When last we left off, Tidus was about to cross a narrow bridge over a pool of water.

That is, until something in the water spots him, and the path collapses.

Good thing he can swim, right?

Time for an underwater battle! It works pretty much the same as battling on land, and thankfully you don't have to worry about running out of air. These Sahagin are pretty weak, but they're just the small fries.

After taking out two, the real threat appears. Tidus trades a few blows with this thing, but soon realizes he's no match for it and swims for his life. Thankfully there's a narrow passage that the fiend can't follow through nearby.

"I had made it out of the frying pan, and into the freezer. I thought I was going to die in this place."

It's very cold in here, and Tidus realizes he needs to build a fire if he wants to survive.

How fortunate. There's some flint and tinder to be found nearby too. Tidus lights the fire and falls asleep by it, leading us to a dream/flashback sequence.

Tidus and Auron talk about how it's been 10 years since Jecht's disappearance, and how Tidus cried when he left. And the mysterious hooded child is here as well... After Tidus wakes up, the fire is nearly extinguished. He tries to rekindle it when...

Tough luck, huh. As Tidus fights the fiend, someone else busts through a nearby door.

The girl in the lead comes forward to assist. Tidus: "You on my side, huh? Cool!"

She has the ability to steal items from enemies, and use some specific items that Tidus can't. Right now, all you've got for her is some grenades.

They're pretty useful. Together, the two manage to defeat the creature handily.

Hey, check it out, we're actually getting post-battle rewards now. We don't know what this means yet, but we'll learn in a bit.

Negotiaiton with the invading group turns hostile pretty quick, and Tidus doesn't speak their language. It's actually just an English cipher.

They decide to bring Tidus aboard their ship for now. The girl turns out to be able to speak English, or... whatever Tidus is speaking, and says that he can stay if he makes himself useful. She also takes the time to explain another game mechanic.

This is the Sphere Grid, the main method of character advancement. You use your Sphere Levels to move 1 step forward or 4 steps backward, then use spheres to activate nodes which grant stat bonuses or new abilities. Each character has their own path on the grid, but it's possible for paths to cross or even for one character to go down another's path. Each character also activates nodes separately.

It's a big grid and there are a lot of spaces on it. Power Spheres activate attack, defense, and HP nodes; Mana Spheres activate MP, magic, and magic defense; Speed Spheres activate agility, accuracy, and evasion; and Ability Spheres learn new abilities.

Right now all we can do is use an Ability Sphere to have Tidus learn Cheer, which improves attack and defense for all party members.

After that's done, Tidus and the mysterious girl dive into the ocean to search for sunken treasures.

Despite being completely flooded, the mechanical structures in this ruin seem to be working.

And of course, you have to fend off attacks by aquatic fiends such as these deadly piranha. They're pretty weak, and the mystery girl's grenades come in handy against them.

After activating the power, this octopus creature comes in to menace us. This is basically one of the first proper boss fights.

One thing I forgot to mention about Overdrives in the last post is that they often have you play these little minigame sequences to improve their power. In this case, for Tidus' Overdrive you need to press B with the right timing for a bonus. The mystery girl has an Overdrive of her own, but her gauge didn't get high enough for me to use it.

You get introduced to trigger commands here, which are special actions that can be used in a few battles. In this case, when the boss swims behind the pillar it's too far away to hit with melee, so you can stand by and recover a little HP while waiting for it to come back. You can also chuck the girl's grenades at it.

Eventually Tidus and the girl decide to perform a pincer attack, swimming to both sides of the octopus to prevent it from escaping. This helps make the fight a lot easier, and the two prevail. Then they return to the ship.

The girl serves Tidus some much needed food, and then introduces herself.

We finally get a name, and she explains that she and her companions are part of the Al Bhed people. You can pick up Al Bhed Primers to learn their language one letter at a time.

Tidus gets a chance to introduce himself too, but what he says makes Rikku very confused.

"So I told her everything there was to tell about Zanarkand... About life there, blitzball, and Sin's attack...and about how Auron and I were engulfed in this light. I just said things as they came to mind. But then I started to wonder."

Rikku explains that Zanarkand was indeed destroyed by Sin... a thousand years ago. She suspects that Tidus is just delusional due to exposure to Sin's toxin, and thinks that maybe someone in Luca would know him since he's a blitzball player. She also tells Tidus not to tell anyone he's from Zanarkand, since Yevon says it's a holy place. Then she leaves to commune with the other Al Bhed.

"My Zanarkand, some kind of holy place? Yeah right, I thought. Since when? Yevon? Sin? Luca? I thought Sin had just taken me to some faraway place, that I could go back in a day or two. But a thousand years into the future? No way!"

Tidus kicks a crate in frustration.

And then something bursts from the water. The Al Bhed run forward and immediately recognize it as Sin. Before they can warn Tidus, he's thrown overboard.

And sucked into the whirlpool to be lost at sea...

It's a nice day as the boat sets sail from Besaid.

But Tidus doesn't even know where they're going...

Thankfully, Wakka is here to fill us in. There's not really that much to do here, so Tidus checks out what's going on below deck.

This fellow is an aspiring merchant, but he doesn't have anything to sell yet and can only ask for donations. I decided to give him 100 gil.

Speaking of items, here's what we've got so far. Potions restore 200 HP, Hi-Potions 1000. Ethers restore 80 MP, Phoenix Down revives fallen allies, and Remedies can be used to cure negative conditions. We also have our spheres for the Sphere Grid, a leftover grenade from when Rikku was a party member, and a map of Spira.

It's very pretty, but not all that useful since you can't read anything.

Further below deck, Tidus finds the ship runs on chocobo power. These large birds are common to many Final Fantasy games, and are often used as mounts.

Tidus heads above deck and finds a huge crowd gathering around Yuna. Many of the people there mention that she's the daughter of Lord Braska.

Tidus can relate, since he knows it's tough when your father's a celebrity.

The crowd disperses, and Tidus and Yuna get to share a moment together. Yuna asks about Zanarkand, which surprises Tidus. It turns out she believes him because she's met one other person who claimed to be from Zanarkand: one of her father's guardians, a man named Jecht. Tidus can't believe it's the same Jecht, but the dates line up. Yuna first met Jecht about 10 years ago, the same time as his disappearance from Zanarkand. How'd he get here? Same way Tidus did, presumably.

This conversation is interrupted by something rocking the boat.

Yep, it's Sin.

The crew fires a pair of harpoons into Sin's fin, and it drags the ship along.

Remember these guys? Yep, they're back. Like before, they're just a distraction. What you really need to do is target Sin itself. It's too far away to hit with melee, so you need to use Wakka's ball and Lulu's magic. Also notice that we now have Kimahri available as a party member.

Look at how small the magic blast is compared to Sin. Really gives you a sense of this thing's scale.

After dealing 2000 damage to it, it tears the harpoon gun off the boat. Tidus is thrown overboard, and Wakka dives into the sea after him.

Cue another boss fight. This Sinspawn is accompanied by more Sinscales, and can use its tentacles to drain HP from you.

It can also spin its tentacles like a blender, dealing damage with a vortex.

I used Wakka's Dark Attack skill to blind it, reducing its accuracy. After that, the fight became much easier.

A few more hits and it was done for.

