Warning: This afterword contains spoilers of the games, Final Fantasy X and Final Fantasy X-2.
Hello, it’s been a volume. I’m glad that I finally get to meet you, the reader, again. I’m Kurokawa Hitsugi, the author. Thanks to so many picking up the first volume, I was graciously allowed to produce a second one.
Now then, for another sudden question: Do you guys play games? When I was a student, I played them quite a bit, but admittedly, I haven’t been able to touch games much ever since I became a working adult. Recently, I’ve been busy and utterly unable to play a single thing. A friend invited me to play a bit of Blue Archive, but that’s really all.
I love RPGs, and I remember playing a ton of DQ (Dragon Quest) and FF growing up. When I was a kid, my parents refused to buy me games, so I resorted to slowly saving up my allowance to buy used game cartridges for cheap. I just loved playing games.
Among all the games that I played, Final Fantasy X-2 has been the most memorable for me. This was the first FF installment that I’d ever played, and I believe it’s a continuation of the renowned masterpiece, FFX. I’d heard that the series was usually one and done with every installment, and having a sequel was very much a rare case, and yet that was the one I just so happened to play. I’d heard so much hubbub surrounding this series, and I just wanted to play a random one—I grabbed one of the games without really checking what number it was or what it was all about. That was my bad.
Because it was a sequel, characters I’d never seen before acted like they were reuniting after a long separation—this “long time no see” air which I just couldn’t understand. Every time, a visible question mark appeared above my head, but I just chalked it up to some kind of writing style that I just couldn’t grasp and played through. It was really fun.
The game was very polished and amazing, which seems to be the norm for the FF series, and even though I had no information about the prequel, or the original main story, I still had so much fun and it was very enjoyable. Afterward, following some digging, I did end up playing FFX, and it was just as amazing as the rumors implied.
FFX-2 was my MVP, and I believe that I’ve drawn quite a bit of inspiration from it to create this series, Repeated Vice. For example, the red airship and the pirates’ friendly atmosphere and whatnot. I think you’ll find that I made several homages to FF if you look carefully. It’s also why the premise of this story is based on a game—I just love them.
I fear that the impact of Final Fantasy X may not be well understood by the younger generation, but it made a huge splash when it was released. Its graphics were second to none and beautiful for its era; one could hardly believe that these realistic graphics were possible during the era of the PS2. A lot of players were pulled in by the visual effects, only to stay for the moving story and plotline, the colorful, charming cast of characters, and cool aeons.
My personal favorite is Anima. If you don’t know it, I recommend you look it up. Anima is the perfect combination of creepy and beautiful, a splendidly crafted aeon that feels so artistic to me.
In FFX, the world is threatened by Sin, a catastrophic monster, and the Summoner must go around the world with a few friends and guards to defeat this evil. We gain aeons along the way to grow stronger. The main character is faced with all sorts of issues between species and races along with religious troubles, as we grow and mature in more ways than one. The plot was interesting, engaging, and deep.
There was quite a bit of focus on religion and what it represented, and this game helped me grasp a deeper understanding on this subject. In this game, the teaching of Yevon had spread throughout the world, and machina were seen as evil. Anyone who used them weren’t just discriminated against by the church; they were alienated and actively avoided. But the Al Bhed who used machina had family and friends of their own. They were just normal people, laughing away and enjoying life as they saw fit. They were hated simply because of their different beliefs. Actually, there’s a member in our party who happens to be an Al Bhed too, and it temporarily causes a bit of awkwardness between everyone.
The main character must confront different values and views, and truly become friends with others while crossing all these boundaries. The catharsis that I felt from this wonderful story was just amazing. If I could erase my memories and play this game for the first time again, I would.
So, after all this talk, one might think that I’m someone related to Square Enix, but I assure you that that’s not the case. I just really, really love this series and want to promote it is all. Um... I don’t know if this is okay. I feel like my editor might get mad at me for just needlessly plugging another series...
Also, while I act like I’m a huge supporter of the FF series, I haven’t played every installment. Honestly, I’d just wandered around the used games aisle for anything that caught my eye that was compatible with my system. I think I played FFXII, FFXV, and FFVII Remake. I’d never played FFVII before, so the remake was my first round. I absolutely loved the Midgar arc, and I’m dying to play FFVII Rebirth soon.
I’m currently super curious about FFXVI, but I don’t have a PS5, so I haven’t been able to play it yet. If I ever get the chance to buy a PS5, that’ll be the first game I play. If anyone has ever played it, please let me know how good it is, but I beg you to keep it spoiler-free for me (tough ask, I know).
I can’t even watch Youtube Let’s Plays or reviews because I’m afraid of spoilers, but I look forward to hearing everyone’s reviews of FFXVI. If everyone raves about it, I’m pretty sure that’ll push me to buy the PS5. But damn, that thing’s expensive. I just can’t take that final plunge without some help.
Now then, thank you for humoring me on my FF spiel, everyone. And to you, the reader who picked up this book, please know how grateful I am. I look forward to the day we meet again!
Kurokawa Hitsugi