FFX’s Story Was Made Perfect Thanks To Blitzball
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- čas přidán 6. 02. 2022
- Blitzball completed the story of FFX, whether you like it or not
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Thanks for watching folks, please let me know if you’d like to see more retrospective essays in the future!
I would definitely watch any retrospectives you make, even if I have no idea what the topic is.
oh absolutely, had a lot of fun listening to this and learning about how engrained blitzball is to the world
I actually just found you because of this, and I'd love some more content like this in the future!
I would, actually. This one was done rather well. I was just talking to some friends earlier about Blitzball (and my love/appreciation for it), and you covered some good points that I didn't even consider mentioning at the time.
This was great! Would love more FFX content!
I always have my stomach churning when I upload a video out of the ordinary, so I can just imagine what it must have felt like to move from speedrun explanations to a video essay analyzing narrative concepts. This was a really good video, and I hope it pays off in dividends for the channel.
It's crazy how many story snippets FFX hides that can only be found by backtracking and talking to NPCs.
One of my favorite examples for that was always that when, backtracking through Spira after the Thunder Plains and forest, you can find people in *Besaid* talk about the news of the marriage since apparently the Guado immediately spread the word to everyone.
Even if you see it as the minigame required for unlocking all overdrives, it's certainly less annoying than dodging 200 lighting strikes.
8 hours of blitzball or like 15 minutes for the lightnings, not saying lightnings arent annoying but the time it takes to get every reward in blitzball is way too much for me at least
edit: not every reward but all the overdrives and celestial weapon parts
4 annoying mini game to unlock full power celestial weapon
From blizt ball,catching butterfly,dodging lighting&stupid mfcking chocobo race
Bliztball is easy after you got the airship so you can start recruit other member
Dodge lighting is doable with the spinning around in the thunder spot bug(guaranted prog the lighting) you just need to count the dodge
Catching butterfly is little bit tricky, you need the map route(you can found in google) move using those map, dont trust the screen
At the last, mfcking chocobo race, is pure hell. I recommended playing this 5-10minutes each day, to keep your sanity
@@bayumahendra1797 am I the only one, who doesn't hate the chocobo race? There are so many great guides on CZcams. You can get this done in maybe half an hour.
@@Kwioresma agreed I actually beat it without a guide the one that I have trouble with is the butterflies
I'd rather do anything than ever touch Blitzball ever again. I found that to be the most annoying thing in FF10 by far.
Despite being a member of the blitzball haters fanclub community, I love blitzball from a casual enjoyer of FFX perspective.
Both its cultural impact in Spira and as a mini-game.
One of my favourite things about FFX is how incredibly well realised Spira is, and Blitzball is a huge part of that imo.
the blitzball theme is fire
I saw your community post about this and I want to explain something a lot of Western fans might have missed.
There was a soccer anime called Captain Tsubasa that was famous not just in Japan, but world wide. Where I'm from in the Arab world it was called Captain Majid. It had an NES licensed JRPG soccer game. I think nowadays there's something like that on the DS. For me and many others who grew up with the Captain Tsubasa game, Blitz Ball was the closest to reliving it.
Inszuma Eleven is stylus based
Still good in it’s own way.
But there’s a reason Touhou Soccer was based on Tsubasa.
It’s AWESOME!
XD
I think one of the most interesting things about blitzball character development is the drastic changes that some characters fulfill as well as the eventual downfall of the stats for the Luca Goers
"Why do today what you can leave for tomorrow?" - Jecht.
Longer form video essays are honestly one of my favorite things, especially when they're structured like yours where the visuals aren't required and I can just listen along while I work.
Keep up the good work!
I never got into Blitzball, but my brother absolutely loved it. He seriously put like 200 hours into just playing Blitzball, it was insane... we even came up with some in-jokes about it (specifically the innuendo of GRAAVing some BICKSON, based on two of his players names).
A few years later I picked up Tecmo Cup Soccer (really a Captain Tsuaba game, but localized) from a flea market and testing it was interested to find it played 90% like Blitzball and was excited to show my brother.
FFX story is just near perfectly told. Every bit of content contributes to the mainstory.
Loved the video! Kinda surprised you didn't mention that the Yevon prayer and the Blitzball salute is the same motion, or the fact that the Zanarkand temple is the destroyed Blitzball stadium (even plays the Blitzball locker room theme)
Recently finished FFX yesterday and despite grinding the hell to get all of Wakka's Overdrives and weapon and it being like climbing a mountain, I like what this vid sets to accomplish
i have been waiting for Blitzball to be added to Final Fantasy XIV for YEARS, since they added underwater areas in Stormblood, i was praying for its addition...
i am still waiting Squeenix, still waiting.
