FFX HD part 2 fairly soon after the first part, as I want to get this out of the way while it's still fresh in memory + I have to spend the next few days studying and researching/writing for a paper.



We board the ship at last and Tidus decides to uh... go sightseeing, I guess...



GDI Tidus



Kimahri is a pretty forgettable character for a lot of reasons, one being he refuses to talk to me. Even Lulu said something to me, even if it was dismissive and she caught Tidus looking at her boobs.



That's putting it very politely.



TRUE ELIGIBLE BACHELOR FOR LULU #1: Rin. At least he has initiative! And business sense!

I have plenty of gil since I haven't bought anything, and I have no clue what affect this has on anything, but I give him the 100 gil.



And ELIGIBLE BACHELOR #2: Gatta. Another crusader may be a bad idea, but hey, he survives, has a scene later on which just... well, we'll get to it, and still better than Wakka.



And that is part of why I am trying to help you find someone else!



Also frequently "Tuna," according to my phone's auto correct.

Although seriously speaking very few characters seem to ever see Yuna for herself, she's just "Braska's daughter" or "a summoner." It actually makes sense that she'd quickly take to Tidus, who doesn't know or care about any of that.



Even if it does lead to a scene of them just giggling while the camera pans to the sails



He was a drunk, exactly the type of person you'd expect to accidentally wander 1000 years into the future.



Every single boss battle so far has been different in terms of mechanics and how you have to beat it. I suppose you could just grind excessively and power through things, but I really like how otherwise every boss battle brings something new to the table and isn't JUST "oh you have to hit harder than it does."



Fishbait living up to his name.



If I had to be saved by Wakka, I'd be tempted to say just leave me be.

And then we finally reach Kilka, and that...







Of course, they have to pick some of the worst scenes imaginable to show off Sin's destructive might, but as it's portrayed as a force of nature, it's... very true to how unpredictable and nondiscriminatory events can be.

It does make me wonder why they build towns so close to the ocean and without any fortifications, though. I imagine it wouldn't help THAT much since sin can send its spawn to destroy shit and seems to also be able to fly, but anything would help a little, right?





I know this must be very alarming for him, but it's hard to care about that after the previous scene.



To be fair to Tidus, he does ask important questions a first time player would have no clue about



This is true even for not-undead people



So walking on water instead of surviving under it for ridiculous amounts of time: Stylistic choice or blatant comparison to real life religious figures who have done the same?



Have I mentioned how much I love Lulu in this



YES, THE BEST LINE IN THE GAME WAS LEFT INTACT AND NOT RE-TRANSLATED!



They have a conversation on whether or not now is really the time for blitzball, which is a common question that comes up after any disaster. Unfortunately for us, this was the conclusion.



Um, rude. This game doesn't have levels, but we started with you having 0 sphere point and Tidus at least had learned cheer!



... and I tried to avoid using him in battle if I could help it, lol. I wish I didn't have to use him, but otherwise I kind of love this battle system. I had forgotten most of the details of it, but the way you *don't* have to just mash X during even random battles is greatly appreciated and you have to use most of your party members - sans Kimahri - which is a fairly realistic mechanic, since no one is going to start out good at everything while enemies are going to have different weaknesses.



Or maybe it's because you're trying to attack with your blue balls in the first place.

After Valefor almost singlehandedly wins that fight...





Thank you. Tidus and Yuna face way too many people instantly comparing them to their parents, and I'm relieved to hear one of her friends say she's NOT going to replace Braska.



I'm guessing this is supposed to go with the fire motif, but it just looks... so... not nearly as cool as the other temples. Way too many seemingly random holes.

I also imagine that's a pain in the ass the clean. You know birds have to live in those holes, so who is the unlucky person charged with cleaning THAT up and keeping the whole temple looking nice?



ELIGIBLE BACHELOR #3: Bickson. Sure, he's an ass, but being an ass is still better than being racist.

They came to pray for their victory, but Luca is so large... why isn't there anywhere to pray in Luca? Or are aeon-temples just significantly more lucky than average prayer sites?