"When Sin attacked Zanarkand that day, I woke up in Spira. I kept hoping it would work in reverse, too. I was just fooling myself. Maybe it was that day...on the sea, under the burning sun. I started to give up hope. I was in a foreign world, I wasn't going home. This was my new reality, and I was stuck in it for good."

Welcome to Kilika Port... or what's left of it, anyway.

The people are relieved to know that a summoner is nearby. Yuna prepares for the ceremony, but Tidus is of course more confused.

Lulu provides some exposition. If the souls of the dead are allowed to linger in this world, their envy and hatred of the living eventually corrupts them into fiends. Remember all the fiends we've been fighting? Yeah, that's why they're around.

Tidus doesn't quite understand, but he watches the ceremony anyway.

Yeah, Yuna can walk on water for this. It's never really explained or brought up again.

These little things are called pyreflies, and they seem to be pieces of souls. They also appear whenever a fiend dies.

"I wished there would never be a next time. No more people being killed by Sin. No more sendings for Yuna. Everyone stood there watching her. It was strange, and somehow... horrifying. I never wanted to see it again."

Yuna gives Lulu a hug after she finishes.

The group decides to spend the night at the local inn, which was spared the devastation.

Follow your dreams, kid.

Anyway, after waking up, Tidus meets up with Wakka again.

Tidus asks if this is really the right time.

Wakka: "Something wrong with enjoying blitzball?"

Tidus: "Is this really the time?"

Wakka: "This is the only time! The players fight with all their strength; the fans cheer for their favorite team. They forget pain, suffering... Only the game matters! That's why blitz has been around for so long. Least that's what I think."

We also gained some S.Lvls from that fight with Sin. Everyone who participates in the fight gains AP, even if it's only for one turn. Kimahri's Sphere Grid position is unique; rather than having a path of his own, he starts in the center and can go down many different paths. I plan to send him down Lulu's since we could always use another magic user, but that's not happening quite yet.

Anyway, to get to the temple, the group needs to cross a deep forest first. Tidus finds Yuna and the others waiting for him.

The other party members are surprised at this proposal, but go along with it for now since they're heading to the same place.

By using Lancet on specific fiends, Kimahri can learn abilities from them.

These are used as his Ronso Rage Overdrive.

Not too impressive right now, but we'll get some better ones later.

This plant monster is known as Ochu, Lord of the Wood, and the Crusaders recommend staying away from it. I decided to follow their suggestion and find another way around.

Overkill bonuses are a thing. By dealing an excessive amount of damage on the final blow, you earn extra AP. This is pretty handy, especially when you know fiends' weaknesses.

Everyone got some more S.Lvls from the trip through the Kilika Woods, and a few learned some new abilities. Wakka got Silence Attack, which prevents the enemy from spellcasting. Yuna learned the NulBlaze, NulFrost, NulShock, and NulTide spells. Each provides the party with a shield that will nullify one attack from the respective element.

There's a long staircase on the way to the temple. High Summoner Ohalland was once a great blitzball player, and he used to train here. The Aurochs decide to have a race up the steps in his honor.

Well, so much for that. Yeah, it turns out there's another Sinspawn here. It hides within its shell and sticks its tentacles out through the ground.

After defeating the tentacles, it comes forth to fight in earnest.

I decided to bring in some heavy artillery. It's time to try out Yvonne's second Overdrive, Energy Blast.

Lasers! This finished off the boss no problem, and even got an overkill bonus.

Wakka: "You handled yourself pretty well. You got talent."

"That moment when Wakka told me I had talent in battle... I think that was when I started seriously considering becoming a guardian."

They pause a bit later on the steps, and Wakka asks if they have any fiends in Zanarkand. Tidus says that they do, but it's generally a big deal when one appears. Then he asks why Wakka is suddenly believing him about that. Wakka thinks that maybe people taken by Sin don't die, but instead get sent back in time, maybe even a thousand years back.

Lulu has some objections to this theory, and takes the time to remind everyone that no, Chappu really is dead. No one can replace him, or Jecht, or Braska for that matter.

"Wakka, Lulu, and Wakka's brother Chappu. Something had happened between them a long time ago. I was sure of it. Well, whatever it was, it was none of my business, that's for sure. Best not to go there."

Eventually, they reach Kilika Temple.

Looks like a rival team has been praying here too, even though they claim not to need to. Tidus is put off by their harsh mannerisms, since they remind him of Jecht.

Wakka prays at the statue of Lord Ohalland, and Tidus decides to join him. Then, the group is met by another summoner.

Dona here looks down on Yuna for needing four guardians, when she only has one. Yuna responds by saying that she trusts all of her guardians with her life, and she is honored by them.

The group moves toward the Cloister of Trials, but then Kimahri pushes Tidus off the elevator, since he's technically not a guardian yet. Then Dona's guardian Barthello pushes him back on anyway, and Tidus decides the only thing to do is head inside.

The theme of this temple is fire. Kilika Spheres are used to ignite obstacles in your path, but you can't walk through the fire either so you need to remove the sphere before proceeding.

This wall of flames is powered by multiple spheres, and you need to disconnect all of its sources in order to cross. Once you do, you can find a hidden treasure in the pit by using a Destruction Sphere.

This armlet is for Kimahri, and improves fire, ice, and lightning resistance.

Tidus meets with the other guardians outside the chamber of the fayth, but none are too pleased to see him. Only Yuna can enter the chamber, so Tidus takes the time to ask what a fayth is.

Lulu: "Now they live forever, trapped in statues. But when a summoner beckons, the souls of the fayth emerge once again. That's what we call an aeon."

Yuna returns from the chamber, having been granted a new aeon.

His canon name is Ifrit, but I went with Amon on a suggestion from Caliburn. I am taking suggestions for future aeons' names as well, so if you have any, please let me know!

"There was something I didn't tell anyone else that day. That song we heard there, in the temple... I knew it from my childhood. It was proof that Spira and Zanarkand were connected somehow. At least to me it was. Maybe that's why, suddenly, I felt like...I just wanted to go home. I tried to say something, to tell them. But the words wouldn't come."

Remember how I said the Hymn of the Fayth had plot importance?

After obtaining the aeon, the team has to head back through the Kilika Woods.

I decided to meet up with this forest's so-called 'Lord' and show him who's boss. Besides, we have a new aeon to test out now.

Amon is our fire-type aeon, perfect for dealing with highly flammable plant fiends.

He can only cast fire magic, and his special is Meteor Strike, which chucks a blazing meteor to deal damage.

And of course, I can't get away without showing his Overdrive.

He opens with tossing two fireballs to create a blazing pillar.

Then a big fireball comes from his mouth, trapping the foe in a sphere of flames.

He finishes off by tearing out a chunk of the ground and throwing it into the fireball, causing a massive explosion.

This did some pretty respectable damage, but it wasn't quite enough, and the Ochu defeated Amon.

No worries, though. Fallen aeons can be revived at save points or after a set amount of battles, and the team was able to finish off the fiend.

It's back off to Kilika Port, setting out for our next destination.

It turns out that I actually had the graphics quality on the lowest setting, which explains some of the blurry textures we've been seeing. This is probably a relic from the first computer I played this on, which wasn't quite as nice as the one I have now. Anyway, I set the texture quality to high, so that should fix that issue, and this should look more like an actual HD Remaster from now on.

