1:01:30 Considering how much of a jerk Jecht is, it seems like the most reasonable explanation is that Tidus's mom fits into the very common mold of women who are blindly enamored with the excitement of being with the "bad boy" who lives by his own rules and succeeds in gaining high status despite his abrasive personality. Despite the stereotype of motherly nurturing women, a lot of them simply prioritize their own life and fulfillment through fun with a partner over the fulfilment of raising a child. It's part of why so many modern women fight for things like the right to abort at will. If Tidus notices this then it only makes sense he would be jealous of his father effortlessly commanding all of his mother's attention. You see this in the dating world all the time where men who were raised to believe a man is "supposed to" live a certain way are often frustrated to see that some of the men who are most successful with the opposite sex are often the most narcissistic and selfish. Even towards the end when Tidus finally gets to tell his father how he feels Jecht still keeps up the tough guy persona to the point of teasing Tidus about the natural reaction of crying. Jecht is just constantly invalidating his son's emotions as well as distracting the only other person who could hope to understand Tidus.
One subtle thing about the Al Bhed language you didn't touch on is that it is clearly designed to be spoken, which is not a trivial consideration. This kind of simple replacement cypher is commonly used as a puzzle, but most of the time the results are an unspeakable mess of letters. If you look at the cypher itself, there are clearly a few rules that the creators of the cypher used to ensure that things could be pronounced. Vowels (including 'y') are only ever replaced with other vowels, ensuring that appropriate vowel sounds will occur regularly throughout any given word (and similarly there won't be unpronounceable stretches of a half dozen straight consonants). There is at least one closed loop of letter replacements for letters that do not occur regularly in English ('q' is replaced with 'x', 'x' is replaced with 'q'), ensuring that these most difficult to pronounce letters will not show up too often in Al Bhed to be a pain for the voice actors. And further, other less commonly used letters ('z', 'j', 'v', 'k', 'b', 'p', etc.) are also exchanged amongst themselves to limit the frequency they show up in Al Bhed words. It may not be a big thing, but it does show the depth of care that was put into the game when voice acting was still a very new thing and it would have been very easy to hand voice actors a script of unpronounceable nonsense.
This is definitely a big thing, as there are some Al Bhed language puzzles in the game that can still be solved even if you don't have all the primers. The reason they can be solved is the reasons you listed above: similar letters are cyphered out to keep the language somewhat recognisable, and letter frequency can contribute too. It feels low-effort on the face, but I think they did a fantastic job with the language despite the simplicity.
Same! I got sent here from Xenogears Facebook page and so glad I did. Almost finished their Xenogears one (I'm gonna finish the game before I watch final podcast), I'm on last episode of Tactics and then this one. Gonna start 8 after Tactics.
One area I'm surprised you guys didn't touch on, is Yuna and Tidus are introduced in the same way. Being admired. This plays well into the sun & moon metaphor, with Tidus being the bright light that brought joy, while Yuna's fame has darkness behind it. In some ways I considered their attraction to be one of understanding. Tidus grew comfortable with his fame by proving he was a great blitzball player and Yuna was going through it just becoming a summoner, making her feel understood by him. There are also a few nice scenes that showcase that.
Yes! We'll talk about this in Episode 5 with their conversation on the boat. I didn't think about how they were introduced in a similar manner, though!
Tidus being ignorant of the world made him easy to relate to. just as the player is learning about the game the first time playing, so is Tidus as the story moves along.
The way Yuna is introduced and Tidus is introduced, both as stars of their world and swarmed by admirers, both in the shadow of their father, I have nothing but praise for the writing in this game.
@@quinzou29f95 Yeah, the game does such a great job of showing different perspectives and personalizing how each responds to similar situations. Never shying away from highlighting flaws of its main characters or reason/tragedy of some of its villains.
i want to clarify something at 1:08:04 after completing the trial and seeing yuna, Tidus says, boy was i surprised here i thought that summoners were all old men, so tidus worrying about the summoners safety shows more to his character than most gives credit, he thought he was saving an old man to a culture he doesn't belong too, or has any attachments to.
I really love Yuna and how they chose to portray her in this game. She is the perfect balance of sweet and strong. It's a breath of fresh air compared to the stereotypical strong female character who refuses to accept help. Yuna shows that allowing people to help you is what makes you strong, as well as her willingness to be open-minded despite being surrounded by a culture and religion that is against that mindset. Great podcast as usual, looking forward to next week!
I absolutely love Yuna, because she's an amazing character and the way she was designed by Tetsuya Nomura as an ideal Japanese girl with some strong will and her unique personality is more sweet and kind-hearted. She's my favorite character as well.
Another great podcast, thanks guys! One thing to notice is how Tidus' voice sounds more mature, and experienced in his narration compared to the younger Tidus we play as. I think it's a great subtlety and really good voice acting to make that slight adjustment, but often seems to go unnoticed.
Beyond that, there's points in his narration where he sounds straight up depressed. There's so much emotion you can get from all of his lines. Truly a work of art.
1:16:10 - I just had a thought as part of the commentary about Tidus basically saying we don't play to play, we play to win; this has a direct corollary to how the party deals with Sin later. They're done "playing" Yunalesca's game, they're not going to continue the charade, they're playing to win and actually, truly defeat Sin.
I wish you guys wouldn't try to limit the number of episodes a game gets. Let the conversation flow, and however many episodes it takes is what it takes. Don't let some arbitrary episode cap stifle any points you want to delve into.
I’ve never commented before but I had to this time. This is my favorite series yet. Casen’s energy and enthusiasm mirrors how this game made me feel when I first played it. I don’t think any FF game before or since has felt as confident and self-assured from the start as this one. A lot of the praise can/should go to the breakthrough visuals for the time but i think that is just a symptom. It’s the openings confidence; in its world building, pacing, and foreshadowing that makes it so easy to let yourself get pulled into the world (pun intended). I think it is telling how much you both clearly wanted to say but were unable to. That speaks to how thoroughly the themes and symbols are woven into fabric of the game from the very beginning. Mike also said something last episode that stuck me during this one: I’ve always known this was an isekai intellectually but never got why it doesn’t actively feel like one. I think it’s because of the stories careful balance of Tidus as a character. Similar to how he isn’t sure he can trust Auron, the player isn’t exactly sure how reliable Tidus is as a narrator. Purposely or not, the juxtaposition between his narrator voice, dialogue voice, and other characters reactions tell us he is missing something…just not what. Thank you both for amazing content on this piece of art.
You get all the different suspense elements from Tidus: He doesn't know and we don't know, and narrator Tidus knows but we don't know, and EVERYONE else knows. It's always super surprising to me how easy it is to play through this game every single time I do it. It's just so good.
I never thought of FF X as an isekai story and still don't. Originally the plan was for Tidus to be dead, but after the team leads saw The Sixth Sense they repurposed that idea and made Auron the dead character. Spoilers: Tidus is instead either a fayth or a summon and the little hooded kid that appears in Tidus' recurring visions is his fayth. You could even argue that Tidus is Yuna's imaginary friend of some sorts. I can't wait what the Arc guys will have to say about all this once they reach those points of the story.
"Will the NFL, more or less, be the same game a thousand years from now?" There is a fantastic piece of fiction on exactly this subject called "17776" that I would HIGHLY recommend to you and everyone else, it's absolutely fascinating. Worth every moment spent reading/experiencing it.
Thanks for bringing that up. I don't currently have the time to completely check it out, but after looking up a summary of the main premise I see certain parallels in how humanity is treating even itself as a consequence of things being "too good" and just getting bored. In the case of 17776 it seems they just morph the identity of football into whatever they feel like at the moment and this reminds me of the current far left obsession with deconstructing human identity itself as well as transhumanism. It's just a shame that the current times seem less interested in actual progress and more interested in transforming the mind and body and even language and logic itself as a way to escape personal accountability. It only makes sense that willing mutilation of body and mind would eventually find its way into sports, and you can already see the beginning of that with prioritizing the feelings of trans athletes even if it means the destruction of women's sports.
Goddamn Casen is NAILING the analysis of this game more than any other so far. I love his inputs on Eastern culture. Being in a relationship with an Indian and having been to both India and Japan, I'm a sucker for all this symbolism. Looking forward to the next episodes.
I love the way that Tidus kind of unintentionally brings everyone out of their shells. Wakka obviously really wants to win at blitzball, and he shows later that he has the skill/determination to do so, but it's like he puts a cap on himself. Wakka's entire worldview revolves around Yevon and the inevitability of Sin's return, which is why he feels like he can never "win" at blitzball, or why he subconsciously prevents himself from winning at blitzball: "winning" in any real way is not in his personal lexicon. Tidus forcibly breaks him out of this by coming in with a worldview that is unaffected by Sin or Yevon or any of that, which is a microcosm of what he proceeds to do over the course of the FFX. With Yuna he's able to A. avoid valuing her only for her parentage like most of Spira does and B. avoid treating her with the formality and (unintentional) grimness of even her guardians since he has no idea what the end of the journey entails. She's able to be a kid around Tidus in a way that she can't be with literally ANYONE else. He even reminds her of Jecht, which is a literal reminder of her childhood, though in a bit of irony she therefore sees him through the lens of his father, which in Spira is also different than anyone else (minus Auron).
In regards to the al-bhed language being introduced, I took it as a way to trick the player into thinking that the place Titus was dropped was another location only for him to find out that a thousand years has passed. The language implies a geographical red herring, when in reality it is a chronological shift
This is my favorite game of all time and I cannot express how appreciative I am of this podcast series. I never thought i'd be able to see such reverent analysis with this level of production value. This is almost a college elective's worth of lecture on this topic and I'll cherish these videos forever. THANK YOU SO MUCH.
This is legitimately the greatest videogame podcast ever, and you're talking about one of my favorite games ever made. Absorbing these episodes is like a feast. Looking forward to catching up.
I have played this game at least 4 times in my life, and you guys still manage to surprise me with cool details and easter eggs that I never noticed before. Awesome analysis!
Since you're diving deeper into the game now, I really can't recommend dangs08's channel enough. Not only does it feature an incredible walkthrough of the entire game with very insightful commentary, there's also a number of extra videos at the end of the playlist filled with lore, explanations, hidden details and more recently official ultimania info concerning FFX. He's a true expert when it comes to X and a really nice guy. I'm glad you’re starting to show more appreciation for this game, it is still in my opinion the last title in the series to have been made with care and magic !
