Final Fantasy X

Final Fantasy X is the tenth installment in the Final Fantasy series. It follows the story of Tidus and Yuna. It was the first Final Fantasy to appear on a sixth-generation console (i.e. the PlayStation 2, Xbox, or GameCube).

Due to Final Fantasy X's success and popularity, it spawned the first-ever direct game sequel to a Final Fantasy game: Final Fantasy X-2, released in 2003-04, and continued the events of Spira two years later through the eyes of Yuna. This came about as the result of an initial concept of spinning off Yuna and Rikku into individual titles of their own, which was later combined into one game.

It is also the first in the series to use voice-acting, instead of the previous method of scrolling subtitles. The implementation of voice-acting limited the player's ability to change the name of the characters, however. Tidus is the only playable character whose name is able to be changed. Aeons can also be renamed. It is the first installment in a long time in which most of the main characters do not have last names.

Mini-games

 * Blitzball - The feature minigame of Final Fantasy X is Blitzball, a cross between football and water polo, played entirely underwater in a giant sphere pool at Luca. Recruiting is another big part of Blitzball. Getting new and better players, and knowing who to cut and when, can be the thing that makes or breaks the team.
 * Chocobo Racing - Featuring less predominantly than previous games in the series is a Chocobo training and racing game. Situated at the Calm Lands, the player can participate in several challenges to train a Chocobo, and then use those skills to race another Chocobo at Remiem Temple.
 * Monster Arena - When fiends from all over Spira are captured using special weapons, they appear in the Monster Arena, also located at the Calm Lands. These fiends can be fought at any time (for a fee), and certain combinations can be bred into much tougher enemies.
 * Celestial Weapons - Each playable character in the game has their own distinctive Ultimate Weapon, which require some hard work and traveling to acquire.
 * Most locations also have their own smaller minigames, such as the Butterfly Hunt in Macalania, and the Valley of the Cactuars in the Bikanel Desert. See each location page for more details.

The Sphere Grid
Character growth in the game is undertaken by use of the Sphere Grid. By gaining AP from battles and collecting different types of spheres, characters move through the grid, raising stats and learning abilities. The sphere grid allows the player to evolve and take on "mixed" abilities meaning they can learn a wide array of Black Magic, White Magic, Defense, and Attack skills. This allows the player to not be confined to just a master of White Magic, etc. An extra grid was included with the International version (see below), which had 45 fewer nodes, and undefined paths for each character.

Battle System
Unlike the past few games where the battle system used ATB, Final Fantasy X used the Conditional Turn-Based Battle (CTB) system, or the Count Time Battle system in Japan.

At its most basic, CTB is a turn-based system which does not operate in rounds. That is, the order of the turns does not guarantee that each participant in a battle will have an equal number of turns. Characters with higher speed will be able to take more turns than slower characters, thus making speed much more important than in other turn-based battle systems. Furthermore, spells and abilities (such as Haste) can modify the turn order (called the Act List), as some abilities require a longer cool down time. In general, weaker abilities tend to require less cool down time, thus introducing a trade-off between speed and power.

The system is distinguished from Active Time Battle system by the fact that when a character's turn begins, all action stops while the player decides upon an action. This shifts the focus from reflexes and quick decision-making to strategy and careful planning.

Final Fantasy X also sports underwater battles as a major implement. Tidus, Wakka and Rikku are the only characters who are able to fight underwater.

Story
Final Fantasy X begins , starting with the party sitting around a campfire in still silence. Just beyond the horizon is a ruined city, covered in pyreflies. Tidus, the central hero of the game, then begins to retell his story of how he reached this place in his life. He gives background narration for much of the game.

