Final Fantasy X HD Remaster

I came into this game with cautious optimism. I had heard some good things and some bad and I haven't enjoyed every game from this era, but I am happy to say that that this game is great.

To get the elephant out of the way, yes the HD Remaster isn't great in some areas but the detractors of this version leave out a few key details (Extra content, bug-fixes, texture and ambient occlusion upgrades). I would say it looks better in most situations, especially the UI, even if a few character models were downgraded (and honestly it really isn't that bad please get real).

The main attractor to this game for me was it's story, and I would say that should be the main reason for you to play this game as well. Not that the other factors are super bad, but the story is the strongest thing here. Of course that means there's a lot of cutscenes so be ready, and the voice acting holds up mostly well but with a few awkward lines here and there.

The gameplay is perfectly serviceable. This game is incredibly linear until near the end where some side quests open up, but the few I saw seemed too grindy for my liking so it was basically a straight line for me. I didn't hate this because most areas aren't too long and look cool, so it did mostly keep me entertained (I recommend turning off the mini-map most of the time btw).

The battles are fun, but they are also slow. Random encounters aren't my favourite thing, but you can instantly flee any battle you don't want to do using Tidus so it's alright. Animations in battles (especially bosses) can be long and apart from Aeons you can't speed them up. Speed aside though, while I was initially hesitant on the battle and leveling up system here, it gets better and better as the game goes on and I ended up enjoying it by the end.

The boss fights are the star of the show gameplay-wise. While the first 2/3rds of the game isn't very challenging, the bosses are still fun, and in the last third the difficulty ramps up a bunch, only making it more interesting. Definitely the most fun part of the game. What let's it down slightly is every cutscene being unskippable though, so dying on a bossfight can be incredibly draining because of the extreme wait until your next try. This and other quality of life is disappointing to not see in the remaster but it's not unplayable.

Aside from that, the graphics hold up very nicely for a PS2 title and the music is amazing (I played with the original OST). I easily recommend this game if you want to play an older JRPG and know what you're getting into.

Review copied from my Backloggd page.