You know, for a moderately emotionally abusive drunkard with a tendency to stab things before thinking.

You have to love the story presentation here. We're seeing Braska and Jecht through either the eyes of their kids, who were very young at the time, or how the people of Spira remember them-- which is of course going to be embellished to make them sound like the greatest heroes ever... so finding the spheres about them to see who they *really* were was one of the best parts of the game to me.

In general, the story telling in this title is great, although sometimes a little forced on what they withhold, as it's a bit ridiculous that Tidus didn't know summoners die for the longest time. It makes sense from a presentation perspective, but not so much when you consider how important summoners are in this world and how their death is common knowledge and you'd be likely to hear about their sacrifices even in passing.



I barged in here looking for loot. No one stopped me. Oh, pre-ps3 rpgs. How I miss you and your ability to let RPG heroes be the ultimate selfish thieves.



I also make Tidus pray every time it presents the option, simply for the lols since it doesn't seem like something he'd ever do on his own accord as he doesn't seem concerned about blending in and doesn't care about Yevon.



... shit, it's a walking dumpster.

And once again... BROUGHT TO YOU BY NOMURA.

(Impracticality aside, just looking at that outfit HURTS since I imagine it physically hurts to have strings tied around your skin and not ON CLOTH)



Jee, I don't know, did you flee from the majority of the battles on the way here? You NEED a diverse team to beat the various enemies.



Yuna relies back that she only has as many guardians as people she can trust, and she's really blessed to be able to trust so many. Nailed it.

I would say the line above is too nice, given the circumstance, but after THAT... I'd hope that Dona has some Nul-burn on hand, but I'm really not concerned by how quickly she gets over burns.



After she seems to leave, the rest of the party goes into the Cloister of Trails, but I can't go down there nor leave the room. I remember he ends up down there somehow, but can't remember how. So I literally run in circles for a good minute until



-- oh

This also raises a lot of questions.

What are the qualifications for becoming a summoner? They have to go through multiple trials, but what, specifically? As Dona really doesn't seem like she's more concerned with bringing the calm over all else, or she wouldn't do shit like this. I don't know what, if any, virtues Yevon values... Do they have any rules outside of "don't use machines" and "only summoners and guardians are allowed in the cloister"? The Fayth are obviously unconcerned with whether summoners follow the leaders of Yevon (see: Yuna later on), but I'd assume they'd need to first be sanctioned by someone of Yevon and then get approval of the Fayth, which...

Oh, and when Yuna first gets off the boat, she says that she'll preform the sending if no other summoners are there, but... Dona was already there but doing fuckall.

I love lore and would seriously like to know all of this.

In any case, we get through the trial safely and



Presented without comment.

We leave for Luca, to... play blitzball, boo. Damn blitzball getting in my way of getting Ixion.



Wait, she's in the Luca Goers uniform... THEY HAVE FEMALE PLAYERS?! None of the Besaid players are female... I'm not 100% certain of this at the moment, but later my suspicions were confirmed that yes, the Luca team DOES have female players.

... why am I tempted to throw the match and root for Luca. Between this and Wakka...

Also what the hell, ELIGIBLE BACHELORETTE #4: Balgerda. This may even be her only line in the game, I don't know, but she's obviously willing to be up to... something...



That's rich



I'm not sure if this is a case of the grass is always greener, but I'm tempted to say no, you really can't say that since uh... having an asshole still alive to bother you isn't exactly a good thing.



I remember failing at this so badly when I played before



So I'm utterly shocked at nailing it the first time!




Yuna realllly sounds like she hasn't considered other possibilities sometimes. I would probably be annoyed, but when I consider what she's willing to do because of this... I just kind of cringe. I think part of it is how she was likely praised and treated specially her whole life, but I'm not really sure how to feel about her at the moment.




Okay, I laughed. We're so awesome.



AHHHHHHH BAD FLASHBACKS TO ANNOYING X-2 QUESTS

(and I STILL don't know what these things are)



Let us take a moment to mourn the loss of Seymour's beer belly

Also, the very moment he steps off, there's eerie music playing and the camera pans to him giving Yuna a creeper smile. Yeah, he's definitely not going to be a villain, nope. Not even trying to hide how heroic he is.