To Spira
His story begins in a dream version of Zanarkand, an advanced futuristic city filled with high technology. Tidus is first seen signing autographs for fans, thinking it is a normal day as the star player for his Blitzball team, the Zanarkand Abes. In the middle of the match, a mysterious wave enters the city. The wave causes destruction to Zanarkand and the only person that is undisturbed by it is a man named Auron. Tidus meets up with Auron just out side the stadium, who acted as a mentor to him since the disappearance of his father, Jecht. When Tidus talk to Auron his just says a couple of words and walks ways. When Tidus is following Auron he is shocked to see time stop, as a small boy in purple robes appears to him speaking enigmatic words he does not understand. Once time restarts, the boy is gone and Tidus continues after Auron. Auron, who always seems to know more than he would say, reveals that the force destroying the city is called "Sin". At this point Auron reveals a sword that Jecht gave him, to give to Tidus. Then Auron and Tidus join together to fight the invading monsters on a city highway, and succeed in slaying Sinspawn Ammes. However, when they reach the mouth of Sin itself, Auron allows both himself and Tidus to be sucked up into its maw. Tidus loses consciousness, but sees a brief vision of his father.

When Tidus awakes, he is floating in an unknown underwater ruin. Swimming forward, he comes upon an abandoned building where he finds himself walking across a thin stone bridge, where he loses balance and falls into the water below. He is then faced by some Fiends. He easy wards them off, and then a bigger test revels itself. An even bigger fiend called Geosgaeno. After taking a bit of a beating Tidus retreats and with the large fiend casing he dives of what looks like a door way. He just manages to make it through. But this also corses the fiend to swim into the doorway which then collapses trapping Tidus inside the building. After making a fire to ward off the frigid air, but the fight is not over for Tidus. He is faced by a Kyikk. In mid battle a group of strange people blew through the door. What seemed like the leader of the group came and helped Tidus with the rest of the battle. After the battle he when to thank his helpers but they spoke a language foreign to him. They knocked him out and, capture him and brought him to their ship. Bewildered, Tidus demands to know what is going on. A friendly girl, named Rikku, reveals that these people are Al Bhed, a faction of people who use the forbidden technology called Machina. But for Tidus to earn his keep, he must work to stay. He is accompanied by Rikku down to an underwater salvage operation. Once the dangerous mission is completed and they return to the ship, Sin appears once more, knocking Tidus off the ship.

He finds himself once again at an unknown location, but this time it is a sunny beach. After witnessing so much that is alien to him, Tidus is glad to see something familiar: a group of islanders playing his sport, Blitzball. After showing off his impressive skills, the islanders flock around him. The leader of this group, Wakka, is especially helpful, explaining to Tidus that he has arrived at Besaid, an island in the land of Spira. He is unnerved when Tidus mentions his home city's name, Zanarkand. Wakka chalks up Tidus's behavior to his recent encounters with Sin. He explains that Sin is a monster that rose about a thousand years ago and destroyed Zanarkand as a result of a war between the two biggest cities at that time, Zanarkand and Bevelle. Sin was created because of using machina (seen as a sin, hence the name "Sin").

Wakka leads Tidus to the town center, hoping to have him join his Blitzball team, the Besaid Aurochs. The team has not had any wins in Blitzball tournaments in twenty-three years, and desperately need Tidus's help; even more so now that Wakka is planning to leave the team to become a Guardian. Tidus accepts and joins the Aurochs. After wandering around the town and speaking to the townsfolk, Wakka takes Tidus into the Temple, a branch of the Spiran religion, Yevon. Whilst there, Tidus learns that the Summoner who had begun her trial in the Temple has taken unusually long. Despite the priest's orders to stay out, Tidus goes through the Temple's Cloister of Trials in the hopes of rescuing the Summoner. Meeting up with her Guardians, the lion-like Ronso, Kimahri, the black mage Lulu, and Wakka, Tidus makes it in time to see the Summoner, Yuna, exit the Chamber of the Fayth. Immediately, Tidus is struck by her beauty.

