Final Fantasy X-2 Last Mission

[agent0042]

I'm up to floor 20 and I can't figure out whether I love it or hate it. On the one hand, I like getting more of X-2 story because I was one of those seemingly rare few who actually liked the game for its story. Also, the music is fun, as are some of the combat ideas. On the other hand, it's hella difficult compared to the main X-2 game, and annoyingly so at times. Attacks miss too often and confuse status is especially annoying, throwing items everywhere and lasting too many turns. Also, it's too easy to accidentally mess up a turn. I got an item that lets you return to the bottom with all stats and items. I reached floor 20, but I'm giving serious consideration to using it, though I hate to lose all that progress...

[Bob]

Haven't played that yet. It's on the HD remake, right? I bought that, but haven't played it yet. My wife has been playing FFX HD and it looks disappointing. For instance, Yuna's eyes are TOO HD, meaning that now that it's easy to tell her eyes are different colors, the woman looks blind. My wife and I just crack blind jokes during all Yuna-related cutscenes. But more than that, it has LAAAAAAG! Really bad lag! You can turn the TV into Game Mode (which I've NEVER had to do before) and it helps a bit, but still, LAAAAAG! Constant LAAAAAG! If you don't know why lag is bad, then let's put it this way: I can't hit Tidus's Overdrive. Neither can my wife. We're talkin' Spiral Cut, too, not Blitz Ace. Just can't hit it. And this BASICALLY means I will never power up the poor Onion Knight. Dodge 200 lightning bolts in a row...WITH LAAAAAG!

[agent0042]

Yeah, it's on the HD remake.

Hmm, well, maybe it's because you have a bigger TV, but I didn't really find it to be too HD. And I've been enjoying seeing some of the more beautiful stuff like spherechanges and the Magus Sisters in HD.


As for the lag, hmm, sure it's not just your setup? I haven't done most of the Trophies for Final Fantasy X yet, but I didn't really have any major problem hitting Tidus's overdrives. And I'm very close to reaching Platinum on X-2.

[Bob]

The HD remake has a few cool things added in, but also missed some things that make me kinda sad. The graphics are clearer, but not better. I'd kinda hoped that they would've done a few things like modified the weird two-dimensional graphics in the game like Lulu's necklace, but I guess that would've taken too much time. The big "Aww" for me was that they didn't add in a scene skip. Seriously, I love the plot, but after playing a game a million times, you want a scene skip. All new games offer it for this reason, so how come a remake didn't add in this functionality?

But yeah, the lag is bad. I haven't had lag issues with any of my games since upgrading to an HDMI cable (without that, the lag was real in everything), but FFX HD has serious issues. Hoping the several other HD remake collections I plan to buy (Metal Gear, DMC, God of War, etc) don't have this issue. Maybe I'll have to borrow a smaller TV to dodge lightning

[agent0042]

Bob - yes, that would probably be my biggest gripe as well, the lack of scene skip. It was clear that there were certain engine improvements when it came to Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 Remix, so, yes, why couldn't they have done something similar for Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD Remaster as well? I can think a few other improvements I would have made too. From what I can tell, it was pretty much a straight port. Which, honestly, still, I'm not going to complain too loudly. $20-$40 (depending on which version you buy) for two and half (Last Mission) excellent games, remastered in HD, and with International content that I've long dreamed of playing? I'll take that.


Lag issue-- okay, well, it seems you're not the only one experiencing lag, but don't go after that new TV just yet. I was looking at a Trophy guide and it recommends the following:

"Before you attempt this you should get a piece of armor with the No Encounters ability; attempting this with random battles is nigh impossible, but also speeds up the process. Now on the left side, near the middle of the southern half of the Thunder Plains is a crater; there's a lightning tower just south and a little niche to the east. Every time you approach this crater lightning will strike, approaching the crater literally forces the game to send a lightning strike. You can dodge this strike, then take a few steps away and go back towards the crater to force and dodge another lightning strike.

This method is not only effective and relatively safe, it helps offset the upscale lag input. The HD version has lag input and so with a random lightning strike even if you see the screen flash white, you'll probably be too late to press the button to dodge. By using this area you can compensate for the lag and press the button at the right time to dodge the lightning. If that's not going well for you and you have an older model TV, you can swap out the HD/PbPrG cables with AV cables to get rid of the lag."



As for Last Mission, I finished it, though I still have one more Trophy to go after for FFX-2 Platinum. (Last Mission's Trophy set is part of X-2.) General thoughts-- enjoyed the story, the gameplay I could take or leave. Tips: If you're planning to play it, do yourself a huge favor and do not attempt to play without a walkthrough. One of the things about this game is that every so often you encounter locked elevators and there are specific requirements you have to fulfill to get them to unlock, some of which are quite silly and a nightmare to figure out without a guide. db.gamefaqs.com/console/ps3/file/final_fantasy_x_x2_hd_last_mission.txt

Other general tips-- I recommend a combination of the dresspheres Berserker, Mascot, Festivalist, Songstress and Berserker. This seems to provide the best ability set and includes the Secret Items ability, which gives you lots of items to sell at shops. However, if encountering enemies using Confuse or Doom, then make sure to equip a dressphere combination to guard against it, again see the guide.



One other thing-- have you accessed the option yet that says "Credits and Bonus Audio"? There's actually an entirely new story there called ''Final Fantasy X -Will--'', a sort of audio drama thing that follows up the game. And while you're playing it, you get to look at a boatload of storyboard artwork and concept art from X, X-2 and Last Mission.



P.S.: Curse you! Now when I'm playing and I see Yuna, I can't help but thinking "blind!"