In Defense of Final Fantasy X’s “Useless” Character

Final Fantasy X is a classic JRPG filled with many unique characters. Kimahri is not one of them... or is he? In this video essay, we take a deep dive into FFX's Sphere Grid to see how this blue cat's story is reflected by his character stats.

-

Support the Channel!

Follow for Updates!

-

Game Discussed: Final Fantasy X

Platforms: Playstation 2 (PS2), Playstation 3 (PS3), Playstation 4 (PS4), Windows PC (Steam, etc.), Nintendo Switch, XBox One

Studio: Square, Squaresoft, Square-Enix

Key Staff: Yoshinori Kitase, Tetsuya Nomura, Nobuo Uematsu

Genre: Role-Playing Game, RPG, JRPG, Story-heavy, Turn-based, Retro

Topics Discussed: Kimahri, The Sphere Grid, Lore, Backstory, Spira, Titus, Decision-making, Yuna, Wakka, Auron, Lulu, Rikku, Battle mechanics, story breakdown, narrative, leveling system, Super Smash Bros., Laughing scene, battle theme, discussion, review, video game review, Final FantasyVII, Final Fantasy 10, cat, 2000s, nostalgia

[GeekRemix]

Leave Kimahri alone he was a good boy!

[BrandonBB]

Sometimes the YouTube algorithm hits incredibly hard

[charlieinslidell]

Another interesting thing to note about the Sphere grid is that, unlike Kimahri's multiple pathed center starting area, Auron's start on the sphere grid is literally the only place where there is only one direction to go even with all levels of sphere keys on hand. The other member's starting points on the grid are blocked in by sphere locked nodes that prevent the player from having the character go into the other parts of the sphere grid too early. Auron's spot on the grid could really be considered as the start of the entire grid itself.

It makes sense because he is presumably the oldest member and most knowledgeable of the true nature of Yevon and Sin. He is beginning to fulfill his purpose in Spira finally. His sphere grid is the start of that final fulfillment and promise he made to Jecht to bring change in Spira finally.

[eolendes]

All my straight friends thought I was obsessed with Yuna and Lulu because I played FFX so much as a teenager. Little did they know, the "least iconic" character had captured my heart.

[BLa-lqbs]

I never noticed the way the characters were arranged on the sphere grid (ex: Tidus between yuna and auron)as it relates to their relationships. All these years, and my favorite game, and I never made that connection. Good observation!

[steelerfaninperu]

Man this was the best take on the sphere grid I've ever heard and I"ve been binging FF retrospective content hard. I never once considered how the grid actually acts as a wider representation of character relationships, but you're spot on with everything here.

My 2nd playthrough Kimahri was a powerhouse as I felt he deserved to prove he was tougher than all the other Ronso that gave him such a hard time. I took him through Auron's track and he was routinely my leading tank boi. I always felt like he wasn't appreciated enough in the series, but I never once stopped to consider how his position on the grid was a metaphor. Genius stuff here duderonomy.

[dudemcguy]

The editing and animations in this video are great. Really helps the points made flow together. Solid stuff.
I'm shocked that the first video on the channel has this high production value. Well done!

Regarding Kimahri: If the Developers were going to give him a pre-defined role for his grid like the other characters, I think he should have been the "protector" or "tank" archetype. Because while he's small for a Ronso, he still has the largest stature of our group of 7 heroes. And in the cutscenes he's pretty much always right next to Yuna and has been her protector ever since Auron tasked him with taking her to Besaid all those years ago. Which I believe was right after he was outcast from the Ronso tribe near Gagazet. It makes sense to me that after his exile, Kimahri would really be looking for a new purpose and he found that in protecting Yuna (who was a child at the time.)

To support this in gameplay, the developers could have placed the "Guard" and/or "Sentinel" abilities in Kimahri's starting grid area. Guard/Sentinel allows a character to take a defensive stance and intercept an enemy's attack targeting an ally. If Kimahri started with this ability (instead of his Jinx ability, which is almost never used early on.) it would reinforce is role in the story a bit better. The devs could have also lowered Yuna's base evasion (and maybe HP) a bit as well so that the player is encouraged to use Kimahri's Guard/sentinel ability when Yuna is on the field, especially early in the game when her HP is low.