Man square enix will let you down, especially if it's something nastalgic or with a cult classic vibe......... Smrpg:lotss 2 would sell like hot cakes. And the way Sony and marvel are working with each other it's even imaginable that square and Nintendo could colab on something. I mean Geno's in smash bros. Sorry for ranting
Youre gonna have to wait till FfX remake. No clue when theats gonna be. But I'm sure they'll make it eventually.
@@joelabraham6834 Well, considering their recent comments about wanting to remake VI but that it would take up to 20 years I think if we're lucky we'd be able to play it in the nursing home.
This video made me understand the story of FFX better than I thought
As someone who's unlocked everything from Blitzball multiple times, I can still say I fucking love Blitzball. I've probably spent more time on this game than any other in my life, such a beautiful game in every way. Knowing that there was plans for a more playable section of Zanarkand makes me feel like we missed out on what could've been an even more expansive story line. Great Video~!
what would you think about a new playstation blitzball game? I love it too mate ;)
@ I would totally play a modern blitzball, could see it having fighting game elements mixed with water polo, and an actual full 3d arena you can actually move up and down in.
@@shrekstacy Yes, would be awesome. And so many, new skills and go Deep in a similar turn System with something fresh... Or maybe dynamic? What would you think? Will you keep the turns System?... I would play all day mate ... But its our dream I think haha
Many teams*
@ I think it'd be interesting and more next gen friendly to have it all seamless and be active time battle like finally fantasy 7 remake, different players in different positions have different movement options/attacks, etc.
Blitz Ball is always one of those things that people either love or hate. It's not a bad mini game at all, as a matter of fact, it's one of my favorite mini games in the series.
Kudos on the video Doc, this is a joy to see on my notification feed at this time of the day. Keep it up!
It’s saying something when I’m bummed out that the gold saucer from 14 is missing blitzball when they brought triple triad back.
People hate Blitz Ball because of how it was introduced. Nothing says "you're going to hate this mini-game" like throwing you into a seemingly unwinnable match that your only chance of winning was a QTE session with your drunk abusive dad's emotional baggage several saves ago.
If you’re invested in the story it’s bad but if you are the type of person that really gets into the mechanics you’ll like it
I like Blitzball. It made the game feel like a 2-in-1 back when I first played it. Also glad you brought up the dialogue at the start when Tidus is heading to the stadium. I see way too many people run to the stadium and miss most of what he's saying. Man just in general I'm really happy there's another FFX video up. Praise be to Yevon.
Blitzball turns into a boring grind very quickly, and the thought of replaying multiple leagues to get the best DPS in the game on reruns makes a lot of people cringe. That's probably what causes the hot take these days.
Its integration into the story is a great piece of world building though!
FFX is my favorite game of all time, but I’ve never enjoyed playing blitzball. However, I appreciate it from a story/lore standpoint.
From a gameplay perspective, I definitely think they should’ve given Tidus much better stats to better represent his skill in blitzball when you play - he’s a pro blitzball player and should help carry the Aurochs to a certain extent. Taking this further, I do wish blitzball was a bit more balanced - I feel like it’s an important piece of the story to win against the Goers.
About 1/3 of my last playthrough of FFX was just playing blitzball. There are 2 types of FFX players - the ones who get steamrolled in blitzball and the ones who go 9-0 vs. the Al Bhed.
I wanna be a blitzball when I grow up.
The amount of hours I spent grinding Blitzball is truly staggering. Great retro on the game through the lens of the best FF minigame!! (don't @ me haters)
FFX Blitzball was an amazing grind. You make your own superstar team with custom loadouts and abilities and dominate. A game within a game, just like playing your typical sports game. Great past time.
FFX-2 Blitzball on the other hand, has none of that however instead, is a great Football manager type game where you just watch everything play out. It is really rough at the start, but you will enjoy it in the middle and late game.
Blitzball is underused by SE and needs to be made into a real game that like, covers the entire roster of Final Fantasy. The possibilities are endless, but SE hasn't capitalized on that.
"Small town that puts their entire budget into football and sports" I feel personally attacked but you're right
Yooo great video. I always said that blitzball is the core of everything in FFX. It transcends politics, disaster, and even the fabric of reality, all to symbolize the importance of unity.
7:04 it's funny you mention that since there is a Besaid Waterfall training prize in FFX-2
11:25
on the next edit after this timestamp, the guy on the left looks like he was just watching Tidus bomb that social interaction
Man, fantastic video. Love your take on blitzball's importance to the story. I got goosebumps with some of the ost you used in the background.
