FINAL FANTASY X is back—in HD! First released for the PlayStation®2 system in 2001, and widely acclaimed for its moving story and spectacular graphics, FINAL FANTASY X has now returned in HD for the PlayStation®Vita system. Characters, monsters, and environments have been fine-tuned in HD detail, providing a richer, deeper FINAL FANTASY visual experience. Other new features in the HD version include remastered/rearranged BGM, International Edition content, trophies, and Cross-Save functionality.

One of the most anticipated titles of this year, Final Fantasy X HD Remaster was finally released a few weeks ago. I picked it up on PS Vita, and have been playing it ever since then!

Final Fantasy X (PS2) holds a special place in my heart: I played it way too much when I was unemployed back in 2002, and I completely conquered that game in around 160 hours!

Is the Final Fantasy X HD Remaster worth your time and money? When compared to other HD re-releases, how does the game rank so many years after its original release? Long story short, this game is the best HD remaster I’ve played, and this 13-years old game might even the best RPG available in the PS Vita library!

Yea, I love Final Fantasy X THAT much !!!!!

Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD Remaster – E3 2013 Trailer

At its core, Final Fantasy X is a turn-based RPG in which you follow Yuna (a summoner) and her guardians through a pilgrimage — a quest to rid the world of Sin, a huge creature that constantly destroy cities in the world of Spira. This game is story-driven, so expect to have a whole lot of cutscenes using the game engine during the 40-ish hours of the main quest.

When Square-Enix decided to remaster Final Fantasy X in HD, they didn’t only port the game and change a few character models like in Kingdom Hearts 1.5 HD ReMIX, they completely remade the entire character cast and all the menus in higher resolution, and they all look very sharp on the PS Vita screen. So much, in fact, that it really does look as if the game had been designed from the ground up for this system!

Like I mentioned earlier, Final Fantasy X’s battle system is a very fast-paced but turn-based combat system. Back in 2001, we were surprised to see that FF X had ditched away the traditional “level-up” system from previous Final Fantasy entries in favor of a “Sphere Grid,” a huge map in which you can manually determine how you want to build your characters. FF X HD goes one step further by featuring the International version of the Sphere Grid, called the Expert mode, which I do NOT recommend to first time players because there is a high risk of getting a cast of useless characters lacking key techniques to get through some boss battles! The new Expert Grid has been designed for experienced FF X players by offering a lot of liberties in cast development.

This HD Remaster also features a completely rearranged soundtrack and most of the songs are better than their original version. My favorite ones are To Zanarkand (FF X’s main theme song) and the new rearranged battle theme. The voice acting is identical to what was in the PS2 version so you can enjoy the infamous laughing scene all over again!

Although this is one particularly good game, it still has a few issues that have to be mentioned. The first one is the inability to skip cutscenes. This might not seem like a big deal at first, but FF X is relatively story-heavy, and some later bosses come with an introductory cutscene that lasts a few minutes which I would really have liked to skip the fourth time I tried the battle! Also, I still didn’t like solving the Temples of the Fayth puzzles, and the Blitzball minigame is as boring as it was in the PS2 version.

This battle might prove problematic

Final Thoughts

Final Fantasy X HD Remaster is a JRPG masterpiece that has to be played. The incredible story and battle system are reason enough to play this game, but add the PS3 Cross-Save feature and you can now play this game on the big or the small screen. This doesn’t come cheap because Square-Enix didn’t include any Cross-Buy option, meaning that you would have to buy both versions to enjoy that. Each version (PS3 or Vita) of FF X HD Remaster also comes with FF X-2 HD Remaster which is a nice addition to the package even if that game was a little inferior to FF X.

Play that game!

[review pros=”Stellar game, story, soundtrack, battle system and character rooster
Main characters have been completely remade and looks great
Includes a full Trophy set
Cross-Save” cons=”Absolutely no Cross-Buy option
Inability to skip cutscenes
Blitzball is as boring as it was 13 years ago” score=92]

————————–

Cost: $39.99

PSN Game size: 6.6GB (Includes both FF X and FF X-2 HD)

You can purchase Final Fantasy X HD Remaster (Vita) from Amazon.com here or on the PSN.

Disclaimer

Total amount of time played: 50 hours.

This review is based on a retail copy purchased by the reviewer.