We get one of those deliciously awkward scenes where everyone except Tidus knows Yuna will die if she summons the final aeon and he unknowingly does a faux pas, and then it's off to the Kilika Woods. Ochu goes down pretty easily - wear him down with the main party using Yuna to heal, then switch to Valefor, charge the overdrive and the use it to get the overkill for 2 HP Spheres, placed either side of Lancet on the Sphere Grid. Not everyone is there yet, but Wakka, Kimahri and Yuna get a 600HP boost, which I'm sure will prove useful. They're staying put until I get the Strength Sphere from Blitzball, then everyone will finally go their separate ways.
Things continue as usual. I do like that Yuna isn't just some timid girl who does nothing - she has fun on her journey where she can, like when she cheats to get a headstart in the race up the stairs. Makes her feel more real to me, I guess. Same strategy used for Sinspawn as was used for Ochu. In the subsequent scene you think Lulu's being supremely, horribly harsh on the first time through; to be fair, she is, but on subsequent playthroughs you realise just how hard it is for her to say Chappu's dead. She's not just kicking Wakka in the balls with it. Wakka's quiet breakdown is so good, and I don't get how people can dislike the guy (at least at this point) - his out-loud admission that he "could never be what Chappu was" is a simple statement, and when you know the whole story it takes on a new meaning. Did he want Lulu himself, only to see her fall for his brother, accept it and wish them well only for his brother to then die and see his love become colder and more distant while having to deal with his own loss? The guy deals with some tough **** throughout the game. How quickly he pulls himself together and gets up says a lot about his internal strength, I think. Also notice how much FFX-2 messes up the scene by retconning Lulu/Wakka sexual tension? I get the feeling that's another rant for another day, though.
And following that short yet powerful scene, we get the generic sports villains of doom! The Luca Goers? The Luca "Going Down"ers more like! Is it just me or does Bickson have a more camp version of LeBlanc's voice. Might be the use of the word "boys". And then we get to meet Dona, because apparently Kilika temple houses all the obnoxious "kinda mean" characters. And I know this point has been made loads of times before, but what gives Dona the right to lecture Yuna about how to act when she's wearing a Thong and chaps? Does she not realise everyone can see her ass, or does she just not care? Just imagine if Dona had become the next High Summoner. All the priests of Yevon would've been slipping off to their temple's monks's chamber for some alone time whenever they saw the statue from the wrong side <_<.
Out of interest, do people like to make Tidus pray with Wakka or just watch? I normally have him just watch, I like to play it as "Tidus immediately sees this as stupid and because he's pigheaded and brash he doesn't bother paying lip service"; this time though I'm having him join in, I figure we'll go with "he likes Wakka and doesn't want to offend him by mocking the religion".
I like how they abandon Tidus at the top without telling him they were going to do it. Like, they knew if they'd done it sooner he'd have whined and moaned until they let him follow them, so they just shove him out right before the lift sets off. Dona throws you down anyway, and for some reason the lift doesn't work if you try to go back up. Anyway, Cloister, easy, yadda yadda. Red Armlet get, Ifrit get. I don't quite get how Yuna would've been excommunicated because some random buffoon ran into during her trial. How was she meant to stop that?!
I'll stop there for now, I think.
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James - Board 8's Resident Warm And Safe, Slipper-Wearing User
& The Cream of Porcupine Tree Fanboyism