Final Fantasy X: Underwater Love (m/m, nc, inc)
I picked up FF7 recently. Man, I loved that game. I thought about buying a PSX or PSone a few times over the past few years, mostly for FF7. It was just a total classic. The depth and scope blew me away.
So, I figured I’d give the newest Final Fantasy offering a try, despite bda’s warning that “it’s gay.”
He was right. I feel weird saying something like this, but it really just seems gay – and I don’t mean that in an Eminem “gay just means stupid” sense. I feel like I’m supposed to learn to love the long, lingering shots of Tidus’ pecs. Well, I haven’t, and I don’t think I’m going to play much longer.
The game spends too much time, at least initially, on cutscenes. I think they’re pretty self-indulgent, too. I don’t get the sense of place that FF7 inspired; Spira is just some place. It’s big. Blitzball, the big worldwide pasttime, is fantastically uninteresting. Am I supposed to be excited that my hero is a sports celebrity – or rather, was one, before he got sucked into the future?
The voice acting spoils the characters. Tidus is too annoying. Rikku shows up looking like a post-apocalyptic warrior and starts talking like Tori Spelling. Tidus’ father’s friend is just too… brooding. There’s a level on which games should leave some things up to the imagination. Until video games get produced with great voice talent and direction, they should avoid voice.
Also key to my annoyance is the basic look of the game. FFX has tremendous graphics, but FF7 had better visuals. I got a real sense of setting from FF7. From FFX, I get nothing.
I’ll probably give it another hour or two before I return it, but I’m not expecting to change my opinion.