XII feels to have just as much care put into the battle system, but so many of the characters are so hard to get behind, and it's really lacking this driving force that you seem to get with FFX.
I wholeheartedly agree! I linked a video of one of his Ultimania translation videos that I thought was relevant to some questions the guys had in the last episode. Glad to see more fans of Burke in here!
Another great episode guys! Casen brought up the presentation choice of using Tidus' as a narrator. I really like that aspect of the story presentation as well. Given that the previous game this team worked on was FFVIII, they probably wanted to carry forward the idea of the player having access to the main character's thoughts. Like they did with Squall in FFVIII. However, with FFX they were trying to take the next step to make the game feel even more cinematic than the PS1 titles. (Voice acting, 3D environments, etc) So they decided to present Tidus' "thought bubbles" as a kind of Noir-style narration instead. It's a technique that you don't see used for fantasy stories very much and I think it's a pretty cool choice that makes the story feel more unique. Regarding the Al Bhed: E naymmo mega dra Ym Prat myhkiyka yc y funmt piemtehk amasahd. Ymm dra udran nylac eh Cbeny ryja suna tecdehld brocelym tevvanahlac vnus risyhc. Dra Ym Prat ryja tevvanahd aoac, pid dra myhkiyka ec y kuut fyo du tecdehkiecr draen limdina vnus dra udran risyhc eh Cbeny. Ed ymcu rambc du cruf dryd drao'ja paah uidlycdc eh culeado vun y muhk desa, cehla ymm dra udran nylac ryja ytubdat dra cysa myhkiyka aqlabd vun dra Ym Prat. (stephenw32768.appspot.com/albhed/)
Regarding Tidu's hate for Jecht, it took me many playthroughs to finally catch this subtle hint much later, in the Farplane sequence, Tidus brings up a realization of sorts. I got the impression from this scene after many playthroughs, that Tidus was actually exaggerating how much Jecht was abusive and bullying of him, in either misremembrances or in playing up how much Jecht was mean to him. The moment that specifically made me think this was when Tidus replays a scene in his memory when his mother was ignoring him to talk to Jecht. The scene plays again, this time adding, "But really, my old man..." And Jecht continues, "Ah, go to him, he'll cry if you don't." It's only recently I got the impression that at this moment, Tidus either admits to or finally realizes that Jecht was NEVER as toxic as many of the dream/memory sequences up until this point convey, specifically the nightmare of "You with a woman? You can't even catch a ball!" at the Besaid dock, or the Jecht Shot sequence aboard the ship.
When Yuna first time summons Valafor (or Valfaris how she is named in German), Tidus thinks to him self not just how scary it was but that there is some kind of familiar feeling. It's just a little note, I think is interesting. The prayer gesture reminds me of the yevon symbol. This eye like shape. They form a bigger cyrcle with there arms and then the smaller one with the hands. Now I really want to know the interpretation of the mandala. I know the story pretty well but can't make any sense of it.
Wow, good catch with the Yevon gesture. I will for sure talk about what that mandala means later in the series, if not I'll make a whole separate video about it.
Really late reply. But your comment made me remember something about Valefor that I always liked. It's an intimidating looking aeon, but when Yuna summons it she effortlessly walks up to it and caresses its cheek. It's a pretty small thing but I like that it shows a more vulnerable side to its summoner.
Someone else felt that all the scene at Rikku's boat was somewhat reminiscent of metal gear solid? I mean the music, Rikku's taking out some equipment off her. I saw that as a direct homage
Its funny how much blitzball creates worldbuilding. It existed inside and outside of zanerkand. Survived 1000 years. Riku thinks Luca is a Destination people seperated by sin can look to be reunited. Wakka played blitzball but was distracted by something (which gets explained right after this section) which ties in to his insistance they both pray at the top of the hill. The conversation changes to their blitzball goal which is just "to do o our best". And Tidus is like no, now its Victory!. Then you meet luzu and gata, then Tidus reveals the prayer used to mean Victory. That section fits so tightly together for a replay It hits you in the aftermath of sins first attack the call to action was victory against Sin. But it has spiraled and decayed into just doing their best. Crusaders doing whatever they can, temple priests stick to the traditions, blitztball helps hype people up through isolation and dispair. In the house next to wakas there is a kid who asks if being a crusader or a bliztballer is the right future. This is Wakas Neighbor! His mother is also recruitable as a blitzballer and the father spends time talking to Sir Luzu and Gatta. I never thought of tidus as the fool. But it reminds me of stories of zen masters. They are aware that students can mistake ritual for the real goal of Satori. So they delibetately create elaberate rituals they themselves break and sabotarge. Tidus injects someyhing natural and genuine into a world full of ritual. I love rpgs best when told through good npcs and worldbuildimg like this. It is the smallest road with the least encounters of the first real town. And is miles better than read the Datalog
For the Rome talk and civilizations that last a long time I'm not gonna go to in detail for it, but Rome got divided by East and West in 395 AD the western part was conquered and collapsed in the 476 AD, the Eastern Roman Empire or the Byzantine Empire took it's place as the Roman Empire since Constantinople (modern day Istanbul) was technically the capital of Roman when Constantine I united the Roman empire then split it after his death which was way before the Western Roman Empires collapse. The Holy Roman Empire was founded by Charlemagne in the 780s and basically called his Empire the new Rome cause the Byzantines were really unstable at the time. The Byzantine Empire was conquered by the Ottomans in 1453 AD effectively ending the actual Roman Empire. Then came tons of empires claiming to be the Roman Empire, the Ottomans, Holy Roman Empire still, Serbia, Russia, and many more. Also if you want to look up a interesting case of someone trying to revive or look back at a society from 500+ years ago look up Wang Mang, basically he was a man trying to revive the Zhou dynasty so he tried to figure out how Zhou ran stuff, and in the process made China a dysfunctional state and set it back by a couple hundred years before he was overthrown.
'Play up to the Kilika Temple' lads i've already made it to guadosalam and played an ungodly amount of blitzball. I might even finish and start a new game with a complete primer by the time we get to kilika at this rate!
I really can't get over how excellent this analysis is so far. I've played this game so many times at this point that I don't need to play along to understand every single reference and moment you guys bring up. Keep them coming guys! Also I haven't watched your podcasts in a year or so, the production value seems unreal!
The thing with the prayer originally being a blitzball victory pose is that I just don't buy it as a sporting thing. It just looks a lot more convincing as a meditative gesture (prayer) than something that would arise as a adrenaline fuelled sporting gesture. It is calm and measured in movement whereas something associated that comes from sporting victory is going to be excited and grand. Calm lengths, oh boy. There are actually two different ultimanias and we only got the (official) translation of the one with far less details, the untranslated one (ultimania Omega) however actually has a Spiran timeline. Though it is sparser on the details for the older high summoners it does state that Braska's Calm was about a year long, the others it just lists the defeat of Sin and its re-emergence under the same banner of X years ago. There is nothing to suggest a variance in the length of Calms there but it is not outside the realms of possibility that there is. Both Ultimanias do reveal how long ago each Calm began. Yunaleska 1000 yrs ago, Gandof 400 yrs ago, Oholland 230 yrs ago, Yocun 100 yrs ago, Braska 10 yrs ago. The distance of time between each defeat of Sin has shortened from the previous but it does not tell you how long the Calms lasted (except in saying that Braska's was only one year). It is certainly inaccurate to claim that most of the time between Yunalesca and and Gandof was spent in a really long Calm because Lord Mihen formed the Crusaders to fight Sin only one third into this period, why do that if Sin has not been seen for two centuries. Knowing what actually happens to Sin during a Calm then only 'one year' would be a reasonable expectation for it to regain itself but I'm also of the opinion that if Calms are always so ridiculously short then they really are not worth the effort of bringing about, I would expect at _least_ four years to make it worthwhile. The other thing to remember about Ultimania information is that it does rank a bit lower than actual information from the game in terms of canonicity and all we 'know' from the game is that there have been only 5 high summoners from Yunalesca to Braska. (though who are all the smaller statues in the temples of?) While we know that Sin has been active for at least two years or so I don't think there has been concrete evidence of it being active for longer than that so Braska's Calm could have lasted up to eight years at its maximum. With all the talk of the 'fish out of water' and the 'fool' trope I find it interesting how close both of them are to the 'white saviour' trope. All of them are about the 'outsider' coming in and interfering with the way things are traditionally done for good or ill.. I guess there is a fine line to walk there to avoid accusations of the latter . After a long paragraph about investigating the canonicity of Calm lengths time for some 90% head canon territory but I always assumed that the reason why Yuna was in the temple for over a day was that the Fayth were waiting for Tidas to arrive before allowing her to complete the ceremony. We learn that the Fayth were somehow up to shenanigans with Tidas and Jecht so I put it down to them making sure that Tidas and Yuna's paths intersected.
Excellent write up about the Calm periods. Especially the key clue about Mi'hen and the crusaders. We know that Yunalesca's Calm couldn't have lasted too long because then there would be no need to establish a volunteer Civilian military force to fight Sin if Sin wasn't yet reborn by that time. I think it's reasonable to imagine that the 600 years between Yunalesca and Gandof would have been Spira's true dark ages. Where people tried all kind of methods to defeat Sin, but no one was able to. And back then Yevon probably had a lot less influence because they didn't have any success either. And this made things like the Crusaders necessary. But then after 600 years of Sin's rampage, Gandof became the first high summoner to defeat Sin, then 170 years after him Oholland defeated Sin, then 130 years later Yocun did too, and 90 years after her Braska defeated Sin as well. The High summoners started succeeding more frequently, which gave Yevon much more credibility/authority than in the past. But also, given they've had 4 "victories" in 400 years, but still haven't found a way to defeat Sin for good, is starting to make some people skeptical. So people like the Al Bhed and Crusaders are losing faith and trying different methods again. We find out from Lulu that Chappu died on the Djose shore just a year ago by trying to fight Sin with a machina weapon. This implies that there was some other kind of "Operation Mi'hen" with co-operation from the Al Bhed just a year or so prior. But most people in Spira are still devout Yevon followers, who think that "one of these times" Sin will be gone for good. Even Braska seemed to believe that before he died. (But Auron was very skeptical.) Regarding the smaller statues in the Temples, my head cannon is that they are meant to represent the summoners who died on their pilgrimages (which is why they all look the same). The statues are much smaller than those of the high summoners, but having them in the temple makes sense as it sets aside a space for the worshipers to respect all of the many summoners of the past, not just the high summoners.