Yuna's next destination is the Temple of Yevon at Djose. They head out from Luca onto the Mi'ihen Highroad.

A friendly scholar explains the origins of the name. Mi'ihen was a famous hero, and the founder of the Crusaders. He once was accused of betrayal by the Church of Yevon, and walked this road to reconcile with them. The Crusaders became an official branch of Yevon soon after.

After the events in Luca, Auron has joined as a party member. He's our heavy hitter, with high HP, attack, and defense. His speciality is armored fiends, like the thick-shelled creature before us.

All of Auron's weapons have the Piercing property, which allows them to ignore enemy armor. And they still make such a satisfying "thonk" sound when he lands a hit.

We also got a few more abilities from the battles in Luca. One thing this version has that the original PS2 release didn't is the Extract Power, Extract Mana, Extract Speed, and Extract Ability skills for Auron, Kimahri, Tidus, and Wakka respectively. Each is basically a standard attack, but they also make the opponent drop the appropriate type of sphere. I was running very low on Ability Spheres, so Extract Ability came in very handy.

We also learned Haste, a white magic spell for Tidus. It makes an ally's turns come more frequently, making it one of the most useful buffs in the game. It also speeds up all their animations, which can look kind of silly.

It's also time to try out Wakka's Overdrive. This abstract-looking fiend is an ice elemental, a good target for testing Wakka's Element Reels on.

Wakka's Overdrive works like a slot machine. If you line up 3 symbols of the same color, the attack takes on the property of that element (red for fire, white for ice, yellow for lightning, blue for water). If you mess it up, he uses a weaker multi-elemental attack. Unfortunately I'm not all that great at hitting the jackpot, and I got 2 fires and 1 lightning.

Auron has his own Sphere Grid path, same as everyone else. He's still at the beginning, but has higher starting stats to offset this.

We run into the scholar again when he muses on some ruins, considering them a testament to the power of Sin. Then he realizes he hasn't even introduced himself. We'll be meeting him many times on our journey, and he's a good source of lore and exposition.

We also meet Lucil, Elma, and Clasko, the Djose Chocobo Knights. They warn Yuna's group that a fiend has been prowling the road, and it has a taste for chocobos. Tidus thinks the party should fight it, because it's the right thing to do. Auron mentions that Jecht used to say that too, and whenever he did, there'd be trouble.

More friendly NPCs. This is another summoner named Belgemine, and she decides to give Yuna a hands-on lesson.

A duel of aeons! Two summoners cannot summon the same aeon at once, so we need to use Yvonne for this. Each aeon's stats are based on it's summoner, so when Yuna receives stat boosts from the Sphere Grid her aeons do too.

This also explains the Shield and Boost commands for aeons. Belgemine's Ifrit alternates between standard attacks and Meteor Strike, and you want to Boost the attacks and Shield the meteors. That should give Yvonne enough Overdrive charge to deal the finishing blow.

A good effort, but it wasn't quite enough.

Belgemine chastises Yuna, but the duel was only a test so a loss isn't the end. The road goes ever onward.

Kimahri learned a new white magic spell too: Scan.

This shows detailed information on an enemy, including stats, elemental weakness and resistance, status immunities, and any abilities Kimahri can learn from it. It also acts as the Sensor trait if you don't have a weapon with that.

Yuna meets a lot of travelers on the road. Many have gifts for the lady summoner. In this case, this small child asks if she'll bring the Calm. The Calm is the period of peace after a summoner defeats Sin. However, it is temporary, as Sin eventually returns.

"Even for a little while...people can sleep in their bed without being afraid. That kind of time is worth anything. 'Don't say it isn't worth it.' Your words that day, Yuna -- I remember them well."

Here's another type of fiend. This fire creature is called a Bomb. If it takes damage three times, it grows in size each hit until it eventually explodes. Ice based attacks can help defuse them before that happens. Kimahri can learn a new Overdrive from them too.

Well, it sure does what it says. This is powerful, but it kills Kimahri on use, and you can't revive him or send someone to take his place.

It's also time to put Yuna's Overdrive to use. Her Overdrive is Grand Summon, and it summons an aeon with a full Overdrive bar.

Considering how good aeons' Overdrives are, this is really good. If you Grand Summon an aeon that already had a full Overdrive bar, it can use its Overdrive twice.

We received a Lv. 1 Key Sphere from a friendly traveler. These are used to remove locks on the Sphere Grid, opening new pathways. In this case we're using this one to open Lulu's path for Kimahri, allowing him to learn her basic Fire, Thunder, Blizzard, and Water spells. There are higher level locks as well, which require more advanced spheres.

The Crusaders and the Chocobo Knights are planning something, but it's not clear what. Apparently they're trying to defeat Sin somehow. Passersby don't think it will work, since only summoners can defeat Sin.

This dual-horned fiend grants Kimahri another new Overdrive. Whenever he learns a new Ronso Rage, his Overdrive bar maxes out instantly.

Okay, maybe using it here wasn't such a good idea. The Bombs absorb fire and use it to heal themselves.

Amon can do this too, making him great for tanking their attacks. He can also heal in a pinch by casting Fire on himself. I used this opportunity to build up his Overdrive bar, but saved it for later since it would have just healed the Bombs.

More travelers cross paths with our group. Shelinda here is concerned about the Crusaders' mission, as it apparently involves forbidden machina.

But no one will listen to her since she's just a lowly acolyte. Yuna offers her some words of encouragement.

This travel lodge is a welcome rest stop. Wakka doesn't want to stop here since it's owned by an Al Bhed, but Auron ignores him and rests here anyway.

It's also a shop. I decided to stock up on some more Potions and Phoenix Down, plus some weapons and armor for everyone who didn't already have anything good.

Tidus and Yuna get to share a moment in the sunset.

Tidus decides to ask about Sin, and why it always comes back. Yuna says that Sin is punishment for our vanity.

Tidus' questions make Yuna think, and realize that she never doubted the teachings of Yevon before.

He offers some advice to Yuna, telling her to just stay in the moment. Yevon and all that can wait until after she's defeated Sin. Yuna agrees, and tells Tidus about the purpose of her pilgrimage. She will eventually perform the Final Summoning, which can defeat Sin.

In Zanarkand. Not the one Tidus is from, Auron is quick to clarify, but the ruins of the city, destroyed a thousand years ago.

"I knew it couldn't be my Zanarkand. But I had to make sure."

The party retires for the night, and then is awoken by someone running in and saying the chocobos are in danger.

The Chocobo Eater has revealed itself.

Piercing weapons are strong against it, and it's vulnerable to fire and blindness.

It also pushes the party to the edge of a cliff.

Good thing we have an aeon with a full Overdrive bar ready, isn't it?

Heavy damage will flip it over, giving you an opportunity to push back.

Unfortunately, that plan didn't work out, and it ended the battle prematurely by sending everyone flying off the cliff.

There's a component for Auron's postgame weapon here, so it wasn't a total loss.

I know I already showed Wakka's Overdrive, but here's the part where he kicks the elemental-infused ball at the enemy.

O'aka's here too. He has actual things to sell now, but I opted not to buy anything and instead donated 1000 gil.

At the end of the Highroad, the way is blocked by the Crusaders, who are preparing for their operation. We'll get into that next time, though.

I realized that posting these on a schedule of once per day was just too tough for me, given the length of each one; and that I was blitzing through the game a little too quickly. Don't worry, I'm not giving up, but from now on updates will be a little more spaced out.