Outside the Temple, Yuna summons her first Aeon, Valefor. She shows interest in Tidus's story of his origins in Zanarkand, and wishes to hear more. After this first conversation, Tidus retires to bed. That night he overhears Lulu berating Wakka over his interest in Tidus. She believes that Wakka is only protecting him out of memories for his dead brother, Chappu, whose face resembles Tidus's. Her thoughts may not be misplaced, as Wakka gives him Chappu's former sword, Brotherhood.

The Pilgrimage
The Guardians head out with Yuna on her Pilgrimage, a sacred journey across Spira to attain the Final Aeon, the only weapon that can defeat Sin. They take Tidus along out of hopes that somebody will recognize him at the Blitzball Tournament. They set out on the S.S. Liki to reach the Temple in Kilika. Tidus and Yuna get another chance to talk, and Yuna reveals that she believes Tidus's story, and also that Tidus's father had arrived on Spira ten years before and claimed the same. Yuna is revealed to be the daughter of Braska, the High Summoner who destroyed Sin last with the help of Auron and Jecht. During the journey, Sin appears to be in route to destroy Kilika. The party fights a battle against Sin's fin, but fail to do any real damage. Sin continues on its attack, and levels Kilika.

When the group reach the town, they find it in ruins. Yuna, performing another role of a Summoner, "Sending" the souls of those killed in the attack. Those who die in Spira leave behind Pyreflies that if left alone and will become monsters, called Fiends unless properly Sent by a Summoner. Tidus is stunned by the contrasting beauty of the Sending dance and the horrors which it embodies. Afterwards, the party continues forward to the next Temple to gain the Fire Aeon Ifrit. While at the temple, they meet a rival Summoner to Yuna, the arrogant Dona and her Guardian Barthello.

With the first part of the journey complete, the Pilgrimage then moves to the city of Luca, the second largest city in Spira, and the location of a massive Blitzball tournament. Maester Seymour Guado and the elder Grand Maester, Yo Mika personally overlook the tournament. Much to Tidus's dismay, Yuna shows admiration to Seymour, a very young Maester with high popularity. But he puts these thoughts behind in order to take part in the Blitzball matches.

During the first match, Yuna is kidnapped by the Al Bhed Psyches in order to force the Aurochs into surrendering the match. While Wakka plays, Tidus goes with Lulu and Kimarhi to hunt down those who took Yuna. After rescuing Yuna from the Al Bhed by defeating the Oblitzerator, Tidus learns that Yuna is half Al Bhed. After Lulu sends a signal to Wakka, he wins the game just in time, ending a 23-year losing streak without Tidus's help. The next Blitzball match is against the Spiran Champions, the Luca Goers. After the match, a group of Fiends are unleashed upon the stadium, creating chaos. Tidus and Wakka go off to fight the beasts in the stadium, and are given the surprise aid of Auron, who attacks the fiends attacking the spectators. The rest of the Fiends are dispatched by Seymour's Aeon, Anima. Yuna, along with thousands of spectators, is left in awe of the power of Seymour's Summon.

Auron takes Tidus away to speak to him alone. He makes a terrible revelation to Tidus: "Sin is Jecht". Dumbfounded by this apparent impossibility, Tidus refuses to accept it. Taking in his troubles, Tidus speaks with Yuna. She advises him to laugh, and so Tidus gives out a very forced and boisterous cackle. Yuna, though disturbed at first, joins in, leaving the Guardians around in silence, concerned that they have gone insane; eventually, the false cackle erupts into real laughter. The Pilgrimage then continues up the Mi'ihen Highroad, but with two new Guardians: Auron and Tidus.

At the tip of the Highroad, the party finds the entire area to be under occupation by the Crusaders, the military arm of Yevon. Under the command of Seymour and his fellow Maester, Auron's former friend, Wen Kinoc, the Crusaders join forces with the Al Bhed in an attempt to defeat Sin. Wakka, being very orthodox to the teachings of Yevon, and resentful of the Al Bhed, is furious over this plan. Auron simply stands back, knowing the plan will fail. Operation Mi'ihen, as its called, turns out to be a complete disaster. Hundreds of Crusaders are killed as Yuna and her Guardians watch, trying their best to help in the fight. Following the defeat, Yevon covers its involvement by blaming the defeat on the Crusaders' heresy. Auron explains to Tidus that the only reason why Sin truly came to Mi'ihen was to see his son. The party leaves the battlefield unable to describe their feelings over the tragedy.