I know you usually cover speedrunning, but this video essay was amazing and insightful. Please do more!
I never actually thought about the story/world in that way, this was quite intriguing to hear about, thank you :)
One thing I will say is - I don't quite agree with is the point of "it doesn't affect the story in any meaningful way". When I was a kid, I had no idea what I was supposed to do for the Jecht prompt, and never learned the Jecht Shot. And I struggled tremendously trying to win against these arrogant meanies. And let me tell you, the story for me came to a grinding halt, because I REALLY didn't want to lose, and just kept trying until I finally won ^^;... So, in-story it doesn't have any meaningful impact (I agree), but for me as a player, it affected/delayed everything
Than it means it has meaning on a personal level. And that's seeking validation. Its what Tidus is both seeking and also wanting to Get Jecht to Acknowledge that he's Better! Its Petty, and yet its fully in-Character with Tidus, but he Matures by the end of it. And its all the more emotional. So Blitzball HAS EVERYTHING TO DO WITH IT! :D
I was the opposite as a kid, but I am that way now as an adult.
As a kid, I vividly remember thinking "These guys think they're tough? Let's ACTUALLY fight and see how fast you lose!"
Ya just started the game recently and failed the jecht shot. I had no idea what I was even supposed to do. Just moved on and accepted the L in the first blitzball match. I’ve played a few matches since then and still haven’t won a game. Beyond that I’ve been enjoying ffx so I’ll probably just ignore it and live without the throwy guy’s ultimate weapon (I forget his name)
@@willpi6413
FFX is easy enough without getting Wakka souped up.
If you attempt post-game content though...now THAT'S a struggle.
to be honest i always wondered why they never made a stand alone blitzball game. Take the basis, upgrade the graphics, add some new features and they can sell it for 20 bucks and make a killing with it.
I love it. Will commit to watch every FF video you put out
SWELLMAN!!! MISS YOU BUDDY! Glad you gave such a nostalgic critique of my most favorite game of alltime!
FFX remains to this day one of my favorite fictional stories, ever.
Same here. So much to see, experience and think about. As obvious and cheesy the lovestory part may be, the topics affecting Spira and the seemingly neverending spiral of death and suffering are so deep and worth being acknowledged.
Absolutely, there's a lot of soul in spira.
@@nikolasweischner3560 a remake would bring spira out more
Only out of Fictional ones 😅😅😅 God it's my favorite story of all time
Looking forward to more of Doc's game criticism/analysis in the future!
_Excellent_ video, and a super interesting take that I don't think I've ever seen discussed on here. Side note, I remember my mate beating the first blitzball game in his first try and it blew my mind. At the time I thought you were _supposed_ to lose the first game 😅
I really think Blitzball would be more loved if it wasn't required in the story when you fight the Luca Goers, and if you want Attack Reels or Wakka's Celestial Weapon.
I'd make the other rewards more worth it, because you can have an easier time grinding most Blitzball rewards outside of the Wakka stuff.
My biggest issues with Blitzball is how your team players gain EXP/Skills vs how all the other teams progress.
Unless you spend literally the entire match constantly passing the ball back and forth, you'll gain hardly any EXP. And that only levels up like two players, and can't be done with the goalie.
Meanwhile, opposing teams seem to level automatically as more games get played.
Felt like your team was always falling behind in levels, eventually getting far outstripped in stats.
Which leads to the weird workaround of using the Reset Data function to default every team's stats and just recruit free agents that happen to have high level 1 stats, and hope to get every prize you need before the other teams can start leveling up.
Nice to see someone appreciate Blitzball's narrative importance as much as I do!
Funny you mentioned Futurama, Wakka is voiced by the same guy as Bender. Blitzball is also necessary for getting Wakka's overdrives as well. Overall, a great video. 😎👍
There is nothing more gratifying in FF history than beating Luca Goers that first time
Personally, I did a lot of grinding in Blitzball as a kid. I worked hard so that in my 2nd and 3rd playthroughs I won against the goers in the first match and felt a real sense of accomplishment in beating the dudes who had dumpstered all over me in my first save.