@@dudemcguy1227 Well said. I especially like the idea that fallen summoners are revered in the temples, both respecting the dead and endorsing the ideal of their sacrifice.
So there was actually a cut scene intended to be shown here when Tidus arrives at the ruins in Spira (Baaj Temple). Initially, he was supposed to come across a Sphere, in which he sees certain characters talking, very relevant to the story and lore related to Baaj, but he would be unable to understand what was being spoken as it was another language (Guado). However, he would monologue at this point and say that while he could not understand this language, this was clearly a very important memory recorded into the Sphere. Something to keep in mind for later.
Baaj Temple is where Anima is acquired. I'm not going to go over the details but that single fact explains the words scratched into the ground that they mentioned early in this video.
This podcast made me realize how amazing this game is. I played it initially upon release and was blown away. I guess time has diluted my perception because everything is so familiar. I know the story like the back of my hand, and because of that I often find myself overlooking the wonder it intially brought me when playing. Pointing out the reveal of Kimahri was something I had totally forgotten about. At least how it made me feel when I first played. Thank you so much for this podcast. Your love for the craft is infectious.
One of the reasons I didn't get this remaster on PS4 was because of the characters' faces "fixes" and I'm glad you guys brought it up even briefly. It might be a very small detail to most but considering that back in the ps2 version the tiniest changes in their expressions helped the story so much, it really bothered me. I remember reading an article over it and how so much was lost to something that could have been handled way better, considering how the rest of the graphics looked really good and polished. Anyway, I'm enjoying this podcast a lot and, since I never actually finished FFX (as a child I had a lot of trouble with the gameplay), it's a good way to go through the story again since I always did enjoy it. I got to this channel thanks to Vagrant Story and the fortuitous coincidence of playing through it for the first time myself and finding the guide you have made for it & a podcast to talk about it! Great work all around, keep it up!
You just made me realize that I never once considered how different the handling of the Al Bhed language mechanics had to have benn between English and Japanese. Love your perspective on the thousand year time skip. Never really thought about it here, but I did have similar thoughts with Attack on Titan, with about the same reasoning (Spoilers ahead if you haven't seen it for both FFX and AOT). In AOT it always bothered me that absolutely no one had come up with better technology or the scouts having such tremendous losses against the titans dispite there ODMs, and know how. In S3 they introduce the royal family that is surpressing everything and directing the titans with the intent of keeping those people confined to the walls. So whenever the scouts would go out they would be attacked en mass, new technolgy that could enable a break through would be surpressed, memories and history were completely altered to maintain the cage. This relates to FFX because the church of Yevon is ultimately doing the same thing, so it's not a stretch to believe that a religion could hold back society for 1000 years *cough, cough*, dispite that we see very clearly what they could be capable of with some more development (end spoilers). Perfectly ok with you guys going as long as Xenogears. There's a lot to go over and I just enjoy the stuff you guys point out. You're even giving me a much greater appreciation for how Tidus is written. Might even start to like him by the end of this. Great work again guys.
Casen has been on fire since the beginning of this FFX analysis and I love it. Just goes to show how he really loves this game. I'm currently playing the game on an emulator on my phone as you progress on the analysis. I can't wait to hear the meaning behind the symbolism in that mandala in the future episodes. Excellent video as always from you guys. Big fan here from the Philippines.
I hope you guys mention the slow pace of the narrative. The game takes its time introducing all of its elements - you call it "front loading" the story - but it's also an aspect of the overall narrative mood. Events move slowly and almost dreamily. Dialogue isn't rushed. FFX really stands out from other games because it takes pains to slowly present its story and characters.
5:45 actually, the name of the song that plays when Tidus arrives to Baaj temple and has the "out of the frying pan intro the freezer" monologue is "no dream, no hope" which matches the Japanese monologue
I feel like this is one of the most, if not the most fleshed out worlds of final fantasy. There is a true sense of culture through out Spira that gets you so immersed.
I don't know if anything will match Ivalice as a whole but the fact that Spira comes close after essentially 1 game is kind of wild. XII's Spira in particular is so rich and vibrant and complete, i just love being in that game.
39:50 I believe a good reason for not playing in the ocean is due to shifting tides and currents. A current pushing a certain direction at a certain time could cause some severe advantage/disadvantage issues that might not be entirely in the blitzer's control. Doesn't make for the best competitive environment compared to the completely still water the sphere stadium provides. SPOILER: also, fiends can totally take the form of humans. The prime examples being the dark aeons.
That's a good point, I always thought it was bizarre how Jecht went training out at sea for similar reasons when he could easily practice in Zanarkand. But I'd imagine training in those conditions would give him a huge advantage if it's something he'd done before.
also, people seem to be forgetting how huge blitzball is with audiences. They can easily observe a suspended ball of water, but they can't easily observe the ocean depths. unless they built an underground colosseum with air but that sounds even more tedious than how it is already
They do eventually explain why the technology, culture, and language have changed so little though. (How believable that explanation is is another question entirely. I'm curious what y'all's thoughts are when you get there.) It was a major plot point, I'm surprised you don't remember. Either way, I love this podcast. Great work guys! Also, the term Byzantine Empire is actually a modern term used by historians for convenience. They would have called themselves Romans and their country Rome (sort of, they weren't speaking English obviously).
With series like this, it's always a question how much is genuinely having forgotten things, and how much is them not wanting to even hint in the direction of spoilers.
About the Byzathine Empire, they might have called themselves Romans but historians had to differentiate the split of the OG Roman Empire into the Western part and the Eastern part which was called the Byzantine Empire.
It's not an RPG, but if you're interested in an adventure game where you decipher an ancient language to uncover the mysteries of a lost civilization, I strongly recommend the game Heaven's Vault.
This podcast its amazing, i really like it. I would love to watch the potcast with all of the spoilers, i mean.... whos watching this without playing the game?
I always just accepted that on Spira, people can breathe underwater. At most, I reckoned water on that world was somewhat amniotic in nature, like that stuff at the end of The Abyss. But if there’s a reason, I’m not surprised. Also . . . Besaid has the perfect music for meditation. Or for going on a walk. Or doing basic house chores. Or provides a perfect soundtrack for sitting in a really, really, really comfy beanbag 🤟🏻
Please please please, take as much episodes as you need for FFX. Absolute gem of a game and very representative of what Final Fantasy means as a series. Loving your commentary, comparisons to the japanese version, and added value regarding details unbeknownst to the average player, THANK YOU!
I really really appreciate the analysis of the environmental details like the mandalas and the statues. I'm a concept artist for video games and its that environmental storytelling that is truly exceptional in FFX. Great analysis as always, you two. I'm very much enjoying this.
I'm super excited to hear that Mandala breakdown at the end of the podcast. I looked at that art and saw nothing in it, so I'm really excited to hear what meaning they laced into the symbology
57:40. In some of the novels that were published much later, they state that the calms are getting shorter. However, the time spans they outline for each of the calms make absolutely no sense. They say the first calm lasted 500 years.... which is silly. Part of the intrigue and tragedy of Spira is that their culture and civilization was not able to evolve being under the constant weight and threat of Sin. IF they had a whole 500 years to develop unperturbed by Sin, Spira would look quite different. IMO it makes more sense if the calms were of variable length for the entirety of the millennium, though there is a bit of horror involved when you think that Sin can get so strong that each subsequent final summoning will only bring sound a calm for a few days or even minutes....
(Spira timeline Spoilers below) The length of the Calm periods is actually never revealed in the game or even the Ultimania guide. The idea that the first Calm period was 500 years... I believe that was actually a misconception created by the fans back when the game first came out. I'm not sure where that came from. Probably a popular 2000's forum like GameFAQs or something. I think people just assumed that because Yunalesca was the first to defeat Sin, and because she was the strongest Summoner, that her Calm must have lasted much longer. But actually the writers never revealed that. All we know for sure is that Braksa's Calm was pretty short. 7 years or less. (Since Lulu was on a pilgrimage with her first summoner 3 years prior). finalfantasy.fandom.com/wiki/Calm_(Final_Fantasy_X): "...the Calm refers to an *uncertain amount of time* of peace in Spira between Sin's defeat at the hands of a summoner and its next public appearance." Yunalesca defeated Sin 1000 ago by using the final summoning, shortly after Sin first appeared and destroyed Bevelle and before the Yevon Religion was even founded. After that, there is a 600 year gap between Yunalesca defeating Sin the first time and the next summoner (Gandof) becoming the fist High Summoner under Yevon. But we also know that 200 years after Yunalesa defeated Sin, Mi'hen founded the Crimson blades (Crusaders) to try to protect Spira from Sin. This would mean that Yunalesca's first Calm period lasted 199 years at the most, but probably a lot shorter. Because 800 years ago, someone thought it was necessary to establish a civilian military force to fight against Sin regularly. This heavily implies that Sin had been attacking again frequently by that time. So the "Yunalesa 500 year Calm" theory just doesn't make sense based on the history included in the original story. Because there would be no need for Mi'hen to found the Crimson blades in the middle of a 500 year Calm. They wouldn't even be expecting Sin to come back at all if the first Calm lasted that long. So even if the Novels say that the first Calm was 500 years, that makes no sense in context of the original game.
@@RepresentingRodina Well we don't know for sure if Yunalesca's Calm was 199 years. That's the longest it could have been. It also could have been just as short as Braska's Calm. There's nothing confirming how long it was. I actually think it makes more sense if the Calm periods are always short. A few years at most. And Yevon is feeding people the false promise of an Eternal Calm if they "repent" enough.
