Final Fantasy X trailer analysis

[04.02.01] » Don't want to download the full FF X trailer? Check out a shot-by-shot description.

   While watching the Final Fantasy X trailer is probably your best bet, we've provided a scene-by-scene analysis of the trailer for users who can't play or download the full trailer or who simply want to check out every last detail.

   Note that the TGS trailer begins with all of the footage that was shown in the Jump Festa trailer, but includes many new scenes afterwards.

   Thanks to Nick Rox for the dialogue translations; Daily Radar, The Madman's Cafe, and Jeff Tamayo for the various movie captures; and Chris Tilton and Ryan McKanna for music information.

1. The words "SQUARE presents" appear over a water-like blue background. Soft music begins; it is the same piece heard in the Final Fantasy X section of Square's PlayOnline site and in the Jump Festa trailer.
2. FMV: The words fade away to show a natural scene. A horseshoe shaped waterfall pours into a basin; in the center of the basin is a red pattern that appears to be a forest. Further in the distance is a blue lagoon with a coast of green foliage. On the horizon, several blue pillars point up into the night sky; the moon hangs in the center of the frame. There is a red glow coming from beyond the horizon on the right side of the frame.
3. FMV: Fog covers the screen. As it fades, several wisp-like glowing balls of magical energy float across the screen. Show from a distance below are trees or perhaps flowers.
4. In-game: Three weapons -- Tidus' sword, Yuna's staff, and Wakka's Blitzball -- stick upright in a small mound in the ground. Many other weapons are seen behind the trio, including some sort of knife- or spear-like blade that could also be another character weapon. The sun sets in the background.
5. In-game: Tidus stands atop a brown cliff at dusk, looking down at a brown building. The building has a central spire and four wings arranged in an "X" shape. Two other towers -- one with a curved peak and one with a straight peak -- and what appears to be a bridge of some sort are shown further in the background. Another character is shown as a silhouette in the far lower-left corner. He speaks: "Saigo kamoshirenai darou? Dakara, zenbu hanashiteokitainda." (This may be the end, right? So... I want to tell you everything.)
6. "FINAL FANTASY" appears over the same blue background, followed by "for PS2."
7. FMV: An aerial camera slowly pans over the main street of a futuristic city. The street continues past some circular gold buildings and extends out over the water, eventually terminating at a UFO-shaped building. (The building appears to be suspended in the air, though it's possible it's just floating on the water.) Many people are marching down the street towards the UFO-shaped building.
8. FMV: The camera pans down a riverfront street in the city. Two basically identical buildings are seen; each has several stories with a railing around each story. People mill both ways on the street.
9. FMV: Tidus stands on a boat, one arm clutching a pole overhead. His mouth is open in happy surprise. Two other boats are visible in the distance.
10. FMV: With Tidus still perched on its side, the boat slowly passes a gold palace with a blue dome. The palace seems to come right up to the water; it may even be floating on the water. A windmill is seen turning in the background.
11. FMV: Two silhouettes stand on a balcony, watching a waterfall pour down into a hovering block of water. The silhouette on the left has Tidus' dyed-blonde hair, but is wearing a blue shirt; it might or might not be Tidus. The silhouette on the right is definitely not Yuna; she has pigtails and is too skinny. A second balcony is visible on the other side of the block of water. As the shot progresses, the camera pans to the left to show a large steel spire.
12. FMV: Head bowed, Yuna brushes back her hair. She stands up straight, then opens her eyes and smiles. A drop of sweat -- or maybe just water -- rolls down the right side of her face. A voice-over from Yuna begins and continues into the next shot: "Watashi wa... mayowanaino." ("I've... made up my mind.")
13. FMV: Tidus and Yuna stand outdoors. Tidus watches Yuna while she speaks, then he turns to look forward.
14. FMV: Tidus stands against a dark background, his hair blowing gently. He blinks several times. Tidus speaks in voice-over: "Hajimari wa Shin da. Dakara, mou ichido Shin ni aeba...!" ("It began with Sin. If I can meet it again...!")
15. Real-time: Tidus advances forward into a dark interior area that appears to be the ruins area playable at TGS. As he walks, the camera rotates around him to show a waterfall pouring into a small pond to Tidus' left.

   The next six shots appear to form one continuous FMV sequence:

16. FMV: Dragging her staff behind her, Yuna marches down a path outlined by two rows of torches. She appears to be walking on the water. The camera rises and rotates around Yuna to show a brief glimpse of a temple-like building behind her.
17. FMV: The camera pans up from a lily underwater to show Yuna standing on the water holding her staff at her side. Six people are shown watching from the background, but none of them appear to be known party members.
18. FMV: Yuna closes her eyes and takes a breath, then swings her staff. (We do not actually see the staff, but it is obvious from the motion of her body that she is swinging it.)
19. FMV: A comet-like ball of greenish-purple magical energy zips by Tidus. He does not react. (The trail of energy appears very similar to the ones seen in the early promotional art of Tidus.)
20. FMV: Yuna raises her staff over her head with her right hand. Two more balls of energy rise to her left, followed by three or four more some distance behind her.
21. FMV: Silhouetted in the sunset, Yuna twirls around twice, sweeping her staff in circles. It's possible that this shot comes from a different sequence, as there's no sign of the temple-like building or the other characters. (There are, however, some wooden constructions visible on the horizon.) A palm tree is visible on the left side of the screen.

   The screen covers with fog briefly; this is where the Jump Festa trailer ended. A deep voice speaks, stating "Shinjitsu wo miseteyaru" ("I shall show you the truth"). New music, sounding vaguely similar to Final Fantasy IX's "Feel My Blade" (the Prima Vista stage battle music), begins; this same tune also appeared in the Final Fantasy VIII TGS trailer from several years ago.