As an aside note, I really appreciated this in-depth look into the narrative implications of blitzball and its minigame, something that I honestly haven't come across in the past 2 decades since it came out. I didn't even necessarily grind blitzball for just Wakka's weapon, I'd play it when there was a bit of a lull, when I was stressed out after hearing "Yunie's gonna die, y'know?" countless times before fighting Seymour at Gagazet and finally getting to chill with something I found fun. This video really opened my eyes to the actual extent that Yevon used this thing that people needed to manipulate them.
i remember the first time i got the stuff for wakkas celstial weapon, 10 hours of blitzball straight in one night, i didnt play much blitzball after that for a long time
I was never too good at Blitzball, but IT WAS AMAZING
The people I use are:
Nedus
Larbeight
Kiyuri
Ropp
Kulukan
Nimrook
Tidus
A spare person I know, but I'm not letting anyone else get Nedus or I'd be in trouble!
Blitzball is such a cool sport. I always wanted them to make a stand alone blitzball game.
The game does a great job in establishing how important Blitzball is to the general population and that it's basically the only other thing to think about besides a giant whale of doom. When I went for World Champion on one save file my feelings towards the Minigame went from "disgustingly terrible" to "it's okay, maybe". I personally think that it's poorly executed because it almost exclusively depends on silly numbers, but the game also pulls stupid moves like the opponent scoring a goal despite having 3 less shot than the Goalie has catch. That match against the Goers doesn't help either because not only do you literally have no chance to get better beforehand (except experience from another playthrough obviously) and the characters' stats are so bad that you're almost guaranteed to lose. If your first exposure to a Minigame is "Wait what is happening- Oh great, I lost" you did a terrible job at enticing the player for your minigame. I could say more about that, but I don't wanna write an essay 🤧🤧
To make it simple: Blitzball the CONCEPT is great and fits into the lore perfectly, but the MINIGAME is the worst introduction into a minigame I've ever seen and fails in creating interest (not counting for those who actually chose to play it again later, cuz that's a completely different subject, I think)
There is a little/big community loving blitzball... I feel it's cute on some way... What I mean,is,, if you like blitzball I love you... hahahaha(Tidus laugh)
Growing up around Final Fantasy VII, VIII, IX and X, I decided as a kid that an RPG is only as good as its minigames.
My viewpoint isn't so extreme anymore, but it's still the reason why X is my favorite out of those four to this day. I 100%'d the game just a few weeks ago, and I don't know of a single other RPG with a minigame so well hooked into the main story.
It sells so many of the aspects of the story, (as stated in the video already) even to the point where when the minigame is disabled it feels like a punch in the gut. It really makes you feel like you're on the run.
I always found it funny that the victory pose for blitzball was used as a yu yevon blessing. It's like going to church and seeing everybody doing the iggy shuffle
Fantastic job on this retrospective. I look forward to seeing more of your videos.
That was so cool ! I really love the way you explained how so many themes and events are intertwined with this game
I do enjoy your videos. My one point of criticism is that each one of your videos feels like you are rushing through them. I feel that if I lose forcus for a couple seconds I miss entire tangents and have to go back a few minutes to recenter. Aside from that great stuff as always
For some reason I was never able to play Blitzball in the game, so that one part where it was mandatory (I think there was at least 1 game I absolutely had to win but I may be wrong here), I just spent hours to eventually win out of pure luck, and that really killed the enjoyment for me.
It was a lot more like a chore than a fun minigame, so I avoided it as much as possible later into the game.
You're referring to the mandatory match against the Luca Goers. That match actually doesn't have to be won, but I honestly couldn't blame someone for thinking that lol
.
Yeah that part ruins the Minigame for practically everyone, but only because it's literally the first time and winning is rough (unless you use an exploit which I could never make work right oops) and is unskippable
I said it before, and I'll say it again: If Squeenix puts out a standalone Blitzball game, all my money.
hahaha we have to collect signatures dude!
This video was amazing. I’m absolutely down for more videos like this!
As a kid I was stuck in the game and I just played blitzball all the goddamn time. I love this stupid minigame and learned a lot about its place in the world of FFX
I loved this video. Please do more like this in the future!
Absolutely love the content, my man. Keep it up. Love diving into the lore and psychology of my retro game favorites. Well done :)
Shout outs to the og aurochs for somehow beating the Al bhed psyches despite the fact that nimrook is op early on
A video essay about my favorite Final Fantasy? Sign me up! I enjoyed it; very insightful.
I've always enjoyed watching your speedrun history/explanation videos, but this video was extremely fun to watch as well! If you want to keep making videos like this in the future I think you should go for it; you do a great job laying your thoughts out even if you called it rambling, haha
I am a strange fan; I love playing blitzball! One of the problems is people don't know how to change the input controls. The default controls aren't that good, but the others are more responsive. When I was playing it 5 and 20 years ago, I would spend hours playing blitzball, and would rush through the stages where it wasn't accessible.
