Final Fantasy X HD Remaster (PS Vita) Review

One of the JRPGs that graced the PS2 when it launched over a decade ago was Square Enix’s Final Fantasy X. Being the first game in the series to jump onto the PS2 hardware, expectations were quite high as it’s the first 3D game to offer impressive visuals, cutscenes with voice overs, and an overall improvement over Final Fantasy IX on the PSOne. Delivering what was expected by JRPG fans, Final Fantasy X became one of the best Final Fantasy games to date and to allow newcomers or veteran fans looking forward to replay the most celebrated RPG of their generation, Square Enix remastered Final Fantasy X, along with its sequel, Final Fantasy X-2 for the PS3 and the PS Vita.

From all of the Final Fantasy games that I’ve played throughout the years, Final Fantasy X arguably had the best storyline to date. The game follows the story of Tidus and Yuna as they find a way to defeat Sin who has plagued Spira for hundreds of years. With Yuna looking to continue what her father did ten years ago, she will journey throughout Spira seeking the Aeons that will help her in the mission to defeat Sin. In her perilous journey with Tidus, they will be joined by their Guardians that will help the two achieve their goal. Expect a story of romance, betrayal, and mystery in one of the best RPGs of all time.

Since Final Fantasy X is a game that was released over a decade ago, the combat system that you can expect is somewhat traditional. Instead of real-time combat that we are now accustomed to titles like in Final Fantasy XIII, Final Fantasy X will take you back to the turn-based battle system. It’s not bad as you think it is as it follows through very well. You will see if it’s your character’s turn through the bar shown at the right hand corner of the screen.

For gamers who have the PS Vita, one of the concerns handheld owners have is the performance of this HD remaster. Well, I am pleased to say that the performance of Final Fantasy X HD Remaster on the PS Vita is solid for the most part. Through my lengthy session with the game, I’m glad to say that the framerate rarely drops. Since the game has been remastered completely, Square Enix did a phenomenal job in optimizing the game to perform very good on the PS Vita. The animations are quite solid, no hangups or frame rates that stutter, although there are certain parts of the game that stutter like in Guadosalam. What you can expect in this portable version of Final Fantasy X HD Remaster is very close to the performance of the console version.

Final Fantasy X International Edition was the game that never made its way to North America. While many fans were disappointed back then, they will now be pleased that the content that they missed out in the International Edition will be included in this HD remaster. The contents fans can expect in the HD remaster are the following: Expert Grid that further gives complexity to the game’s Sphere Grid, Eternal Calm video that bridges the story for Final Fantasy X-2, bonus bosses like Dark Aeons and the boss that is considered as the hardest in the series, Penance.

Visually, the game received a total makeover. From the character models to the environments, everything has been redone to make it look good on that nice LED/OLED screen of the PS Vita. Often times in a ported HD game, cutscenes are left out when it comes to improving the visuals. Well, in Final Fantasy X HD Remaster, you will see that they have been somewhat improved to match what was done in the game engine. The facial features have been improved where you can see their emotions, and the overall textures have been polished up.