Final Fantasy X/BlueHighwind

 

https://finalfantasy.fandom.com/wiki/Walkthrough:Final_Fantasy_X/BlueHighwind

Welcome Space Monkies, to the near future. I am the one you all certainly know and love by now, BlueHighwind. In order of being started, this Walkthrough is the fourth one and the very first even numbered game I've guided you through. FFX is not an amazing game. Don't get me wrong, its not a bad game by any means. Its just not great. Its well down there, right in the middle. A mediocre Final Fantasy at best. Most of the characters are unlikable, poorly acted and even more poorly dressed. The first 90% of the game is walking forward in a straight line, and Blitzball is truly terrible. But the graphics are spot on, the music is good, and though most of the voice acting is lousy, it was still a very good idea. What few good voice actors there are well make up for the weaknesses of the others. Hey, the storyline isn't bad either. Certainly a game that could be missed, but nothing that you'll regret playing.

I am not concerned with such trivial matters such as spelling or grammar, so if it really bothers you edit to your heart's desire but do not change the fundamental idea of what I have said, for it is sacred text. If you do not like foul language than you better get the fuck used to it, because I enjoy cursing.

Also be sure to note that I'm using the original American version of the game. So that means no Dark Aeons or Penance. Even if they were in my game, I'm not crazy enough to fight bosses that ridiculously over-powered. The Emerald WEAPON is where I draw the line.

If you despise me and how I do things, see Crazyswords's Walkthrough: here.

How to Play Final Fantasy X

Before you even think of playing Final Fantasy X, there are some minor physical limitations. First of all you need at least one working human hand, the ability to take visible Electromagnetic Radiation through organs called 'eyes' in a process called 'seeing', and a central nervous system to take in this information and interpret it in a meaningful way. Hearing is optional, but the game is much better if you can actually listen to the brilliant score. Plus you're going to have to know how to read. (If you can't read, then how the hell are you even understanding this?).

Now for the technological limitations. You're going to need a power source, preferably electrical to drive the machinery you are going to need in order to play this game. First you are going to need a TV made sometime in the Nineties or later, hopefully its in color. Second you're going to need either a PlayStation 2 or 3, the PS1 cannot play this game. Finally you're going to need a copy of the actual game. Which can be procured in your local video game retailer's Bargain Bin. Or much more easily on eBay.

Insert the disc into the disc tray. If you cannot perform this simple task than you either lack the physical ability to play this game (if that's the case then I feel for you man, life really dumped a lot of shit on you) or are just a complete fucking retard, in which case you get no sympathy from me. Seriously if you can't even do that, then you've shown a greater degree of stupidity, and incompetence than an Italian Tank Division charge. Congratulations!

Basic Controls

If you've ever played a Final Fantasy and have even the slightest amount of intelligence you can skip this section and the next. If you're a total idiot who cannot grasp even the slightest concepts (I know at least one is reading this), feel free to read to your heart's content.

This game uses the American scheme of buttons. The X-button.png button is the select button, and the Circle-button.png button is the cancel. The Triangle-button.png is the menu button, and the Square-button.png doesn't seem to have any function unless specifically mentioned in a mini-game. You use the L1 button to switch your characters in and out in battle. You use the left analog stick to move your character around and select from menus. The right doesn't have any purpose. Since the camera is on rails you can't move your line of sight, which can get annoying sometimes.

Battle system

I don't really need to go over this portion of the game, since FFX holds your hand like no game before. However since I must walkthrough everything, I'll go over it right now. The old ATB system from the last three games is gone, in exchange for a turn based system. This was quite a surprise for me a few years ago, when I found that my enemies will wait until the end of time for me to choose between a "Fire" or "Ice" spell. I don't really consider this change an improvement but its not that big of a difference anyway. One of the cooler features of this system is that you can switch characters mid-battle. Say you're fighting an enemy weak to magic, but all you got are physical attackers. Simple: switch out your swordsmen and throw in a Mage. You can't switch out KOed characters, or characters that have been knocked out of battle.

Now for the significant changes. Levels are gone in exchange for a Sphere Grid system. The Sphere Grid is a giant board on which your characters move when they receive a Sphere from battles. The Grid contains all of the stat boost and new abilities that your character will learn during the course of the game. Each of your character starts in a different section of the Grid that corresponds to their own special class. Later on in the game you can break out of this little area and move onto the entirety of the Sphere Grid. Basically its more of an annoyance than anything else. Now you have to manually move each character up the Grid after every battle, it gets tedious really fast. I'd just like a Level Up with automatic stat boosts.

Another fun feature is the Overdrive System. These Limit Breaks are pretty much the same as FFVII's. You build up your Overdrive Meter, and then when its fully filled, you can use a powerful attack called an Overdrive. This time, you can set your Overdrive Modes. So it can build up by your character losing HP, your character gaining HP, your character dealing damage, whatever you like.

Weapons and Armor can be Customized at any point of the game using special items you find. New weapons and Armor are not necessarily any more powerful then the last one you find. They just grant different abilities, like immunity to Stone or whatever. I never really bothered too much in this system because I'm on the lazy side.

Oh, and Summons in this game are out of their freakin' mind! These monsters act as normal party members, when they're summoned you have full control but they replace your three current party members. However, Summons are so strong you can live with it, especially those that can heal themselves. They have Overdrives as well, and they are very powerful. These creatures beat pretty much everything. They kick total ass. I'm sorry that nothing like them has ever come back in any of the newer Final Fantasy games.

Not my favorite battle system, but at least its better than FFVIII. And we can all be thankful for that.