The party's next destination is the Moonflow, but we still have a bit of road to walk before reaching it. They run into a few more travelers on the way.

Biran and Yenke, the Ronso bullies from Luca, show up again. They're not just here to taunt Kimahri though.

They're here to warn us about the mysterious disappearances of summoners along the road.

We also found Belgemine again, and she challenges us to another duel.

Okay, that's just not fair.

Got you this time, though.

She's impressed, and grants Yuna two Dragon Scales.

She also instructs Yuna on how to teach new abilities to aeons using items. In this case I used the two Dragon Scales to have Kaminari learn Watera, which should help for lightning-resistant enemies.

The Moonflow is a great river, and quite beautiful.

Unfortunately, they can't stay until nightfall. Tidus says that Yuna can come back to see it after she beats Sin. No one else says anything to that. Anyway, they need to move in order to catch the shoopuf.

Wakka decides the best way to explain to Tidus is to show him.

Auron tells a story. When Jecht first met one, he attacked it. He was drunk and mistook it for a fiend. After that day, he gave up drinking. It seems that shoopuf still works here, judging by the scar on its leg.

The Chocobo Knights are irritated. The chocobo won't fit on top of the shoopuf, so they need to find another way to cross.

Thankfully, Yuna's group has no such problems. The shoopuf is maintained by the Hypello, a friendly amphibious race.

There's not really that much to do besides talk as they wait for it to cross the river. Tidus looks over the edge and finds an interesting sight.

Yep, it's another machina city that was destroyed long ago. We get some more exposition. It turns out that the ban on machina mainly applies to machina weapons.

Over a thousand years ago, there was a great war. Some architects created machina so powerful, they could destroy all of Spira. Eventually, the war was ended by the arrival of Sin, leading to what we have now.

Wakka takes the time to rage against the Al Bhed again.

Suddenly, an Al Bhed appears and abducts Yuna! Tidus and Wakka dive into the river after him.

It's another underwater boss battle.

I tried using Dark Attack and Silence Attack on it, but to no avail. At least this game tells you when enemies are immune to a particular effect. However, Tidus' Haste was a great aid, and allowed him and Wakka to whittle it down through repeated strikes.

The machina is destroyed, and Yuna is safe and sound.

Wakka rages even more against the Al Bhed, leading to awkward silence from everyone else.

Tidus tries to defuse the situation, and Yuna mouths her thanks.

One thing I've neglected to mention until now is that you can play blitzball from any save point, and can recruit certain NPCs for your team by talking to them with X. Good enough blitzing can lead to some rewards, including new Overdrives for Wakka. Unfortunately I'm still pretty terrible at it.

On the north bank, Tidus finds a familiar figure sprawled out.

The sequence of her taking off her diving gear is really just an extended fanservice shot.

Yep, Rikku's back. She looks a little roughed up, though.

Turns out she was piloting that machina that captured Yuna. Why was she doing this? It's complicated, and she doesn't want to get into it now.

Rikku introduces herself to the rest of the party, and after a brief discussion with Lulu and Yuna, comes to a decision.

A bit unexpected, but everyone is for it.

"It was strange. Even though Wakka had always hated the Al Bhed... He never realized Rikku was one of them."

We get a brief tutorial on how to use her. She still has the Steal and Use commands from when she was with Tidus way back when, and also some new stuff. Her Overdrive is Mix, which combines two items from your inventory for an unexpected result. You don't know what will happen until you use it.

In this case, I combined two Bomb Cores to create a firestorm that dealt a blazing multi-hit attack to this poor thing. There are a lot of different items for her use only, most of which she can obtain by stealing. If you move another character to her part of the Sphere Grid, they can learn Steal and Use too.

She doesn't have much HP or attack power, but she's really fast and can put items to good use. Occasionally chests can appear during battles, and you can open them by stealing. If you attack one, you destroy it along with the item inside.

The party heads forward, moving to what appears to be a great tree.

This is the city of Guadosalam, home to the Guado people. Their limbs and hair give them a tree-like appearance.

Tromell here is Maester Seymour's attendant, and he explains that Seymour wishes to meet with Yuna inside his mansion. The guardians are welcome, of course.

Before we go in, Rikku has one more thing to show.

She can customize weapons or armor, adding new abilities to them the same way as learning abilities for aeons. The weapon or armor needs an empty slot in order for this to work. Sometimes this can change a weapon's name or appearance, particularly with Lulu's dolls which will sometimes switch species.

Rikku: "What would you do without me?"

The inside of the manor is quite fancy. Seymour isn't here yet, so Tromell advises everyone to wait.

Lulu takes the time to explain about Maester Jyscal, Seymour's late father. He was the one to bring the teachings of Yevon to the Guado. Now they are a part of the church of Yevon, and even have their own blitzball team, the Guado Glories. It seems that Seymour is also a half-breed, which may explain his fixation on yuna.

This is quite the eloquent banquet hall.

Tromell goes on about how Seymour will be the tie that binds the human and Guado peoples together, and how he will become a shining star of hope for all Spira.

The man himself has arrived, and he has something to show everyone.

This holo-sphere was created from the memories of those found on the Farplane.

It's a recreation of Zanarkand a thousand years ago.

And here we find Lady Yunalesca, the first summoner to defeat Sin. Braska named Yuna after her.

However, Yunalesca did not fight Sin alone. She was aided by her lover Zaon, and the bond of unbreakable love that unites two hearts for all eternity. Or at least that's how Seymour sees it.

Seymour whispers something in Yuna's ear, and it leaves her completely shocked.

...Oh. Yeah, that'd do it. Seymour is quick to clarify that this wouldn't interrupt her pilgrimage, though. He gives her time to consider her decision, but leaves with "I await your favorable reply." He also asks of Auron, "why are you still here? We Guado are keen to the scent of the Farplane." Auron ignores him.

Outside the mansion, the group muses on this new development. It would give the people of Spira some good news, for once. However, Yuna still needs to defeat Sin. Maybe romance should wait.

As it so happens, there's a portal to the Farplane nearby. Yuna wishes to convene with her parents in order to help her decide.

"I wondered why none of the others ever asked Yuna: Do you love Seymour? Do you even like him?"

Yes, this is the same Farplane that the dead are sent to. Mortals can't venture very far into it in most cases.

Auron and Rikku aren't coming, since they'd rather keep their memories to themselves.

Nice place.

Wakka takes the opportunity to speak with an apparition of Chappu. It doesn't talk back.

Chappu's sword gets a major buff from this, unlocking all its ability slots.

"The Farplane was cool, but I couldn't stop thinking about Yuna. Her parents -- they looked so happy together. But it got me worried that maybe seeing them would make Yuna really consider Seymour's proposal."

Yuna says she's come to a decision.

She says Tidus should try calling for Jecht.

"Trying not to think about my old man made me think about him, of course. He isn't here because he's not dead. He's Sin. What if my old man really is Sin? What would I say to Yuna...heck, to everybody in Spira? Wait, why should I have to apologize for him, anyway?"

Surprisingly, Tidus' mother does appear, even though she was never sent.

His mom did always seem to care more about Jecht than him. When Jecht left, she lost all hope. It's another thing Tidus is mad at his old man for.

