I Just Cried at a Video Game

Let me start this post out with an arrangement of a beautiful song that accompanied this somewhat potentially pathetic event.



Now that we've got that out of the way... Final Fantasy X. Definitely one of the saddest games I've played in my life, and one of the saddest stories I've ever heard. I'll give you a basic outline of the story and its world, but I'll save nasty details this time.

The story revolves around... Tidus, a guy who is initially lost in an unfamiliar world and searching for a way home... and Yuna, a girl attempting to save her world from an enormous city-sized death-machine of a beast known as Sin. They are accompanied by Wakka, a former athlete, Lulu, a black mage (both of them were childhood friends of Yuna), Kimahri, a quiet giant and lifetime guardian of Yuna, Auron, a man who seems to know both Tidus' world and this new world called Spira, and Rikku, Yuna's cousin who tries to kidnap her to prevent her pilgramage.

Final Fantasy X differs very slightly from the usual RPG archetype. In many Final Fantasies (and many games/movies in general), a "random Joe"-type character goes on a personal quest, joins other random Joes and Janes, and then ends up having to save the world. Not (quite) this game. Tidus, the main protagonist and narrator, just wants to get back to his homeworld of Zanarkand. Yuna is the party leader who is, from the get-go, on a quest to save the world. After travelling for a long time with Yuna and learning that in order to save the world she has to, in essence, kill herself, his mission no longer becomes to go home, but to save Yuna; saving the world is a convenient side-effect. Along his journey he finally realizes that he can't get back.

The world of Spira is plagued by an enormous city-sized (literal) beast known as Sin. It destroys entire villages for no reason, and according to the world religion, it is a punishment for vanity and other sins, which include use of "machina," forbidden machines. Of course, one people, the Al Bhed, ignore the teachings of Yevon and become outcasts. Sounds kinda fishy, eh? It is. Yevon ends up being a corrupt front for a thousand-year-old lust for power in the aftermath of a devastating world war. Sin is just the creation that came from wanting to find an ultimate weapon to get the upperhand in that war (note the similarities between this and World War II/the Cold War/atomic bomb (the game was made in Japan, thus far the only victim of the atomic bomb)).

This knowledge is not known to the majority of Spirans; very few actually know it. Summoners sacrifices their lives to defeat Sin, and then it is reborn. Sin is a "spiral of death" around which the world revolves (hence the name Spira). It rampages unchecked until a Summoner brings the "Calm" for a couple of years, and then it is reborn, "punishing" the world for its sins.

Tidus is from a city called Zanarkand separate from Spira, but when it is attacked by Sin, he is transported to this other world that seems totally alien to him, and he sort of tags along for the ride, accompanying Yuna on her pilgramage, whose endpoint is the ruins of a city dead for a thousand years: Zanarkand.

Tidus thought his father had died 10 years ago at sea, and before this, his father was am arrogant star athlete and teased him a lot, mostly about his crying. A lot of the game revolves around Tidus coming to terms with his father and accepting him, as he learns from Auron that his father truly loved him, but didn't know how to express it.

As one might be able to tell, much of the game also revolves around death. I'm getting sleepy and don't have much else to say about that.

There are several emotionally poignant points in this storyline. A) Tidus learns that his father has somehow become the latest Sin incarnate. B) Tidus learns that Yuna has to kill herself to save Spira (there ends up being another way, negating the corrupt world religion). C) After being labeled as traitors to Yevon, Yuna considers giving up her pilgramage, and talks with Tidus about all the things they can do, like go to his Zanarkand and just live life, but she then begins crying, and realizes, "I can't." As she softly sobs, Tidus embraces her and kisses her. [...then a bad J-Pop ballad plays and it's weird and awkward for awhile, but that's beside the point] D) Inside of Sin, before Tidus has to fight and defeat his own father, who he has come to hate over the years:

Jecht: You're late, Auron.
Auron: I know.
Jecht: (Turns and waves to Tidus) Hey.
Tidus: Hi.
Jecht: Hah! You got tall, but you're all bones! You eating right, boy?
Jecht: You've really grown.
Tidus: Yeah, but you're still bigger.
Jecht: Well, I am Sin, you know.
Tidus: That's not funny.
Jecht: Well, then... I mean...you know. Let's end this.
Tidus: Dad?
Jecht: Yeah?
Tidus: I hate you.
Jecht: (Chuckles) I know, I know. You know what you have to do.
Tidus: Yeah.

And after the fight...

Jecht: You'll cry. You're gonna cry. You always cry. See? You're cryin'.
Tidus: I hate you, Dad.

But we know he means the opposite. Moments later, he says, still crying, "You know...for the first time, I'm glad...to have you as my father." This scene was hard to me because of my relationship with my own father, which isn't exactly positive most of the time... but I could really, really, really relate to the main character in this sense.

Then, E) Auron dies. We learned slightly earlier in the game that he was actually dead, but was holding onto the world of the living because of a promise he made to Tidus' father and Yuna's father, but now that the battle is over, he can let go of life finally.

Then, F) Tidus begins to disappear. He learned earlier, but didn't reveal to his friends, that his home of Zanarkand was actually a "dream" being summoned by the creator of Sin, but upon entering the real world he became real. Nonetheless, he will disappear along with the rest of Dream Zanarkand when Sin is truly defeated. After the battle, he begins disappearing, and Yuna is confused, shocked, and utterly, suddenly depressed, shaking her head. He apologizes for not being able to show her his Zanarkand and starts to walk away. She runs towards him, crying, but falls right through him. She gets up slowly as he continues to disappear, and she says "I love you." He walks to her and hugs her one last time, then jumps off of the ship, seeing Auron, Yuna's father, and his own father on the way down, giving him a high five, showing that he has truly reconciled.

Yuna is then shown practicing whistling (Tidus tought her to whistle earlier in the game), and then giving a speech to the people of Spira, ending it with, "The people and the friends that we have lost, or the dreams that have faded... Never forget them."

The scene where Tidus disappears reeeally hit me hard because I kept thinking of my own relationship with Elie, and how utterly and completely heart-wrenching it must be to lose a loved one like that, to watch them literally fade away before your own eyes. The emotional music didn't help. So yes, I cried at a video game. First time crying in six months, and it's at a video game ending.

I had more written, then somehow half of got deleted, so I cut it down and summarized a bit... my back hurts, I'm going to bed. I hope this is my last video game post for awhile. >_<

--Jon