Final Fantasy X & X2 Nintendo Switch 2 Review & Performance Analysis!

[music] [music] When it comes to the Nintendo Switch 2 and the Switch One, Square Annex have certainly led the way with many of their releases. They were one of the first to

releases. They were one of the first to bring back their current mainline offerings with the Final Fantasy 7 remake trilogy also promising to bring the latest edition at launch. A similar

sentiment could be said for someone like Capcom. But not every move that Square

Capcom. But not every move that Square has made has made sense to me, which takes us onto Final Fantasy X and X2.

Had it simply been a upgrade pack for the current Switch One version, then sure. Or a standalone for those that

sure. Or a standalone for those that didn't already own it. But maybe I'm misjudging this and there are huge improvements that have been made. So, we

will begin with performance and work our way backwards. Is it a remaster intended

way backwards. Is it a remaster intended to tide us over? Or has this pilgrimage lost its spark? Well, my name is Mark Walker. Welcome back to Switch Up. Now,

Walker. Welcome back to Switch Up. Now,

let's find out.

Now, as mentioned, we've got a game here that originally released back on PlayStation 2 in 2001. It was a big turning point for the series. I remember

my brother playing it and really not being sold on it. But there are also many who absolutely loved it. Two years

later, we had Final Fantasy X 2, which [music] took the world of Spir in a very different direction and was a much more fast-paced adventure for the series. So,

let's look at the Switch One release, then. This had a docked resolution of

then. This had a docked resolution of 1080p. In handheld, things ran at 720p

1080p. In handheld, things ran at 720p with a frame rate of 30fps. Texture

filtering wasn't anything to write home about. I used basic bilinear filtering

about. I used basic bilinear filtering which meant that stretched over a larger screen textures didn't look too impressive.

So jumping over to the Nintendo Switch 2 edition and I would fully be expecting a docked resolution near to native 4K.

That's not actually the case. It runs at 1440p here. It's pretty lackluster. In

1440p here. It's pretty lackluster. In

handheld, you've got native again for the Switch 2 at least with 1080p. And

this does provide a nice sharp image, but realistically speaking, between the two versions, that resolution bump isn't enough. Then you've got things like

enough. Then you've got things like texture filtering. With the old original

texture filtering. With the old original Switch version, texture filtering wasn't great. We do see some improvements here.

great. We do see some improvements here.

It looks more like anastropic filtering has been used, meaning that the overall crispness of those textures does look better, but again, it's not night and day really, especially not when you're actually playing the games. One area

that improves a little more noticeably to me were the character models. They

definitely look sharper than they did before. A bump of around 50% in pixels.

before. A bump of around 50% in pixels.

It really depends how far you're sitting from your screen. It's not a night and day and it's certainly not worthy of a repurchase of the game in my opinion.

Loading times are also noticeably faster. They weren't bad before though.

faster. They weren't bad before though.

For me, the area that I was looking out for, the big kicker, the one that makes no sense to me at all is the frame rate.

Now, originally the Switch One release ran at 30fps. I would 100% be expecting Switch 2 to hit 60, but no. Square have

chosen to lock us to 30fps and it makes no sense to me. Yes, it would mean that cutscenes were at a noticeably different frame rate. Maybe that would cause some

frame rate. Maybe that would cause some issues. We have seen some tearing when

issues. We have seen some tearing when companies try and do that or maybe it just required a little more work. It

feels like quite a lazy effort in that regard to me. Now, there are some other things to talk about. There are some gameplay changes and tweaks. So, the

versions are definitely different, but not different enough, I think, for most people to reby the game. Had they

offered a nice cheap upgrade path, maybe about £10. I think a lot of people would

about £10. I think a lot of people would stomach [music] that just for the improvements that we are going to talk about. As for other changes, shadows,

about. As for other changes, shadows, in-game effects, lighting quality, they're essentially exactly the same as they were with the Switch [music] One Edition. Have they added in things like

Edition. Have they added in things like HDR, you ask? Well, no, not as far as I can see. So realistically, a slight bump

can see. So realistically, a slight bump in resolution and ever so slightly faster load times with crisper models due to resolution, which is exactly what I was expecting based on the listing. I

was only really shocked because it didn't have an upgrade path. Now on to the gameplay changes. Then Square have released a lot of remakes and re-releases and HD 2D versions of their

old classics. And in doing so, they've

old classics. And in doing so, they've added in a number of quality of life improvements that genuinely make the games more enjoyable to play. When they

released the Switch One [music] edition of this bundle, they didn't really do that. Things like high speed and turbo

that. Things like high speed and turbo mode were missing. You couldn't turn off encounters, random battles, or adjust the uh the rate at which you fought enemies. It was almost a drag and drop

enemies. It was almost a drag and drop port of the original with a bump in resolution here. Thankfully, Square have

resolution here. Thankfully, Square have seen fit to make some changes. Perhaps

the biggest addition here being the turbo mode. It has a number of benefits.

turbo mode. It has a number of benefits.

Obviously, you can speed up combat gameplay, but you can also make running through previously cleared areas a lot quicker. Grinding inherently becomes

quicker. Grinding inherently becomes less tedious because you don't have to watch the same animations over and over, or at least not quite as sluggishly as you would have done before. It's a good

touch. I'm glad it's in there, but it

touch. I'm glad it's in there, but it does come with a few caveats. Things

like cutscenes. You can't speed these up, and you also can't skip them, which [music] is completely perplexing to me.

It's unusual. It stands out, especially if you've played the games before and you just want to speed through. Sitting

there for the full length, and we all know that some of them can be quite lengthy. It feels a little unusual in

lengthy. It feels a little unusual in the face of those other changes.