FFX has such good narrative concepts and you outline them really well, great video.
Holy Shit. I literally never even questioned the fiend attack in Luca, let alone tying it to the Guado's ability to summon fiends. It's an interesting idea. In other news, I was always annoyed by the difference between story and blitzball itself. The Al Bhed Psyches are easily the strongest initial team, far eclipsing the Luca Goers. You'd think they'd be shit cuz they needed to play dirty and still lost to Wakka and the Aurochs in cutscenes, but no, they're strong af in the game!
Yes, more of these please! I love video essays on games and gaming history.
I love how it all ends with Anima being summoned... just amazing
I liked trying to get all the techs for blitzball. Years later I learned that some of them were bugged and impossible to tech copy . Lol
I love listening to people deep dive into stuff like this. Great vid man.
More like this. I’ve watched many of your other videos and couldn’t be bothered to subscribe. This made me subscribe.
This didn't match my expectations, but I loved it! (I wrongly assumed we'd be getting a detailed breakdown of the players, tactics, rewards... like a "mechanical deep dive" on the minigame). Instead, it's a totally different style of content, and very enjoyable!
The Blitzball tournament in FFX always reminded me a bit of the "Contest of Champions" in Breath of Fire 3, which is one of my all-time childhood favs. There's something really cool about creating a contest your characters have to enter as a sub-arc in the overall story that's really exciting as a player
I had no idea people hated blitzball. I loved that minigame
Love the vid bro. Thanks for the upload
love your videos! cant wait for more!
I loved hearing about this! I knew Blitz was important, but not how many Dynamics required it's presence!
How FFX 2.5 was made perfect thanks to a bomb shaped like a blitzball.
NEVER underestimate the power of entertainment.
Especially not on youtube or in gaming xD
More would be much apreciated
More please :)
Once you mentioned the Golden Saucer, all I could think of was submarines and snow boarding. FFVII wins this round. Blitzball is the kind of game that would work out better in real time. Square should revisit the game, could be fun.
Blitzball is life even if I was not good at it when I played this game the first time.
Hi, loved the vid! Still playing blitzball to this day, such a lovely and sometimes challenging minigame, one of my favorites in any game❤
Love this content man
Keep it up !
Pretty good video. I only discovered your channel after the FFMQ video and have watched every video since right as its come out. Quality JRPG content on youtube is in short supply but you deliver. When I saw your post about the retrospective essay thing I was worried it would be some drawn out 3 hour long video. This was nice and digestible and not pretentious like a lot of the content on youtube you might see labeled similarly. Looking forward to future uploads.
Great video. Insert palpatine meme of paying attention to your career here.
I'm a recent subscriber and although this was outside of what I subscribed for (I love seeing how broken games can get and you show that off very well with these speed runs), this was a well done video that I found interesting, entertaining and educational, and I'd gladly watch more like it
I guess that since the audience of FFX in America is primarily nerds, who tend to be averse to sports to begin with, they didn't pick up on how much the Spirans' love for Blitzball mirrors America's own sports obsession.
blitzball isnt terrible, just sign up a team of players that can both move, pass and receive well and jehct shot every goal with 2 or less defenders then juggle passes until the time is up, it is literally the most mindless thing you can do in the game besides level grinding. Though the prospect of blitzball was great to me since i was still playing sports at the time of first playing it and i was really into the idea of it, looking at it now if if didnt exist then we wouldnt have the same story of FFX and X-2 since they both revolve around the game or the stadium in some way.
Good ol blitz ball I spent over 50hrs playing blitz ball
This was great! Really enjoyed it, thank you (I love FFX) 😁
Matt McKenzie did a few of the voices for Fallout: New Vegas didn't he? I recognize the voice (unless I am incorrect).
I would love to see more content like this
Cool video. It’d be interesting to hear your thoughts on other video games from around this time period
I loved blitzball and always wanted a blitzball spinoff game ._.
i really liked this dude, keep it coming
I used to think that Blitzball was such a big element in the world, because it was Tidus' biggest ambition. Younger me thought that when Tidus was touched by Sin, Sin reshaped the world for Tidus and for Jecht, the world was built around a trial to make his son stronger, before passing on Sin to his son.
In essence I used to believe that Sin hand-picked it's successor and then trained it to become the next incarnation of Sin. hence why Jecht selected Tidus.
Obviously that was a misconception, but I always thought Blitzball was so present, for Tidus himself.
Am I wierd if I play the game only to that point and do only that? I don't know man I just want a stand alone blitz ball game. I love it so much.
Enjoyed it so much as kid I was bummed they never made it a whole game.