Final Fantasy X HD Remaster to Show a Masterful Remaster of Sound

Yesterday, the Playstation Youtube channel posted a video showcasing Final Fantasy X HD Remaster's improvements on graphics, but also sound. The video first features clips from the original Final fantasy X and then Final Fantasy X HD Remaster. The difference is quite clear, in every single way possible.

The remaster is looking to be a beautiful improvement of the already beautiful original. I absolutely cannot wait to see the finished product.

Is Naminé just another damsel in distress?

I have mentioned in the past that Naminé from the very popular Kingdom Hearts series is my favorite character. As you have no doubt noticed, I am in the habit of dissecting things, analyzing every minute detail that I can. Naturally, I have done the same with my favorite characters, especially Naminé.

Kingdom Hearts is not a series with simple characters. In fact, it is not a simple series at all. It is chock full of lore and terms used in our every day that have completely different meanings in the context of the series. Case in point, the term "Nobody" refers to a class of creatures/people who are "shells" of who they once were. A Nobody is born when a person loses their heart, but they are just a shell of that person, meaning they have no emotions and no memories. At the very least, that is true of most Nobodies, but not of the most notable ones in the game, including Naminé.

Naminé is the Nobody of the main protagonist, Sora, as well as another main character, Kairi. The "how" is a little complicated, and, as that is not what this post is about, I will save it for perhaps another time. Naminé was first introduced in the second game of the series, Chain of Memories for the Gameboy Advance. She has since reappeared in every game in the series since (even Birth by Sleep, if you can believe it). She is one of the most unique Nobodies because she has powers that allow her to manipulate the memories of Sora, his memories and those who are connected to him.

In Chain of Memories, she is absolutely, undoubtedly a damsel in distress. She is used by the main antagonist of the game, Marluxia, to mess with Sora's memories, causing him to forget things about his past and replace other things in his memory. It is both clear that she dislikes following orders but also that she is a lonely girl, only used by the others in Castle Oblivion and rarely interacting with them at all. Marluxia has her replace the most important person to Sora with herself so that he is under the illusion that they are great childhood friends and he has to rescue her.

Though still manipulating her, Axel comes to her when no one else is around and convinces her to set things right. Naminé jumps at the opportunity and meets with Sora to tell him that she has been lying to him all along and that, in doing so, he has forgotten who has most important to him, right down to the lucky charm he received in the first game. Sora looks at the star shape charm and finds that she is telling the truth when it retains its familiar shape.

At the climax of the game, Naminé is kidnapped by Marluxia, who senses an upcoming conflict between himself and Axel. He pulls her out as a trump card to either stop Axel from killing him and also to anger Sora into defeating Axel. She is not only a damsel in this case, she is literally being used as an object to up the conflict between three men. Even though he knows Naminé is not who he thought she was, Sora is still angered and fights Axel in order to get at Marluxia, who still has Naminé. Marluxia orders Naminé to erase Sora's memory completely so that she, and Marluxia, can have complete control over Sora and the Keyblade. She, of course, refuses, even though Marluxia threatens her. Even when Sora tells her to do it, she refuses. This would have been a good opportunity for her to hit Marluxia in the stomach or something (she's at the perfect height for it!) but, instead, she has to be saved again. This, at least, shows how much she has developed as a character throughout the game, no longer passively taking orders from Marluxia.

After Sora defeats Marluxia, Naminé tells Sora and the others that she can fix their memories, but they have to forget about her and the events that transpired in Castle Oblivion. Sora, of course, chooses to regain his lost memories.

"Who needs false memories, right?"

(In Re: CoM, her voice actress does a lovely job of making her voice tremble.) Chain of Memories ends with Sora and the others "going to sleep" while Naminé repairs their memories for a year. The script has flipped just a bit in that Naminé tells them that she will "take care of them" which is obviously different from the game's dynamic up until this point. And she does do just that, dutifully watching over Sora and fixing his memories.

In 358/2 Days, Naminé is having trouble actually fixing Sora's memories because of Xion, who is regaining Sora's memories instead. When Xion comes to meet her, she doesn't force Xion into giving the memories back, even though she promised to fix Sora. She talks her through what she wants to do. Naminé has evidently grown quite a bit from her experiences in Chain of Memories, and her helping Xion is the first of what she comes to do a lot for the rest of her time in the games she appears in.