Alongside being able to speed up gameplay, you can do no encounters as well, which is a bit odd. Like, I think it's good. Like, I don't particularly

it's good. Like, I don't particularly like random encounters, but they are intrinsically designed that way with the gameplay so that you're high enough level for certain battles, etc. But I

guess with the skip battle options, essentially this version you're paying to um well cheat your way through the game really. Be it faster battles or

game really. Be it faster battles or faster movement or just skipping them entirely. Let's be honest, an upgrade

entirely. Let's be honest, an upgrade path is an absolute must if you're going to go and charge 44 odd quid. With that

said, is it still very much an enjoyable experience? Yeah, it is. It is. And I do

experience? Yeah, it is. It is. And I do like being able to skip through things that I find more mundane, even if they don't let me do it to everything, especially if I'm going to be honest, I

think I actually prefer the look of things like the faces in the original PS2 game. Crisper doesn't always mean

PS2 game. Crisper doesn't always mean better and sometimes they just look a little bit odd. So yeah, I mean, maybe that's just me. I am super old, but I think for visuals and performance for this Switch 2 edition, it's bang

average. They score 12 out of 20. Sound

average. They score 12 out of 20. Sound

and audio in both titles is just as strong as I remember. If there's one thing that Final Fantasy never seems to mess up for me, it's the soundtracks.

I'm pretty sure it was, was it Mashi who did the brunt of X's soundtrack, and you can really tell it's pure class. I still

give audio 18 out of 20.

Gameplay-wise, I'm not going to fogg a dead horse and give you a review that you've had a million times over, but X and X2 HD remaster collection offer two quite different games when it comes to

their mechanics. From the main menu, you

their mechanics. From the main menu, you have the option of Final Fantasy X, which is the full game. You've got the Eternal Calm, which is like a short 10 to 20 minute animated cutscene bridge story. Then you've got Final Fantasy X2,

story. Then you've got Final Fantasy X2, which is the full sequel. And there's

also X2 Last Mission, which is like a standalone almost rogike style episode, a bit like a dungeon crawler featuring Yuna, Riku, and Pain, and the more self-explanatory

credits and bonus audio. But X follows Titus, who is a famous blitz ball player who experiences a quite dramatic shift in his life, finding himself coming up

against what's known as sin. He's joined

by Yuna, a young summoner who's beginning a pilgrimage to protect the people of Spir. is actually quite a linear experience, or you could call it tight. Depends on your perspective, but

tight. Depends on your perspective, but you do venture through with a fixed group of characters, learning more about them and the world around them. X2 does

take place after the events of the first game. And there isn't a great deal I

game. And there isn't a great deal I could say here if you were new to the games that wouldn't spoil something, even down to knowing which characters are in it. But let's just say it has a

very different tone with the first much more serious. Now, X has what's known as

more serious. Now, X has what's known as a conditional turn-based battle system.

If you remember the old ATB system from back in the day, this is a little different. You can see the upcoming turn

different. You can see the upcoming turn order. It's been used in many games

order. It's been used in many games since this came out. But it allows a little more strategy, or at least perceived strategy because you can see when enemies are going to attack, when to swap out characters, and when

potentially to use specific abilities or to guard. The intention being that it

to guard. The intention being that it adds some puzzle elements to the combat.

Now, although I'll always miss my material system, the sphere grid took leveling in a different direction. You

earn AP from battles, and then you can use sphere levels on a larger upgrade board, pushing into different directions. Again, in 2026, something

directions. Again, in 2026, something that feels old hat. And of course, the game features summons as well. Side

content includes things like the Blitz Ball game. And I think maybe in response

Ball game. And I think maybe in response to some fan feedback, X2 took the combat into more of a familiar territory.

Instead of waiting through those fixed turns, characters act when their ATB gauge fills. It's definitely a quicker

gauge fills. It's definitely a quicker system. They also introduced Final

system. They also introduced Final Fantasy's version of jobs. It was called the dress sphere system. You had things like warrior, black mage, white mage.

But the interesting and a bit weird thing was that you could actually change these during battle. While X was quite linear, X2 went away from this. It

really did feel like fans had said certain things and they'd responded. So

X2 is much more open. And while it's been a while, I'm pretty sure it had multiple different endings. Someone in

the comments is typing, "No, it didn't."

But they are good games, and I think if you're someone who played them originally, this isn't a bad way of playing them. It's just not a great way

playing them. It's just not a great way of Square Enix releasing them. Across

the two games, I give gameplay 17 out of 20. Now, on the subject of controls,

20. Now, on the subject of controls, we've spoken about the speed up options and being able to skip certain battles, but there is some touchscreen functionality here as well, which is unusual. Not for all elements, but a few

unusual. Not for all elements, but a few things you can get your big old digits and poke. Controls only really suffer

and poke. Controls only really suffer from the original game's design and certain clunkier areas. They score 16 out of 20.

This then takes me on to value. And as

we know, Square Annex are not offering an upgrade path for those who own the Switch One edition of this. Also, to add insult to injury, there are some weird quirky elements, like having the exact

same thumbnail and not even bothering to put Switch 2 edition on it, so you haven't got a clue what you're playing.

And yes, as mentioned, there are a couple of changes, but they're not worth the money they're asking. It's just a shame really. There should have been an

shame really. There should have been an upgrade path. I give value six out of

upgrade path. I give value six out of 20.

[music] Overall, Final Fantasy X and X2 on the Nintendo Switch 2 is an unusual and potentially unnecessary addition, especially considering you have to buy the whole thing again. I really do hope

Square Enix turn around and realize that it's not very consumerfriendly the direction that they're going with their Switch 2 upgrades. It gets a slightly

disappointing Switch 2 score of 69%.

Thank you to all of you that enjoy the content, to our patreons, our members, and as always for all things Switch all the time. Keep it switch up. Cheers

the time. Keep it switch up. Cheers

guys. See you.