As they leave the Farplane, a shade of Jyscal appears at its edge. No one is sure why or how, but agree that Yuna should send it. Auron doubles over in pain as the sending happens. The shade disappears, but leaves behind a sphere that Yuna picks up.

As the group leaves, they wonder how this could be. He most certainly was sent as he died, but may have come back due to some powerful emotion or similar.

Auron has his own theory. Yuna returns to the mansion to give Seymour her answer.

Lulu explains that defeating Sin and marrying Seymour would both lead to joy for the people of Spira, and Yuna sees both as paths to the same goal.

Except... it turns out Seymour's not here, as Shelinda tells us. He's already left for Macalania Temple. So what was Yuna doing inside the manor? Why the sudden disappearance? It all seems a bit unusual.

Oh yes. And I'll have a lot to say about that.

Tidus awakens in a mysterious oasis.

No one else is around.

I don't think we're in Macalania anymore, Toto.

Yes, a giant bird is just what we need right now. I tried to flee from it, but to no avail.

Thankfully Auron and Lulu showed up to help. Together, they take it down.

They still have no clue where they are, or where anyone else is.

It doesn't take long to find Wakka hanging out under a makeshift tent.

These Al Bhed Potions restore 1000 HP to the whole party and cure poison, petrification, and silence, but can only be used by Rikku. They'd be pretty handy if she was here.

We find Kimahri trying to walk up a sand dune.

You just can't have a desert without giant sandworms, can you? This thing has a staggeringly high 45,000 HP, more than even the bosses we've fought up to this point.

It can also swallow an ally whole, removing them from combat until it regurgitates them.

After finding Rikku, all the guardians are together, but there's still no sign of Yuna. And she actually knows where this is. She has something to say, but everyone has to promise to keep it secret.

This prompts a big "Hmm?" from Wakka.

Rikku explains that this is Bikanel Island, and there's a secret Al Bhed base called Home nearby. Why it's "Home" instead of "Rusa" I don't know. Anyway, Rikku thinks that Yuna will be there, so the guardians head in that direction.

I ran into another sandworm on the way. I decided to give it a taste of Auron's Shooting Star, and this time got all the inputs right.

See ya, loser.

A Cactuar! This cute little cactus thing can be quite dangerous. It's known for its 1000 Needles attack, which deals exactly 1000 damage. Sadly, this one ran away before I could do anything to it.

We also ran into these plant things lurking in sand pits. Their Seed Burst causes confusion, which makes a character attack themself or their allies at random. Like with sleep, a good smack will set them right.

Home is just over the next hill, but things don't look good.

A dying Al Bhed near the entrance says who is responsible for the attack.

This is Cid, Rikku's father, Yuna's uncle, and leader of the Al Bhed. He's trying to gather the survivors and lead them to safety. Almost every Final Fantasy game has a Cid, and they're usually connected to airships. This one is too; we'll get into that later.

The guardians have to fend off more fiends summoned by Guado guards inside. An alarm is constantly blaring "Ajanouha ihtan!" ("Everyone under!" in Al Bhed) and it sounds kind of like "I'm annoying, huh?" And yes, yes you are.

These dual chimeras are particularly dangerous, since fighting one on its own was tough enough in Macalania. The Guado guard isn't helping, either.

Rikku explains that the summoners are held in the Summoners' Sanctum.

Wakka guesses (correctly) that the Al Bhed have been kidnapping summoners, explaining the disappearances. He seems to understand why, though. Tidus sure doesn't. Don't summoners have guardians to protect them?

Inside the sanctum, Dona and Isaaru are present, but Yuna isn't. They are about to perform a sending for the Al Bhed that died protecting them. The Al Bhed believed that summoners shouldn't have to do their pilgrimage. Tidus is still confused, leaving Rikku to finally explain...

Whoops. When Rikku said "sacrifice" earlier, she was being a little more literal than Tidus thought. And yes, everyone else knew. No one wanted to bring up the subject to him.

Tidus thinks of all the things he told Yuna, about how they would go to Zanarkand together, of things she would do after she beat Sin, and all she could do was smile. He flashes back to the time in Luca when they were talking together.

"I learned to practice smiling when I'm sad, you know?"

"I want my journey to be full of laughter."

Okay, so I've tried to avoid spoilers, but this one's kind of out of the bag. There is a sequel to this game, Final Fantasy X-2, and it has Yuna in the starring role. So no, she is not actually going to die at the end of her journey. As for what actually happens, well, you'll just have to wait and see.

We can't angst for too long, though. We've got to get going.

We also get this great moment of Cid suplexing Tidus after he tells him to find Yuna again. He sure isn't going to let his niece die on some pilgrimage either. Once everyone's on board, they activate the engines.

It's an airship! It takes to the skies.

Cid doesn't really know how it works, but it flies, and that's the important part. He and Rikku's brother pause a moment, then they sing the Hymn of the Fayth together. Rikku explains: They're going to blow up their Home.

Home is gone, and the attackers with it.

The next step is finding Yuna. Cid thinks he can use the scanning device to search for her, but it will take time.

In the mean time, Tidus can explore the airship. A number of friendly travelers are also on board, including many Al Bhed, Rin, the Al Bhed Psyches, Dona, and Isaaru and his brothers.

Back on the bridge, Cid and Auron are bickering about Yuna. They're interrupted by Rikku's brother, who has found her.

He isn't dead! Seymour surprise! (Actually he is, but it's complicated.)

Lulu knows the location, and it's not gonna be easy to reach. Not that that will stop Cid, of course.

The red carpet has teeth. This is Evrae, the guardian wyrm of Bevelle, and the guardians will need to defeat it before making their approach.

Rin offers to sell some supplies, but yes, they still have to pay. He's confident that they can achieve victory.

This boss is fought on the deck of the airship. Tidus and Rikku have trigger commands to tell Cid to move closer or further away from it as needed, but it takes him a few turns to respond.

Its poison breath is quite deadly. This hits the whole party and causes poison that deals further damage each turn. Rikku's Al Bhed Potions are great for patching everyone up after that. Since there's no Yuna, she has to take over as main healer. It also has a petrifying gaze which again, Al Bhed Potions can cure.

When further away, you can't attack it directly except with Wakka. Magic technically works, but it has high magic defense and resistance to all elements.

And if you can move the ship away in time, its poison breath dissipates harmlessly into the air. It's a little tricky, but not too bad to handle.

Until that happens. Now you have to deal with it using attacks much more frequently, and if you stay far from it, it can use a sweeping attack to close the distance. It's still defeatable, but this is where things get painful.

Take that, you bastard.

Once it dies, the party flies toward Bevelle.

There it is, the greatest city in Spira.

Seymour is walking Yuna to the altar when...

The airship arrives. It launches a pair of grappling hooks into the ground.

Guardians to the rescue!

You now have to fight off many waves of warrior monks. Some have rifles, others have flamethrowers, and there are a few machina weapons too.

Tidus learned a new Overdrive here: Slice & Dice, a series of dash slashes.

Eventually, the party is stopped by Kinoc and his soldiers.

Yuna attempts the sending, but is halted by Maester Mika.

Mika: "Stop! Do you not value your friends' lives? Your actions determine their fate. Protect them...or throw them away. The choice is yours."

Seymour: "Kill them."

Yuna runs to the nearest ledge.

