The lack of even a single dislike on a video regarding such an opinion-polarizing entry in the series stands testament to the extremely thoughtful dissection of the game that's present here. I stumbled into this video and didn't think I'd watch it in its entirety, let alone 20 minutes of it; and yet the spot on & unbiased analysis coupled with the engaging manner of speaking motivated me to see it to its conclusion. Utter excellence.
One thing that was rather distinctive in FFX was the presence of NPCs in various areas outside of towns and cities. Not a lot of JRPGs have people wandering about and having their own little scenes while you're journeying across a particular area with enemy encounters. They're usually just restricted to the safe zones, and every other location is desolate (barring the monsters). The only other games that have their worlds occupied in such a way are the Pokemon titles. I think this trait sort of builds on the "world" aspect you mentioned in the FFIX video. Where that game presents that feel through the developments and changes of its populaces, FFX presents it by making the people ever present throughout the bulk of the game. They're involved in this adventure almost as much as you are in a way.
I think you missed that a big theme of ff10 revolved around second chances. Auron getting another life to influence the next generation to get it right. Tidus changing what his father was unable to, being the second "dream", or chance. Jecht getting another chance to talk to his son and redeem himself. Yuna getting to live again towards the end after being condemned the entire game. Wakka getting to see what an ass he had been, and changing for the better. Lulu eventually healing from Chappu's death and getting another shot at love (at least its heavily hinted at in ff10, i know in the sequel its cemented) Kimrahi gets to reclaim his lost honor by winning the second fight with his brother. Rikku was a ff10 character, best I can do for her, lets be honest though, she was the weakest character, even lulu was better developed and lulu was an icequeen with a broken heart and belt fetish(poor wakka, he knew what a kink in her belt meant). I think the best Rikku had was some daddy issues that just get used for plot humor. Nothing really to do with my point, anyways. To top all this off at the very end the entire world gets another chance to be normal again when the cycle is stopped and sin is no more. While it seems like you could take the second chance theme and tie it to a lot of stories, the way death is handled in this universe really resonates with it I think. Auron to me is the ultimate embodiment of this, not even allowing a little thing like dying to deter him. Which is why I think he was the main character. He was the first person to say no more, and try to do something. He planted the seeds of change. While he failed at stopping the cycle in his first life, he triumphed his second time. He was dogged determination incarnate.
This video is peak Archaengaia, back when he was this first version of himself. It's not his best video, but it's thick with the tropes that are most specific to himself.
FFX is personally my favourite. I really enjoyed the story (massively actually), the music in my opinion was excellent (althought its final fantasy so thats to be expected), the amount of characterisation the game includes has often been seen as a negative which i find percualliar becasue its what i feel the best part of the story (yes tidas isnt a badass, thats the point...). The battle system i also very much enjoyed simply because i had to think about my moves more rather than being rushed by the game or just spamming the most damage possible. Honestly its very hard for me to pick out anything that i really didnt like about the game (except the fucking baloon gae for the celestial weapon. That was BS, whoever thought of that should have been fired...blitzball at least was awsome).
The last dungeon was weird, but it never struck me as weird for no reason. It's established throughout the game that exposure to Sin messes with people's minds, like a toxin, and you're literally inside him at this point. But I didn't even attribute it to that. Sin is the armor within which the dream of the fayth is forever being manifested by Yu Yevon, so it made sense to me that the warped facets of the dream and its component materials would be the insides of Sin. It is essentially a reality warping process. Jecht really is your last boss, even down to the music (whether you like the direction or not, personally I'm not a huge fan). Everything after that - Yu Yevon fleeing into the Aeons one by one until you can finally destroy him - isn't really the last the boss, it's just the story playing out. Maybe it should have been cut scenes. They could've tried to make Yu Yevon a real boss fight, but the plot hinges around the Final Summoning and Sin being the tools required to protect him, so there's nothing to justify him being a more difficult fight than Jecht was. His strength is invested in the dream and these recycling tools. Absolutely yes to Wakka's growth. Beyond the things you've pointed out, or systemic to them, even just his regard for Riku and the Al Bhed sees more growth than most of the characters, except perhaps Yuna.
I finished FFX on my PS2 in May and I thought it was better than anything released since 2012 until today. And this game will stay with me forever in my heart, it's just so special.
holy crap, an hour and 40 minutes. Guess I'll be listening to this tomorrow! XD Glad you've come back Archengeia, you're the only person I can sit here and listen to for an hour and 40.
It's not often that I can watch anyone at length without getting annoyed or bored, but I enjoyed this entire video! Really loved your thoughtful analysis, and you have a really wonderful voice! Going to check out some other videos - you should do a podcast, I would listen to you while I work! Also your game choices are awesome - I just got into Guild Wars 2 and have been wishing for this level of depth of discussion around the world/lore, would looooove for you to get into THAT game! lol
If FFX wasn't the most well told stories in the series, I DO believe it was one of the most ambitious and mature stories ever told in video games.. It has its flaws for sure, but to me... FFX is art.
You mentioned how you got the impression that people in spira must have kids young. I think that's pretty amazing since you never heard it explicitly stated, but there is a cut scene with tidus and Rikku in Guadosalaam where Rikku talks about how the people of spira sometimes get married early.
I enjoyed this video. Like you said, FFX was my first FF ever. I enjoyed the vastness of it, as well as the overall graphical prowess shown at the time. I enjoy your work immensely, even though I never played any of the prior FF games I still watched your videos. I don't entirely agree that you should "increase" video production just for the simple reason of adding followers. Those who come here should do it for what you say, not for what you "wow" them with on screen. Great work, keep it up!
Another great video. I look forward to watching all your videos, high quality production or not =). I'm not sure if I should have saved this comment for the FFX-2 review but I have always wanted to know more about the story between Braska, Auron, and Jecht and their journey for the final summoning, that's why I have often wished that FFX-2 ,though being a sequel, would be the story that had happened leading up to FFX in the way that they did with Crisis Core for FFVII.
I have to say great job on this review. It did make me think deeper about the overall theme. Everything does make more sense when you consider the world these people were living in. Even Tidus makes sense for being needed for his role. I couldn't rank it in terms of my favorite FF games, because that's tough. But I enjoyed the story it told and at least how it originally ended.
Archengeia, what you do is exactly what some people want, including me. I wouldn't stop watching if you changed things up, but I'm exactly that nerdy weird guy who would listen to you talk about a game I like for hours on end. Flashy cuts, graphics and shorter videos wouldn't give me more enjoyment from what you do, it's just great as it is.
