@Daz:
I barely remember anything about Vaans character and arc, except the part where he sorta shrugs and tells Ashe that he and Penelo "are just along for the ride", which always summed up my feelings about him. I also have real trouble pegging down what exactly the endgame was, once the Occuria got introduced; like, Ashe wants to break from the Occuria, and "put the reins of fate back into the hands of men" or something, and Vayne wants the same thing, but he's got a giant Doom Fortress, so you have to go beat him and…I guess that solves the thing with the Occuria? I really have no idea what the resolution of the game was; its quite possible that I've just been too detached to pick up on it, but like Robby and Ruin say, the story really hurts from how fragmented, dry, and relatively sparse it is.
There's basically two conflicts: Man vs Occuria, and Ashe vs Vayne. At first, the Occuria seem as an ally against Vayne, because Vayne is cooperating with a traitor of the Occuria (Venat). Ashe, knowing better, ends her cooperation with the Occuria. Showing that, ultimately, man should live without the Occuria.
However with Vayne, Vayne IS following a similar path, because Venat wants the same thing, for man to be free to control history. However, in their path of their plots, Vayne creates a plan that ends in Basche being framed as a traitor, Reks (Vaan's brother) being used as a witness for Basche's 'traitorous deeds', Ashe removed from the possible throne (Rasler's death was a bonus), and the future of Ivalice placed in Vayne's hand, a power he would then continue to abuse.
These misdeeds grant everyone their general engagement in the story:
-Vaan avenging his brother's tragic and slow demise while exposing the truth of what his brother was used for.
-Ashe reclaiming the throne that was taken from her and avenging her lover's death, caused by a battle and plot that should never have happened.
-Basche proving the truth and bringing an end to Vayne's plot (as we learn, he doesn't really care about clearing his name)
-Balthier bringing an end to his father's misdeeds, as he is Vayne and Venat's right hand man in their schemes.
-Fran following Balthier and trying to bring an end to the corruption in the Mist.
-Penelo tagging along and making sure Vaan doesn't get into too much trouble.
I will admit: Yes, the story is very dry. Also, explorable dungeons and fields are so huge and vast with so much to do, that breaks between storylines can be oceans wide. By the time you rejoin the story, you barely remember why you were there in the first place.
The bigger problem was that the plot was slight. Its the flimsiest, most unengaging thing; I guess its a fit for the lighthearted, episodic, slice-of-life Girl Power anime-ish vibe the game is going for, but if you're not particularly into that, it starts to grate pretty quickly.
Theres no argument that VIII and X have a fair share of contrived bullshit though, and depending on ones tolerance for melodrama I can see why X_2 would be preferable. Its a "pick your poison" type deal, but I've always personally preferrend the grander, more earnest vibe of X.
If there is anything I really, really like about X-2, it is Yuna's growth. Yuna spends so much of X being everyone's puppet. She grows up knowing that the world will expect her to follow in her father's footsteps, and she accepts it. Even in the face of all the racism and corruption and bullshit that rears its ugly head, Yuna accepts it, even as she thinks "I'm supposed to sacrifice myself for this? When I could stay alive and being with my new boyfriend, cousin, and closest friends?". The tragic part is, Yuna still manages to keep faith in Spira and refuses to let anyone else sacrifice themselves.
The fun part of X-2 is now Yuna is free from that conflict. And there are many times Yuna sees Spira screaming for her to go back to her life of being a sacrificial symbol of Spira, and she just turns, fixes the problem, and tells them "No". For the first time, she's free to do what she wants. Granted, she still defends Spira, but she removes herself from the politics and won't go near another Seymour.
Yuna looking similar to Lenne might be a coincidence. Then again if Tidus is the dream vision of Shuyin, maybe his interest in Yuna is drawn from his fate with Lenne? Then again, maybe not.
@nobody:
Tidus was not a spirit, he was an aeon. Remember the pile of fayth before you reach Zanarkand?
Okay, so that's why Tidus leaves with the Aeons, and Auron is sent. Gotcha.
Tidus assumed they were summoning Sin, but the child fayth tells him they're summoning a city: Zanarkand, as it was a thousand years ago. During a war between Zanarkand and Bevelle, when it became clear Zanarkand was about to lose, the summoners opted to save the memory of the city, even if the real place perished. They created a "dream Zanarkand", an image of how it looked like in its prime.
A thousand years later, during the events of the game, this summoned city still exists. Tidus lived there during the beginning. He didn't travel "a thousand years into the future", as many characters believe. He travels from a dream into reality. This is only possible because his father, another aeon, who had become Sin, chose to invade the dream city of Zanarkand and pull Tidus out of there.
Tidus is not a ghost, he's a memory of a long-fallen place that the fayth rebuilt in their dreams.
(Shuyin wasn't a thing in FFX, and since I'm - let's say - less fond of FFX-2, I can't really comment on him. It turned out he was a completely different guy, right?
But then how does that explain Jecht? Was Jecht from the dream world too? If so, were the fayth trying to use him so he could become Sin and possibly end the cycle? That would make sense, I suppose, but the entire concept of the dream world is very strange. It implies that this dream world is complex enough to have its own unique people to be as complicated as Jecht or Tidus. I guess that just speaks for the fayth's power.
Honestly, the Shuyin thing is still kind of a mix up. He is a different person from actual history and perhaps his physical appearance is coincidence or blood related. But then the question becomes, does the dream world remember Tidus? Was Tidus an actual person? Then again, Jecht was a known figure in history… Perhaps Tidus and Shuyin are two completely different things.
I think that Sin's toxin was never a thing. People believed it existed because they knew next to nothing about Sin, and it gave the game developers an excuse to brush off Tidus's behaviour.
They got washed ashore Bikanel because… plot. That's it.
I got that. It wasn't an actual thing and was an imaginary plot device that allowed Tidus to explain how he was different.
Still, it just bugs me how that scene was done. I get why Jecht/Sin wanted Tidus and co. to get to Bikanel, to comprehend what's happening to the Al Bhed and connect with Cid. But the scene made no sense then. I get that Sin grabs them, but it becomes such an awkward mess of: "They were all concious, get attacked by Sin, and somehow, Sin grabs them and takes them elsewhere." Would have worked better as 'They all fell unconscious after the fall from the ice, Sin grabs them, and takes them to Bikanel". I dunno… I'm just nit-picking I realize.
Been a while since I played. Didn't they still have backing from other maesters at that point?
That was why they escaped their prisons. When Seymour and Yuna kiss for their wedding, Seymour turns to the guards stopping Yuna's guardians, and tells them to kill them. Yuna responds by saying if Seymour doesn't stop, she'll jump off the balcony and to her death. Seymour doesn't really listen and Yuna jumps off, using Valefor to catch her.
Somehow, the scene immediately cuts to everyone being in their specific dungeon location, imprisoned. It doesn't really make sense. Obviously, killing them would end the story, and yet, Seymour doesn't do it? And even Yuna ends up in a dungeon herself, with Auron, Lulu and Kimahri. I dunno…
@KageKageKing:
And the worst thing about the entirely of FFX is the Sphere Grid system.
Not to shit more on FFX, but I do have to agree with this. The story has its good points that I don't 'hate' the story at all.
Sphere Grid? Early game, it's okay. Mid to late game, it is the ultimate chore.