Continuing forward, the party enters the temple of Djose to gain the Aeon Ixion. Here they meet Isaaru, another fellow Summoner who seems to be kind-hearted. They also hear of rumors that Summoners are being kidnapped. The party then continues to the Moonflow, a river that flows through Spira. While crossing on a Shoopuf, Wakka points down to the sunken ruins of cities below the waters as perfect examples of what happens to people who use the hubris of Machina. During his story, an Al Bhed abducts Yuna into the water, but she is rescued by Tidus and Wakka, who destroy the Machina holding her captive. Reaching the other side of the river, they run into Rikku, who was the pilot of the destroyed machine. Rikku turns out to be Yuna's cousin, though Wakka is completely unaware of both Rikku's and Yuna's Al Bhed heritage. She joins the party as Yuna's sixth guardian, with the blessing of Auron, who is aware of her race.

The party then moves to Guadosalam, the city of the Guado, a race of elf-like humanoids of which Seymour is the leader. He invites the party to his mansion, where he tries to woo Yuna and shows them a Sphere recording of Tidus's Zanarkand. Within the vision is the first Summoner to defeat Sin, Lady Yunalesca. Seymour goes on to propose marriage to Yuna, much to Tidus's chagrin.

Yuna avoids answering, and instead takes her party to visit the Farplane, the land of the dead where pyreflies gather to form images from the memories of a mourner of their lost loved one. Rikku believes the entire thing to be nothing more than an illusion, and so chooses not to enter. Auron stays behind as well, though does not give a reason. Inside, Tidus finds that his father Jecht does not appear, meaning that he may very well be alive as Sin. However, Tidus accidentally summons the image of his mother, who Yuna explained must have accepted death once Jecht left. While leaving, Seymour's father, Jyscal Guado leaves the Farplane as an Unsent, a ghost created by a person who dies an unclean death. Yuna immediately sends Jyscal, during which Auron falls upon his knees, somehow weakened by the ceremony. A sphere appears once Jyscal is Sent, which is promptly snatched up by Yuna. After privately viewing its contents, Yuna announces that she has decided to accept Seymour's offer of matrimony.

Difficult Truths
The party moves through the Thunder Plains to the temple of Macalania to gain the Ice Aeon Shiva. While there, they are met by Tromell, Seymour's butler who leads Yuna into the Temple to prepare for the wedding, but not before being ambushed by the Al Bhed, who tried to stop the pilgrimage from continuing and unleashed a powerful machina, the Crawler, before the party took it down. This is where Wakka learns about Rikku being an Al Bhed, and promptly expresses his disgust at the "heathen." Tidus tries to tell Wakka that Rikku is not just some Al Bhed, and that she is actually a good person, that Rikku "is just Rikku." Angry that no one would take his side, Wakka heads to Macalania temple by foot while everyone else rides on Machina. Depending on the affection levels during the game, Tidus will either ride with Rikku, Lulu, Auron, or Kimahri.

If Tidus rides with Rikku, he will learn that Rikku and Yuna are cousins, and Rikku will explain why Al Bhed want to protect all the Summoners during the pilgrimage, and tells him that they sacrifice themselves too well to bring happiness to Spira, though Tidus is oblivious to the meaning of the latter. If he rides with Lulu, he will come to understand Wakka's hatred towards the Al Bhed, which stems from the death of Chappu. He will ask Lulu if a human can ever become Sin and she will finally believe the fact that Tidus comes from a world without Sin. Inside, the party comes upon the sphere that Yuna had retrieved, which shows that Seymour murdered his father in order to succeed him as Maester. The party goes forward to confront Seymour, outside the Chamber of the Fayth.