Great analysis on the story, man! I've never thought on the profound History of Spira, society, religion, and stuff from FFX. I probably focused so much on the irritating "this is my story" from Tidus that I couldn't enjoy the rest. Maybe I'll play this game one more time. :)
@1:19:08:"God, what would that be like?" Idk, but I was sobbing like a freakin baby during that moment. I mean seriously crying like a kid who scraped his knee. It was pathetic. I still get choked up just thinking about the scene.
Before watching this review, I agreed with you on every point I could think of that you also mentioned in the review. I also understand and agree with everything else. FFX is not a game I want to play again. I previously considered it the point in time where Square went wrong, but you illuminated the whole game premise and fleshed it out for me, and I appreciate that.
An amazing review to my favorite game of all time! One thing I wanted to say real quick, regarding the talk of the children dying the most. That reminds me of a real emotional quote for, surprisingly enough, the FF7 AC E3 2004 trailer. "The planet weaves a cruel fate for men. Children are always the first to suffer..." That should have been in the FFX trailer somewhere.
Great review man I've played every FF uptill 13 and FFX was the last good one and is also my favorite but honestly it is really not for everyone and the Tidus character is a big part of that reason, it is my favorite FF game because of the combat system was in my opinion by far the best combat system square has done it was just so tactical compared to any other FF game other then FF tactics and thats a completely differant kind of game.
As someone already responded, yes without question a SNES and FFVI. If you ruled that out I would respond with CT (still SNES) again without hesitation. Past that I would have to think, admittedly.
Wonderful review! You go so much in-depth into the theme of the story, and the world of Spira. I'm sad that many players don't pay enough attention to see, and appreciate the masterfully made world of FFX, but to those who do, it's undoubtedly a masterpiece. It's an enlightened experience to journey through Spira, and reflect its culture to our society. I think it's a very subtle commentary to the Christian culture. People of Spira living their lives in fear of Sin is a subtle metaphor to the Christian belief that everyone is born with sin and must seek salvation to avoid going to hell. The game creator managed to craft this concept into its own culture and produce a great story out it; I find this so amazing and inspiring. Combine this with the awesome combat system as you mentioned, FFX is the best Final Fantasy for me.
59:00 - I agree that Jetch is the one who set the events of FFX in motion, by telling Auron to take care of Tidus, and then summon them both into Spira years later. But I can not agree that he's the hero because he ended up conforming to the tradition and repeat the cycle. - I think Tidus is the hero for the fact that he's the one that manage to think of the true way to defeat Sin, which is to kill Yu Yevon. It's his rebellious nature that make him think out of the box and find an audacious plan to defeat Sin forever AND have Yuna live. Greedy bastard! - Yuna is also the hero for she is the one to decide to not sacrifice her friends and instead defeat Yunalesca and end the silly tradition. This is why i love FFX so much. The characters are tied in very well to the story. Not just the protagonist, but everyone matters in this game. They all help giving different perspective of the situation. Wakka and Lulu on the Yevon side; Rikku on the Al Bhed side; Yuna in the middle trying to reconcile the two; Kimahri indifferent; Auron the person who've seen both sides but still can't find the answer; and Tidus the fresh eyes unaffected by biases. it's just so beautifully put together...
+Seyha Leonhartz I guess I can see the Christian connection or a commentary on the concept of original sin, but Christianity did not at all occur to me personally when considering FFX's plot because the Christian concept of "original sin" was never originally an accepted Christian doctrine, it was introduced into it by Augustine of Hippo because of his mistranslations and misunderstanding of the Greek bible, but that's all theological. I think the FFX story too me is a commentary of International banking and the cycle of perpetual debt, where the people of the world in nearly every country on earth are perpetually and forever in a state of never ending debt. And it doesn't matter how much you try and how hard you work you will always be in debt to this usury based monetary system all because of a handful of psychotic and in my opinion satanic families i.e "The Religion of Yevon" in the case of FFX's world.
I have to say this was my first, and fave, final fantasy, and I have played a good portion of the others (well, started playing.) I find it the best combination of new style graphics, story telling, and gameplay, even if others excel more at one or the other. As someone who isn't particularly good at games, it was something I could actually finish without getting bored. It also didn't have cinematics in strange places like 12 did. They really picked out where to utilise them for the most impact.
Dodging lightning.... there is a crater in the game that always causes a lighting strike when you run over it.... that crater is how I do the lightning dodge.... as well as playing with the sound completely off.
Like you said the main draw of the story is how people react to the wolf, and how Ammy is the all powerful sun goddess and she acts...like a dog. It always cracks me up when you are talking to some spiritual being about world altering events and Ammy is laying there taking a nap or scratching a flea.
Interesting to hear someone discuss my favorite FF at length. One thing I need to say is that I absolutely adore the music. Also the term for a fakeout you couldn't remember is "Red Herring." Edit: The laughing scene is so widely misinterpreted!
I never really understood the dislike for Tidus. If I remember right, Tidus was only like 16/17 and a blitz star, so acting rash, whinny, and dumb was all pretty understandable.
Kimahri was always one of my favorite characters in ffx. I adore his unflinching loyalty to Yuna and how he slowly crawled out of his shell of shame. His character design is so awesome!
this game used to be a game that I did not enjoy. however I only played up to Macalania weeks twice before putting it down. going back to this game with the HD release was a wonderful decision. the game was wonderfully crafted with love. the story is very current and will for almost using the minimalist technique acquitted to ff4, wherein the story didn't give alt of lore but the game if packed full of cool lore to find yourself! for example, on the SS Liki and SS Winno luzzu is shipping sin spawn GUI (I'm assuming it's GUI only because you flight it during operation Mi'hen) and that is why sin attacked the boat on Luca! it's only slightly hunter but there is tons of stuff like this. game needs more optional life as you have said on many occasions. I believe ff 12 is the pinnacle for low and back story. I have high hopes for 7 and 15 and can't wait to continue watching your opinions, and comparing them to my own.
I loved FF X, to me it was the last Final Fantasy published. Combat was fine, visuals great, voice acting so cool. I had a lot of fun and enjoyed almost all the story, almost... some parts felt not so good... but I could say that about every other FF.
I never got the Onion Knight either. I tried for it 3 times. Eventually, I made Lu a weapon equivalent to the Onion Knight (Break Damage Limit, One MP Cost, Double Overdrive and I don't remember the fourth) by grinding through the arena.