It could be that the Calms are based the Hindu and Buddhist believe that the lifespans of the world (aka kalpas or aeons) become shorter each time until complete destruction occurs followed by rebirth of the world. It's a common theme in Asian fantasy stories, anime (Devilman Crybaby) and games (the Shin Megami Tensei games series)
"And so Tidus heads inside and solves his Trial". "...Takes him a while." This made me laugh. Please keep going at the same pace you think appropriate. Love this Podcast.
During Blitzball games I always assumed that each game... time (I'm not a sports guy) were short so the players could hold their breaths for the required period, plus we have in irl people who can actually hold their breath for several minutes. But then we have those long periods during gameplay underwater so... suspension of disbelief I guess. I've never seen the Pyreflies connection anywhere in the game though
Two quick things I hope you cover in the next episode: 1) Tidus’ conversation with Wakka right after meeting Yuna. I think this is important as it’s one of very few branching dialogue options available in the game. There’s also some foreshadowing depending on Wakka’s reaction. 2) I’m sure you’ll get to this, but right after Tidus’ wakes from his dream, Wakka’s conversation with Lulu, and then with Tidus in the tent. It’s great to see Casen’s enthusiasm for this game. I relate to that so much because FFX really was able to utilize all the technological advances of the PS2 to create a cinematic experience unlike any of the previous entries. While FFXII would improve the cinematography and voice acting IMO, FFX really set the bar for world JRPG immersion on that generation of consoles.
I wonder if they'll talk much about the hidden affinity mechanics. There's not much point to them beyond a couple cutscene alterations and Tidus' Blitz Ace limit break, but they are interesting. Rikku gets some great character development that basically gets thrown out in X-2 because "not canon."
Tidus being a fish out of water upon waking in Spira was such a great strategy for world building. I can't help but compare X to XIII since they were done by the same team at Square Enix. Had they gone with Vanille as XIII's party lead instead of Lightning (which was actually the original plan, if memory serves), I think the world building for Cocoon would have been way better since Vanille was also a fish out of water after waking from her crystal stasis thousands of years after completing her Focus, and was partially faking her amnesia. I think it's interesting how such a small change (the POV which the story is seen from) can change a lot.
In regards to the 1,000 year time passing and Spira being relatively unchanged in that time. I always thought that was reinforcing the concept that Spira is stuck in this endless loop and is unable to move on.
I enjoy this so much. Thank you for your analysis, especially on the environment of the temple! I now really miss playing this game. It always feels like coming home.
Fun debugging tidbit. Tidus, Wakka and Rikku are the only people who go under water, and they are the only ones even with an animation to swim underwater. If you hack the game to have other members in the party. They will just stand underwater. There is only one instance in the game where you can see this normally. Later in the game when you're doing the boss fight in the water of the Moonflow to free Yuna. She just stands inside of the boss. For the context it's fine. It's just fun to note that this is how she's coded all the time when underwater.
I see no issue with this particular game discussion taking as long as the Xenogears one did. This game is fantastic and any discussion you guys can pull out of it I will 100% listen to!
An explanation for how long they can hold their breath is what I come for in these deep dives, pun intended I didn’t realize how connected pyreflies were with water until towards the end of the game which was such a surprise for me
One interesting tidbit that I figured casen would go nuts over at the besaid temple which he almost did was the symbolism with the statue and the cloister of trials being In the middle between them where people go to be reborn as summoners. Maybe I'm reading in too deep into this but in a way it does reflect tidus' rebirth into this world as well. I'm not that good at writing this out. I hope that made sense LOL can't wait to support you guys on patreon when I get paid next. You'lll be the first people I've ever done that for :) see you all soon
Thanks, Sean! You're so right about that. I know exactly what you're referring to. Especially since while Tidus was being reborn through Sin, Yuna had all day been in her own rebirth process, emerging as a summoner.
@ 44:30 I always thought that it was simply that Wakka was so empathetic that he would put a stranger's wellbeing before his own gain (while secretly hoping to make a friend and maybe gain something anyway) It's so good because it contrasts so stark with what he shows later. Showing that even good people have flaws
Hi Mike and Casen! Long time viewer from Finland here going back to the old Warialasky days. You have really found a great concept with this series of game analyses. Great that you guys are going through each scene in depth (Xenogears style)! As a big fan of this game, that is much appreciated!
Four minutes is very doable in our universe - freedivers learn to hold their breath for longer than that. Interestingly the best freedivers are Polynesians (Bajau) who have evolved physiological differences that give them advantages for this.
The two large statues in every temple are also a direct reference/parallel to the FFX logo. Woman on the left facing a Man on the right. To go further in depth, specifically a Summoner facing a FInal Aeon.
A note. The character that blocks Titus from entering the ship after him and Rikku resurface is a blitzball player one can recruit in the game. His name is Ropp, and he can be recruited at Rin's by Macalania Temple. (Between the forest and Shiva temple.)
I think at this point, we just need to accept that fact that we are never going to get to Kilika temple. We're just going to hang out on the ship, doing that infinite AP farming trick for the next few episodes. :P
Ahhh I’ve been lacking on my playthrough!! I gotta catchup. Great content as always - you’ve helped me reconsider so many thoughts I had about this game when I was younger.
And then Nomura spent the next 20 years redoing his Tidus design with the Bouncer, Kingdom Hearts and FFXV He dropped the belts and zippers and moved to flannel and 3/4 pants
The original PS2 faces are actually HIGHER quality than the remaster counterparts because the original PS2 models actually had more "bones" or points of contact in their model skeletons which allowed for more movement in facial expressions and crisper looking faces. This is what I read in a video that addressed why the original faces from PS2 look better than the remaster ones.
Rikku's voice actor is the legendary Tara Strong, she's been in a million cartoons and videogames. Known for roles such as Bubbles from Powerpuff Girls, Timmy Turner from Fairly Odd Parents and Raven from Teen Titans.
SPOILERS I also always thought it was really bizarre how the Al Bhed thought Tidus was a fiend in disguise but it now occurs to me, isn't that exactly what Seymour is? He retains his human shape but has the ability to transform into all sorts of bizarre monstrous forms. I thought it was a unique circumstance but maybe the Al Bhed have seen that happen before
Unsent possess the ability to change their appearance however they want by manipulating pyreflies. This is why Auron "aged," why Seymour is able to later transform into his many forms, why Yunalesca, Mika, Belgemine, and Maechen stop aging altogether.
I’m curious about your opinions on the remastered version compared to the original. Mostly in the character models. I feel that the new character models have taken away from the original’s expressive quality and art direction. Yuna’s hair is way too dark and everyone has these dead eyes which aren’t as expressive as the original’s. It is great we have the remaster, of course, and the remixes are wonderful, but the more natural character faces in the original make it the only version I’ll play, honestly.
I bought the Remaster for Switch and couldn’t even play it. It was very much like watching my favorite movie, except everyone was replaced by a somewhat-lookalike actor. I found it too distracting and gave the game to my sister and wound up just firing up my PS2. I really can’t wrap my head around why these are the character models they went with. Even more surprising considering the remasters of FF7-9 look great all-around.
Re: Spoiler discussion relating to Al Bhed::: Fiends -> Unsent dead people -> Farplane -> Yevon -> Aeons -> Fiend in human form So much makes sense now. I've read that specific dialogue at least half a dozen times and it never clicked like it did just now. WOW.
The thing that I love so much about this podcast is the consistent tie back to specific religious theming and imagery. These two know their religions, and it's refreshing to see them brought up in an otherwise secular discussion.
And I know that for this game in particular it's very much relevant, but the fact that they can casually bring up ancient old testament phrases like the Holy of Holies or the notion of sacrifice as a part of Mosaic Law as though it's something they think about often is very cool in my opinion.
David Blaine Ted Talk we referened: ua-cam.com/video/XFnGhrC_3Gs/v-deo.html
you guys are my secret part of the day. the details i have missed playing some of those games is just wWOW
1:01:30 Considering how much of a jerk Jecht is, it seems like the most reasonable explanation is that Tidus's mom fits into the very common mold of women who are blindly enamored with the excitement of being with the "bad boy" who lives by his own rules and succeeds in gaining high status despite his abrasive personality. Despite the stereotype of motherly nurturing women, a lot of them simply prioritize their own life and fulfillment through fun with a partner over the fulfilment of raising a child. It's part of why so many modern women fight for things like the right to abort at will. If Tidus notices this then it only makes sense he would be jealous of his father effortlessly commanding all of his mother's attention. You see this in the dating world all the time where men who were raised to believe a man is "supposed to" live a certain way are often frustrated to see that some of the men who are most successful with the opposite sex are often the most narcissistic and selfish. Even towards the end when Tidus finally gets to tell his father how he feels Jecht still keeps up the tough guy persona to the point of teasing Tidus about the natural reaction of crying. Jecht is just constantly invalidating his son's emotions as well as distracting the only other person who could hope to understand Tidus.
One subtle thing about the Al Bhed language you didn't touch on is that it is clearly designed to be spoken, which is not a trivial consideration. This kind of simple replacement cypher is commonly used as a puzzle, but most of the time the results are an unspeakable mess of letters.
If you look at the cypher itself, there are clearly a few rules that the creators of the cypher used to ensure that things could be pronounced. Vowels (including 'y') are only ever replaced with other vowels, ensuring that appropriate vowel sounds will occur regularly throughout any given word (and similarly there won't be unpronounceable stretches of a half dozen straight consonants). There is at least one closed loop of letter replacements for letters that do not occur regularly in English ('q' is replaced with 'x', 'x' is replaced with 'q'), ensuring that these most difficult to pronounce letters will not show up too often in Al Bhed to be a pain for the voice actors. And further, other less commonly used letters ('z', 'j', 'v', 'k', 'b', 'p', etc.) are also exchanged amongst themselves to limit the frequency they show up in Al Bhed words.
It may not be a big thing, but it does show the depth of care that was put into the game when voice acting was still a very new thing and it would have been very easy to hand voice actors a script of unpronounceable nonsense.
This is definitely a big thing, as there are some Al Bhed language puzzles in the game that can still be solved even if you don't have all the primers. The reason they can be solved is the reasons you listed above: similar letters are cyphered out to keep the language somewhat recognisable, and letter frequency can contribute too. It feels low-effort on the face, but I think they did a fantastic job with the language despite the simplicity.
