Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD Remaster Still Going

In my last post, I talked about picking up a copy of the game from a friend at church. I've been playing the tar out of X since then and have completed everything except a few Dark Aeons and Pennance. I'm trudging through the grind to get my Luck stat boosted (Greater Sphere for 2x Luck Spheres, then Earth Eater three times for the 6x Fortune Spheres needed to activate the Luck Spheres). It's a lot of grinding, but it's going to be necessary to continue.

So far, I've taken down Dark Valefor, Ixion, Ifrit, and Shiva. I've tried both Yojimbo and Bahamut, but even with maxed stats, they still evaded my attacks (hence the need for boosting luck). I'm determined to at least make it to Pennance, but we'll have to see if I bore of the Greater Sphere/Earth Eater grind over and over and over again...

Beyond that, the only thing I haven't accomplished is getting Wakka's Celestial Weapon fully powered. I like Blitzball, but it gets tiring playing the ton of games required to get the different reels. I have a Break Damage Limit weapon for him as it is, so he's not completely useless.

If I decide to go trophy hunting and go for the platinum, I've only got a few left. The first being Wakka's Attack Reels. I've also got to max out the sphere grid for one, and then all characters. My main team of Yuna, Rikku and Titus are close to being there already and if I wanted to waste time grinding out easy spheres (MP, Accuracy or Evasion) I could do it fairly quickly. I also have the one in Remium Temple to get 5 chests and win the race. Then there is the beat Pennance trophy. Off the top of my head, that's all I have left. So close!

I'll stick with X for a while longer before moving on to X-2.

Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD Remaster

A few weeks back, I bought a copy of the Final Fantasy X/X-2 Remaster off a friend at church and I've been playing it quite a bit. It brings back a lot of memories running through Spira once more and I'm glad I acquired it.

I've played several other HD Remasters of older PS2 games and this is definitely one of the better ones. Quite often, I've been playing other games and all I could think about was how "last gen" the game was. Yes, the graphics looked better, but it was still slow and clunky behind that compared to more modern games. Fortunately, FF X still holds its own. Yes, it has quirks that scream PS2 like awkward animation and camera, but the gameplay is still solid, even after all these years.

Story wise, I haven't completed it yet. Even though it's an old game, I still don't want to spoil it, so I'll just say I've completed Zanarkand and am doing side-quests now. In fact, last night I acquired an item I was never able to get in the original PS2 version. I beat the Chocobo Trainer with a time of 0:0:0. I'll finally be able to get Titus' Celestial Weapon! (His was the only one I didn't have before).

I've ran into some of the Dark Aeons and have managed to die horribly each and every time. They are going to be a challenge for sure. I know I can beat Nemesis in the Arena (I did last time and I'm so far doing better now than I was then), and we'll have to see how things go later on.

I read my old review of the game and I gave it a 9.5/10, a score I still stand behind.

Eventually, I'll complete X and move on to X-2 and see if it is as well redone as X.