Will and Kyle talk: Final Fantasy X HD

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PSU Staff Writer Will Robinson and Managing Editor Kyle Prahl have been friends for years. They talk about video games. Some of those video games are JRPGs (Kyle takes credit for introducing Will to Persona 4 Golden). Today, they started talking about Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD Remaster.

Thanks for stopping by.

 

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Kyle
I remember how I first introduced you to Final Fantasy X. I brought it over to your house one summer and I was like, 'Play this.' Didn't you get to Kimahri jumping out at you, and you were like, 'What the hell is going on?'

How old were we then, you think?

Will
Sounds right. I probably laughed my ass off seeing a giant panther man walk in out of no where. I'm pretty sure it was my first real exposure to JRPGs.

I think we were about 12 or 13 at the time, I think it was seventh grade for us

Kyle
FFX was really my first full-length exposure. I had played stuff like Threads of Fate, Legend of Legaia, demos of Final Fantasy VIII, etc. years prior. That's actually what prompted to get FFX and really sit down with it at that age--having that exposure to JRPGs before, but never being able to own one and really get invested (my parents were pretty hard on the whole ESRB thing).

JRPGs have always been able to pluck my heartstrings. Final Fantasy X was the first game to make me cry. Once during the Bikanel Desert scenes when Tidus learns of Yuna's fate, and again during the ending.

I remember staring at that game's The End screen, with its ornate white scrawl, in the complete darkness of my bedroom at 1 am.

Will
Wow, you even remember the name of the desert. lol It's been probably over 5 years since I last played it so I don't remember much of the details at all. I do remember you coming over to my house just brimming with excitement and making me watch the cutscene of the wedding with the airship flying in and all the characters grinding down ropes to take on Seymour.

Kyle
Haha that was so awesome. I love how that scene was once the pinnacle of cool CG in video games. Looked like a movie

I'm not sure how I feel about adding another scene though. That's the big Final Fantasy story of the day--there will be a 30-minute epilogue in the credits of Final Fantasyy X/X-2 HD Remaster. Supposedly, much of it will be narrated by Tidus in the same style as FFX, exploring some of the events after the two games.

On paper, it sounds amazing, and I'm super excited to have that little extra story incentive for playing them again. But I can't help but worry that Square will ruin it somehow, throwing in some details that change or ruin our perceptions of characters. Kind of like Harry Potter epilogue syndrome. Something utterly pointless that explains too much or changes our images.

though I guess it would have to be Kazushige Nojima, the original writer, who ruins it, since he's the one penning the new stuff

Will
Yeah, there's no way to know until we see/hear it. If James Arnold Taylor comes back to voice Tidus that will be a major plus. And having Nojima write it is definitely a step in the right direction. I guess it doesn't really bother me either way, especially since I never played through X-2. You're also a lot more attatched to X then I ever was too. It definitely is one of the best JRPGs I've played for sure, but it's been long enough for me that even if they added 30 minutes of stuff and it wasn't reported I never would've known, to be honest.

Kyle
Haha fair enough. Although there are other troubles with this remaster, like the fact that the Vita versions of X and X-2 are sold separately (and there's no Cross-Buy between the collections)

Will
Adding 30 minutes of extra story is potentially a problem, but their packaging of X and X-2 on Vita and no cross-buy are definitely problems

I really would like to know why they chose no cross-buy. If it is just pull out extra cash from consumers to make up for their "failed" sales of Tomb Raider, Hitman, and Sleeping Dogs, then that's absolute bulls**t.

Hopefully they also explain why they aren't bundled together on Vita like they are on PS3. When Konami did it with Metal Gear Solid Collection they at least had the justification that Peace Walker was already available on PSN for Vita as a PSP game.

Kyle
Yeah, that strikes me as REALLY strange, the Vita separation

If anything, they could bundle the Vita games as one collection, but then offer them separately as well

Will
Yeah, MGS was like that for Vita

Kyle
But to the best of our knowledge, they can only be purchased individually. Now, that may still end up being the same price in total, but I have my doubts.

Weren't the MGS games more expensive when bought separately?

Will
Same here

I think they were, by like $5 or $10, basically encouraging you to get the collection

Which I think that's smart marketing. Everyone likes having options. Hopefully they include a bundle version on PSN.

Kyle
Final Fantasy X is still probably my second- or third-favorite game ever. I really enjoyed Final Fantasy X-2 as a pseudo-sequel, pretend-its-story-doesn't-exist-when-you're-finished side project. With an awesome battle system, mind you.

But there's no way I'm buying X-2 on Vita, and I have serious doubts I'll be buying X on Vita either. Maybe it's selfish to expect Cross-Buy for every PS3/Vita game, and it's more of a first-party thing anyway, but frankly, I've been spoiled by it.

Will
Yeah, well, you aren't the only one. That also would be something really interesting to know; what the contract differences are between a third-party dev like Square Enix and first-party devs. Depending on what they are released for, price-wise, I'll probably end up only buying them for Vita, at least at first anyway. I still have FF X for my PS2, so I can still play it on a big screen if I want to.

Kyle
I think my platform of choice will be PS3, because I really want to see those upgraded spell effects, character models, and the slightly new UI on a big screen.

Silly Square. You wanna be all awesome and stuff at E3, then go and dash my hopes like this.

Will
I would much rather have the ability to play it on the go than just see a prettier game on PS3, personally. I really want to start fleshing out my Vita collection too. I've got a good chunk of games from PS Plus and my own purchases from PSN, but I only have one hard copy game (which I prefer) and that's Persona 4 Golden.

But yeah, Square sure seems to be having a lot of trouble at keeping a consistent image. Its like it's all part of some convoluted PR plan or something

Kyle
Hmm... you do have a point there. Actually, maybe it's a blessing to have the purchases split up on Vita. I really don't want to play FF X-2 again, anyway

Will
I'll still end up getting X-2 no matter what. I couldn't get into it when you loaned me it way back when but I want to give it a second chance. I just couldn't get past the "girl power" thing, and that's not because I don't like strong female characters (you know that). It just came across too strong and was super cheesey in the opening scenes.

Kyle
Now, super-cheesy in high definition!

Will
there's a tag on the bottom: "Now with 20% more cheese!"

"Cheese never looked so good"

Kyle
Final Cheese

Cheese Fantasy

bleh. I'm tired.

Will
me too

 

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