Seymour orders the soldiers to stop.

Yuna tells her guardians to leave her...

...then plummets off the side of the building.

She is safe, and her guardians are able to get away in the chaos.

They know where she's going, too.

Wakka is stunned to find that there are machina inside the temple. Seems Yevon doesn't exactly follow its own teachings.

This Cloister of Trials is themed around paths of light that you can ride platforms on. Bevelle Spheres are used to activate the platforms and create new paths. It can be a little tricky because of the camera angles, but this maze isn't that hard to figure out.

It's required to get the Destruction Sphere treasure in this one, since you can't return here later.

Tidus decides "you can stuff your taboos" and tries to open the door to the Chamber of the Fayth himself. It doesn't work, until Kimahri helps out.

This is the fayth, and the true form of the mysterious child we've been seeing. A human soul, imprisoned in stone.

Yuna prays to it, and then it enters her body and collapses.

As Tidus carries her out, he finds Kinoc and the soldiers waiting. They are to stand trial for their crimes.

But not before naming the aeon first. This guy is common to nearly all Final Fantasies, and his name is usually Bahamut. This name was a suggestion from Silent. Yes, it is just "Dragon" backwards.

Here is the fourth maester of Yevon, Maester Kelk Ronso. He and the other three maesters abdicate Yuna's trial. He accuses her of inflicting grave injury upon Maester Seymour, and conspiring with the Al Bhed.

Yuna offers her rebuttal.

She explains that Seymour killed his father.

Yuna says that she should perform the sending for him. Mika just laughs.

After all, the maesters claim, the dead make better rulers than the living. Spira is truly ruled by death. Resisting its power is futile.

Yuna and her guardians are deemed guilty.

Well now what?

Tidus and Auron talk about what Mika said to pass the time. Everything in Spira revolves around people dying. Summoners kill Sin, and die by doing so. Guardians die for their summoners. The fayth are the souls of the dead. The only thing reborn is Sin, and that is so it may kill again.

Kinoc comes to their cell, and says their sentence is to be decided.

They are sent to the Via Purifico, a system of tunnels under the city.

But supposedly, there is an escape somewhere. Seymour decides to watch the exit, just in case.

Yuna is lost somewhere within the maze. There are some fiends here too, giving her a chance to try out that new aeon.

This dragon has quite the regal air to him. He's a league above the other aeons we have, with stronger stats. He has no elemental affinity, but can cast spells of all elements, including the third tier spells Firaga, Thundaga, Blizzaga, and Waterga. His special is Impulse, an energy pulse that hits everything on the field.

And his Overdrive is something to behold.

This deals out annihilation to everything in sight.

Lulu can be found in the tunnels, so that Yuna doesn't have to fight alone.

And Auron shows up soon after.

Isaaru was brought here by Maester Kinoc, who told him to "deal with the traitors". He didn't realize it's Yuna he'd be fighting. However, he won't back down now.

This is an aeon duel similar to the ones we've had with Belgemine, but with much higher stakes. He opens up with a Grand Summon on his first aeon. If you check the little bar at the top, you can find his aeons have their own unique names.

I had Romanov Shield his Hellfire, then retaliate with her ice magic. He was soon reduced to ash.

Time for round two.

Kaminari had to endure an Energy Ray, but then was able to retaliate with the hammer of Thor, finishing this one off.

And now he gets serious. Spathi here will stand imposingly, doing nothing but charging his Overdrive for 5 turns. Once that's done, it's Mega Flare time. Shield helped Amon survive the Mega Flares, and he could heal himself with Fire as he slowly whittled down the dragon's HP.

Once all of Isaaru's aeons are defeated, he surrenders.

Meanwhile, over in the underwater section...

These three have to fight off some aquatic fiends in a large tunnel. They're not too difficult, but can take a while to defeat due to being heavily armored.

And then Evrae appears again. This is actually just the zombified corpse of the guardian wyrm, but it's still dangerous.

Since it's a zombie, healing effects deal damage to it. This means that tossing a Phoenix Down on it will take out half its HP, and then a second one will take out the other half for a ridiculously easy battle.

Everyone's back out, safe and sound. I'm not exactly sure how Kimahri got free, but apparently he did.

Oh look, it's this creep again.

He had Kinoc killed too. I'm not exactly sure why Kinoc is a lifeless corpse rather than an unsent soul like Mika or Seymour.

Seymour claims that he has relased him from his own pain, fear, and paranoia, and now only sleeps eternally.

This is what he needs Yuna for. He asks her to come with him to Zanarkand, so that he might become Sin and save Spira from its own sorrow by ending all life.

Tidus just says he's totally nuts.

Kimahri makes a similar point. Seymour just considers it unpleasant. Then, he absorbs the souls of Kinoc and his guards...

Kimahri offers to stand guard while the others escape. They initially flee, but then realize they can't leave Kimahri behind.

We have to fight this idiot again, and he's got some new tricks up his sleeve. The little claw thing floating beside him is called the Mortibody, and it supports his attacks.

I gave him the grand opening with a Grand Summon. He then used his Banish special to unsummon Nogard, ensuring that we can't really use aeons for anything else here. The Mortibody can take damage, but can't be killed as it will absorb HP from Seymour if its own runs out.

His Break spell causes petrification, then the Mortibody follows up with Shattering Claw. If it hits a petrified character, it shatters them to bits, but it doesn't deal much damage to flesh.

Lucky for us, we've got a few more spells of our own.

Lulu's Bio spell inflicts poison which deals damage every turn until death. It doesn't seem like much, but the damage can rack up, and it's based on the enemy's max HP too.

Yuna learned Reflect, which bounces spells back toward the enemy. This is a double-edged sword of sorts, as healing and buff spells will be reflected too. Still, it nullified pretty much all of Seymour's attacks once it was on the whole party.

At lower HP, Seymour broke out another new spell called Flare. Here he is getting it reflected into himself like an idiot. This looks like a fire spell, but actually deals non-elemental damage. Maybe it's just too hot for fire resistance?

Tidus finished him off with a Slice & Dice, and he was done for.

"We escaped with our skins intact, but Yuna lost something. I could already tell, her faith was shaken. Yevon had betrayed her. I felt like I should do or say something -- anything... But nothing came. I was just as lost as she was. And then..."

"Sometimes Yuna would just stare off into the distance. I finally understood why. She was saying goodbye to the places she'd never see again."

There's one last landmark to cross before reaching Zanarkand: The sacred mountain, Mt. Gagazet.

This harsh, unforgiving place is home to the Ronso people.

Maester Kelk tries to bar Yuna's path, saying that no traitor to Yevon should be allowed to cross. Yuna stands firm, and Lulu asks of Kelk, did he not also abandon Yevon?

Kelk is impressed by her resolve, and orders the Ronso to let them pass.

The sacred heights of Gagazet will offer her passage.

However, these two guys won't let Kimahri get away.

Kimahri fights both alone. Their stats are based on his, so it's impossible to get stuck on this fight if you haven't used Kimahri much. Neither deals all that much damage on his own, but they can wear him down pretty quick-like.

Teaching him Steal was a good call, since I could grab some high level key spheres for the Sphere Grid.

You can also learn new Ronso Rages from them if you've missed any. Mighty Guard is a defensive Overdrive that casts Protect, Shell, and NulAll on the party. It was extremely helpful for dealing with their attacks.