During the battle, Seymour is accompanied by two Guado Guardians. After enough damage is dealt to Seymour, he uses his powerful Aeon Anima. It is highly recommended to use Yuna to summon Shiva which is labeled as "???" in the summoning list. With nothing left to protect him, Seymour is killed. However, Tromell appears and takes away Seymour's body before Yuna can send him. He breaks the Sphere that proves Seymour's crimes. The party then flees the temple with Guado soldiers in pursuit. They manage to escape when a Fiend, Wendigo causes them to fall through the icy Lake Macalania. Landing on top of a docile Sin, the party is knocked unconscious when it begins to stir.

Awaking in a desert on the island of Bikanel, Tidus finds himself alone by an oasis. Though he manages to round up his fellow Guardians, he cannot find Yuna. Rikku suggests that the group go to the Al Bhed capital, the city of Home, which is under siege by Guado forces. Fighting through the invasion, the party finds Dona and Isaaru, both taken by the Al Bhed into the Summoner's Sanctum. Here Tidus suffers an emotional breakdown after he discovers the terrible truth behind the Pilgrimage, the reason why the Al Bhed try to impede the Summoner's quest for the Final Aeon at every turn: the Summoner will die after the Final Summoning and Yuna will meet the same fate if she continues her journey. Fighting together with the Summoners, the group makes its way to the Al Bhed airship captained by Rikku's father, Cid, which happened to be the very ship that Tidus and Rikku salvaged near the game's beginning. The ship takes off with most of the Al Bhed people on board, having been forced to abandoned their homeland. Ultimately, Cid decides to blow up Home with the airship in order to take out the invading forces. While on the Airship, the party learns that Yuna has been taken by the Guado to the Unsent Seymour to be married.

The party finds Yuna at the Yevon capital city of Bevelle, where she is in wedding gown to be joined with Seymour. Fighting through the city's defense, the guardian wyrm Evrae, Tidus and his group land to break up the wedding. They fight hard against the heavily-armed Yevon soldiers and their machina, and manage to force their way down to the Cloister of Trials where they gain the Aeon Bahamut, and are then arrested. Yuna and her Guardians are put on trial by the Maesters where they attempt to press their case, claiming that Seymour should be Sent to the Farplane. To their surprise, Grand Maester Yo Mika, too, is an Unsent. It seems that they are completely without allies, except for the Ronso Maester, Kelk Ronso, who leaves Yevon shortly afterwards. While imprisoned in a cage, Auron reveals to Tidus the hideous truths behind the Pilgrimage. The Summoner must sacrifice himself or herself in order to defeat Sin. But the defeated Sin will always return, leaving Spira in a cycle of death that will continue forever. Yuna and her Guardians are sentenced to the Via Purifico, a dungeon that is said to be inescapable. While most of the party was detained in the top part of the labyrinth, Tidus, Wakka, and Rikku were located in the underwater sewers. They are then forced to fight Evrae Altana, an undead wyrm.

On the top part, Yuna is confronted by Isaaru, who places his loyalty to Yevon above his friendship to Yuna. The two Summoners duel with their Aeons, but Isaaru is soundly beaten. Though his life is spared, his Pilgrimage ends in defeat. Making their way to the exit of Bevelle, the party finds Seymour standing over the corpse of Kinoc. Though betrayed by his old friend, Auron is still angered by Kinoc's murder. Using the life force of Kinoc and his bodyguards, Seymour transforms into a monster, Seymour Natus and is once again defeated by the party.

Leaving Bevelle for the Macalania Woods, Yuna, her faith in Yevon shaken, goes off into the woods to be alone, and Tidus follows, a mutual agreement between himself and the others. He finds Yuna in the spring, and, revealing that he knows the truth behind the Final Summoning, apologizes for constantly talking about life after defeating Sin, believing that he had only depressed Yuna by doing so. However, Yuna stops him, informing him that his words had in fact made her happy.