I got the Onion Knight OK, it was Kimahri's weapon I never got since I could never get the hang of the butterfly hunting. I did what you did instead and made a substitute weapon for him.
I enjoyed your point about tradition, and the comparison to earlier centuries. I know that by the time I was 16, I had lived in or traveled to more than a dozen countries. Five years later, I've seen even more. Despite that, I couldn't see myself having kids and doing something like leading a war against Sin. If only for the reason that society doesn't require me to do so anymore. It is hard to imagine there were kings and emperors our age or younger, while now we site in school or homes instead
FFX was the first final fantasy I ever played and I still love it to this day, I don't know why some people hate on it FFX-2 on the other hand... not even talking about FFXIII
awesome review, man, as always xD.. but i want to say something: the "trippyland" at the end of the game makes sense to me, because.. you're inside of sinh and.. sinh is disappearing.. and i think they didn't go for the weird for weirdness thing with the last dungeon.. i agree it could have been better done, but i think it's weird because they wanted us to feel that as "alien" pd: imagine the insides of sinh were like "Monstro" in KH 1 ... THAT would have been terrible xD
I also agree about blitzball. I really did enjoy that mini-game. For whatever reason it was a lot of fun at times and I wanted to create my awesome team. It does get to the point where you are unstoppable and you need to artificially limit yourself. With some work could have been as good as any sports game out there.
That must've been the most positive description of Wakka I've ever heard. And, when you put it like that, I agree with it. He is still a douche, but his gradual change is solidly executed. Seymour suffered greatly, and not only from his video\audio design - he triggered a whole bunch of 'villain signs' before we knew anything about him. He was made into a bad guy before he had done anything and we didn't even know why Tidus suspected him (aside from a possible bout of jealousy, of course).
I do think the voice acting in that game helped. I don't think I cut it short at all, I said for that type of game...it was appropriate. MGS3 was my favorite, and while it was a deep and interesting story...it doesn't make you feel like you are running around the world chasing after some villain to prevent the destruction of the world. MGS4 kinda did that though, but again being an action game where the game is told through the cutscenes...voice acting is appropriate.
@50:00 During the Mushroom Rock Road Al Bhed/Crusaders Joint Operation, there are children amongst the Crusaders. Like 12-14yrs Old. So children being married and having kids at a young age would have to a definitive yes they did.
you can win every blitzball game by using brother (can recruit him on the airship), he is faster than basically everyone you play against I believe other than the al bhed team and you can literally just run circles around the team than shoot without anyone around you
Speaking of audio in FFX: I've played the game on my first playthrough with sound turned off (and my something from my music collection in the background) and have been much less irritated than many of the players must've been. I suspect it gave me a better impression than it would otherwise. (Also, many of the game's songs unexpectedly shine when you find a remix to your liking).
Excellent review...I think I may actually put FFX a little higher on my own list of best FF's...though I'll never be able to stomach the no lose final battle...actually threw my controller down my first playthrough once I realized I couldn't die...One thing that still bugs me though is, if Tidus was basically an Aeon, why didn't Yu Yevon possess him as well?
good reviews, bud. whats your favorite FF games? mine is 9, 7, 10.. thats like top 2 in a way.. cant decide between 9 and 7.. I gotta play 6 tho, havent played it. And what do you think about FF 12? I remember buying it when it came out in 06', I just played some hours, haven't played since to be honest.
Been meaning to ask someone this but does okami for the ps2 have a good story? Would love to play it myself i watched my sister play it and i remember loving the imagery and dialogue and how people react to amy being a wolf.
There is a reason FF-10 is my favorite, and it was NOT my first FF game. But I play games for the story and this is one that resonates with me for some reason. To be fair I did not really enjoy it to begin with, the last five years I had been revolving around FF-7, - 8 and - 9 and then 10 sort of did not work the first time when I bought it for the PS-2. I picked it up a few months later with a fresh perspective and then it all clicked. I never liked Seymoure but never for that reason. ;-)
I can agree Seymour did look a little "bland". I'm gonna say it's interesting you dislike those two specific effeminate and, arguably, "queer-readable" (using queer in a reclaimed context here) characters in the context of being the "badass (or higher level) enemy" (considering the theme of "appearances being deceiving" being arguably core to this game (e.g. Yevon as a source of faith and a passively violent institution)); while I will have to reevaluate Kuja, I got the feeling there was a purpose to the construction of Seymour's appearance and mannerisms. Going with gender conventions, he appears gentle, considerate, arguably wise and tempered in his manner (as if he has inherited the better qualities of his mother and father). By contrast, his ambitions and nature are arguably abrasive and rash. If we *sigh* take the former as "feminine" and the latter as "(hyper)masculine", one can interpret it as a parallel of the 1. feminine (or, more spec. "motherlike") nature and (hyper)masculine aggressive true nature of his character 2. the appearance and mannerisms of Seymour and his true nature and uglier secrets There's also the parallel of 3. the compassionate intent of saving Spira and distanced and oppressive nature of his "merciful genocide" 4. wanting to save the world and destroying it to "save it" Is he "badass"? If "badass" and "beefed up, scruffy, stoic, tacit, conventionally-(hyper)masculine imagery" are mutually exclusive, then he's not going to be. (Forgive me; I'm going to abandon gender conventions at this point. it's a concept, not a law of nature.) He is certainly a "menacing" villain and he certainly proves a great and powerful threat (especially as he acts with institution as a vehicle to enforce his ambitions), very capable of the ambitions he reveals (let's recall the Ronso genocide, murder of his father, and intentional allowance of the very preventable deaths of many Al-Bhed in a stage fight turned massacre). TL;DR: my argument is this: he's not supposed to be a typical "badass"; he's an ambitious, disarming, menacing, and subtle threat who can enforce his oppressive and violent ambitions by way of his political and religious affiliations and influence along with his agency afforded by his own privileged upbringing (being raised in an environment which affords him learning skillls of an accomplished magician and summoner). It is understood the death of his mother had significant impact on who he is as an adult and the ambitions he strives to materialize. He's the pleasant face and soothing voice of a groomed politician who makes preaches "morality" while subsequently abandoning it in relation to his own interests, and he's human. This is what makes him scary; he's a damaged soul in an adult's body with access to great physical power and influence (e.g., armies, weapons of great destruction, backing of Yevon institution and Guado community, backing of the Spirans as their Maester) and an unrelenting intent on ultimately widely-destructive ends, and this can be anyone. This can be any politician, president, school teacher, principle, preacher, pastor, CEO, supervisor, any person with power or influence, and we'd hardly even notice.