Once Biran was taken down, Yenke cast Haste on himself.

Kimahri has proven their worth to them, and they say they will make Yuna's statue shine the brightest. Yuna says that a traitor probably won't get a statue, so the Ronso say they'll build one themselves.

This statue apparently gets built in X-2. And yes, it includes a horn on her head. This is actually a reference to the traditional attire of summoners in other Final Fantasy games.

As they step onto the mountain trail, the Ronso warriors sing the Hymn of the Fayth for Yuna and her guardians.

Now the true trial begins. The mountain path is long and narrow, and the fiends are numerous and deadly. This is a test of endurance just as much as it is one of combat capability.

Many summoners don't make it through, and there are memorials to the fallen along the path.

Near one of these can be found another of Jecht's spheres.

This one is a message to Yuna from her father. He hopes she is well and encourages her to find her own path through life.

The trail is long, and can get confusing, especially when the paths cross over each other.

Along the way, we meet a shopkeeper named Wantz. He's O'aka's brother, and even though O'aka has been imprisoned, he strives to continue the business.

We're getting close to the end of everyone's individual Sphere Grid paths, and got some new abilities. Lulu learned the third tier of black magic, and I used a black magic sphere to teach Blizzaga to Kimahri so he wouldn't fall behind. Yuna likewise learned the third tier healing spell, Curaga. She also learned Regen, which restores HP every turn. Wakka learned Drain and Osmose to drain HP and MP respectively. Why Wakka, and not anyone else? I have no idea.

I also haven't really mentioned Auron's Break abilities. They come in four flavors: Power Break, Magic Break, Armor Break, and Mental Break. These are attacks that reduce attack, magic, defense, and magic defense respectively. They can come in pretty handy at times.

Tidus and Rikku are trying to think of a way to save Yuna from her impending sacrifice, but nothing's coming to mind. And then...

You again, huh.

Thankfully, Tidus won't be fighting him alone.

Rikku grabs Yuna and the other guardians real quick-like. Seymour takes the time to address Kimahri as 'the last Ronso', then laughs as he explains he killed all the Ronso defenders at the entrance. As we'll learn later, this didn't take out every single Ronso (for example, the Blitzball team is still fine), but it's safe to assume Biran, Yenke, and Kelk are all dead. He then speaks of Spira...

And he asks Yuna, once again, to allow him to become Sin, free Jecht, and save Spira from its own sorrow. He gets a predictable response.

Hoo boy. No matter how many times I play this game, meeting this boss always feels like running straight into a brick wall. Seymour Flux has a lot of new tricks, and he's quite vicious.

His Lance of Atrophy causes zombification. Much like with Evrae, this means that healing effects are reversed and deal damage to you.

Then his Moritorchis will follow up by casting Full-Life, normally a very helpful spell as it revives with full HP. To a zombie, though, it's instant death.

He's got some other combos too, like this Cross-Cleave that seared my party.

Another lance hit and I was doomed. Seems I can't get away from this fight without losing at least once.

Second round, I went straight for the Grand Summon.

He still has Banish, so after taking this hit Nogard was instantly unsummoned. Like before, the Mortiorchis can take damage but not die, as it will absorb HP from Seymour.

He knows Dispel now, and can cast it on the whole party at once, so no more Reflect shenanigans. Rather, he'll try to use these on you by casting Reflect on himself, followed by Flares reflected off him into you. If you dispel it, he ends up blowing himself up again.

His ultimate move is Total Annihilation. This multi-hit attack does exactly what it sounds like. Only Auron was able to survive, and with a measly 66 HP at that. Thankfully he was able to use a Mega Phoenix to revive the others.

Lulu blasted him with a Thundaga to deal the final blow.

Good riddance.

Yuna noticed that Seymour spoke of Jecht in his rant regarding Sin, and asks Auron about it.

This leads to Tidus spitting it out. Auron says they'll learn when they arrive.

Across the next bend, the group finds a wondrous sight.

Hundreds of fayth, laid out side by side, all embedded into the mountain.

Someone is using them for a summoning, but it's not at all clear who, or what.

Tidus approaches the wall, and finds himself in a familiar place.

The fayth child is here to welcome him back to Zanarkand. He hears the voices of his companions urging him to wake up, and realizes this must be a dream.

And it is, sort of.

The fayth child explains about the great war between Bevelle and Zanarkand.

The survivors of the war all entombed themselves as fayth, ensuring the city would never die.

A Zanarkand that never sleeps, as they say. Tidus, Jecht, and all their friends and family are just part of the dream.

But Jecht and Tidus may be more than just dreams now. They may be able to free the fayth from this dream, and let them find true rest.

Tidus wakes up, and decides not to tell anyone else what he saw.

The road goes ever onward, and the pilgrimage must continue.

The next step is through this cavern.

These things are supremely annoying. They're like the blob enemies we've seen before, but they resist all elements.

Demi can slowly chip away their massive HP, and Mental Break can increase their magic vulnerability a bit, but apart from that there's no reliable way to damage them. Oh, and they can heal themselves with their White Wind special too. Kimahri can learn this as an Overdrive. It's not that great, but might come in handy in a pinch.

The cavern features some underwater sections, and you're limited to only Tidus, Wakka, and Rikku during them as the other four can't swim.

Thankfully, the aquatic fiends aren't as vicious as the land-bound ones.

This is just a timing puzzle, and once it's complete it opens another path in the ground section.

These machina might look menacing, but you can dismantle them with Steal, junking them instantly and picking up a few more grenades or Al Bhed potions too.

There's a second swimming section, leading to...

This puzzle is confusing. You want to have Rikku go for the green one, Tidus for the blue, and Wakka for the red and it should open the path to the exit.

The 'she' that Auron speaks of is Lady Yunalesca. Yes, she is alive, or at least as 'alive' as Mika and Seymour are. They'll meet their first test soon.

The Sanctuary Keeper is quite dangerous. It can fire photon blasts from its wings that deal out a number of different status conditions, including the new curse effect that prevents Overdrives from being used. It doesn't have as much HP as some of the prior bosses, but it has strong defenses.

Its most powerful ability is that it can use a lot of high-powered white magic including Curaga, Haste, and Esuna among others. How are we supposed to beat a fiend that can heal itself for 9999 HP at will?

Casting Reflect on it bounces the healing right back to us, but also prevents us from attacking with magic.

It was even nice enough to cast Haste on the party. I had Auron rend its shield with Armor Break, and used the physical attackers to finish the fight.

Test passed.

Auron muses on how he, too, was once just a boy protecting a summoner on his pilgrimage, and his will started to falter here. He wanted to change the world, but he ended up changing nothing.

They head further up the hill, and now they can see it for the first time.

There it is, the final destination.

Rikku isn't going to give up on saving Yuna, though.

Yuna embraces her cousin, thanking her for everything she's helped with. As she does so, she drops a sphere. Tidus picks it up and watches it.

It's a recording meant for all the guardians once Yuna has defeated Sin and died. She thanks each in turn, reminiscing on how they first met. The first message is to Auron, telling him that she is honored for him to be her guardian.

The second is for Kimahri, talking about how they met in Bevelle the day that Braska defeated Sin, and he's been with her ever since. She likes his broken horn, too.