Tidus attempts to persuade Yuna to quit her pilgrimage and stay with him, and, though tempted, Yuna ultimately decides that she cannot simply allow Sin to run rampant across the world; at this moment, deep emotional burdens that Yuna has apparently been hiding for quite some time rise to the surface, and she uncontrollably breaks down in tears. Tidus moves to comfort her, and they embrace and share a passionate kiss. After their moment of love, they return to the party to continue their journey into the Calm Lands and later to Mt. Gagazet.

Before crossing Gagazet, Kelk and his tribe of Ronsos give Yuna their blessing, after witnessing her resolve and courage. Tidus then talks to Rikku, now that they are getting close to Zanarkand, about what is going to happen to Yuna. Because they are both afraid, Tidus and Rikku plan to find a way to save her. Shortly afterwards the Ronso are attacked by Seymour, and many are slaughtered. The party struggles through the frigid mountain before they run into Seymour once again, this time as Seymour Flux. He reveals his true plan: to save Spira from its cycle of death by becoming Sin, and then completely wipe out all the people there. Tidus considers him to be insane, and so attacks with the aid of his entire party. Despite Seymour's growing powers, he is again defeated.

After the battle, the party learns of Sin's identity as Jecht. They come upon a strange sight, a fountain of Fayth lost in dreams. Tidus is suddenly struck by a vision of him returning to his Zanarkand. While there, he sees the little boy in purple from the beginning. The boy reveals himself to be the Fayth of Bahamut. He then gives Tidus revelations more shocking than anything before. Sin was created to leave Spira forever backward, so that Tidus' Zanarkand could live forever without being detected. In fact, the Zanarkand Tidus hails from is nothing but a dream created by the Fayth. Tidus, Jecht, and everybody else from that city are all nothing but dreams, who will cease to exist once Sin is truly defeated. Bahamut's Fayth asks Tidus to defeat Sin, so that the Fayth can be freed of the burden of constantly keeping the "Dream Zanarkand" alive. Tidus accepts, even while knowing that doing so will mean his death. After he returns to consciousness, Tidus keeps his vision to himself.

After passing through Mt. Gagazet, the party comes to the real Zanarkand, where the Pilgrimage is to end. It is here that the story catches up with the beginning, and Tidus' retelling of the events that led him here ends. After they pass the Sanctuary Keeper, the party stops for a brief cutscene where at the end you get to see Yuna's Sphere after another heart touching scene the party enters the Zanarkand Ruins which leads them into the Zanarkand Dome. The pyreflies here are so thick that they can see visions of past Summoners who came through to defeat Sin. Oddly, they also see a vision of a child Seymour, whose mother gives up her life to become Anima (Aeon of Pain).

They then meet with Yunalesca, who is now an Unsent after her battle with Sin, and they learn that in order to create the Final Aeon, a Guardian must be sacrificed as its Fayth. They also see into the past, in Braska's Pilgrimage, where Jecht decided to give up his life to become the Final Aeon. Then Yunalesca tells them more unsettling truths. The Final Aeon can only defeat Sin for a short time, for after the old Sin is destroyed, Yu Yevon, the evil Summoner spirit that controls Sin and the Fayth of Dream Zanarkand, will possess the Final Aeon and use its body to create Sin anew. Thus whoever becomes the Final Aeon will later become Sin, and the cycle of death will continue.

Yuna refuses to take part in this cycle. Yunalesca believes that without faith in the Final Summoning, Yuna will eventually succumb to despair, and decides to kill her and free her from such a fate. Just before the battle, the party sees Auron from the past. Horrified after the death of Braska and transformation of Jecht, Auron went to confront Yunalesca and was killed, making him an Unsent. In the present time, he rallies his team to attack Yunalesca. Though Yunalesca is powerful, and grows into increasingly grotesque forms, the party prevails and destroys her, forever ending any hope of gaining the Final Aeon.