If you like the idea of a cycle of destruction and how a society deals with it, I hope you get to play DRAGON'S DOGMA. It's one of those games where you get so much more from the story if you listen to a lot of the NPCs, go in for optional cutscenes from optional missions, and look up what happens if you choose otherwise. There's so much conjecture to be made on the cycle of "Dragon comes, destroys, chooses a hero and has epic battle once chosen "hero" is strong enough" it will keep you thinking
'' It reminds me of Kuja in many ways. A character who if.. if you just... Don't picture him, don't picture Kuja.'' *Me laughing* Too late. (By the way, thank you for all your videos. They are really fun and interesting to watch.)
That's a good trio. I'd definitely recommend FF6 as one of my favorites in the series. Has my top villain in the whole series. I'm with you as well about FF12. I played some of it, but then I just stopped. It wasn't very appealing or enjoyable.
I agree with you on 99% of everything you said except Seymour's voice acting. I think his voice acting is perfect for his character. He is arrogant. He is cynical. His voice is sinister in the way "Him" from Powerpuff girls is utterly sinister. It conveys how insane he is because he believes that straight up murdering people is actually doing them a favor and in this way he sees himself as a God. Kefka was insane in a mad-man, insane psycho way akin to how a pyromaniac is insane. Seymour is insane in the way that a serial killer is insane. Cool, calm, calculating, nihilistic. And some of his monologues on death, for example, when he turns into Seymour Flux, is one of the single hardest boss fights in the game, and that form is intimidating as hell.
1:30:00 The main problem i have with FFX is that there isn't enough of a reason to stop Seymore The dead seem perfectly happy on the farplane. Why not just kill everyone if the afterlife is such a nice place? I think the very explicit depiction of the afterlife was one of the most interesting and unfortunately also drama killing aspects of the story. Another huge problem is that you fight him too many times. He turns into Team Rocket by the end! He has a good motivation that isn't really explored as an idea, just fought with swords, and the fighting gets silly when you do it for the 4th time.
I wanted to get your opnion on Mass Effect 4 and also what did you think of leviathan because i was shell shocked when i found out the backround of leviathan and the reapers
Just being an outside observer, I like that you describe Wakka as someone who questions then casts aside their religious faith because it was wrong. And I can definitely appreciate a chr like that.
***** Well, according to the Wiktionary: Once = one time Twice = two times Thrice = three times Quarce = four times Quince = five times ...and so on. People have basically combined the two "words" (five and hit), even though it doesn't make that much sense seeing as "Quarce" and "Quince" aren't even words. It's just a term people have made up I guess. I use it myself, and I haven't thought of it before you mentioned it. Hope this sort of clears it up.
i was listening to this and agreeing with almost everything, until the last 15 minutes i think, around when he talks about final boss and music, now i know its ok to dislike it and all, i mean thats taste, but i wouldnt consider it bad or badly placed i dont know what the previous FF games were like, but as much as video games go, FF10 had some of the coolest musics i could find, and i do believe most of the musics fit into the setting of what was going on, especially the more calm sounding musics or battle musics as for the final bosses i think having a trippy area was a good thing to add, and more importantly it was cool that when you fight Ject you fight in a Zanarkand looking place, the final summoning i agree is cool, and i agree that fighting yevon in the way that it was could have been better because yeah it was sort of weak i most strongly dissagree in terms of the music aspect, as for the rest of the whole thing i think you pretty much nailed it, including the part you talk about Tidus which made me look at him in a slight different way and i appreciate it
probably yeah, i cant say much unfortunately, all i can say is that the music of this game and the game in general made my childhood awesome so i feel pretty good about it hence why it would be hard to see, but i guess i truly would only understand if i played the other ones, which unfortunately i cant at the moment although i did get the current special NES wich was funny because it also has the first Final Fantasy in it, felt kinda fun to play such an old game which i never go the chance to play and see how far games have come, im enjoying the experience actually
I would absolutely love to try and fully explain our world to an alien or something. I'd omit what I regard as trivia, and all my explanation would be from my perspective, so there'd be some bias, but I'd be one of the better people to actually organize and deliver this gigantic infodump, for the sake of worldbuilding or the like.
How can you not like FFX’s soundtrack? It’s absolutely fantastic.
The lack of even a single dislike on a video regarding such an opinion-polarizing entry in the series stands testament to the extremely thoughtful dissection of the game that's present here. I stumbled into this video and didn't think I'd watch it in its entirety, let alone 20 minutes of it; and yet the spot on & unbiased analysis coupled with the engaging manner of speaking motivated me to see it to its conclusion. Utter excellence.
One thing that was rather distinctive in FFX was the presence of NPCs in various areas outside of towns and cities. Not a lot of JRPGs have people wandering about and having their own little scenes while you're journeying across a particular area with enemy encounters. They're usually just restricted to the safe zones, and every other location is desolate (barring the monsters). The only other games that have their worlds occupied in such a way are the Pokemon titles. I think this trait sort of builds on the "world" aspect you mentioned in the FFIX video. Where that game presents that feel through the developments and changes of its populaces, FFX presents it by making the people ever present throughout the bulk of the game. They're involved in this adventure almost as much as you are in a way.
Wow...Watching this in 2018 and hearing you talk about not increasing your production values....god...how far you have come.
Major upgrade visually same great commentary
Kimari changes a bit, he warms up a tad, and earns the respect of those who mocked him, in it was kinda simple, but it was there.
I think you meant Kimahri, not Kimari.
I think you missed that a big theme of ff10 revolved around second chances. Auron getting another life to influence the next generation to get it right. Tidus changing what his father was unable to, being the second "dream", or chance. Jecht getting another chance to talk to his son and redeem himself. Yuna getting to live again towards the end after being condemned the entire game. Wakka getting to see what an ass he had been, and changing for the better. Lulu eventually healing from Chappu's death and getting another shot at love (at least its heavily hinted at in ff10, i know in the sequel its cemented) Kimrahi gets to reclaim his lost honor by winning the second fight with his brother. Rikku was a ff10 character, best I can do for her, lets be honest though, she was the weakest character, even lulu was better developed and lulu was an icequeen with a broken heart and belt fetish(poor wakka, he knew what a kink in her belt meant). I think the best Rikku had was some daddy issues that just get used for plot humor. Nothing really to do with my point, anyways.
