I remember playing Final Fantasy X back when it first released in the US in 2002 and being absolutely blown away by it. At the time, it had some of the most astonishingly gorgeous computer animated cutscenes ever created, a dynamic take on the classic turn-based gameplay style, and a story so beautiful and ballsy that the ending made my jaw drop. Even though I was far less impressed with Final Fantasy X-2 when it released in 2003, I still appreciated that Square Enix decided to try something new with its enhanced Active Time Battle (ATB) system and Garment Grid, which allowed players to change how they fought by changing their outfits via Dresspheres. I’ve been wanting to revisit the land of Spira for a long time now, and with Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD Remaster coming to Nintendo Switch 2, there’s no better time than the present.

Praise Yevon!

I won’t get into too much detail about the plots of Final Fantasy X and Final Fantasy X-2, as they have both been around for over twenty years and most people know them already. In FFX you play as Tidus, a Blitzball champion from a land destroyed long ago. He teams up with a girl named Yuna, a summoner whose life’s ambition is to stop the evil entity, Sin, from continuing its endless cycle of death and destruction.

FFX-2 picks up two years after the events of FFX, with Yuna, having achieved the Eternal Calm, fears that old ways will threaten the world of Spira once more and seeks to stop it. She receives a sphere from her friend Rikku that depicts a man with a strong resemblance to her past love, and journeys forth to investigate if he is somehow still alive. That’s all that needs to be said about their respective stories. You either already know them quite well, and if you’ve never played them before, then stop what you’re doing and play them right now.

Final Fantasy X-2 feels like a playable J-pop music video.

This Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD Remaster for the Nintendo Switch 2 comes with a few new bonuses than the HD Remasters that have come before it. In addition to the base games of FFX and FFX-2, this collection comes with everything included in the international version, such as Final Fantasy X: Eternal Calm, the twenty minute animated film that bridges the gap between FFX and FFX-2, and Final Fantasy X-2: Last Mission, a separate chapter that takes place three months after the events of FFX-2, which has them fighting randomly generated floors up through the Iutycyr Tower and completes their story arcs. At least for now. There’s apparently still talks of revisiting the land of Spira at some point in the future if there’s enough demand, which there certainly is.

A world without Sin, but not without conflict.

That’s not all though. Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD Remaster for Switch 2 also has some new features that haven’t been included in other versions before. There’s a High Speed Mode that allows for either a 2x or 4x speed of gameplay outside of the game’s cutscenes. There’s now a Random Encounter toggle option, in which you can choose to increase, decrease, or shut off random encounters altogether. Players looking to grind their party more quickly can increase the encounters, while players who only really care about the story can simply turn them off.

You can also select a Booster Mode, which fully heals party members after each hit and keep Overdrive gauges maxed out, but that seems to take the challenge out of the game, in my opinion. There are also item boosters, max gil settings to make you rich without trying, and character superchargers, which can even give you access to all of the spheres on the Sphere Grid without the grind. While I don’t really see the point in this, there’s also now an Auto Battle option, in which the game’s AI will fight your battles for you. I guess this is fine for people who only care about the story, but then why even play the game? Why not just watch the cutscenes online? Oh well. To each their own. 

With a wave of my staff I don’t have to fight any battles!

The graphics in the Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD Remaster have had a massive upgrade. The Switch 2 version runs at 1440p while docked and 1080p in handheld, compared to the original Switch’s 1080p docked and lower handheld resolution, providing crisper textures, more detailed character models, and overall cleaner environments. However, both versions remain locked at 30 fps. Although, the lighting, shadows, and ambient occlusion have been improved, making the world of Spira feel more immersive, vibrant, and alive.

The sound design in the Switch 2 version of the Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD Remaster has also had quite a bit done to it. The entire soundtrack has been completely remastered and sounds better than ever. You can choose between the original soundtrack and a new, arranged soundtrack. Personally, at first I really enjoyed the arranged soundtrack, but before long I found that it didn’t fit the game as well as the original. Some of the iconic melodies feature different instruments and tempos, which changes the tone of certain important cutscenes, and not for the better. I recommend listening to the new arranged soundtrack separately and keeping the original soundtrack for when playing the games for the optimal experience.

Ok, ok! I just love the original soundtrack. Is that so wrong?

Even though there have been Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD Remasters for other systems in the past, this newest version for the Nintendo Switch 2 has them all beat. It combines every new addition and Quality of Life improvement from each iteration and provides them in one convenient package. The only drawback to this version (and yes, it’s kind of a big one) is that there are no save data transfers available from the Switch to the Switch 2. There is also no discounted upgrade path for existing owners of the Switch version.

This is my only gripe with this remaster, and hopefully Nintendo will try to find a work around to resolve this issue in the future. In the meantime, if you’ve been dying to revisit Spira, or have never had the chance to do so in the past, then there’s absolutely no better way to experience these games than the Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD Remaster for the Switch 2.

Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD Remaster is available now on PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and Nintendo Switch 2.

Reviewed on Nintendo Switch 2.

A Copy of Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD Remaster was provided by the publisher.