I absolutely adore this podcast, and this is quickly becoming my favorite UA-cam channel. I love the analytic touch you guys take with this series.
Same! I got sent here from Xenogears Facebook page and so glad I did. Almost finished their Xenogears one (I'm gonna finish the game before I watch final podcast), I'm on last episode of Tactics and then this one. Gonna start 8 after Tactics.
I love wednesdays now thanks to the State of the Arc podcast. I've been watching every single one since xenogears, thanks you for all your hard work.
One area I'm surprised you guys didn't touch on, is Yuna and Tidus are introduced in the same way. Being admired. This plays well into the sun & moon metaphor, with Tidus being the bright light that brought joy, while Yuna's fame has darkness behind it. In some ways I considered their attraction to be one of understanding. Tidus grew comfortable with his fame by proving he was a great blitzball player and Yuna was going through it just becoming a summoner, making her feel understood by him. There are also a few nice scenes that showcase that.
Yes! We'll talk about this in Episode 5 with their conversation on the boat. I didn't think about how they were introduced in a similar manner, though!
And to add to your comment, the moon reflects the light of the sun, which is also a big part of Tidus' and Yuna's story.
Tidus being ignorant of the world made him easy to relate to. just as the player is learning about the game the first time playing, so is Tidus as the story moves along.
“Fish out of water”
i always found tidus a very interesting take on the standard jrpg hero that has never left his town before.
The way Yuna is introduced and Tidus is introduced, both as stars of their world and swarmed by admirers, both in the shadow of their father, I have nothing but praise for the writing in this game.
Also how one loves and respects their father and the other one hates and despises theirs
@@quinzou29f95 Yeah, the game does such a great job of showing different perspectives and personalizing how each responds to similar situations. Never shying away from highlighting flaws of its main characters or reason/tragedy of some of its villains.
i want to clarify something at 1:08:04 after completing the trial and seeing yuna, Tidus says, boy was i surprised here i thought that summoners were all old men, so tidus worrying about the summoners safety shows more to his character than most gives credit, he thought he was saving an old man to a culture he doesn't belong too, or has any attachments to.
I really love Yuna and how they chose to portray her in this game. She is the perfect balance of sweet and strong. It's a breath of fresh air compared to the stereotypical strong female character who refuses to accept help. Yuna shows that allowing people to help you is what makes you strong, as well as her willingness to be open-minded despite being surrounded by a culture and religion that is against that mindset. Great podcast as usual, looking forward to next week!
Agreed. Yuna is awesome
I absolutely love Yuna, because she's an amazing character and the way she was designed by Tetsuya Nomura as an ideal Japanese girl with some strong will and her unique personality is more sweet and kind-hearted. She's my favorite character as well.
At this pace we're looking at a fifteen part epic.
And I'm here for it.
Nailed it.
It's 100% Jecht. I just played that part and when you are a distance away from him he is solid, it's only as you approach does he start to fade out.
Another great podcast, thanks guys!
One thing to notice is how Tidus' voice sounds more mature, and experienced in his narration compared to the younger Tidus we play as.
I think it's a great subtlety and really good voice acting to make that slight adjustment, but often seems to go unnoticed.
Beyond that, there's points in his narration where he sounds straight up depressed. There's so much emotion you can get from all of his lines. Truly a work of art.
1:16:10 - I just had a thought as part of the commentary about Tidus basically saying we don't play to play, we play to win; this has a direct corollary to how the party deals with Sin later. They're done "playing" Yunalesca's game, they're not going to continue the charade, they're playing to win and actually, truly defeat Sin.
I wish you guys wouldn't try to limit the number of episodes a game gets. Let the conversation flow, and however many episodes it takes is what it takes. Don't let some arbitrary episode cap stifle any points you want to delve into.
I’ve never commented before but I had to this time. This is my favorite series yet. Casen’s energy and enthusiasm mirrors how this game made me feel when I first played it. I don’t think any FF game before or since has felt as confident and self-assured from the start as this one.
A lot of the praise can/should go to the breakthrough visuals for the time but i think that is just a symptom. It’s the openings confidence; in its world building, pacing, and foreshadowing that makes it so easy to let yourself get pulled into the world (pun intended). I think it is telling how much you both clearly wanted to say but were unable to. That speaks to how thoroughly the themes and symbols are woven into fabric of the game from the very beginning.
Mike also said something last episode that stuck me during this one: I’ve always known this was an isekai intellectually but never got why it doesn’t actively feel like one. I think it’s because of the stories careful balance of Tidus as a character. Similar to how he isn’t sure he can trust Auron, the player isn’t exactly sure how reliable Tidus is as a narrator. Purposely or not, the juxtaposition between his narrator voice, dialogue voice, and other characters reactions tell us he is missing something…just not what.
Thank you both for amazing content on this piece of art.
You get all the different suspense elements from Tidus: He doesn't know and we don't know, and narrator Tidus knows but we don't know, and EVERYONE else knows. It's always super surprising to me how easy it is to play through this game every single time I do it. It's just so good.
I never thought of FF X as an isekai story and still don't. Originally the plan was for Tidus to be dead, but after the team leads saw The Sixth Sense they repurposed that idea and made Auron the dead character.
Spoilers:
Tidus is instead either a fayth or a summon and the little hooded kid that appears in Tidus' recurring visions is his fayth. You could even argue that Tidus is Yuna's imaginary friend of some sorts.
I can't wait what the Arc guys will have to say about all this once they reach those points of the story.
"Will the NFL, more or less, be the same game a thousand years from now?"
There is a fantastic piece of fiction on exactly this subject called "17776" that I would HIGHLY recommend to you and everyone else, it's absolutely fascinating. Worth every moment spent reading/experiencing it.
Thanks for bringing that up. I don't currently have the time to completely check it out, but after looking up a summary of the main premise I see certain parallels in how humanity is treating even itself as a consequence of things being "too good" and just getting bored. In the case of 17776 it seems they just morph the identity of football into whatever they feel like at the moment and this reminds me of the current far left obsession with deconstructing human identity itself as well as transhumanism. It's just a shame that the current times seem less interested in actual progress and more interested in transforming the mind and body and even language and logic itself as a way to escape personal accountability. It only makes sense that willing mutilation of body and mind would eventually find its way into sports, and you can already see the beginning of that with prioritizing the feelings of trans athletes even if it means the destruction of women's sports.
This cment got me to read this magnificent piece of fiction. Would highly recommend.
Goddamn Casen is NAILING the analysis of this game more than any other so far. I love his inputs on Eastern culture. Being in a relationship with an Indian and having been to both India and Japan, I'm a sucker for all this symbolism. Looking forward to the next episodes.
I don’t mind the pace.
I played this game once, and you guys are having me appreciate this game even more
this is one of the few videogame-related content on youtube i can enjoy as an adult , keep the great work
I'm the same way. A lot of gaming related channels don't appeal to me as much now that I'm older. But this channel just gets better and better.
I love the way that Tidus kind of unintentionally brings everyone out of their shells. Wakka obviously really wants to win at blitzball, and he shows later that he has the skill/determination to do so, but it's like he puts a cap on himself. Wakka's entire worldview revolves around Yevon and the inevitability of Sin's return, which is why he feels like he can never "win" at blitzball, or why he subconsciously prevents himself from winning at blitzball: "winning" in any real way is not in his personal lexicon. Tidus forcibly breaks him out of this by coming in with a worldview that is unaffected by Sin or Yevon or any of that, which is a microcosm of what he proceeds to do over the course of the FFX.
With Yuna he's able to A. avoid valuing her only for her parentage like most of Spira does and B. avoid treating her with the formality and (unintentional) grimness of even her guardians since he has no idea what the end of the journey entails. She's able to be a kid around Tidus in a way that she can't be with literally ANYONE else. He even reminds her of Jecht, which is a literal reminder of her childhood, though in a bit of irony she therefore sees him through the lens of his father, which in Spira is also different than anyone else (minus Auron).
In regards to the al-bhed language being introduced, I took it as a way to trick the player into thinking that the place Titus was dropped was another location only for him to find out that a thousand years has passed. The language implies a geographical red herring, when in reality it is a chronological shift
This is my favorite game of all time and I cannot express how appreciative I am of this podcast series. I never thought i'd be able to see such reverent analysis with this level of production value. This is almost a college elective's worth of lecture on this topic and I'll cherish these videos forever. THANK YOU SO MUCH.
This is legitimately the greatest videogame podcast ever, and you're talking about one of my favorite games ever made. Absorbing these episodes is like a feast. Looking forward to catching up.
I have played this game at least 4 times in my life, and you guys still manage to surprise me with cool details and easter eggs that I never noticed before. Awesome analysis!
Since you're diving deeper into the game now, I really can't recommend dangs08's channel enough. Not only does it feature an incredible walkthrough of the entire game with very insightful commentary, there's also a number of extra videos at the end of the playlist filled with lore, explanations, hidden details and more recently official ultimania info concerning FFX. He's a true expert when it comes to X and a really nice guy.
I'm glad you’re starting to show more appreciation for this game, it is still in my opinion the last title in the series to have been made with care and magic !
Was thinking the same thing! I think having Berk aka dansg08 as a guest would be absolutely amazing!
XII feels to have just as much care put into the battle system, but so many of the characters are so hard to get behind, and it's really lacking this driving force that you seem to get with FFX.
Berk aka Dansg08 would be an awesome guest!!
@@aiox82 Agreed ! I'm sure he would accept too, he's been doing podcasts as well lately.
I wholeheartedly agree! I linked a video of one of his Ultimania translation videos that I thought was relevant to some questions the guys had in the last episode. Glad to see more fans of Burke in here!
Another great episode guys!
Casen brought up the presentation choice of using Tidus' as a narrator. I really like that aspect of the story presentation as well. Given that the previous game this team worked on was FFVIII, they probably wanted to carry forward the idea of the player having access to the main character's thoughts. Like they did with Squall in FFVIII.
However, with FFX they were trying to take the next step to make the game feel even more cinematic than the PS1 titles. (Voice acting, 3D environments, etc) So they decided to present Tidus' "thought bubbles" as a kind of Noir-style narration instead.
It's a technique that you don't see used for fantasy stories very much and I think it's a pretty cool choice that makes the story feel more unique.