In Kingdom Hearts II, Naminé meets Roxas and seems to always show up when he needs help. As I mentioned above, Naminé is completely different from how she was in her first game, saving and helping others instead of being saved herself. She saves Roxas from fading and she tells him the truth about who he really is, which gets her into a lot of trouble with DiZ. DiZ is sort of the Marluxia of Kingdom Hearts II for Naminé. DiZ orders Naminé around and, even though she is fixing Sora's memories because she wants to, the way DiZ treats her is similar to the way Marluxia treated her, only even harsher. This time, she is in no way a damsel, and she is in control of her own agency.

Naminé goes against DiZ's orders by saving Roxas and making him question who he really is. Even though no one wants her to, she tells Roxas who he truly is, which results into trouble for her. She comforts Roxas about his fate, completely sure that they will meet once again. Shortly after, Naminé is sort of put into the position of a damsel once again. After DiZ separates her from Roxas, he orders Riku to kill her but, of course, the two are friends in some sense of the word, so he frees her to go wherever she wants, and she is in control of her agency again.

Naminé is not seen from or heard from until the end of the game when Kairi is kidnapped and imprisoned. She frees Kairi, and the two escape together, running as Naminé fades in and out of existence. They are confronted, and the two prepare to fight until Riku takes care of their enemy for them. Sure that Kairi is safe, Naminé disappears again. She is seen for the last time (until the ending), summoning a portal for everyone to escape the crumbling the castle. She reunites with Kairi, no longer alone.

In my mind, by the end of Kingdom Hearts II, Naminé deserves to be called a hero. She has progressed from being a damsel in her first appearance, to helping and saving others repeatedly. She is no longer "just a damsel." She is a complete character with complete development. Not to mention, even when she is a damsel in Chain of Memories, she still shows herself to be much more. Throughout the game, she learns to put her own selfishness and fear behind her in order to be honest with Sora and undo the damage she has caused. She is no longer afraid to stand up to her oppressors, even when she is confronted with their violence. This is a theme that runs for the rest of her appearances, standing up to the people who want to control her and doing what she wants to, for the good. Truth be told, I find her to be an inspiring character. She is a character I enjoy because she serves more of a purpose than just being a damsel, used to attract a male character.

While Aqua is clearly the most independent female character in the series and is strong, she is strong in different ways from Naminé, In fact, I would argue that every major female character in the Kingdom Hearts series has some type of strength that differs from the other characters. The reason Naminé sticks with me so much is because she is a character I have enjoyed since I was relatively young, so she will always have the greatest impression on me. I am happy that she develops past her relationship with Sora, even though so much of what she does has to do with him in some way, and that she develops meaningful relationships with other characters, not to mention gaining the strength, on her own, to save others.

She is certainly not "just another damsel in distress."

Revisting Final Fantasy X

Official logo of the remasters

With Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD Remaster being released at some point this year, I thought I would take the opportunity to write about Final Fantasy X. This is somewhat of a review, and somewhat of an opinion piece.

Final Fantasy X was the first Final Fantasy game I ever played, so it stands out to me in ways that other games in the series never will. This is also a game that really revolutionized the entire Final Fantasy franchise, though it may be difficult to believe today!

This was the first game in the series to have a direct sequel, for better or for worse, setting a precedent for the series today. It was also the first game in the franchise to feature voice acting and "real-time facial expressions" (as quoted from the game's box). Of course, the expressions can look a bit laughable today, and the voice acting may seem a little uninspired, but we would not have what we do in Final Fantasy games today if it were not for Final Fantasy X.

For those of you who have never played the game, it is about Tidus, who is a famous athlete from a city called Zanarkand, who finds himself in another world where his city is nothing but ruins. He joins a summoner, Yuna, and her guardians as they go on a pilgrimage to defeat Sin, the main antagonist of the game. Sin is a gigantic creature that causes tragedy everywhere it ventures, leaving numerous causalities and damages in its wake. The goal of a summoner is to venture from temple to temple around Spira and pray, gaining creatures called aeons that can be summoned to fight, until they reach Zanarkand where they gain the Final Aeon, which is needed to defeat Sin. The thing about Sin is that it never goes away for good and always returns after ten years.

