So, Orie’s been making lots of Japanese friends lately, friends who are going to stick around the area indefinitely. She’s met up with Sayaka, Kazue and Akira a number of times and became fast friends with them. So, this kid of about 24 years old named Sho is staying with Akira and finishing up college at NCSU. The last time we met up, we talked about PS2 games (he’s into sports and driving, I’m into just about everything but sports and driving, but we both like horror and some console RPGs). I lent him Forbidden Siren 2 (one of the best horror games. EVAR) and the Taiko Tatsujin game.

Last Thursday, Sho and Akira and others came over for dinner. Sho brought Final Fantasy X International Edition (it’s the Japanese game, but with some extras, a new optional and totally different sphere grid, bigger badder side-bosses, etc). When folks left, for nostalgia’s sake (since I beat X few years back and sold it, as well as X-2), I popped it in to see what it was like.

I was sold in like 8 seconds. It was like a recovering addict stumbling into a drug den. My skin itched as those first few seconds of the song “To Zanarkand” played and the sad/reflective opening unfolded. Those few bars of that song made me forget

Chocobo Racing

Butterfly Collecting (never did complete it)

Dodging lightning 200 times

and that first Blitzball game.
Yep, the good I remembered drowned out all the crap. I found myself on eBay repurchasing the original Import/Japanese (language: The International versions are in English. And while some character’s voice actors are ok, I wanted the Real Deal) of Final Fantasy X and X-2. When Orie leaves for Japan in a week, I’ll be in a cycle of doing game writing/translation, work, and FF-X.

This time I’m going from start to finish. Going to take a shot at Omega. But I’m definitely up for collecting every single ultimate weapon and armor. Yep, even gonna give a good few hours at the butterflies.

I was telling Orie about this: FF-X and FF 12 were games that we both played together: Mostly me at the controls, but both watching the story unfold together.

We were comparing the two. I’m finding stuff that I really don’t dig about FF-X: The battle music and victory dance, while “historic” throughout the series, was way overdue to be put down. I like the 3-person battle system but I don’t like the “crash explode random encounter makes you jump out of your seat every 10 seconds” effect. In short, I wish there was a version of Final Fantasy X but with Final Fantasy 12’s superior real-time combat engine.

Also, FF-12 is quicker to “get into play”, fewer cutscenes and stuff in the beginning before you get to make meaningful choices. In FF-X, your first real meaningful direction where you steer the dude yourself comes like 40-90 minutes into the game. In that regards, 12 was better. If they knew then what they know now, the first scene in FF-X would be a random fishing boat getting attacked and destroyed by Sin, but you play the doomed (or Are They?) crew in the first fight of the game. Then the “real story” began.
But in all other regards, Final Fantasy X wins. The story is better. The visuals are more inspiring and fantastical. The whole thing has more flavor (mostly man-asian, southeast asian, etc). And mostly, the characters and their backstories are memorable. Even Orie knows the names of all the characters from FF-X. It took both of us a few minutes to remember the name of a single character from Final Fantasy 12 (Van. Later, actually as I typed this, I remembered “Ashe”. The rest, to me, are “Pigtail girl”, “Han Solo”, “Bunny Eared Serious Girl”, and “Good Twin”). I don’t remember like any single aspect of the story, save the bits about getting to Bunny Girl Village, parts about the Evil Twin, and the final battle. Milquetoast white fantasy with absolutely no teeth.

Maybe it’s because X was totally more Emo, about the sometimes-whiny protagonist with friend/family issues (who strives to overcome them! Wow!), and everyone with their own hangups (Wakka is prejudiced and his brother died, Lulu is pining for a dead lover, Khimari was exiled, Yuna’s a ball of doom, Auron is double-doomed, and Rikku… is… uh… too hot in that Al-Bhed hunting outfit).

In any case, FF-X is on the brain again, burning like an atomic coal. I’m putting off serious play on the International edition, instead waiting for the original Japanese language version to show up. And when it gets here, I realized I’m only going to play it a little until I finish more Tenra Bansho translation - and also tonight came to the decision that I will only play FF-X while simultaneously holding yoga positions (even minor ones), so that the experince isn’t a total wash of mind and body.

Anyway, here I go again. 80-120 hours of play over the next 3-5 months or so. No other game, not Persona 3, not even Shadow Hearts Covenant had that amount of hold over my psyche.