Regarding the Al Bhed:
E naymmo mega dra Ym Prat myhkiyka yc y funmt piemtehk amasahd. Ymm dra udran nylac eh Cbeny ryja suna tecdehld brocelym tevvanahlac vnus risyhc. Dra Ym Prat ryja tevvanahd aoac, pid dra myhkiyka ec y kuut fyo du tecdehkiecr draen limdina vnus dra udran risyhc eh Cbeny. Ed ymcu rambc du cruf dryd drao'ja paah uidlycdc eh culeado vun y muhk desa, cehla ymm dra udran nylac ryja ytubdat dra cysa myhkiyka aqlabd vun dra Ym Prat.
(stephenw32768.appspot.com/albhed/)
Regarding Tidu's hate for Jecht, it took me many playthroughs to finally catch this subtle hint much later, in the Farplane sequence, Tidus brings up a realization of sorts. I got the impression from this scene after many playthroughs, that Tidus was actually exaggerating how much Jecht was abusive and bullying of him, in either misremembrances or in playing up how much Jecht was mean to him. The moment that specifically made me think this was when Tidus replays a scene in his memory when his mother was ignoring him to talk to Jecht. The scene plays again, this time adding, "But really, my old man..." And Jecht continues, "Ah, go to him, he'll cry if you don't."
It's only recently I got the impression that at this moment, Tidus either admits to or finally realizes that Jecht was NEVER as toxic as many of the dream/memory sequences up until this point convey, specifically the nightmare of "You with a woman? You can't even catch a ball!" at the Besaid dock, or the Jecht Shot sequence aboard the ship.
When Yuna first time summons Valafor (or Valfaris how she is named in German), Tidus thinks to him self not just how scary it was but that there is some kind of familiar feeling.
It's just a little note, I think is interesting.
The prayer gesture reminds me of the yevon symbol. This eye like shape. They form a bigger cyrcle with there arms and then the smaller one with the hands.
Now I really want to know the interpretation of the mandala. I know the story pretty well but can't make any sense of it.
Wow, good catch with the Yevon gesture. I will for sure talk about what that mandala means later in the series, if not I'll make a whole separate video about it.
Really late reply. But your comment made me remember something about Valefor that I always liked. It's an intimidating looking aeon, but when Yuna summons it she effortlessly walks up to it and caresses its cheek. It's a pretty small thing but I like that it shows a more vulnerable side to its summoner.
"the fool can really show a system that is in need of change"
I don't know why but I really love this quote.
Someone else felt that all the scene at Rikku's boat was somewhat reminiscent of metal gear solid? I mean the music, Rikku's taking out some equipment off her. I saw that as a direct homage
Its funny how much blitzball creates worldbuilding. It existed inside and outside of zanerkand. Survived 1000 years. Riku thinks Luca is a Destination people seperated by sin can look to be reunited.
Wakka played blitzball but was distracted by something (which gets explained right after this section) which ties in to his insistance they both pray at the top of the hill. The conversation changes to their blitzball goal which is just "to do o our best". And Tidus is like no, now its Victory!. Then you meet luzu and gata, then Tidus reveals the prayer used to mean Victory. That section fits so tightly together for a replay
It hits you in the aftermath of sins first attack the call to action was victory against Sin. But it has spiraled and decayed into just doing their best. Crusaders doing whatever they can, temple priests stick to the traditions, blitztball helps hype people up through isolation and dispair.
In the house next to wakas there is a kid who asks if being a crusader or a bliztballer is the right future. This is Wakas Neighbor! His mother is also recruitable as a blitzballer and the father spends time talking to Sir Luzu and Gatta.
I never thought of tidus as the fool. But it reminds me of stories of zen masters. They are aware that students can mistake ritual for the real goal of Satori. So they delibetately create elaberate rituals they themselves break and sabotarge. Tidus injects someyhing natural and genuine into a world full of ritual.
I love rpgs best when told through good npcs and worldbuildimg like this. It is the smallest road with the least encounters of the first real town. And is miles better than read the Datalog
Loved every second of it! Take as much time as possible, these are absolutely wonderful
For the Rome talk and civilizations that last a long time I'm not gonna go to in detail for it, but Rome got divided by East and West in 395 AD the western part was conquered and collapsed in the 476 AD, the Eastern Roman Empire or the Byzantine Empire took it's place as the Roman Empire since Constantinople (modern day Istanbul) was technically the capital of Roman when Constantine I united the Roman empire then split it after his death which was way before the Western Roman Empires collapse.
The Holy Roman Empire was founded by Charlemagne in the 780s and basically called his Empire the new Rome cause the Byzantines were really unstable at the time. The Byzantine Empire was conquered by the Ottomans in 1453 AD effectively ending the actual Roman Empire. Then came tons of empires claiming to be the Roman Empire, the Ottomans, Holy Roman Empire still, Serbia, Russia, and many more.
Also if you want to look up a interesting case of someone trying to revive or look back at a society from 500+ years ago look up Wang Mang, basically he was a man trying to revive the Zhou dynasty so he tried to figure out how Zhou ran stuff, and in the process made China a dysfunctional state and set it back by a couple hundred years before he was overthrown.
'Play up to the Kilika Temple'
lads i've already made it to guadosalam and played an ungodly amount of blitzball. I might even finish and start a new game with a complete primer by the time we get to kilika at this rate!
"Do you think I could become high summoner?"
I'm not crying, you're crying.
With the right type of weed, probably
Oh gosh.... That hits so different once you beat the game
I really can't get over how excellent this analysis is so far. I've played this game so many times at this point that I don't need to play along to understand every single reference and moment you guys bring up. Keep them coming guys!
Also I haven't watched your podcasts in a year or so, the production value seems unreal!
Definitely Jecht's voice shouting Hey! Hey! and then Jecht is standing there until you get close and it becomes young Tidus
The thing with the prayer originally being a blitzball victory pose is that I just don't buy it as a sporting thing. It just looks a lot more convincing as a meditative gesture (prayer) than something that would arise as a adrenaline fuelled sporting gesture. It is calm and measured in movement whereas something associated that comes from sporting victory is going to be excited and grand.
Calm lengths, oh boy. There are actually two different ultimanias and we only got the (official) translation of the one with far less details, the untranslated one (ultimania Omega) however actually has a Spiran timeline. Though it is sparser on the details for the older high summoners it does state that Braska's Calm was about a year long, the others it just lists the defeat of Sin and its re-emergence under the same banner of X years ago. There is nothing to suggest a variance in the length of Calms there but it is not outside the realms of possibility that there is. Both Ultimanias do reveal how long ago each Calm began.
Yunaleska 1000 yrs ago, Gandof 400 yrs ago, Oholland 230 yrs ago, Yocun 100 yrs ago, Braska 10 yrs ago.
The distance of time between each defeat of Sin has shortened from the previous but it does not tell you how long the Calms lasted (except in saying that Braska's was only one year). It is certainly inaccurate to claim that most of the time between Yunalesca and and Gandof was spent in a really long Calm because Lord Mihen formed the Crusaders to fight Sin only one third into this period, why do that if Sin has not been seen for two centuries.
Knowing what actually happens to Sin during a Calm then only 'one year' would be a reasonable expectation for it to regain itself but I'm also of the opinion that if Calms are always so ridiculously short then they really are not worth the effort of bringing about, I would expect at _least_ four years to make it worthwhile.
The other thing to remember about Ultimania information is that it does rank a bit lower than actual information from the game in terms of canonicity and all we 'know' from the game is that there have been only 5 high summoners from Yunalesca to Braska. (though who are all the smaller statues in the temples of?) While we know that Sin has been active for at least two years or so I don't think there has been concrete evidence of it being active for longer than that so Braska's Calm could have lasted up to eight years at its maximum.
With all the talk of the 'fish out of water' and the 'fool' trope I find it interesting how close both of them are to the 'white saviour' trope. All of them are about the 'outsider' coming in and interfering with the way things are traditionally done for good or ill.. I guess there is a fine line to walk there to avoid accusations of the latter .
After a long paragraph about investigating the canonicity of Calm lengths time for some 90% head canon territory but I always assumed that the reason why Yuna was in the temple for over a day was that the Fayth were waiting for Tidas to arrive before allowing her to complete the ceremony. We learn that the Fayth were somehow up to shenanigans with Tidas and Jecht so I put it down to them making sure that Tidas and Yuna's paths intersected.
Excellent write up about the Calm periods. Especially the key clue about Mi'hen and the crusaders. We know that Yunalesca's Calm couldn't have lasted too long because then there would be no need to establish a volunteer Civilian military force to fight Sin if Sin wasn't yet reborn by that time.
I think it's reasonable to imagine that the 600 years between Yunalesca and Gandof would have been Spira's true dark ages. Where people tried all kind of methods to defeat Sin, but no one was able to. And back then Yevon probably had a lot less influence because they didn't have any success either. And this made things like the Crusaders necessary.
But then after 600 years of Sin's rampage, Gandof became the first high summoner to defeat Sin, then 170 years after him Oholland defeated Sin, then 130 years later Yocun did too, and 90 years after her Braska defeated Sin as well.
The High summoners started succeeding more frequently, which gave Yevon much more credibility/authority than in the past. But also, given they've had 4 "victories" in 400 years, but still haven't found a way to defeat Sin for good, is starting to make some people skeptical.
So people like the Al Bhed and Crusaders are losing faith and trying different methods again. We find out from Lulu that Chappu died on the Djose shore just a year ago by trying to fight Sin with a machina weapon. This implies that there was some other kind of "Operation Mi'hen" with co-operation from the Al Bhed just a year or so prior.
But most people in Spira are still devout Yevon followers, who think that "one of these times" Sin will be gone for good. Even Braska seemed to believe that before he died. (But Auron was very skeptical.)
Regarding the smaller statues in the Temples, my head cannon is that they are meant to represent the summoners who died on their pilgrimages (which is why they all look the same). The statues are much smaller than those of the high summoners, but having them in the temple makes sense as it sets aside a space for the worshipers to respect all of the many summoners of the past, not just the high summoners.
@@dudemcguy1227 Well said. I especially like the idea that fallen summoners are revered in the temples, both respecting the dead and endorsing the ideal of their sacrifice.