This is a game that has an overall serious atmosphere, and there are very few silly moments throughout the game, which is appropriate for a game that deals with a lot of death. Seriously, there is so much death in this game. It is also an emotional game with many emotional moments that are portrayed at least decently. As I mention below, there is one specific moment that stands out to me as the facial expressions doing a wonderful job, and every character faces one of their own personal tragedies that they need to move past. The ending of this game is one of the most bittersweet I have ever said in a game, and it is widely known as a tearjerker, which is likely why a direct sequel was created.

The method of leveling up is rather unique in that there is a sphere grid, a gigantic grid full of HP, MP, strength, etc., increases and abilities. At its heart, the sphere grid system is like any other RPG. Characters gain experience from defeating enemies and bosses, thus gaining levels. Where it differs is the way the game chooses to use the level ups. Instead of gaining more magic, health, and abilities with each level, the player must navigate the sphere grid to gain those things. It makes the game strategic and allows the player to turn the character into whatever they would like. Kimahri is an obvious example. While every other character has their own section on the sphere grid, Kimahri has maybe one area and, from there, the player can take him wherever they want. They can make him into a white or black mage, or they can prioritize strength by having him go into Auron's section. This can be done with any character, but the player must do this with Kimahri.

I would say that the difficulty of the game is relatively high, once you reach a certain point. I would argue that the game is at least challenging throughout, but once you reach Mt. Gagazet, every boss is at an insane difficulty level for the rest of the game. At least, that is the point where I used to always find myself having difficulty. The truth is that the game does not necessarily get impossibly difficult, but it truly requires the player to strategize more from there on. The boss on Mt. Gagazet is one that would always give me trouble because I never strategized correctly (also, I used to run away from many encounters, but that is a story for another time).
For the record, this post is going to contain some spoilers in my discussion of the characters, so gloss over those parts if you've not played.

Final Fantasy X is both Tidus and Yuna's story as it is about Yuna's journey as a summoner, but it also about Tidus learning about Spira, befriending others, and learning the truth about himself and his father.

I have never played or seen a Final Fantasy game that does not have memorable characters (especially in the case of Final Fantasy VII), and this is no exception. Not to mention that each and every character is completely fleshed out and has a story of their own. All of the main characters face a tragedy during the game, and it is interesting to see how they change or overcome their grief along the way.

The ladies in this game are excellent. Rikku is an Al Bhed, a despised race in Spira, and the racist of the group is unaware of this, leading to some drama later, which provides some interesting plot and character development. She is Yuna's cousin, and she is very supportive. She joins the group after attempting to kidnap Yuna, an effort to stop her from completing the pilgrimage, but ultimately decides it is better to be with her cousin and try to develop a plan to make her end the pilgrimage along the way. Even though it goes against her heart and her beliefs, she journeys with Yuna until the end, even when Yuna refuses to give up her pilgrimage. Rikku understands and backs her up, even though it makes her upset. She is a peppy, upbeat character who has her serious, thought-provoking moments.

Lulu is the oldest of the girls and grew up as an orphan with Yuna. For this reason, the two of them are very close, and very much like sisters. Lulu is one of the most serious characters of the group, and she holds immediate contempt for Tidus, suspicious of his strange actions and lack of knowledge of Spira. As time goes on, she warms up to Tidus, explaining things about the world to him, but still does not want him near Yuna, more or less because she knows both characters have feelings for each other and it would only end in sadness. It is revealed later in the game that Lulu has been on two previous pilgrimages and holds a lot of guilt over something that occurred on one of her pilgrimages. She does look out for all of the younger characters (meaning everyone in the group but Auron and Kimahri), and especially looks out for Wakka and asks Tidus to try to be understanding. She is a really wonderful character.

Yuna is a summoner who is considerate, quiet, and serious. Most of what she thinks about she does not speak of aloud. As the daughter of Braska, the last summoner to defeat Sin, she has big shoes to fill. She is a brave and determined character, knowing full well from a young age that defeating Sin means death. Later in the game, when she casts aside her religion, she continues to journey as a summoner, despite the fact that she is hated around Spira. Most of what the player knows about Yuna comes from Tidus' narration, which is a bit problematic, but she is a fantastic character who gets even more expansion in Final Fantasy X-2 (along with Rikku)!