Defeating Sin
With Yunalesca gone, the party now needs a new way to defeat Sin. Cid and his Airship arrive to pick them up, and they brainstorm on a strategy. But before that can be done, Yevon is in chaos with the death of so many Maesters. Tidus and his party land in Bevelle during the crisis to meet with Yo Mika. To his dismay, he learns that they have not gained the Final Aeon, and in fact had eliminated it for all eternity. Feeling that Spira is doomed to be destroyed by Sin and the despair it engenders, Mika departs for the Farplane.

The party then comes up with a plan to beat Sin. They will distract Sin by having all of Spira sing Jecht's favorite song, the Hymn of the Fayth. While Sin is stopped, the party will attack on the Airship. The attack begins as planned, with the Airship's laser cannons blowing off both of Sin's fins. After destroying the Core, the monster falls onto the city of Bevelle, seemingly beaten. But then the monster recuperates, grows wings and flies into the air. It then charges straight at the Airship, ready to destroy the party on board. Luckily the party manages to stop Sin in its charge, and the monster opens up its mouth to suck in the Airship. While going inside the monster, they see Seymour inside, laughing over his impending victory.

Inside Sin, the party finds that the monster actually holds an entire dungeon filled with Fiends. Fighting through them, they reach Seymour to battle him one final time. Despite yet another powerful form, Seymour Omnis, Seymour is defeated yet again. With nowhere to run, Yuna Sends the rogue Maester. Before disappearing, Seymour reveals that he is glad that it was Yuna who finally defeated him, but that even if they defeat Sin, Spira's sorrow will continue. Tidus vows not to let this happen.

Moving deeper into Sin, the party finds themselves in a place similar to the Blitz Stadium from Dream Zanarkand. Tidus is then finally reunited with his father. Though Jecht only has a short time left before his mind fully becomes Sin's, he shares a moment with his son. Then Jecht turns into Braska's Final Aeon, the true form of Sin. Once again, the party prevails, thus ending Jecht's life, and saving him from the nightmare of being Sin. Jecht says goodbye to Tidus, and even scolds him for crying. However, the battle is not won yet.

Yu Yevon, requiring an Aeon to inhabit, takes over Yuna's one by one. The party has to destroy each one as Yu Yevon possesses them. With nowhere left to run, Yu Yevon himself appears. The great scourge of Spira is revealed to be little more than a floating bug-like creature. The party destroys Yu Yevon, and forever defeats Sin, saving Spira from the 'cycle of death' it was trapped in.

Auron, with his mission complete, requests that Yuna Send him, which she does with a heavy heart. Then, when the battle is finally won, Tidus begins to disappear, as well. With the Fayth retiring from their thousand-year dream, Tidus fades from existence. Though Yuna tries to embrace him, she falls right through him. Yuna then proclaims her love for him (in the original Japanese version she only thanks him), and though he is fading away, Tidus tries to embrace her. He says goodbye and jumps off the edge of the Airship, falling into the clouds, where he sees Braska, Auron, and Jecht waiting for him. As he falls, he high-fives Jecht, symbolizing that he has reconciled with his father.

Epilogue
Afterwards, Yuna makes a speech at the Luca Blitzball Stadium about the future of Spira; Sin is finally dead, and Spira is theirs again, after 1,000 years of terror. The Eternal Calm has begun, and Yuna resolves to aid in the reconstruction of the world now that Sin is gone forever. Right before the credits roll, she says, "The people and friends that we have lost, and the dreams that have faded, never forget them."

After the ending credits, a final cutscene shows Tidus waking up in the depths of the ocean and swimming back to the surface, with a smile on his face. This scene is explained in Final Fantasy X-2 if certain conditions are met.

Music
The main theme of the game is "Zanarkand". This song is heard in the beginning and in multiple other forms during the main events of the game.