If old men in dresses psyche you up, that's not for me to judge, but you really shouldn't have married Lulu in that case. Saved both of you a lot of trouble.



Speaking of, your BL score determines your skill at blocking balls. Makes sense.

It also occurs to me that Tidus wouldn't be the best FF hero when it comes to this. Probably the only FF hero with a lower BL score is Bartz, as his party was all female + one old guy. The other males in the FFX party aren't really BL material, so I imagine Cloud and Squall could blow Tidus out of the water (literally in two ways of literal) here.

... then again, they were ALL in Dissidia, so maybe that changed things.



Uhh I wish I could laugh at this more but

when I was making that chart of the FFRK sims, looking up Seymour was not a fun time.

Let me put it in perspective: Cecil, Golbez, and Isaaru had no naked fanart on the front page. Personal preference aside (like Golbez has way too much muscle for me), I'd say those are all good looking guys, right?

... but then Seymour had PLENTY of naked fanart on the front page. Only one. I don't know, do some people just really dig coatrack hair?



Things I'm really tempted to ask about, but am not sure I want to know the answer to. These guys are way too obsessed with horns.

While the party is distracted by comparing horns, Yuna gets kidnapped. I really wish that would stop happening to FF heroines.



Wellll, I guess he's technically still *in* the sphere, but...



Fun with the battle system + nearby gear.

I love how, after recusing Yuna, Lulu says "I hope you hurt them"



If that's what you call "they knocked me out, dragged me on their ship, and then said I could stay if I work for them"




See, this is what gets me about Wakka. It isn't that he dislikes machina, but even his childhood friends are afraid to tell him that someone he's known his whole life, and who has likely never even used a machina, is part Al Bhed.




I really have to hand it to Yuna, she at least apologies for getting kidnapped, even though it is her guardians job to protect her and we wouldn't even be stopping here for so long if not for Wakka, as we're doing this instead of progressing on with Yuna's story which is a bit more important.

(One of the things which annoys me the most about Rinoa is she never seems to realize how her actions, like getting kidnapped all the damned time, affect other people)

On blitzball, it's actually... kind of amazing they put so much into creating a sport. I mean, it helps the world seem more realistic since almost all civilizations have some major sport they pass the time with. They also put a lot more rules than I'd expect into it, giving it more legitimacy as a sport. That said, it really should've been optional and I wish we had gotten more background on lore, such as the questions I posed above at the Kilka Temple, instead.

I don't know how many other people love lore, as I know with the Dragon Age series, I love the DLCs which add more to that, but a significant number don't care about any DLC that doesn't have more interactions with the main party instead... but I do know that very few people love blitzball, so.



Pfft, kind of unfair to Yuna and Lulu, don't you think? I mean, if getting your ass kicked every time is a better memory...



As for why I was certain before...



This starts out absolutely brutal, I really wish you could have a practice round or something-- I mean, if it had to be mandatory in the first place.



And your team... they really do truly suck. This is only one vs one, yet there's no winning because the opposing players stats are higher in every aspect.

When it hits past time, I reset, because I realized a few things halfway through that I think may help more. If I still lose after this try though, I really don't care enough and halfway want Luca to win anyway, so~



The first half this time goes a little smoother, as I immediately turn it on manual, make sure to pass every time I get close to ONE other player to avoid those 3 vs 1 situations, and pass to Fishbait when near the goal + use Jecht shot. It hits half-time with a tie.



Bwhaha



... but I completely forgot that halfway through part II, the crowd demands Wakka for some inane reason. Do they just want to laugh at his hair some more as he floats passed out in the water? I'm afraid I'll lose my lead here, as I'd been relying on Jecht Shot since it bypasses two other players and gives you +5 shot.



... but I think I've nailed this game as this is the final score. The last one was even scored with some mook!



Up next: HAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHA... Operation Mauled Hens. (I'm never going to get Ixion, am I)