To top all this off at the very end the entire world gets another chance to be normal again when the cycle is stopped and sin is no more. While it seems like you could take the second chance theme and tie it to a lot of stories, the way death is handled in this universe really resonates with it I think. Auron to me is the ultimate embodiment of this, not even allowing a little thing like dying to deter him. Which is why I think he was the main character. He was the first person to say no more, and try to do something. He planted the seeds of change. While he failed at stopping the cycle in his first life, he triumphed his second time. He was dogged determination incarnate.
This video is peak Archaengaia, back when he was this first version of himself. It's not his best video, but it's thick with the tropes that are most specific to himself.
"Sin actually goes around and smashes things!"
FFX is personally my favourite. I really enjoyed the story (massively actually), the music in my opinion was excellent (althought its final fantasy so thats to be expected), the amount of characterisation the game includes has often been seen as a negative which i find percualliar becasue its what i feel the best part of the story (yes tidas isnt a badass, thats the point...). The battle system i also very much enjoyed simply because i had to think about my moves more rather than being rushed by the game or just spamming the most damage possible. Honestly its very hard for me to pick out anything that i really didnt like about the game (except the fucking baloon gae for the celestial weapon. That was BS, whoever thought of that should have been fired...blitzball at least was awsome).
the battle system really is traditional turn based combat perfected.
i realize Im pretty randomly asking but do anybody know a good website to stream newly released movies online?
@Nickolas Kaiser Flixportal :)
@Prince Ronald thanks, I signed up and it seems like they got a lot of movies there =) Appreciate it !
@Nickolas Kaiser no problem :D
The voice actor you were thinking about who does Wakka's voice is John Dimaggio.
Excellent video. Its so refreshing to hear you speak so intensely and earnestly about this game and story. Keep it up :)
The last dungeon was weird, but it never struck me as weird for no reason. It's established throughout the game that exposure to Sin messes with people's minds, like a toxin, and you're literally inside him at this point. But I didn't even attribute it to that. Sin is the armor within which the dream of the fayth is forever being manifested by Yu Yevon, so it made sense to me that the warped facets of the dream and its component materials would be the insides of Sin. It is essentially a reality warping process.
Jecht really is your last boss, even down to the music (whether you like the direction or not, personally I'm not a huge fan). Everything after that - Yu Yevon fleeing into the Aeons one by one until you can finally destroy him - isn't really the last the boss, it's just the story playing out. Maybe it should have been cut scenes. They could've tried to make Yu Yevon a real boss fight, but the plot hinges around the Final Summoning and Sin being the tools required to protect him, so there's nothing to justify him being a more difficult fight than Jecht was. His strength is invested in the dream and these recycling tools.
Absolutely yes to Wakka's growth. Beyond the things you've pointed out, or systemic to them, even just his regard for Riku and the Al Bhed sees more growth than most of the characters, except perhaps Yuna.
I finished FFX on my PS2 in May and I thought it was better than anything released since 2012 until today. And this game will stay with me forever in my heart, it's just so special.
I have nightmares of FFX's mini-games...
nowhere near as bad as ff7's
Wonderful, one of my new favorite channels
Best ffx review on TH-cam
holy crap, an hour and 40 minutes.
Guess I'll be listening to this tomorrow! XD
Glad you've come back Archengeia, you're the only person I can sit here and listen to for an hour and 40.
*tries to picture a red, blue, or green Tidus leaping at Sin*
Wow! Such a great in-depht analyses of Final Fantasy X story! Thank you very much for making me look at the story from another perspective!
Thank you for your review, your time and thought is very appreciated.
I never got this in my sub box, and was waiting for this one for a long time! Thanks for your opinion, and great job!
It's not often that I can watch anyone at length without getting annoyed or bored, but I enjoyed this entire video! Really loved your thoughtful analysis, and you have a really wonderful voice! Going to check out some other videos - you should do a podcast, I would listen to you while I work! Also your game choices are awesome - I just got into Guild Wars 2 and have been wishing for this level of depth of discussion around the world/lore, would looooove for you to get into THAT game! lol
I agree with your opinion of the Thunder Plains challenge.
If FFX wasn't the most well told stories in the series, I DO believe it was one of the most ambitious and mature stories ever told in video games.. It has its flaws for sure, but to me... FFX is art.
I love to hear you talk, even when I disagree with you.
Damn man. Been missing these videos for awhile now. :/
Good Job.
You mentioned how you got the impression that people in spira must have kids young. I think that's pretty amazing since you never heard it explicitly stated, but there is a cut scene with tidus and Rikku in Guadosalaam where Rikku talks about how the people of spira sometimes get married early.
I enjoyed this video. Like you said, FFX was my first FF ever. I enjoyed the vastness of it, as well as the overall graphical prowess shown at the time. I enjoy your work immensely, even though I never played any of the prior FF games I still watched your videos. I don't entirely agree that you should "increase" video production just for the simple reason of adding followers. Those who come here should do it for what you say, not for what you "wow" them with on screen. Great work, keep it up!
It's John Dimaggio who you were thinking of, the chap who voiced Wakka.
Very good voice actor, especially as Jake in Adventure Time.
Another great video. I look forward to watching all your videos, high quality production or not =). I'm not sure if I should have saved this comment for the FFX-2 review but I have always wanted to know more about the story between Braska, Auron, and Jecht and their journey for the final summoning, that's why I have often wished that FFX-2 ,though being a sequel, would be the story that had happened leading up to FFX in the way that they did with Crisis Core for FFVII.
I have to say great job on this review. It did make me think deeper about the overall theme. Everything does make more sense when you consider the world these people were living in. Even Tidus makes sense for being needed for his role. I couldn't rank it in terms of my favorite FF games, because that's tough. But I enjoyed the story it told and at least how it originally ended.
Archengeia, what you do is exactly what some people want, including me. I wouldn't stop watching if you changed things up, but I'm exactly that nerdy weird guy who would listen to you talk about a game I like for hours on end. Flashy cuts, graphics and shorter videos wouldn't give me more enjoyment from what you do, it's just great as it is.
