I am now, so it's possible I might feel like you do, I really just did see X-2 as a way for Yuna to seek closure, and the game gave you different choices to make to determine her future and what form the closure took. Granted, the idea that getting 100% gets the happy ending makes it seem like it's the intended course, like you say, it is a royal pain in the ass to do, as someone who tried and failed to do it when it was new. I don't know what I missed, but I did have to resort to NG+ to "cheat" the 100% because there's overlap between the New Yevon and Youth League completion points, so if you manage to 99%, you can get the last points, regardless of what you missed, by choosing the other side. So yeah, my memories of X-2 are a really fun game and a redemption arc for Final Fantasy X, because I hated Final Fantasy X when I played it the first time. I've since replayed it, a few years ago, and I still don't like it, mostly centered on the fact that I hate Tidus and everything he stands for. Wakka sucks too, but at least he does grow. I know Tidus technically does grow too, but... I don't really care if he did or didn't, that's how much I don't like him. I'm not even bothered by 2.5 or Will, I think Yuna can and should do much better than Tidus, so if X-3 happens, and Tidus is out of her life for good, all the better.
Getting 100% in multiple playthroughs isn't that difficult. The game actually has more than 100% worth of stuff. Just that some of it is mutually exclusive with other stuff, but NG+ keeps that stuff flagged.
I remember playing this game and used the Berserk Dress Sphere (whatever the one is that gives you haste and you can't control the character) on Yuna when she was the final member left fighting this uber late-game boss. I had been completely drained of all else so I said screw it and hoped her speed would win out. Sure enough, I had literally 2-3 hp left and normal attacked right as the boss attacked but because I was faster, hit it and won. I had always been a strict turn-based guy until that moment, now the ATB system is so much fun to mess with.
I was about halfway through the game, wanting to 100% it, when my friend said wait you are missing 0.2% or something... Then I went through allllll the progress I had done, and saw that I missed to talk to a Moogle at the Luca docks within like the first 5 minutes of gameplay... and those 0,2% would be missing forever, lol. Didn't touch the game for years after that until Remaster, then I almost completed the 100% but moved away from the person with the PS3, welp. Maybe one day with the Steam version!
If they made X-3, they'd be smart to ignore the content outside X and X-2. The 3rd installment would perform such a massive dive bomb with what fans remain if they didnt decanonize Will and 2.5. X-3, in my opinion, would follow a journey on a new continent. In X, the FMV showing Sin powering up to attack the airship display his power of manipulating nature using its Gravity powers. In doing so, and zooming out into space, it implies the continent X and X-2 take place on is only on one half of the planet of Spira. X-3 could show New Yevon or the Youth League (or some new governmental faction) receiving a distress call from "a place mentioned a thousand years ago in ancient Yevon texts, before the war". The denizens of Spira learn about a whole new continent that they've been disconnected from for centuries now facing a lethal threat (not Sin) and are sending out sphere waves across the world for any aid it can get. Then X-3 begins. You have Tidus back as a playable character, YRP, and perhaps new characters as they explore a whole new set of places, fiends, ways of life, etc. The X and X-2 continent only seen or played in for a handful of moments and select cutscenes in the beginning, middle and end so the main bulk of the game solely focuses on the new land. Idk, I think it'd be nice. Throw in an Auron cameo whether in a flashback or a farplane visit and you're set to make money and new fans.
I didn't know any of that about FFX-2.5 and the sequel audiobook. That..... that just bums me out. It's so horrible that of course FFX-3 will be based on that. oohhhhhhhh Well... at least your Retros are still fire. Thanks, Brando.
