There’s no character I love quite as much as Final Fantasy 10’s Yuna. As a staunch Final Fantasy 10-2 defender, I was happy to see a beloved childhood heroine break out on her own and explore the world with strong female friendships. She quit living just for Spira and its people and turned her attention inward – towards what Yuna wanted. After saving the love of her life and returning home, I think Final Fantasy 10-2 put a nice little bowtie on things. Sure, the original 10 worked just fine on its own, but 10-2 was a brilliant adventure into self-discovery and learning to be a little “selfish.” And as a big ole Final Fantasy 10 fan, I’ve read its side stories that came after, and y’all, that is precisely why we need to leave it alone. I'm not so sure I'm thrilled about a possible Final Fantasy 10-3.
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First of all, I’m not talking about the playable bonus you got with the Final Fantasy 10/10-2 HD remaster. Final Fantasy 10-2.5 HD: Last Mission is a weird little spin-off that happens months later after the ending of 10-2, and it’s fine. Kind of weird, but whatever, it’s fine. My beef is with the audio drama, Final Fantasy 10 -Will-, and whatever you want to call the novel, Final Fantasy X-2.5 Price of Eternity.
So the novel, Price of Eternity, slots itself in right after Final Fantasy 10-2 ends. And, look, I’m not going to pretend that Final Fantasy as a series doesn’t often extend into the ludicrous and unbelievable, but the events of the novel are…Ludicrous and unbelievable. It’s just not great, and I don’t even blame its author, but I think this is what happens when you keep squeezing the fruit of a story, demanding it give up more when there’s really nothing left we didn’t say already.
If you’re unfamiliar, I’m gonna spoil it a bit for you. Things don’t go so well immediately following Yuna and Tidus’ reunion. That’s fine, I get it, relationships can be tough and they aren’t always smiles all around, but to this day, I still can’t quite understand what Yuna was angry about. Her characterization here is kind of weird, but anyway, they argue, and Yuna later goes missing. Of course, Tidus goes off trying to find her, and when he ultimately does, things get real weird.
Tidus, and I am not being cheeky when I say this, is killed by a ball that is actually a bomb, which he kicked because he mistook it for a Blitzball. There’s a lot that follows, but I think all you need to know is that Tidus is ultimately brought back (again), and things are okayish with their relationship. Later on, Final Fantasy 10 Will takes place, and they are again fighting for reasons I don’t understand. Sin is back, and Yuna once again takes up the role as Spira’s hero, while Tidus decides he’s going to put aside his anger and follow her on her journey again. We got so hungry for more Final Fantasy 10 that I guess we’re just recycling the whole first game now.
Look, I’m not trying to rain on anyone’s parade. I love Final Fantasy 10, but I’m not interested in beating a story to death with a recycled villain and scenario. I get it, someone could always still call Sin back, but it feels like stomping all over the journey of the first when we bring this thing back so flippantly. If we’re going to do this again, and we really shouldn’t, I would hope we could at least introduce a new scenario. I’m not even saying that’s not on Square’s radar, perhaps they’ll toss the extra media out the window for a third game, but for now, it’s all I’ve got to go on, and I’m not feeling too hopeful about it.
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