Great analysis on the story, man! I've never thought on the profound History of Spira, society, religion, and stuff from FFX. I probably focused so much on the irritating "this is my story" from Tidus that I couldn't enjoy the rest. Maybe I'll play this game one more time. :)
@1:19:08:"God, what would that be like?" Idk, but I was sobbing like a freakin baby during that moment. I mean seriously crying like a kid who scraped his knee. It was pathetic. I still get choked up just thinking about the scene.
if you havent already explored podcasting in a mp3/mp4 form, you should/ i really enjoy your reviews
Before watching this review, I agreed with you on every point I could think of that you also mentioned in the review. I also understand and agree with everything else. FFX is not a game I want to play again. I previously considered it the point in time where Square went wrong, but you illuminated the whole game premise and fleshed it out for me, and I appreciate that.
An amazing review to my favorite game of all time! One thing I wanted to say real quick, regarding the talk of the children dying the most. That reminds me of a real emotional quote for, surprisingly enough, the FF7 AC E3 2004 trailer. "The planet weaves a cruel fate for men. Children are always the first to suffer..." That should have been in the FFX trailer somewhere.
"The first one we're going to talk about is dodging lightning." *furrows eyebrows*
Be right back, getting my popcorn for this 8D
Great review man I've played every FF uptill 13 and FFX was the last good one and is also my favorite but honestly it is really not for everyone and the Tidus character is a big part of that reason, it is my favorite FF game because of the combat system was in my opinion by far the best combat system square has done it was just so tactical compared to any other FF game other then FF tactics and thats a completely differant kind of game.
Best rumination in your series. By far. Thanks!
Please do 13 and 13-2. Maybe a two parter?
As someone already responded, yes without question a SNES and FFVI. If you ruled that out I would respond with CT (still SNES) again without hesitation. Past that I would have to think, admittedly.
You uploaded a lot today! This will be a good day :)
Wonderful review! You go so much in-depth into the theme of the story, and the world of Spira. I'm sad that many players don't pay enough attention to see, and appreciate the masterfully made world of FFX, but to those who do, it's undoubtedly a masterpiece. It's an enlightened experience to journey through Spira, and reflect its culture to our society.
I think it's a very subtle commentary to the Christian culture. People of Spira living their lives in fear of Sin is a subtle metaphor to the Christian belief that everyone is born with sin and must seek salvation to avoid going to hell. The game creator managed to craft this concept into its own culture and produce a great story out it; I find this so amazing and inspiring. Combine this with the awesome combat system as you mentioned, FFX is the best Final Fantasy for me.
59:00
- I agree that Jetch is the one who set the events of FFX in motion, by telling Auron to take care of Tidus, and then summon them both into Spira years later. But I can not agree that he's the hero because he ended up conforming to the tradition and repeat the cycle.
- I think Tidus is the hero for the fact that he's the one that manage to think of the true way to defeat Sin, which is to kill Yu Yevon. It's his rebellious nature that make him think out of the box and find an audacious plan to defeat Sin forever AND have Yuna live. Greedy bastard!
- Yuna is also the hero for she is the one to decide to not sacrifice her friends and instead defeat Yunalesca and end the silly tradition.
This is why i love FFX so much. The characters are tied in very well to the story. Not just the protagonist, but everyone matters in this game. They all help giving different perspective of the situation. Wakka and Lulu on the Yevon side; Rikku on the Al Bhed side; Yuna in the middle trying to reconcile the two; Kimahri indifferent; Auron the person who've seen both sides but still can't find the answer; and Tidus the fresh eyes unaffected by biases. it's just so beautifully put together...
+Seyha Leonhartz I guess I can see the Christian connection or a commentary on the concept of original sin, but Christianity did not at all occur to me personally when considering FFX's plot because the Christian concept of "original sin" was never originally an accepted Christian doctrine, it was introduced into it by Augustine of Hippo because of his mistranslations and misunderstanding of the Greek bible, but that's all theological. I think the FFX story too me is a commentary of International banking and the cycle of perpetual debt, where the people of the world in nearly every country on earth are perpetually and forever in a state of never ending debt. And it doesn't matter how much you try and how hard you work you will always be in debt to this usury based monetary system all because of a handful of psychotic and in my opinion satanic families i.e "The Religion of Yevon" in the case of FFX's world.
I have to say this was my first, and fave, final fantasy, and I have played a good portion of the others (well, started playing.) I find it the best combination of new style graphics, story telling, and gameplay, even if others excel more at one or the other. As someone who isn't particularly good at games, it was something I could actually finish without getting bored. It also didn't have cinematics in strange places like 12 did. They really picked out where to utilise them for the most impact.
Loved the video and the game. Subscribed.
You said a lot of good stuff throughout this review, but the one that's sticking out right now: LIGHTNING DODGING. Seriously, that face was priceless.
Actually watched this while grinding in FFX lol, good video.
The man is back
So you're saying this is a character you don't want to Seymour of?
Dodging lightning.... there is a crater in the game that always causes a lighting strike when you run over it.... that crater is how I do the lightning dodge.... as well as playing with the sound completely off.
Like you said the main draw of the story is how people react to the wolf, and how Ammy is the all powerful sun goddess and she acts...like a dog. It always cracks me up when you are talking to some spiritual being about world altering events and Ammy is laying there taking a nap or scratching a flea.
Interesting to hear someone discuss my favorite FF at length. One thing I need to say is that I absolutely adore the music. Also the term for a fakeout you couldn't remember is "Red Herring."
Edit: The laughing scene is so widely misinterpreted!
fuck 200 lighting strikes
Excellent review, thank you
Love this Arch, keep up the fantastic work :)
I never really understood the dislike for Tidus. If I remember right, Tidus was only like 16/17 and a blitz star, so acting rash, whinny, and dumb was all pretty understandable.
absolutely fantastic review
Kimahri was always one of my favorite characters in ffx. I adore his unflinching loyalty to Yuna and how he slowly crawled out of his shell of shame. His character design is so awesome!
Love your videos man! Keep it up!
this game used to be a game that I did not enjoy. however I only played up to Macalania weeks twice before putting it down. going back to this game with the HD release was a wonderful decision. the game was wonderfully crafted with love. the story is very current and will for almost using the minimalist technique acquitted to ff4, wherein the story didn't give alt of lore but the game if packed full of cool lore to find yourself! for example, on the SS Liki and SS Winno luzzu is shipping sin spawn GUI (I'm assuming it's GUI only because you flight it during operation Mi'hen) and that is why sin attacked the boat on Luca! it's only slightly hunter but there is tons of stuff like this. game needs more optional life as you have said on many occasions. I believe ff 12 is the pinnacle for low and back story. I have high hopes for 7 and 15 and can't wait to continue watching your opinions, and comparing them to my own.