Or the smaller statues represent the guardians of summoners.
You guys are such a good dynamic. Mike’s seriousness combined with Casen’s Everyman attitude is so good.
So there was actually a cut scene intended to be shown here when Tidus arrives at the ruins in Spira (Baaj Temple). Initially, he was supposed to come across a Sphere, in which he sees certain characters talking, very relevant to the story and lore related to Baaj, but he would be unable to understand what was being spoken as it was another language (Guado). However, he would monologue at this point and say that while he could not understand this language, this was clearly a very important memory recorded into the Sphere. Something to keep in mind for later.
That would have been such a good addition to the final game!
Baaj Temple is where Anima is acquired.
I'm not going to go over the details but that single fact explains the words scratched into the ground that they mentioned early in this video.
This podcast made me realize how amazing this game is. I played it initially upon release and was blown away. I guess time has diluted my perception because everything is so familiar. I know the story like the back of my hand, and because of that I often find myself overlooking the wonder it intially brought me when playing.
Pointing out the reveal of Kimahri was something I had totally forgotten about. At least how it made me feel when I first played. Thank you so much for this podcast. Your love for the craft is infectious.
One of the reasons I didn't get this remaster on PS4 was because of the characters' faces "fixes" and I'm glad you guys brought it up even briefly. It might be a very small detail to most but considering that back in the ps2 version the tiniest changes in their expressions helped the story so much, it really bothered me. I remember reading an article over it and how so much was lost to something that could have been handled way better, considering how the rest of the graphics looked really good and polished.
Anyway, I'm enjoying this podcast a lot and, since I never actually finished FFX (as a child I had a lot of trouble with the gameplay), it's a good way to go through the story again since I always did enjoy it. I got to this channel thanks to Vagrant Story and the fortuitous coincidence of playing through it for the first time myself and finding the guide you have made for it & a podcast to talk about it!
Great work all around, keep it up!
You just made me realize that I never once considered how different the handling of the Al Bhed language mechanics had to have benn between English and Japanese. Love your perspective on the thousand year time skip. Never really thought about it here, but I did have similar thoughts with Attack on Titan, with about the same reasoning (Spoilers ahead if you haven't seen it for both FFX and AOT). In AOT it always bothered me that absolutely no one had come up with better technology or the scouts having such tremendous losses against the titans dispite there ODMs, and know how. In S3 they introduce the royal family that is surpressing everything and directing the titans with the intent of keeping those people confined to the walls. So whenever the scouts would go out they would be attacked en mass, new technolgy that could enable a break through would be surpressed, memories and history were completely altered to maintain the cage. This relates to FFX because the church of Yevon is ultimately doing the same thing, so it's not a stretch to believe that a religion could hold back society for 1000 years *cough, cough*, dispite that we see very clearly what they could be capable of with some more development (end spoilers). Perfectly ok with you guys going as long as Xenogears. There's a lot to go over and I just enjoy the stuff you guys point out. You're even giving me a much greater appreciation for how Tidus is written. Might even start to like him by the end of this. Great work again guys.
Casen has been on fire since the beginning of this FFX analysis and I love it. Just goes to show how he really loves this game. I'm currently playing the game on an emulator on my phone as you progress on the analysis. I can't wait to hear the meaning behind the symbolism in that mandala in the future episodes. Excellent video as always from you guys. Big fan here from the Philippines.
I hope you guys mention the slow pace of the narrative. The game takes its time introducing all of its elements - you call it "front loading" the story - but it's also an aspect of the overall narrative mood. Events move slowly and almost dreamily. Dialogue isn't rushed. FFX really stands out from other games because it takes pains to slowly present its story and characters.
In the Eternal Calm, they cover Yuna training herself to hold her breath underwater too!
Loving this so much guys!
5:45 actually, the name of the song that plays when Tidus arrives to Baaj temple and has the "out of the frying pan intro the freezer" monologue is "no dream, no hope" which matches the Japanese monologue
I feel like this is one of the most, if not the most fleshed out worlds of final fantasy. There is a true sense of culture through out Spira that gets you so immersed.
I don't know if anything will match Ivalice as a whole but the fact that Spira comes close after essentially 1 game is kind of wild. XII's Spira in particular is so rich and vibrant and complete, i just love being in that game.
I would agree if all of stuff was actually in the game
39:50 I believe a good reason for not playing in the ocean is due to shifting tides and currents. A current pushing a certain direction at a certain time could cause some severe advantage/disadvantage issues that might not be entirely in the blitzer's control. Doesn't make for the best competitive environment compared to the completely still water the sphere stadium provides.
SPOILER:
also, fiends can totally take the form of humans. The prime examples being the dark aeons.
That's a good point, I always thought it was bizarre how Jecht went training out at sea for similar reasons when he could easily practice in Zanarkand. But I'd imagine training in those conditions would give him a huge advantage if it's something he'd done before.
On top of the fact that unlike in Luca or Zanarkand, which are heavily guarded, you could just run into fiends non stop.
also, people seem to be forgetting how huge blitzball is with audiences. They can easily observe a suspended ball of water, but they can't easily observe the ocean depths. unless they built an underground colosseum with air but that sounds even more tedious than how it is already
So many new things to discover in this podcast which were never talked about before!
They do eventually explain why the technology, culture, and language have changed so little though. (How believable that explanation is is another question entirely. I'm curious what y'all's thoughts are when you get there.) It was a major plot point, I'm surprised you don't remember.
Either way, I love this podcast. Great work guys!
Also, the term Byzantine Empire is actually a modern term used by historians for convenience. They would have called themselves Romans and their country Rome (sort of, they weren't speaking English obviously).
With series like this, it's always a question how much is genuinely having forgotten things, and how much is them not wanting to even hint in the direction of spoilers.
@@rmsgrey True, but that didn't strike me as the way they usually tiptoe around things like that.
About the Byzathine Empire, they might have called themselves Romans but historians had to differentiate the split of the OG Roman Empire into the Western part and the Eastern part which was called the Byzantine Empire.
It's not an RPG, but if you're interested in an adventure game where you decipher an ancient language to uncover the mysteries of a lost civilization, I strongly recommend the game Heaven's Vault.
This podcast its amazing, i really like it. I would love to watch the potcast with all of the spoilers, i mean.... whos watching this without playing the game?
I always just accepted that on Spira, people can breathe underwater. At most, I reckoned water on that world was somewhat amniotic in nature, like that stuff at the end of The Abyss. But if there’s a reason, I’m not surprised.
Also . . . Besaid has the perfect music for meditation. Or for going on a walk. Or doing basic house chores. Or provides a perfect soundtrack for sitting in a really, really, really comfy beanbag 🤟🏻
Please please please, take as much episodes as you need for FFX. Absolute gem of a game and very representative of what Final Fantasy means as a series. Loving your commentary, comparisons to the japanese version, and added value regarding details unbeknownst to the average player, THANK YOU!
I really really appreciate the analysis of the environmental details like the mandalas and the statues. I'm a concept artist for video games and its that environmental storytelling that is truly exceptional in FFX. Great analysis as always, you two. I'm very much enjoying this.
I love how Casen is a pure beast regarding symbols and could summerize my whole life from the rug at the entrance of my appartment.
I could listen to you two for 1000 hrs talking about FF 🥰❤
I'm super excited to hear that Mandala breakdown at the end of the podcast. I looked at that art and saw nothing in it, so I'm really excited to hear what meaning they laced into the symbology
Mike's impression of Jecht was pretty impressive 😅
57:40. In some of the novels that were published much later, they state that the calms are getting shorter. However, the time spans they outline for each of the calms make absolutely no sense. They say the first calm lasted 500 years.... which is silly. Part of the intrigue and tragedy of Spira is that their culture and civilization was not able to evolve being under the constant weight and threat of Sin. IF they had a whole 500 years to develop unperturbed by Sin, Spira would look quite different. IMO it makes more sense if the calms were of variable length for the entirety of the millennium, though there is a bit of horror involved when you think that Sin can get so strong that each subsequent final summoning will only bring sound a calm for a few days or even minutes....
(Spira timeline Spoilers below)
The length of the Calm periods is actually never revealed in the game or even the Ultimania guide. The idea that the first Calm period was 500 years... I believe that was actually a misconception created by the fans back when the game first came out. I'm not sure where that came from. Probably a popular 2000's forum like GameFAQs or something.
I think people just assumed that because Yunalesca was the first to defeat Sin, and because she was the strongest Summoner, that her Calm must have lasted much longer. But actually the writers never revealed that. All we know for sure is that Braksa's Calm was pretty short. 7 years or less. (Since Lulu was on a pilgrimage with her first summoner 3 years prior).
finalfantasy.fandom.com/wiki/Calm_(Final_Fantasy_X):
"...the Calm refers to an *uncertain amount of time* of peace in Spira between Sin's defeat at the hands of a summoner and its next public appearance."
Yunalesca defeated Sin 1000 ago by using the final summoning, shortly after Sin first appeared and destroyed Bevelle and before the Yevon Religion was even founded. After that, there is a 600 year gap between Yunalesca defeating Sin the first time and the next summoner (Gandof) becoming the fist High Summoner under Yevon.
But we also know that 200 years after Yunalesa defeated Sin, Mi'hen founded the Crimson blades (Crusaders) to try to protect Spira from Sin. This would mean that Yunalesca's first Calm period lasted 199 years at the most, but probably a lot shorter. Because 800 years ago, someone thought it was necessary to establish a civilian military force to fight against Sin regularly. This heavily implies that Sin had been attacking again frequently by that time.
So the "Yunalesa 500 year Calm" theory just doesn't make sense based on the history included in the original story. Because there would be no need for Mi'hen to found the Crimson blades in the middle of a 500 year Calm. They wouldn't even be expecting Sin to come back at all if the first Calm lasted that long.
So even if the Novels say that the first Calm was 500 years, that makes no sense in context of the original game.
Even still, 200 years of societal evolution is quite a long time.
@@RepresentingRodina Well we don't know for sure if Yunalesca's Calm was 199 years. That's the longest it could have been. It also could have been just as short as Braska's Calm. There's nothing confirming how long it was.
I actually think it makes more sense if the Calm periods are always short. A few years at most. And Yevon is feeding people the false promise of an Eternal Calm if they "repent" enough.