Though some of the music is reused a little too much, most of the music used in the game is very good. "To Zanarkand," and "The Via Purifico" are two of the most memorable songs of the game. "To Zanarkand" certainly captures the entire atmosphere of the game. I have always said that if you want to show someone who has never played the game what the game is like in just a song, show them 'To Zanarkand.'

We can all laugh as much as we want about the facial expressions, but there are some moments where the expressions are particularly good. If you have not played,   will try not to spoil this too much, but the best example of character expression in the game takes place during the second portion of the final battle. In fact, I may just make this its own post, but Yuna's expressions change very clearly to show how distressed and upset she is about what she has to do. It is really touching and allows the player to connect with her even more; Yuna gets a lot of that in the endgame, which I appreciate. As I said, I will probably just expand on this more in a different post. Just know that it is a really touching, emotional thing to watch.


The game can last about as long as you want. I would estimate that just the main story would take maybe about forty-five hours or so, but there is a lot of sidequests that can be done. The sidequest to get the celestial (aka, ultimate) weapons can take a while if you want to get all of the weapons, and it may still take a while depending on which weapons you want. Many of the sidequests tend to reward you with both the celestial weapons and other items, which is convenient. The Monster Arena sidequest alone can take a while to finish, and that is including reaching high enough levels to actually fight the monsters.

Final Fantasy X has no shortage of things you can do, and it has a lot of heart.

The only thing that disappoints me about the game is the amount fan service present. This is problematic for many reasons, including that these moments often take away from these strong female characters (Yuna, Lulu, and Rikku) by turning them into objects for the audience's pleasure. The most clear cut case is when Tidus stumbles upon Rikku, who has washed up on the shore.

Image courtesy of ffshrine.org

Rikku gets up as Tidus stumbles upon her and takes off her suit. The audience is "treated" to a scene of her, dripping wet, slowly unzipping her suit and stripping it off. The FMV sequence depicted above is especially gross when you consider that Rikku is only fifteen in Final Fantasy X (for reference, Lulu is twenty-two and Yuna is seventeen).

Soapboxinggeek also describes this problem of objectification in the game. She says that, while she enjoys the game overall,  "What I didn’t like was being treated to an animation of Lulu’s jiggly boobs during the victory fanfare.  She was an intelligent, talented and levelheaded character. But her character design featured a skintight dress made of leather belts, and a fur collar which left bare shoulders and lent itself to ample cleavage. The other two female characters, Yuna and Rikku, had arguably less sexualized outfits, but I was still forced to endure FMVs of a sweaty Yuna fainting from exhaustion, and a closeup of a dripping wet Rikku unzipping her skintight waterproof body suit. I can only presume that Square-Enix (or Squaresoft as it was known then) were staffed by mature adults, and that they were aware that the Final Fantasy series has a strong female fanbase. So why were only the women given sexualized introductions (and victory poses)?"

She details a huge problem in the game (and video games in general). While the female characters are objectified (a problem in itself), the men do not suffer from this problem at all. (Note, I am not saying that male characters should be sexualized as well, but if female characters are being sexualized, then it should be "equal," and male characters should be as well. What I would really like to see is no sexualization whatsoever.) The creators made these female characters into wonderful, well-rounded characters but decided to take them down a peg by objectifying them. The purpose of Lulu's victory pose seems to be a "reward" for the player winning a battle.

I would not necessarily say these sequences ruin the game for me because I still love and enjoy it very much, but they make me dread the times when I know I am about to watch one of the girls being turned into an object for the audience's "pleasure." It detracts from the overall playing experience, which is unfair. 

Final Fantasy X is a great game over all, but it is also problematic. Nonetheless, it will always remain one of my favorite video games and I cannot wait for Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD Remaster to be released. On a final note, the remaster will be of the International version, meaning, if you lived in or played the North American version, you will now be treated to the Dark Aeon fights as well.

You can find soapboxinggeek's post about being a female gamer here.
I definitely suggest reading it. It is very eye opening and informative, particularly if you do not identify as female or are not aware of the problems afflicting female gamers in the video game industry.

Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD Remaster (PS3) is available for pre-order on Amazon.