I meant kilika where sin attacks en route from besaid
I loved FF X, to me it was the last Final Fantasy published. Combat was fine, visuals great, voice acting so cool. I had a lot of fun and enjoyed almost all the story, almost... some parts felt not so good... but I could say that about every other FF.
I never got the Onion Knight either. I tried for it 3 times. Eventually, I made Lu a weapon equivalent to the Onion Knight (Break Damage Limit, One MP Cost, Double Overdrive and I don't remember the fourth) by grinding through the arena.
I got the Onion Knight OK, it was Kimahri's weapon I never got since I could never get the hang of the butterfly hunting. I did what you did instead and made a substitute weapon for him.
Enjoyed the watch
I enjoyed your point about tradition, and the comparison to earlier centuries. I know that by the time I was 16, I had lived in or traveled to more than a dozen countries. Five years later, I've seen even more. Despite that, I couldn't see myself having kids and doing something like leading a war against Sin. If only for the reason that society doesn't require me to do so anymore. It is hard to imagine there were kings and emperors our age or younger, while now we site in school or homes instead
Dodging lightning...is pretty insane, too. Though it's doable if you turn off the sound. and stay next to a certain crater.
FFX was the first final fantasy I ever played and I still love it to this day, I don't know why some people hate on it
FFX-2 on the other hand...
not even talking about FFXIII
awesome review, man, as always xD.. but i want to say something:
the "trippyland" at the end of the game makes sense to me, because.. you're inside of sinh and.. sinh is disappearing.. and i think they didn't go for the weird for weirdness thing with the last dungeon.. i agree it could have been better done, but i think it's weird because they wanted us to feel that as "alien"
pd: imagine the insides of sinh were like "Monstro" in KH 1 ... THAT would have been terrible xD
I also agree about blitzball. I really did enjoy that mini-game. For whatever reason it was a lot of fun at times and I wanted to create my awesome team. It does get to the point where you are unstoppable and you need to artificially limit yourself. With some work could have been as good as any sports game out there.
That must've been the most positive description of Wakka I've ever heard. And, when you put it like that, I agree with it. He is still a douche, but his gradual change is solidly executed.
Seymour suffered greatly, and not only from his video\audio design - he triggered a whole bunch of 'villain signs' before we knew anything about him. He was made into a bad guy before he had done anything and we didn't even know why Tidus suspected him (aside from a possible bout of jealousy, of course).
Running to him but instead through?
The saddest part was the whistling at the end. Oh god the whistling ;c
I do think the voice acting in that game helped. I don't think I cut it short at all, I said for that type of game...it was appropriate.
MGS3 was my favorite, and while it was a deep and interesting story...it doesn't make you feel like you are running around the world chasing after some villain to prevent the destruction of the world. MGS4 kinda did that though, but again being an action game where the game is told through the cutscenes...voice acting is appropriate.
@50:00 During the Mushroom Rock Road Al Bhed/Crusaders Joint Operation, there are children amongst the Crusaders. Like 12-14yrs Old. So children being married and having kids at a young age would have to a definitive yes they did.
you can win every blitzball game by using brother (can recruit him on the airship), he is faster than basically everyone you play against I believe other than the al bhed team and you can literally just run circles around the team than shoot without anyone around you
those library rooms are soundproof, so you wont have to worry about ppl interrupting you or listening in.
Speaking of audio in FFX: I've played the game on my first playthrough with sound turned off (and my something from my music collection in the background) and have been much less irritated than many of the players must've been. I suspect it gave me a better impression than it would otherwise. (Also, many of the game's songs unexpectedly shine when you find a remix to your liking).
Excellent review...I think I may actually put FFX a little higher on my own list of best FF's...though I'll never be able to stomach the no lose final battle...actually threw my controller down my first playthrough once I realized I couldn't die...One thing that still bugs me though is, if Tidus was basically an Aeon, why didn't Yu Yevon possess him as well?
what your thoughts on project eternity by obsidian?could do a video on that m8
Good review man, ten was a decent game, me and my cousin played it all the time
Really good vid looking forward to the next one. When are you going to do Sonic Adventure 1 and 2.
good reviews, bud. whats your favorite FF games? mine is 9, 7, 10.. thats like top 2 in a way.. cant decide between 9 and 7.. I gotta play 6 tho, havent played it. And what do you think about FF 12? I remember buying it when it came out in 06', I just played some hours, haven't played since to be honest.
Been meaning to ask someone this but does okami for the ps2 have a good story? Would love to play it myself i watched my sister play it and i remember loving the imagery and dialogue and how people react to amy being a wolf.
There is a reason FF-10 is my favorite, and it was NOT my first FF game. But I play games for the story and this is one that resonates with me for some reason.
To be fair I did not really enjoy it to begin with, the last five years I had been revolving around FF-7, - 8 and - 9 and then 10 sort of did not work the first time when I bought it for the PS-2. I picked it up a few months later with a fresh perspective and then it all clicked.
I never liked Seymoure but never for that reason. ;-)
I can agree Seymour did look a little "bland". I'm gonna say it's interesting you dislike those two specific effeminate and, arguably, "queer-readable" (using queer in a reclaimed context here) characters in the context of being the "badass (or higher level) enemy" (considering the theme of "appearances being deceiving" being arguably core to this game (e.g. Yevon as a source of faith and a passively violent institution)); while I will have to reevaluate Kuja, I got the feeling there was a purpose to the construction of Seymour's appearance and mannerisms.
Going with gender conventions, he appears gentle, considerate, arguably wise and tempered in his manner (as if he has inherited the better qualities of his mother and father). By contrast, his ambitions and nature are arguably abrasive and rash. If we *sigh* take the former as "feminine" and the latter as "(hyper)masculine", one can interpret it as a parallel of the
1. feminine (or, more spec. "motherlike") nature and (hyper)masculine aggressive true nature of his character
2. the appearance and mannerisms of Seymour and his true nature and uglier secrets
There's also the parallel of
3. the compassionate intent of saving Spira and distanced and oppressive nature of his "merciful genocide"
4. wanting to save the world and destroying it to "save it"
Is he "badass"? If "badass" and "beefed up, scruffy, stoic, tacit, conventionally-(hyper)masculine imagery" are mutually exclusive, then he's not going to be.
(Forgive me; I'm going to abandon gender conventions at this point. it's a concept, not a law of nature.)
