REVIEW ~ FINAL FANTASY X HD Remaster ~

[LocoColt04]

FINAL FANTASY X HD Remaster
Revisiting Spira on the road with Playstation Vita


On 17 December 2001, Squaresoft, via Square EA, released its last Final Fantasy title in the North American market under the old moniker. The recipient of near-universal critical acclaim, FINAL FANTASY X rode into the homes of millions atop horses as grand as any. As days turned to weeks, and weeks turned to months, many players hopped in the chariot and were taken for a wonderful ride. FINAL FANTASY X introduced us to Tidus by default, and along with him came Yuna, Auron, and a whole cavalcade of entertainment.

And, as the game drew to a close, this is how many felt when walking away.

VIEW THE FULL ARTICLE WITH ALL IMAGERY HERE.

The remastered edition of FINAL FANTASY X|X-2 will ship next week on both the Playstation 3 and Playstation Vita platforms. PS3 users receive both games and all additional content on a single Blu-ray disc, while Vita users will receive a cartridge containing FFX HD and all of the extra content, along with a PSN voucher for FFX-2. There’s an incredibly useful data transfer tool to shift saves back and forth between both versions; unfortunately, the game is not one of Playstation’s featured Cross-Buy titles, so buyers will need to double up in order to fully succumb to Sin’s toxin.

Remembering that this is an HD remaster of an early Playstation 2 title is difficult. The first time the player is released from the beautifully rendered cinematics and dropped into a playable scenario, FFX HD looks like it is only a few years old. Aside from some of the more difficult upgrades, such as hair, feathers, and other such things, the character models are much more defined, with textures that make the inner surfaces more impressive than the edges. Backgrounds and terrain suffer a similar drawback; the refreshed textures are amazing but the edges are still slightly harsh, albeit undoubtedly some of the best available in the field of Playstation 2 HD remakes. The detail and meticulous care poured into this experience by Virtuos and the team from Square Enix are apparent in every facet of the game, even down to the mild user interface adjustments. There are some differences in the character models that will either surprise or disappoint, depending upon expectations. Some of the emotional responses offered by characters seem less enthusiastic, but this could be attributed to a greater range of control for animating expressions, eliminating the need for exaggerated movements.

Similarly, the overall aural experience leaves so very little to be desired. Dialogue tracks are upgraded utilizing their original recordings (i.e. little or no compression with random exceptions; clearer sound), sound effects for menus and selection are true to the source, and much of the soundtrack has been enhanced or entirely orchestrated. The majority of these upgraded tracks are very pleasant, though there are few occasions where the background craves more attention than the foreground. There have been particular reports from our fellow fansite reviewers of audio issues regarding dialogue; I personally never encountered them, but I used 5.1 digital surround headphones throughout my own experience. It would not be implausible to assume the remastered music could intermittently interfere with the default volume of the dialogue track.

Rather than offer players a gussied up showcase of original footage, Square Enix pays homage to its past with a genuine overhaul. Some mapping issues from the original still exist, though nothing that detracts from the experience in any manner. FINAL FANTASY X HD offers a fresh facelift to the game so many North American gamers fell in love with, and finally brings the International Edition content to our shores.

Users are prompted immediately regarding their Sphere Grid preference. Beware… all decisions are final. Once committing to the Standard or Expert Sphere Grid, only a new game can offer the other option. The Expert option offers more freedom at the cost of basic upgrades. In all paths (especially with Kimahri), characters have fewer default bonuses to all stats affected by the Sphere Grid. In return, players can mix and match many of the useful skills near the start of the game, as characters primarily start in the center and work outward.

Dark Aeons and Penance are another joyous addition from the International Edition. Players are introduced to these abysmal threats not long after gaining access to their airship. These new foes boast stats that break many of the predefined limitations and are a test of skill and stamina alike. Upon defeating all of the dark variants of Yuna’s aeons, access to Penance will appear automatically as an optional boss. With HP ranking in eight digits, Penance is widely regarded as one of the most difficult bosses in the series.

On the media for FFX HD, there are two more pieces of content. First-time FFX players will want to avoid the “Eternal Calm” video sequence until completing the full scenario, while everyone will want to avoid the credits and audio drama until completing the FFX-2 scenario. The audio drama assumes players have reached the perfect ending for FFX-2 and does contain spoiler content.

While perfection is certainly a stretch, FINAL FANTASY X HD comes damn close when honoring the original content while introducing an entire market to a new experience.

FINAL FANTASY X HD Remaster receives 5 out of 5 high-definition blitzballs.



FULL DISCLOSURE: Square Enix provided an advance copy of FFX HD for the Playstation Vita for the purpose of this review. A follow-up review for FFX-2 HD will be released at a later time as the Vita variant is digital-only and thus unavailable for download at this time. We did not review the Playstation 3 version. The score above reflects the merit of the HD remaster rather than the original content of the game itself (although if we did half-objects, FFX HD’s content would receive roughly four fully-aired blitzballs and a halfway inflated fifth).

FINAL FANTASY X|X-2 HD Remaster will be available 18 March 2014 in North America and 21 March 2014 for Europe.

[Maduin]

I have been waiting for this remaster for the longest time!

[Kurt Zisa]

Great review Loco It definitely cleared up a few questions I had, although I'm curious about the dialogue changes. There were times (in the original game) where dialogue seems rushed to fit the animation, especially when Tidus was speaking. Have they added to or reworded any parts, or is it still the same as before only remastered?

Did you have a crack at any of the Dark Aeons?

