WEIRD FFX-2 Opening | Is it actually that bad? | Reaction & Analysis

Is the opening to FFX-2 as cringe as we remember it? Let's talk about it.

~~~~ * ABOUT MIRANDA LEMONS * ~~~~
I’m Miranda Lemons 🍋, here to share with you my love of turn-based JRPGs with rich storylines. I have a Master of Arts (MA) in literary criticism, and I bring this background to deep dives and character analysis on incredible games such as my all-time favorite, Final Fantasy X.

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[JovianX]

Shes basically a celebrity. As big a celebrity as can be in that world. Shes idolized by the masses for changing the world. The game takes place I believe three years after X. In that short time you can imagine that she is akin to that of a world leader figure who essentially ended slavery in thier world. Luca is also the capital city for blitzball. The whole game has a very Charlies Angel vibe but with all the Final Fantasy charm. The game is also the first game to feature an all female cast. The first official sequel to a main line title. Just breaking all sorts of barriers. Thats why the lead up was very similar to X. When the music starts and yuna starts singing you know that the doors to tradition were busted wide open.

[ItsJustMikee]

So One thing I don't believe anyone has noticed is that when Yuna's name comes on screen a question mark comes up aswell eluding to Leblanc

Also I think it was smart to tie in A famous footballer opening essentially in 10 and then in 10-2 the next thing that could fill a stadium would be a concert to have Yuna have that fame following

[coolkid]

When it comes to the 10-2 intro I remember when I was younger I was not a huge fan but now as I've grown and learned more of the story of both games I really have come to enjoy it more. I still don't think it's the best but I think it does what it needs to perfectly.

What is it trying to do? Introduce the characters, theme, and world. It shows Luca and has the similarities with the celebrity start in a Machina laden stadium, it shows Yuna starting in her traditional 10 clothes, we get many shots of the citizens all to harken back that this is still the world of Spira.

The Characters are shown with their own title cards showing that these are the main characters of 10-2 as well as showing a bit of their personality, Rikku being more jovial, dancing along with the song, almost having and oops style face when the guard finds her but showing that her years as a guardian were not wasted, Paine immediately fighting a guard before sliding down the guardrail nonchalantly. The only outlier is obviously Yuna, but the game even hints that this isn't the real Yuna with a Big split second and you'll miss it question mark.

Finally it sets the tone that this is not a dark setting anymore. The music is upbeat, it's a pop concert, the change of Yuna from her 10 outfit to the popsinger attire. All of this shows this is a more up beat world no and the tone is a lot less dread and more actiony. There is tons of Machina now as you mentioned, showing that they are more liked, people are cheering and look happy.

I think the reason many people came off harsh on this intro and 10-2 in general is because of that tonal shift above. Coming straight from 10 it is jarring, but when you finally sit down and think about it, it really makes sense. For a sequel of 10 it would have too be upbeat, it is a culture of people coming from a point dread and despair where they could be destroyed at any moment by a flying whale, technology could never progress or said giant whale would destroy you, and if you were destroyed by said whale you were very likely to transform into a horrendous monster unless you had a summoner there to send you or you accept your end. While some of the issues from the world of 10 remain the removal of Sin was just something so monumentally changing I don't think there is anything in reality that can compare. The only way to get a game that would of had the same tone as 10 but slightly different would of been for the prequel.

To answer you question at 8:40 if I had to make a statement on it, it's likely because of who she is. I don't think it's too far to say Yuna as of 10-2 is the most well known being on all of Spira without question, but not only is she the most well known but al the most well liked, almost universally. It's hard to imagine as no one like that really exists on Earth, but if you could imagine someone so well known that almost every person on Earth knows about them and they are also liked by almost every human on Earth, now imagine that person was going to do a concert. Yeah it might not be up everyone's alley but I can see why so many would come and see her.

Overall as I said from the intro now I get what I need to know, it's an upbeat actiony game set in Spira with the main characters of Yuna, rikku, and Paine. Is it my favorite? Nope but I don't hate it like I used to when I was younger

[hehashivemind]

I actually didn't cringe when it originally came out. I loved it. I was a high schooler and at the time was cis male (enby now), and honestly loved the game more than X lmao

The combat system and the cool CGI made it a favorite.

[jamquick]

I listen to Real Emotion and 1000 words to this day(among other FF music) I enjoyed FF 10-2 more than alot of other people did but I can say I wasn't expecting to see "Yuna" singing and was thrown off a bit.