He is certainly a "menacing" villain and he certainly proves a great and powerful threat (especially as he acts with institution as a vehicle to enforce his ambitions), very capable of the ambitions he reveals (let's recall the Ronso genocide, murder of his father, and intentional allowance of the very preventable deaths of many Al-Bhed in a stage fight turned massacre).
TL;DR: my argument is this: he's not supposed to be a typical "badass"; he's an ambitious, disarming, menacing, and subtle threat who can enforce his oppressive and violent ambitions by way of his political and religious affiliations and influence along with his agency afforded by his own privileged upbringing (being raised in an environment which affords him learning skillls of an accomplished magician and summoner). It is understood the death of his mother had significant impact on who he is as an adult and the ambitions he strives to materialize.
He's the pleasant face and soothing voice of a groomed politician who makes preaches "morality" while subsequently abandoning it in relation to his own interests, and he's human.
This is what makes him scary; he's a damaged soul in an adult's body with access to great physical power and influence (e.g., armies, weapons of great destruction, backing of Yevon institution and Guado community, backing of the Spirans as their Maester) and an unrelenting intent on ultimately widely-destructive ends, and this can be anyone. This can be any politician, president, school teacher, principle, preacher, pastor, CEO, supervisor, any person with power or influence, and we'd hardly even notice.
This man definitely gets it.
If you like the idea of a cycle of destruction and how a society deals with it, I hope you get to play DRAGON'S DOGMA. It's one of those games where you get so much more from the story if you listen to a lot of the NPCs, go in for optional cutscenes from optional missions, and look up what happens if you choose otherwise. There's so much conjecture to be made on the cycle of "Dragon comes, destroys, chooses a hero and has epic battle once chosen "hero" is strong enough" it will keep you thinking
'' It reminds me of Kuja in many ways. A character who if.. if you just... Don't picture him, don't picture Kuja.''
*Me laughing* Too late.
(By the way, thank you for all your videos. They are really fun and interesting to watch.)
That's a good trio. I'd definitely recommend FF6 as one of my favorites in the series. Has my top villain in the whole series.
I'm with you as well about FF12. I played some of it, but then I just stopped. It wasn't very appealing or enjoyable.
I agree with you on 99% of everything you said except Seymour's voice acting.
I think his voice acting is perfect for his character. He is arrogant. He is cynical. His voice is sinister in the way "Him" from Powerpuff girls is utterly sinister.
It conveys how insane he is because he believes that straight up murdering people is actually doing them a favor and in this way he sees himself as a God. Kefka was insane in a mad-man, insane psycho way akin to how a pyromaniac is insane. Seymour is insane in the way that a serial killer is insane. Cool, calm, calculating, nihilistic. And some of his monologues on death, for example, when he turns into Seymour Flux, is one of the single hardest boss fights in the game, and that form is intimidating as hell.
This isn't at ALL how Seymour comes off; have you not played FFX in years? He sounds like an absolute cringe goof
The lightning was awful! I wasn't even happy when I finished it!
1:33:00 Seymour now sounds like Salad Fingers.
I always thought the real last boss was Jecht Final Aeon.
1:30:00 The main problem i have with FFX is that there isn't enough of a reason to stop Seymore
The dead seem perfectly happy on the farplane. Why not just kill everyone if the afterlife is such a nice place?
I think the very explicit depiction of the afterlife was one of the most interesting and unfortunately also drama killing aspects of the story.
Another huge problem is that you fight him too many times. He turns into Team Rocket by the end! He has a good motivation that isn't really explored as an idea, just fought with swords, and the fighting gets silly when you do it for the 4th time.
Jecht's the real final battle of FFX. Yevon is purely an interactive cutscene, and nothing more than that.
I wanted to get your opnion on Mass Effect 4 and also what did you think of leviathan because i was shell shocked when i found out the backround of leviathan and the reapers
Just being an outside observer, I like that you describe Wakka as someone who questions then casts aside their religious faith because it was wrong. And I can definitely appreciate a chr like that.
0:27:30 What's "quint-hitting"?
Hitting for 99,999 every (melee) hit.
Jorsett
Ah, thanks. What's the origin of the term? I couldn't find it myself.
***** Well, according to the Wiktionary:
Once = one time
Twice = two times
Thrice = three times
Quarce = four times
Quince = five times
...and so on. People have basically combined the two "words" (five and hit), even though it doesn't make that much sense seeing as "Quarce" and "Quince" aren't even words. It's just a term people have made up I guess. I use it myself, and I haven't thought of it before you mentioned it. Hope this sort of clears it up.
i was listening to this and agreeing with almost everything, until the last 15 minutes i think, around when he talks about final boss and music, now i know its ok to dislike it and all, i mean thats taste, but i wouldnt consider it bad or badly placed
i dont know what the previous FF games were like, but as much as video games go, FF10 had some of the coolest musics i could find, and i do believe most of the musics fit into the setting of what was going on, especially the more calm sounding musics or battle musics
as for the final bosses i think having a trippy area was a good thing to add, and more importantly it was cool that when you fight Ject you fight in a Zanarkand looking place, the final summoning i agree is cool, and i agree that fighting yevon in the way that it was could have been better because yeah it was sort of weak
i most strongly dissagree in terms of the music aspect, as for the rest of the whole thing i think you pretty much nailed it, including the part you talk about Tidus which made me look at him in a slight different way and i appreciate it
If you haven't played any FF prior to X then you're doing yourself a severe disservice. His opinion on the music thing would make more sense too.
probably yeah, i cant say much unfortunately, all i can say is that the music of this game and the game in general made my childhood awesome so i feel pretty good about it hence why it would be hard to see, but i guess i truly would only understand if i played the other ones, which unfortunately i cant at the moment
although i did get the current special NES wich was funny because it also has the first Final Fantasy in it, felt kinda fun to play such an old game which i never go the chance to play and see how far games have come, im enjoying the experience actually
I was just wondering when you mentioned music, what did you think of the otherworld song?
Any chance you might review the omega DLC? :D Would love your take on it.
I would absolutely love to try and fully explain our world to an alien or something. I'd omit what I regard as trivia, and all my explanation would be from my perspective, so there'd be some bias, but I'd be one of the better people to actually organize and deliver this gigantic infodump, for the sake of worldbuilding or the like.
I was wondering if you enjoyed the Valkyrie Profile series at all Archengia. Have you played them or reviewed them previously?