As it is right now, the Sentinel ability is near the very, very end of Auron's path on the (North American/Standard) Sphere Grid. But by the time you get it, your characters are so strong and fast that most players don't bother using defensive abilities very much, because it's generally more effective to just barrage enemies with all of your powerful abilities and then heal up afterwards. So Sentinel is underwhelming at the time you unlock it. Also, Auron's grid sectioin is all about using offensive skills to weaken enemy stats with his "Break" skills. He's like the terror knight of the group. Striking fear in the enemy and debilitating them. So it seems really odd to me that one of his very first (Guard) and last (Sentinel) abilities are Tank/Protector skills that don't really fit with the rest of his tool kit. Auron is also VERY slow, so most players will not bring him in to just absorb damage. He's only going to get 1-2 turns in standard battles, so most players want to use him to hit the enemy really hard. (Which is how he's introduced to us in the story.)
Though I will say that Auron's final ability "Entrust", which gives his overdrive meter to other characters, is VERY thematically strong for his character. That makes complete sense.

So I think this was a bit of a missed opportunity by the devs for Kimahri as those defensive abilities would fit with him better thematically. They're also just 2 abilities that aren't enough to really build a whole path/archetype around. So if they placed them in Kimahri's small section in the middle it would still allow him to serve as the Sphere Grid tutorial character for the player. I think a lot more players would remember his role in the story as Yuna's first guardian with this simple change.

[santinopaone-hoyland]

Never thought about it this way because I've never used the basic sphere grid.

In the expert grid, Kimarhi is routinely one of my most important characters in combat. He weaves in and out of different characters parts of the grid, picking up the best stats and skills. If planned carefully, he's an absolute monster.

He can be in your top 3 most bulky characters to take a big attack, top 3 best ranged attacker, and top 3 best magic attacker in one playthrough.

Every playthrough he's something new, the most interesting character to build and plan a path for on the sphere grid. I adore this Ronso.

[jordandupuis]

“kimahri useless” was a line often said around my place when I was obsessed with FFX

[MichaelZaeran]

This hit me out of absolutely nowhere. This is an INCREDIBLE analysis of the sphere grid I had no idea existed.

Your argument for Kimarhi is excellent. As a lifetime FFX fan, and @dansg08 watcher, he NEEDS to see this video.

Incredible work!!

[TheAzulmagia]

While narratively that's kind of neat, I still would've preferred if Kimahri had a bit more of a defined role. He's a Blue Mage, yes, but he also is a Dragoon, and that side of him isn't represented very well outside of him having his initial Overdrive and Lancet. I think it could've been neat if he had some basic Dragoon skills that he learned as a Ronso and THEN you had to make the decision of whether you wanted him to focus on physical, speed, support, or magic focus. It'd be a marriage of the original idea and the notion that he undoubtedly absorbed some basic tradition from his time on Gagazet before he left for Besaid.

[mattsully]

Well done. Every character has a trophy associated with their celestial weapon except Kimhari. Poor dude just gets dunked on

[BLa-lqbs]

Also, it’s surprising to see how many people are coming to the defense of Kimarhri in the comments. I’ll be honest, I was definitely one of those people who never used him or cared for him. Y’all made me think differently about him. 👏🏼👏🏼

[mattkeflowers]

I always loved that as a 'blue mage' Kimahri's position on the sphere grid is also him absorbing the talents of others around him.

[ARzz-bjwd]

Absolutely brilliant video!
I cannot believe this is your first video, it feels like a 100k+ sub account (without the stupid sponsor ads).
Keep up the good work, looking forward seeing your progress!

[BigHeadClan]

Narratively Kimari going into other grids fits with his back story as well.

He was ousted from the Ronso community one that is heavily steeped in traditions and its history because he was small and weak and couldn’t accept his defeat with honour.

So he learned from those around him to become stronger and eventually overcome the Hero’s of the Ronso in Yenke and Briyan thus earning their respect.

It’s a neat way to tie gameplay mechanics into his story directly.

[RomarioZ]

Wow, this is the most wholesome video game video. I’ve seen in a long time. Thank you for this.

[SuzuStarlight]

That was the most beautiful interpretation of the sphere grid I have ever seen ❤ I just woke up from a dream about FFX and this video shows up on my recommended feed, the timing was perfect 🤭 Love how you used the little artworks to illustrate how the skills change the character and how you basically told Kimahri's story in this cave-painting(?) style. Very uniue and obviously made with love. A shame you only have one upload so far, I'd love to see what other games/themes you'll talk about next!

[crazyscarecrow]

Who's calling my man Kimari useless 🤜🤛

[obsidianperspective]

I have to IMMEDIATELY show significant love to this video. FFX is my favorite in the series. And the way you highlight the grid system is incredible. Well done!