The vita is the current underdog of the handheld console market, with highly over priced memory cards and seemingly no 1st party support from Sony, it relies on 3rd party big hits coming to push the slow sales. It’s a shame really as the vita is a great piece of hardware, and honestly deserves more love than it gets, so it’s great to finally get the play another great title, even if it was announced at the consoles launch, It’s taken a while to get here.
Of course any console that gets a…well I would say new final fantasy, but after the reception Final Fantasy 13-3 got well, you can’t really say there system sellers any more, apart from the die-hard fans who really love costumes. Final fantasy 10 – 10-2 HD are, as the name suggests, HD remakes of what some say to be the last great final fantasies, before the series took a bit of a nose dive from your standard JRPG to more cyber punk – esc games.
Final Fantasy 10 is one of those games that almost every fan of the series have played, and it isn’t surprising considering it manage to sell over 6.6 million, and FF10-2…well, it’s like the weird younger brother, it does everything right, but it just isn’t the same anymore.
So we have two fantastic games, now how does the HD remake look? Well short answer, it’s passable.
So the reason the game has taken so long to be released is supposedly that the game was having its assets recreated to fully benefit from higher resolution, and all this lovely processing power we have these days. When you play the game you really…can’t see it, I mean there are some areas where it’s obvious and looks outstanding, and others where I found myself questioning why, I mean Lu Lu’s necklace? Yeah it’s one of the best looking necklaces I think I’ve seen in a video game, but why? Other areas really show the games age, I really have to question where and why the game was given an overhaul in some areas, and not others, some textures honestly look dated, and could of done with a bit of a update, instead of Lu Lu’s necklace, seriously, why that. Both games look nicer in higher resolution and the extra filters help bring the game into a newer era.
Now gameplay wise nothing has changed, you still have three characters in your party when fighting, and access to a massive sphere grid in FFX, and the costume array in FFX-2. Have you not played the games since its original release? Well there are some new additions, there are extra items, weapons, skills and costumes that was original in the international release. Do these change much of the game? No, but if you have never played the international release these may add something new to the game.
There are little changes that I did enjoy, such as a quick heal option, tap the screen to bring up a menu that allows you to choose to heal the party via items or magic, then it will heal everyone and display how much it cost, this is the kind of improvement that should be added. Other extras include a short animated film that tries to tie the first and 2nd game together. It’s…an interesting little video, but it doesn’t really do much, and hell I would have been okay without it, it’s doesn’t really add much. Honestly, whilst they have attempted to add more to these games, they really do not add much, apart from the addition of the international content it’s basically the same.
Sound track wise, It sounds amazing, which is always a redundant thing to say about any final fantasy game, I mean sure they make some interesting design choices but the sound tracks are always top notch. Here is nothing different, to accompany the new HD content is a re-mastered sound track, which does sound great, of course the vitas speakers are not fully capable of showing this off so if you do want to enjoy it to its fullest, headphones are a must here.
Of course outside of a few little extras these are basically the games we played back then, the story is the same, you still play as Tidus and Yuna is still useless as a party player. The story is still the same, Sin is attacking in X and….you’re a pop group in X-2? Saving the world is the story being served up and it is a game that has aged as well as most final fantasies. If you enjoyed it back then you will no doubt enjoy it again, but if you’re looking for much new, you will be disappointed. But other games that have been released on the vita such as Persona 4 have shown that even adding little extra content can make it a system seller.
FFX-X2 HD is one for final fantasy lovers, and makes the vita a great hand held for having a collection of the games on the go. But again, if you’re looking for something new, you won’t find it here, it’s almost the same game you played before, you might just find some of the mechanics a little outdated now. 4/5 for a great remake, but questionable remastering choices.
Disclaimer:All scores given within our reviews are based on the artist’s personal opinion; this should in no way impede your decision to purchase the game.
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