Another prominently featured song is "Suteki da ne". It is played during the romantic scene between Yuna and Tidus at the lake in Macalania Woods. Many tracks of the game also have the instrumental form of this song mixed into them, such as "Yuna's Theme" and "Spira Unplugged". Other popular songs are "Otherworld", played in the beginning of the game and during the final battle against the Final Aeon, and the "Hymn of the Fayth", sang in a different way in each temple by each Fayth, and by many characters, such as the Al Bhed and even hummed by Tidus.

Development
Development of Final Fantasy X began in 1999. Although Hironobu Sakaguchi showed doubts about the transition from 2D to 3D backgrounds, voice acting, and real-time storytelling, he also stated that the success of the series was due to constantly changing development and trying out new things. Final Fantasy X was initially going to incorporate online elements, but were later dropped, and added into the next title in the series, Final Fantasy XI.

Many features were added, such as the Conditional Turn-Based Battle (CTB), a new battle system replacing the Active-Time Battle (ATB) system. The implementation of the World Map concept was dropped, because the developers wanted a more realistic approach, as well as realism of the game's 3D backgrounds and the animation of characters.

Final Fantasy X: International
The International Version was released on January 31, 2002, in Japan, and later in Europe (the European release was simply titled "Final Fantasy X"). This updated version of the game had different box art for Japan, and new features, such as an Expert Sphere Grid, which allowed for accessing abilities easier, but less overall stat-growth; new abilities added to both Standard and Expert Grids; the inclusion of the Dark Aeons and Penance, all powerful superbosses; as well as many minor changes to dialogue, scenes, the Celestial Weapons' key items (Japan Only), characters and armor &amp; weapon customizations, such as Ribbon. The release also included a bonus disc with behind the scenes making-of features of Final Fantasy X, and a special movie prologue to Final Fantasy X-2.

The European release had the additions of the Dark Aeons and Penance, as well as the new equipment abilities, but didn't change the name of the Celestial Sigils and Crests. The game had noticeable black borders, and a slower running-speed as a result of poor PAL conversion. The black label version also included a bonus DVD with the title Beyond Final Fantasy, which included various interviews with the game developers, as well as two of the English voice actors. Additionally, it included trailers of various Square games, an art gallery, short biographies on Nobuo Uematsu and Rikki, as well as a music video of Rikki performing the song "Suteki Da Ne?".

There is a glitch in some versions of Final Fantasy X: International, whereby if you go to the area where you fight Dark Ifrit after defeating Yunalesca, but before fighting Braska's Final Aeon, it is possible to slip past the two men blocking your way to Home, and thus, be able to return to the story at the events in Home with Yuna in your party. This glitch can be repeated after the first time it is used.

Also, this version only includes English dub with option for English or Japanese menus and subtitles.

Trivia

 * Final Fantasy X is the first numbered Final Fantasy game to feature a musical score that is not completely credited to Nobuo Uematsu, who has written the music for Final Fantasy since its inception.
 * The majority of the English dialogue was not based to the actual game footage; the only guidance the voice actors had were samples of the original Japanese dialogue, and they rarely had the opportunity to sync their dialogue with actual footage. Once the voice recording was complete, sound editors would digitally speed up or slow down the audio clips in order to fill the character's allotted speaking time for each particular line.
 * Development for Final Fantasy X began in 1999, costing approximately four billion Japanese yen (approximately 32.3 million dollars) with a crew of more than 100 people, most of whom worked on previous games in the series.
 * Producer Yoshinori Kitase felt that if the setting went back to a medieval European fantasy, it would not seem to help the development team advance. While he was thinking of different world environments, scenario writer Kazushige Nojima suggested a fantasy world that incorporated Asian elements.
 * In the background of the initial FMV when Tidus reaches Luca, when the camera pans down a street, the music from "I Want to be Your Canary" from Final Fantasy IX can be heard. Also, a scene before the street scene (when the camera pans the sides of some buildings) a part of "Rufus' Welcoming Ceremony" from Final Fantasy VII is played.