Wakka and Lulu get a speech together, saying that even though they tried to prevent her from becoming a summoner, she is still grateful to them for it. And that they are essentially her older siblings.

And the last one, which would probably have more dramatic impact if she could speak his name.

She talks about her feelings for him, and how being with him makes her very happy, but also sad, because she knows they can't be together forever.

Just a little farther now, and they'll have reached the Zanarkand Ruins.

Remember this shot from the opening? Yeah, technically the whole story's been told in flashback from this point. To Zanarkand plays again here, as the party camps under the setting sun.

"Listen to my story. This may be our last chance."

Yuna and crew are still trying to think of ways to defeat Sin without using the Final Aeon.

They're not coming up with much.

Yuna is distraught because apart from the teachings of Yevon, she knows nothing.

Kimahri has a good idea, though.

Back on the bridge, Wakka, Rikku, and Lulu share their thoughts. Sin was calmly listening to the Hymn of the Fayth in Macalania, so they may be able to render it docile using that.

Our next destination is heading back to Bevelle to talk to Mika, but there's a lot that can get done before then. With the airship we can now travel to anywhere in Spira. Backtracking is finally unlocked!

You can search for hidden areas too, like this secret temple. It's actually the one Tidus was abandoned in way back at the start.

Which means this guy's here too, and now we get to fight him for real. He's vulnerable to magic, which would be great if Lulu or Kimahri were here. Since they aren't, we have to rely on Rikku's items for that.

...Or not. The boss has a petrifying punch attack, and if a character is turned to stone underwater, they sink and shatter immediately.

Yeah, it's kind of unfair.

I eventually managed to beat him with solo Wakka. His Evade + Counter ability kept him safe from being turned to stone, and the fiend's only other attack was to swallow him whole, then spit him out on the next turn.

What a hassle.

Inside the temple lies a fayth, but it's blocked by a seal. You need all the Destruction Sphere treasures from the temples to break it. We're missing one, from the temple in the Zanarkand Ruins. You can't pick that one up the first time you go through. Thanks to the airship, getting back there is no problem at all.

First we need to activate the white squares to reveal a Destruction Sphere, then install it into the screen to reveal the chest.

This weapon for Yuna has a really nice trait: it reduces all her MP costs by half.

Once that's done, the chamber is open. This fayth looks pretty familiar.

It's Seymour's mother.

As she explains, she became a fayth so that she could be with him always, but it unlocked a lust for power within his heart. She now allies with Yuna in the hopes that she will destroy Sin, and her son's obsession with it.

This aeon's name is already known, but I'm going to rename her anyway. The dark aeon deals out death and pain, so naming her after the god of death isn't a bad idea at all. Credit to Keys for the name.

More errands to take care of. Heading back to the Calm Lands, there's now a guy offering rental chocobo rides. While on chocoback you move much faster and don't have to deal with random encounters. You can also jump at certain ledges where a chocobo feather lies, leading to...

The hidden temple of Remiem. Belgemine mentioned this place the last time we saw her.

She is here, and she is revealed to be an unsent. Before Yuna sends her, she asks of her one thing: A final duel of aeons, with her using all of them in sequence.

Much like when Seymour used her, she has the Pain special that deals damage with a chance to instantly kill, and that already breaks the damage limit on its own. She also has access to the full library of black magic spells, plus Bio and Death.

And now we get to see her Overdrive in its full glory.

This deals out 12 hits total. It's hard to say exactly how much damage it deals total, aside from 'a lot'. Belgemine's Valefor didn't stand a chance.

There's another fayth here too, but the door to the chamber is sealed by a mysterious force. Two keys are required to unlock it. Belgemine has one, the Flower Scepter, and she rewards Yuna with it as the prize for defeating her Bahamut.

The other is held by the monster arena owner. First we need to capture one of every species in the Calm Lands. This is long and grindy and honestly I'm just gonna skim over it because it's annoying. Adding petrification or death to a capture weapon works quite well, as it will instantly one-shot and capture the target on hit.

Once we've collected every fiend type in the Calm Lands, we need to do that again for Mt. Gagazet, and the Blossom Crown is ours.

These aeons are a trio, and are collectively known as the Magus Sisters. The names were another suggestion from Keys, and apparently come from the Fate franchise. In any case, they're way better than the canon names, which are Cindy, Sandy, and Mindy respectively.

They may look silly, but they're incredibly powerful. Rather than controlling them directly, Yuna offers suggestions on what they should do this turn, and they may or may not follow through with it. Considering how effortlessly they can break the damage limit, it's not a huge drawback. Each sister has her own special: Skadi's Camisade is a flying leap, Da Vinci's Razzia attacks with blades of fire, and Circe's Passado is a multi-hit attack from her stinger.

They use their Overdrive as a team, and all three need to have full gauges to activate it.

This is the most extravagant battle animation in a game that's full of nothing but the most extravagant battle animations. It deals 6 hits total, and much like Oblivion, it's hard to tell exactly how much damage it does, but it's a whole lot of pain.

While I was off grinding through the capture sidequest, I also took the time to get everyone to the end of their individual Sphere Grid paths. Each path is capped off with a final ability.

Tidus: Quick Hit. A standard attack with fast recovery time, allowing his next turn to come sooner.

Yuna: Holy. The rare offensive white magic spell, this summons pearls of holy light to smite the enemy.

This hits 9999 damage easily, but has a ridiculously high 85 MP cost. The Half MP weapon we found for her helps offset that a lot.

Wakka: Triple Foul. An attack that causes all three of blindness, silence, and sleep, basically combining all his debuff skills into one.

Lulu (and Kimahri): Flare. We already saw Seymour cast this spell, but it's real nice to have it on our side too.

Fun fact: In the original Final Fantasy, this spell was called Nuke. It's an apt description. Like Seymour's version, it looks like fire but actually deals non-aspected damage.

Auron: Sentinel. Allows him to guard allies while also reducing damage taken.

Rikku: Bribe. Pay gil to enemies to make them go away. It doesn't seem all that great, but bribed enemies will leave behind very rare and valuable items. The gil costs can get absurd, though.

After our errands are out of the way, it's back off to Bevelle.

Shelinda orders the soldiers to stand down. She says that the rumors of Yuna being a traitor are lies spread by the Al Bhed. Rikku's not happy about that, but it does work as a convenient excuse to gain an audience with Maester Mika.

Yevon's in a bit of chaos right now, but she's standing strong.

Mika is very unhappy about what Yuna has done. With no Final Summoning, there is no way to defeat Sin, or so he believes.

And who is Yu Yevon? Mika offers a few more details: he is one who crafts the souls of the dead into unholy armor, an armor named Sin. Shortly after, his shock causes him to fade into nothingness. Shelinda appears again, and asks where the maester is. Auron says he isn't here yet, allowing the party time to escape.

The fayth child appears again, and beckons Yuna to their chamber. They explain that after an aeon destroys Sin, Yu Yevon takes it over and makes it into the new Sin. Thus, to truly break the cycle, they need to venture inside of Sin and kill Yu Yevon himself.

It protects him while he continues his summoning. But what exactly is he summoning? A dream.

And if they destroy him... well, things don't look very good for Tidus.

Before leaving Bevelle, the group gives Shelinda a message to send to everyone in Spira. "A ship in the sky will sing the Hymn of the Fayth. When it does, sing along."

Everything is in place, and the final battle is nigh.