[LocoColt04]

The dialogue tracks are actually the original tracks, just at a higher quality because they were pulled from the master tracks again. Very little of the dialogue is compressed, and you can tell the difference. It's also noticeable in the few instances where it is compressed, because it stands out comparatively. Tony over at FFNetwork and I had a conversation about this last night before we posted our reviews, and we shared in the "no real issues" experience. Erren over at Nova Crystallis ran into more issues where the voice track seemed to dip down and the music or other sound effects overwhelmed the dialogue at times. That's why Tony and I both included notes about that in our reviews, just to bring it to attention. I have linked each of their respective reviews above.

Regarding the Dark Aeons: I encountered Yojimbo and Valefor (was not anticipating the abrupt location of Valefor) but otherwise did not have adequate time to complete the remainder of the bonus content without having to further delay the review. As my review was focused on the merits of the upgrade itself, I just wanted to get enough of a feel for the new content to discuss it. Now I can binge my way back through it... although, if we're being quite honest, I'm just going to dump all the time into blitzball now that I've had to basically ignore it throughout my initial playthrough.

[HeroZero]

Ahhhh Blitzball... When it becomes available are you going to do a review for X-2?

[LocoColt04]

Ahhhh Blitzball... When it becomes available are you going to do a review for X-2?

A follow-up review for FFX-2 HD will be released at a later time as the Vita variant is digital-only and thus unavailable for download at this time.

~ sent from my Galaxy Note 3 via Tapatalk Pro

[HeroZero]

Pre-ordered from amazon so it would show up on the release date, so excited went to the mailbox... nothing. Check my delivery status and it shows 'delivered' I think well huh, tracking say s delivered at door. Nothing at the door, hope it didn't get taken or something. Look closer at my order, and I somehow selected my parents house as the delivery place. Needless to say I am avery sad panda right meow.

[Rowan]

I got mine a day before the official release here in AUS. Hehe, gonna have fun with this tonight

[C:/Dille.Run]

For some reason my copy says out for delivery but it's 10PM local time so I'm assuming it's not coming today.
Looks like I'll be starting a day later than everyone else

[White Mage]

My pre-order is currently in transit, although it seems unlikely I'll receive it this evening, but seeing as the official release date is tomorrow, I guess I can wait until morning.

I never really got into FFX, as I originally played FFX-2 first and fell in love with it. Dresspheres For The Win! But I'm going to give FFX another go seeing as everyone seems to regard it very highly.

I've been waiting for this HD Remaster ever since I heard about it last year.

[Alpha]

Picked this up yesterday, after trying to play the PS2 and finding out the controller is broken. I had a gift card (itself from trading in games) that took the price down to $20 Kiwi, from $69. $69 sounds good for something that just came out, but... Hmm.

At times the new HD rendering is impressive, other times it just draw attention to the corners that have been cut. In the opening scene, Tidus' eyes are hella creepy. The NPCs are so flat, relative to the main characters they converse with. Yuna's hair has this awkward jiggle going on.

Because some parts are beautifully rendered, you notice the quirks more.

The main menu has changed a lot, and I miss the old one, it had a much nicer presentation, layout and colours. The sphere levels were in a little coloured circle on the right. Now it's just a number after the text S. Lvl, the same font weight and colour as the rest of the line. Nitpicking, sure, but attention to detail...

I've heard that the international version of X-2 has some cool content, like taming monsters and having Auron in your battle party. I'm a little keen for that, even if I hate X-2, given I've already played the "bonus" FFX content (PAL region, sucka).

BTW Penance is so hard. I've only ever beat it with Zanmoto. Good luck guize.

[loaf]

I'm in the middle of playing it right now.

[Rowan]

I just beat Seymour flux. On my way to Zanarkand.

Tip to new and old players alike:
Status effects are incredibly useful and sometimes even key for killing certain bosses. Unlike most other final fantasy titles, most bosses can be afflicted with most status ailments. For Seymour Flux its important to silence buster him so He cannot cast spells and use BIO on him to poison for massive damage.

[Kurt Zisa]

Status protection is also pretty vital in this game too, especially against Seymour. In the second battle Stone Ward/Proof armor will stop him from Petrifying and removing you from battle, and Zombie Ward/Proof will in the third battle will stop him from turning you undead and then "healing" you with Curaga. He likes to hide behind Protect and Reflect so if you have Yuna learn Dispel you can stop him from bouncing Flare off himself. I'm pretty sure he doesn't reapply Reflect straight away so he'll cast Flare on himself a few times for extra damage.

[Andromeda]

I think I usually carried around the items that remove zombie or esuna to remove it during the Mt. Gagazet fight with Seymour. It's been years, so I don't remember clearly which it was. I actually don't remember using enfeebles against any bosses in FFX. I know in the Bevelle fight with Seymour and his element spam, I usually just had Yuna keep up nul- all 4 elements to make his use of spells pointless against me. But it's pretty rare for a FF game to have bosses that are not immune to enfeebles, the XIII series has been the only one that's made it a critical part of the tactics necessary to win.

[loaf]

I just beat Seymour flux. On my way to Zanarkand.

Tip to new and old players alike:
Status effects are incredibly useful and sometimes even key for killing certain bosses. Unlike most other final fantasy titles, most bosses can be afflicted with most status ailments. For Seymour Flux its important to silence buster him so He cannot cast spells and use BIO on him to poison for massive damage.

A lot of bosses have that 1 thing that helps you out and yet a lot of people don't even know it!