Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD Remaster review

[sj33]

PS3 version tested.

Got mine today (Japanese) and gave it a bash so just posting some first impressions.

Both X and X-2 are based on the International editions, albeit with the Japanese voices added back in. There does not seem to be any English language options in the Japanese version. However, it does contain the various extras including Last Mission.

These are absolutely flawless as HD ports. Essentially up-rezed, but with improved lighting, textures etc. so it doesn't look awkward. In fact, it could easily be mistaken for a current generation game. Even the FMV scenes appear to be HD quality to my eyes, in widescreen too. The music has been touched up a tad, but sounds perfectly fine.

It seems to run at 1080p, though I'd be surprised it it's native. Only downer is the 2.0 audio.

I'll post more impressions later, but this seems to be a perfect HD release as long as you're not expecting a full remake.

[hudson]

Really looking forward to this on Vita.

Hope they port FFXII someday.

[speedlolita]

Pre-ordered the LE on the EU Square Enix store for PS3. Cannot wait to play Last Mission.

Real shame that on Vita only X will be physical and X-2 will be a download code.

[sj33]

That's also a western-only thing. The two games on the Vita are being sold as separate physical games in Japan, albeit at a budget price. The two Vita games in Japan actually work out around the same price as buying the PS3 game, so it's a much better deal than a rubbishy download code.

[speedlolita]

Oh is it now?

Rubbish. That pushed me over the edge to ordering on PS3, I'd rather play on my PC monitor than my Vita anyway I guess.

Originally I had fully intended to grab them both on Vita.

[J0e Musashi]

They're Vita TV compatible, so the PS3 version seems a little pointless if you have the hardware.

[speedlolita]

Except that the Vita TV doesn't output 1080p.

[sj33]

And the Vita TV still renders games at regular Vita resolution, it just upscales them to 720p.

[nakamura]

Looking forward to these.

[J0e Musashi]

I'd still take being able to play them at home or on the road over 1080p. Especially being that they are old games being dragged up to HD.

[trev1976]

think ill be purchasing this one when it gets a US release

[Guts]

Too bad FFX still sucks.

[danholo]

Looks great. I might just import the game for the sake of novelty. Not aching to play this again but what the heck. As it was already mentioned, waiting/hoping for FFXII to be ported, as it's one of my favorites. Shouldn't complain!

[sj33]

I'm quite impressed with how well they've brought the assets up to HD quality. The textures don't explicitly look like they're actually new, it looks like they've returned to the original sources and made HD quality assets from the original sources. The result is a game that looks like FFX of old, but with textures that suit the increased resolution.

They've done a good job with the FMVs too. I watched the X-2 intro last night and had to move to 2 inches in front of the TV to tell whether the FMVs are natively HD or upscaled. I suspect the latter, but the fact that I had to sit so close to the TV to even be able to tell really demonstrates what a good job SquareEnix have done. They're all widescreen of course (and don't appear to be cropped, though I can't do a comparison right now).

The only elements that give away the fact that FFX and X-2 aren't current generation games are the last-gen geometry complexity and the more simple character models (especially with the hair and bodies). Though saying that, I really don't think the game look any more dated than, say, FF13.

I was initially worried about the remixed music because I personally prefer music to stay faithful to the original, but overall it sounds very good. They've been updated to give the music a little bit more 'depth', but you can tell they went out of their way to stay faithful to the original while trying their best to make the game look and sound like a modern game.

The package contains the International editions of both games, FFX: 永遠にナギ節 (I'm not sure what the English title is), FFX-2: Last Mission and bonus credits and music.

This will be the first time that FFX-2 International Edition and Last Mission has been released in English. The PAL version of FFX on the PS2 was actually based on the International Edition, and the Asian International Edition actually supported English. The fact that Last Mission will finally be available in English is the big news.

[sj33]

I'm getting really frustrated Blitzball in this game. It was rubbish in the original game and nothing has changed in the HD Remaster. Even the old bugs remain (such as the one where you can hide behind the keeper and cause all the NPCs to become confused).

I don't just hate it because I am rubbish (although that is also true), it is actually fundamentally broken. The fact that you have no control over your team's defense (other than preset strategies) means that you essentially have to wait until your team becomes lucky enough to actually get a hold of the ball. You can become 2-0, even 3-0 down before you've even managed to touch the ball No matter what formation you use, if the CPU players have enough HP to just plow through your players, then they will score and there's nothing you could conceivably have done to prevent it.

Couple that with how your own players will always have extremely daft AI, whereas the CPU AI will be almost robot-like in their accuracy and strategies (you will never see a CPU player trying to break through too many players, or taking risks), and you have an extremely poor implementation of a potentially good concept.