Play the game as a standalone game.. This was my first FF game and didnt know it was a sequel until years and years later. (I was a dumb kid who never questioned the meaning of the title “x-2”.) This game is still the best game for me and I’ve always yearned for a very similar game mechanics, to which none has come close since. Remastered isn’t as good as vanilla tho.. since I literally overplayed the vanilla game before using Catnip and Lady Luck. 😅
Hello, i'm the person who played X-2 first and then got my hands on X. Why? It's simple my friend, i couldn't buy the disk. There's no X in my hometown stores, but there was X-2, and it was in a single copy, so i had no choice but to buy it, and play it. I learned about ffx from some article in magazine, so i knew that Tidus was the main character in the first game. So when i started playing X-2 i was questioning where is Tidus, what the hell happened, who are these people? But nevertheless i really enjoyed it. It was fun, energetic and probably what i needed back then in 2004 or 2005 (yeah, i was slow on those things). I replayed it multiple times, trying to get the perfect ending, and because at that time i didn't have internet or any sort of guide books, i tried out different routes myself, and it was smth new every time! Luckily, they guy who worked at the game store was my friend, and somehow he managed to get a copy of X (probably just to impress me), so i got it for free, and came home to play. And instantly was disappointed by depressing atmosphere, and the whole seriousness of the game. I couldn't get the shpere grid system at first, so i wasn't using it (and somehow made it to the Moonflow without it), and then i stuck at the boss, so i had to restart the game and do everything right this time. And the end i enjoyed it a lot too, despite the fact that Tidus was annoying af, battle that felt slow, and some questionable mini-games that almost made me ragequit. At some point i even replayed it several times, because i enjoyed some bosses and really liked boss theme, so it even became my favorite game, buuuuut.... When i grew older - i started to see major flaws in FFX, and seeing them made me feel that i overrated this game. Don't get me wrong, it's just i don't like it anymore. It's too depressing for my taste, too slow paced, too...how should i put it... conservative (?), reserved (?) maybe... But X-2 still has a strong place in my heart. I replayed them back to back not so long ago, and yeah, i like X-2 more. I bet X's fans would roast me for this, but i stopped liking X and still enjoy playing X-2. It's just more fun game. At least for me, X-2 is better than X.
Listen you was wrong about that “Eternal Calm” 30 min video was exclusive time remasters because I still have the demo disc with FFX-2 on it with the whole Eternal Calm video on it from back in the day like 2003, just thought I would tell you incase you wanted to fix your video :)
A way to get FF X HD without FF X-2 would be to get it used on the switch since the X-2 content needed to be downloaded through a code so there is no chance of that being intact with a used game.
33:43 I usually go for English just for the ease of it. And it also helps that Fire Emblem which I play has had amazing voice direction in their games since Echoes. You also can't get me to play Xenoblade in any audio other than English. Those European voices are a part of the series' charm in the West. Especially in cases like in XC2 where the people of each titan have different accents, and in XC3 with all the European slag. And you get plenty of swearing which is unheard of in a Nintendo game. Hard to really tell with those two series which dub got the most attention, but I'd like to think both.
Playstation Magazine Issue 75 released a disc with "Eternal Calm" in December 2003. I have had it since then. It was the promise of this sequel, with a playable demo as well. I bought it on the PS2. Pleasantly surprised.....and somewhat disappointed at the same time...? The girl group was great. The absolute sexualization of them was....par for the course. Seriously the secret Gagazet hot springs section....enough said. That being said it is a very deep storyline, with great twists and emotion hiding just under the silly, campy, almost downright stupidity. And the battle system does make it fun as all hell. The Dressphere (Job system) is really good. Edit: I have one save file with a 99.8% complete. And the funny thing is I do not know HOW I got that. I had all but given up on it when I did that.
The soundtrack for this game was the best part. It was an interesting idea, but it just didn't make sense in the framework of the world they built in 10.
I think the Issaru/Monkey thing is executed fine in English. Like Monkey is the answer, buuuuut the girls subvert the answer and instead call out their friend for being a bit of a shyster when they recognize his voice. In fact I'd say it makes less sense in japanese... like the dudes' name is similar sounding to the password so that means *it* must be the password? That's just weird.
Not sure about the 4th, but Toriyama was one of the designers for Parasite Eve: The 3rd Birthday. Aya has costumes there, too (including one that's Lightning-themed).
If it helps, at tje time my parent could only afford second hand games and so I played FFx-2 before even playing a second hand FFX. I will say as a teen at the time playing a sequel first, it was a little confusing BUT I managed to get a good solid impression of the mood of the game. IMO I felt over time there was meloncholy steeped into every character but only if you searched for it, especially Paine's story, that really let me feel the world struggle between Tradition vs Reform. It was explained well despite no Sin plotline context. That said, it made me upset on first playthrough as a teen when Vegnagun came into play because hey no no go back, this concept is cool aaaaa. but I still hold it close to my heart many many years later cause of the charm, music and combat being so so fun. Thousand Words made me cry my eyes out and i WILL cry again.
30:59 - One of my biggest complaints about X-2 HD is how they changed the final note to Eternity ~ Memory of Lightwaves. I would almost always listen to it when I booted up the PS2 version so to find that they cut the bass out of the final note in the HD version is like being blue balled. 58:30 - IRC the weird justification behind Sin's return was that the dead were coming back to life because of the destruction of the Fayth throwing Spira's pyreflies out of balance(??) (they discovered this by looking at a shoopuf). Also, the entire thing is narrated by someone claiming to be Auron's granddaughter (wtf).