[MirandaLemons]

One of these days, I'll add transitions to my videos. 😅

[Orih]

This is a late response (catching up on your content), but I really enjoyed this opening when I was a kid. I like X-2 for what it is, but I also think back on it and imagine ways it could've been stronger, told a more cohesive and satisfying story, etc. One of the things I always felt was how strange it was that Yuna's default Dressphere was Gunner, something not only disconnected from her identity that we know of from the first game, but also clashes with her stat focus of being more magically oriented. I feel like it would've made a lot more sense for Songstress to be her default (perhaps being more balanced between support and offense gameplay wise) and play on the idea that she actually did become a pop star in the 2 years since the end of X rather than this being some one-off performance, and not even by her. There's a thematic through line of her dancing to make people happy now when, in the past, her dancing made people sad.

[ChrissGriffin]

Yuna is probably the least slutty character of all the final fantasy girls just by how she is in 10. This game destroyed that. Literally all of it.

[Chibiwawa]

No cringe when I originally watched. I was estatic. I was only 16 and It was Christmas Eve and a present from my Grandmother. I thought I had bad taste because I liked this game XD. My only friends who played FF were boys! I just don't understand how the dress sphere made Leblanc look like Yuna! If you do the moogle quest you'll see that Yuna was not in the stadium at all. That's some advanced technology!

[uraninezak]

You have a new follower. I love X-2 and it's nice to see someone who loves this game too.

[MTTT]

I'd be lying if I didn't say that this doesn't feel different from the previous game. But upon reflection, I can imagine Yuna saying to herself, "I saved the world from Sin. Now I want to go out and have some fun and do what I want!"
Plus, you can't deny that the song is really catchy!

[laurajohnson]

I never felt any sort of cringe. Not 20 years ago, not yesterday. It's the best FF opening ever.

[zellious]

5:38 - agree with you.. i wish Yunas face doesn't differ much from ffx. But i guess tht wouldn't match the story-line concept of which focusing the change of Yuna. But hey at least we can still see 2 fmv scene of the old Yuna for a bit. (during Yunas nightmare)
6:12 - i think they wants the audience to see the change appearance of Yuna. I wouldn't recognize the new Yuna if the show it right away i guess. some nostalgic moment there
7:46 - perhaps because they didn't have a ticket? Correct me but is this mentioned during side mission on luca?
10.02 - i guess those people are just amazed how cool the stunt of attacking while sliding in the end. I guess people of Spira finally letting their steam off a bit after being under Sin for a long time.

nice review btw!

[al.xander]

"Those binoculars are so impractical" 😂 literally what I thought when this game came out.

[sojujinro]

i never thought the game was bad. just different. it was exciting that it was different than any Final Fantasy series.

[christopherholfeld]

The “ old yuna “ is there because she’s the high summoner that’s the whole reason she’s even having a concert. It’s to show spira the summoner outfit before getting into the concert

[KIWIMADNEZ]

“Blitzball is really the only entertainment we have. Spira is a little short on fun these days.” Yuna said it perfectly! Wouldn’t you be excited for something that hasn’t been done in a 1000 years!? A freaking concert! Spira is having fun, and I know people hated X-2 but I loved it because that is the freedom Spira has now. We also know everyone loves concerts because Lenne was a famous singer in Zanarkand. 🥰

[fluffyduffyasmr]

you’re officially my new favorite youtuber because of your love for these literally ffx was what started my love of videogames

[atomicgrave]

I'm late to the party, but i really liked the opening when i played the game first time. Probably because ffx-2 WAS my first experience with Xth series. So yeah, i played x-2 before i played x. So the whole game was like "who are these people? Where is Tidus? What is going on?" etc.
I also noticed question mark when Yuna's name popped up, and i couldn't understand why it was there, until it hit me upon replaying that it was Leblanc and not Yuna (yeah, i'm kinda slow i didn't processed it when i played the first time)
And then i thought why Leblanc looked like Yuna, when other dress-spheres just changed... dresses, obviously. But i remembered how dancing guys turned into goons, and i doubt that they used dress-spheres, they probably used some holographic morphing gadget instead. And Leblanc could've been using smth similar, but it was attached to the dress-sphere, and when she took it off, the device stopped working revealing her true appearance. At least that's my theory was back then.
And i guess Leblanc wanted to use Yuna's popularity to make some cash (because they sold those tickets if i remember correctly), and how is the best way to use a celebrity other than making a concert? Right? I also think Leblanc just wanted to have some fun in the process as well.
At least that what i think happened.

[xheralt]

Yuna is literally the only Living High Summoner in the history of Spira, that's something. Aside from the fact she technically ISN'T a High Summoner (she never called the Final Aeon).