It could be that the Calms are based the Hindu and Buddhist believe that the lifespans of the world (aka kalpas or aeons) become shorter each time until complete destruction occurs followed by rebirth of the world. It's a common theme in Asian fantasy stories, anime (Devilman Crybaby) and games (the Shin Megami Tensei games series)
"And so Tidus heads inside and solves his Trial". "...Takes him a while." This made me laugh. Please keep going at the same pace you think appropriate. Love this Podcast.
This podcast has been my go to to listen to while doordashing, amazing stuff.
During Blitzball games I always assumed that each game... time (I'm not a sports guy) were short so the players could hold their breaths for the required period, plus we have in irl people who can actually hold their breath for several minutes. But then we have those long periods during gameplay underwater so... suspension of disbelief I guess. I've never seen the Pyreflies connection anywhere in the game though
Two quick things I hope you cover in the next episode:
1) Tidus’ conversation with Wakka right after meeting Yuna. I think this is important as it’s one of very few branching dialogue options available in the game. There’s also some foreshadowing depending on Wakka’s reaction.
2) I’m sure you’ll get to this, but right after Tidus’ wakes from his dream, Wakka’s conversation with Lulu, and then with Tidus in the tent.
It’s great to see Casen’s enthusiasm for this game. I relate to that so much because FFX really was able to utilize all the technological advances of the PS2 to create a cinematic experience unlike any of the previous entries. While FFXII would improve the cinematography and voice acting IMO, FFX really set the bar for world JRPG immersion on that generation of consoles.
I wonder if they'll talk much about the hidden affinity mechanics. There's not much point to them beyond a couple cutscene alterations and Tidus' Blitz Ace limit break, but they are interesting. Rikku gets some great character development that basically gets thrown out in X-2 because "not canon."
Tidus being a fish out of water upon waking in Spira was such a great strategy for world building. I can't help but compare X to XIII since they were done by the same team at Square Enix. Had they gone with Vanille as XIII's party lead instead of Lightning (which was actually the original plan, if memory serves), I think the world building for Cocoon would have been way better since Vanille was also a fish out of water after waking from her crystal stasis thousands of years after completing her Focus, and was partially faking her amnesia. I think it's interesting how such a small change (the POV which the story is seen from) can change a lot.
In regards to the 1,000 year time passing and Spira being relatively unchanged in that time. I always thought that was reinforcing the concept that Spira is stuck in this endless loop and is unable to move on.
Not unlike the karmic cycle of life and death.
I enjoy this so much. Thank you for your analysis, especially on the environment of the temple! I now really miss playing this game. It always feels like coming home.
I love watching these guys talk about their eating dysfunctions and learning about the duration of the Holy Roman Empire in real time.
Fun debugging tidbit. Tidus, Wakka and Rikku are the only people who go under water, and they are the only ones even with an animation to swim underwater.
If you hack the game to have other members in the party. They will just stand underwater.
There is only one instance in the game where you can see this normally.
Later in the game when you're doing the boss fight in the water of the Moonflow to free Yuna. She just stands inside of the boss. For the context it's fine. It's just fun to note that this is how she's coded all the time when underwater.
I see no issue with this particular game discussion taking as long as the Xenogears one did. This game is fantastic and any discussion you guys can pull out of it I will 100% listen to!
Kinda wild that I randomly decided to play FF10 for the first time right as you guys started covering this game for the podcast xD
You guys had me rolling when you talked about Gatta and Luzu lol
An explanation for how long they can hold their breath is what I come for in these deep dives, pun intended
I didn’t realize how connected pyreflies were with water until towards the end of the game which was such a surprise for me
One interesting tidbit that I figured casen would go nuts over at the besaid temple which he almost did was the symbolism with the statue and the cloister of trials being In the middle between them where people go to be reborn as summoners.
Maybe I'm reading in too deep into this but in a way it does reflect tidus' rebirth into this world as well. I'm not that good at writing this out. I hope that made sense LOL
can't wait to support you guys on patreon when I get paid next. You'lll be the first people I've ever done that for :) see you all soon
Thanks, Sean! You're so right about that. I know exactly what you're referring to. Especially since while Tidus was being reborn through Sin, Yuna had all day been in her own rebirth process, emerging as a summoner.
@@CasenSperry praise be to yevon. Casen saw my comment! LETS GO
@ 44:30 I always thought that it was simply that Wakka was so empathetic that he would put a stranger's wellbeing before his own gain (while secretly hoping to make a friend and maybe gain something anyway)
It's so good because it contrasts so stark with what he shows later. Showing that even good people have flaws
Hi Mike and Casen! Long time viewer from Finland here going back to the old Warialasky days. You have really found a great concept with this series of game analyses. Great that you guys are going through each scene in depth (Xenogears style)! As a big fan of this game, that is much appreciated!
The novelization has Yuna learning how to hold her breath for over 4 minutes I believe. It seems to just be an in-universe ability.
It's mentioned in X-2 that she's been training in holding breath. I want to say it's a scene in Chapter 5 Luca, but it's been a while.
and here i was thinking that water represented the unconscious
@@rmsgrey Actually, it was in Eternal Calm
@@Y-two-K Eternal Calm had her at a bit over 2 minutes (2 minutes and 14 seconds?) while by X-2, she was claiming over 4 minutes.
Four minutes is very doable in our universe - freedivers learn to hold their breath for longer than that. Interestingly the best freedivers are Polynesians (Bajau) who have evolved physiological differences that give them advantages for this.
The two large statues in every temple are also a direct reference/parallel to the FFX logo. Woman on the left facing a Man on the right. To go further in depth, specifically a Summoner facing a FInal Aeon.
A note.
The character that blocks Titus from entering the ship after him and Rikku resurface is a blitzball player one can recruit in the game. His name is Ropp, and he can be recruited at Rin's by Macalania Temple. (Between the forest and Shiva temple.)
I think at this point, we just need to accept that fact that we are never going to get to Kilika temple. We're just going to hang out on the ship, doing that infinite AP farming trick for the next few episodes. :P
Infinite AP farming 🤔? I will probably be replaying this game pretty soon. Don't remember it. Do tell......
When you're on the boat to Kilika and sin attacks the boat, if you dont attack Sin you can attack the sin scales infinitely for AP
@@cameronmills3599 Classic manouvre - good call
With all of the talk about Yin & Yang, I can't help but feel like Mike is the analytical Yin to Casen's spiritual and symbolism Yang lol
Ahhh I’ve been lacking on my playthrough!! I gotta catchup. Great content as always - you’ve helped me reconsider so many thoughts I had about this game when I was younger.
And then Nomura spent the next 20 years redoing his Tidus design with the Bouncer, Kingdom Hearts and FFXV
He dropped the belts and zippers and moved to flannel and 3/4 pants
Sora is a crazy example of the fmv and in game model all the way up to kh3
The original PS2 faces are actually HIGHER quality than the remaster counterparts because the original PS2 models actually had more "bones" or points of contact in their model skeletons which allowed for more movement in facial expressions and crisper looking faces.
This is what I read in a video that addressed why the original faces from PS2 look better than the remaster ones.
The ways you guys break down the games just keeps getting better
Rikku's voice actor is the legendary Tara Strong, she's been in a million cartoons and videogames. Known for roles such as Bubbles from Powerpuff Girls, Timmy Turner from Fairly Odd Parents and Raven from Teen Titans.
SPOILERS
I also always thought it was really bizarre how the Al Bhed thought Tidus was a fiend in disguise but it now occurs to me, isn't that exactly what Seymour is? He retains his human shape but has the ability to transform into all sorts of bizarre monstrous forms. I thought it was a unique circumstance but maybe the Al Bhed have seen that happen before
Unsent possess the ability to change their appearance however they want by manipulating pyreflies. This is why Auron "aged," why Seymour is able to later transform into his many forms, why Yunalesca, Mika, Belgemine, and Maechen stop aging altogether.
@@ember-evergarden Great pair of comments. I hadn't even made this connection but it was right there in plain sight this entire time.
@@ember-evergarden Maechen too?? I've played x a million times
Maybe I just forgot that
I’m curious about your opinions on the remastered version compared to the original. Mostly in the character models.
I feel that the new character models have taken away from the original’s expressive quality and art direction. Yuna’s hair is way too dark and everyone has these dead eyes which aren’t as expressive as the original’s.
It is great we have the remaster, of course, and the remixes are wonderful, but the more natural character faces in the original make it the only version I’ll play, honestly.
We mention this briefly in this episode somewhere in the last half-hour or so. We didn't go into great detail or anything, but we both agree with you.
Starting around 53:00 in
Oh awesome! I am 30 minutes now and wasn’t sure if it was going to be mentioned! Thanks for the heads up!
Agreed. I hate the new faces.
I bought the Remaster for Switch and couldn’t even play it. It was very much like watching my favorite movie, except everyone was replaced by a somewhat-lookalike actor. I found it too distracting and gave the game to my sister and wound up just firing up my PS2. I really can’t wrap my head around why these are the character models they went with. Even more surprising considering the remasters of FF7-9 look great all-around.
Already my favorite series on youtube at the moment
You guys are awesome! These are so much fun to watch and listen to. Thanks!!
Ah man I've been hanging out for this. Loving this series!
Re: Spoiler discussion relating to Al Bhed:::
Fiends -> Unsent dead people -> Farplane -> Yevon -> Aeons -> Fiend in human form
So much makes sense now. I've read that specific dialogue at least half a dozen times and it never clicked like it did just now. WOW.
Been waiting all day to get off work to watch this!
The thing that I love so much about this podcast is the consistent tie back to specific religious theming and imagery. These two know their religions, and it's refreshing to see them brought up in an otherwise secular discussion.
And I know that for this game in particular it's very much relevant, but the fact that they can casually bring up ancient old testament phrases like the Holy of Holies or the notion of sacrifice as a part of Mosaic Law as though it's something they think about often is very cool in my opinion.
When you talked about the models it reminded me of Spirits within and Aki, she looks different in a lot of scenes
Tidus: *no thoughts, heads empty*
Spira: sin's toxin.
Best part of my week.
Amazing series about an amazing game. Take as many episodes as you'd like!