FFX Recap II: Into Spira

"My old Man" says Tidus

Sharing headspace with Dad: Tidus’ worst nightmare.

In our last recap, Tidus saw Zanarkand destroyed by photon torpedos, bugs and tentacle monsters. Then a madman in a red coat led him to the source of all that devastation and threw him into it. 

Next stop, a cracktastic dream sequence. Because Sin’s toxin. Because pyreflies. Because IT’S FINAL FANTASY. Of course there’s a trippy dream sequence. This scene made so little sense the first time I played FFX that I had blotted it out by the time the party reached the same location (ominously named “Dream’s End”) later on. [Warning: this playthrough has massive spoilers.]

“Hey!” says a man’s voice. “Hey!”

Great. Even his own father won’t call Tidus by name.

“My… old man?” Tidus says.

Yep, the man who disappeared ten years ago is waiting for him in a vision of  Zanarkand. Local landmarks include a brightly-lit but lifeless cityscape that stretches on forever, part of the deck of Tidus’ houseboat, an exploded stadium courtesy of M.C. Escher, and a flaming Abes symbol as large as Jecht’s ego. Also? Tidus is swimming in mid-air, while Dad is parked on solid ground. It’s cute how these games have to really really break the laws of physics to distinguish dream from “reality.” Otherwise, you’d think it was just standard anime physics.

If this is a dream, then whose?

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