22. Real-time: A very brief and dark close-up of Tidus' eye slowly opening. This shot appears in the Tokyo Game Show demo as Tidus prepares to battle the Sahagin.
23. Real-time: The camera pans through a foggy area to reveal a circle of brown rectangular objects, probably a building and possibly the same one seen in shot #5. The camera rotates around them from above, showing some other sort of structure in the center.
24. Real-time: The camera rotates around Tidus as he stares up in wonderment at something off-screen. This could well be connected to the previous shot. Tidus shouts in voice-over: "Wakattennoka!? Zenbu omae no sei nanda!!" ("Don't you get it?! This is all your fault!!")
25. FMV: A hurricane whips across the sea, blowing leaves and debris through the air and ruffling the palm leaves atop a small hut on a pier.
26. Real-time: Yuna reaches forward, clutching Tidus' hand, with an anguished expression on her face. The camera zooms out to show Tidus standing behind a wooden railing, trying to pull Yuna back over the railing and onto solid ground. Judging from later shots, this scene occurs on a boat.
27. FMV: Standing on the top of a rising geyser of water, Yuna spins about with her staff. More balls of energy rise in the background; the same people watching her are also visible.
28. FMV: A close-up of Yuna twirling, her eyes closed. An energy ball passes by her in the foreground.
29. FMV: Energy balls bombard the side of the building seen in the shot #11. The building has two levels, each of which consists of a walkway connecting several circular balconies. (Each balcony has one of the spires seen in shot #11.) People are running along the balconies, seeking shelter. A winged brown creature flies from left to right in the shot, fleeing from one of the blasts. The tip of the strange floating block of water can be seen on the left.
30. Real-time: Tidus, Wakka, and Lulu are battling two blue Ahrimans in the snow. Wakka uses a special attack: A pink ball of energy appears in the air over the Ahrimans, then several dark rings shoot out from it. The attack does 24 HP damage to both enemies.
31. Real-time: Ifrit hurls a pair of meteors at three green quadripedal monsters. The two meteors diverge as they fly, then come together again.
32. Real-time: Tidus crouches against a black background, his sword at the ready. The camera zooms in on his face. This shot appears in the Tokyo Game Show demo as Tidus prepares to battle the fish boss.

   The next three shots form a continuous sequence. New music begins, sounding similar to Final Fantasy VII's "Bombing Mission." (This music also appears in the underground segment of the FF X TGS demo and in the FF VIII TGS trailer.)

33. FMV: Balancing on top of a narrow rope, Tidus skates or slides out of the top of a futuristic Space Needle-like structure. On another rope to Tidus' left are three other skating characters. The first one may be Zorenne; note the blonde hair, bare legs, and strange headgear. The middle one is definitely Wakka, while the last one is wearing baggy dark shots similar to Tidus'; it's possible that this gang of characters is Tidus' Blitzball team. Laser fire shoots up from the right side of the screen over the four characters' heads. The blasts all miss them, but one of them hits a floating grey cloud-like object, causing an explosion.
34. FMV: With the city visible beneath him, Tidus skates towards a large majestic palace with "wing"-like attachments. Many more of the small gray objects are floating in the air around him, and the laser fire continues to fly. Tidus somersaults to the right (or is perhaps thrown by an explosion) and nimbly lands on another rope, allowing him to dodge the laser fire and explosions to his left. In the sky ahead of him, another gray cloud explodes.
35. FMV: Tidus' hair blows as he continues to skate by a purple metal structure. He begins to rise up out of his crouching position.

   The remaining shots are mostly assorted non-contiguous scenes.

36. FMV: A green fish-like monster is struck in the forehead by some sort of beam. Everything flashes dark briefly, and then we see the monster rearing back in pain. The edge of a brown stone gate is seen on the right side of the shot; perhaps it is guarded by the green creature.
37. Real-time: A pillar of ice shatters, revealing Shiva. (This is her summoning animation.)
38. Real-time: Valfaré floats in the sky. It swings its head in a circle, trailing blue sparks.
39. Real-time: Lulu casts a lightning spell on an Ochu. A circle of lightning bolts crash down and cause an explosion, inflicting 1178 damage. Tidus and Wakka are also in the party, though not shown on-camera.
40. FMV: An blue-armored woman with a green shield rides atop a galloping armored Chocobo. The woman rises a sword or spear and the Chocobo charges ahead, racing off-camera.
41. FMV: A herd of the armored Chocobos charges forward against a mountainous backdrop. The Chocobos all appear to have similar or identical riders.
42. FMV: Dark clouds streak across the sky as Yuna steps forward with an anxious look on her face. She gasps and clasps her hands in prayer. A large rock is seen behind her. Yuna begins to speak in voice-over: "Watashi wa Shin wo taoshimasu. Kanarazu taoshimasu!!" ("I will destroy Sin. Without fail!") The speech continues through the next three shots.
43. FMV: Three long, flat cannons, manned by several soldiers, are set up at the end of a rocky gray ravine. The cannons fire to the left in quick succession, leaving trails of smoke.
44. FMV: A large blue globe fires a lightning bolt to the left. The bolt strikes the top of a peaked building, which appears to be the temple seen throughout the trailer. Then either a red explosion occurs, or some sort of red energy barrier appears around the temple roof to ward off the attack.
45. FMV: Four characters, possibly the ones seen in Virge Temple, on a boat react in surprise as a huge whale flipper rises out of the water, spraying water everywhere.
46. Real-time: Bracing himself against the rail of a boat with one hand, Tidus reaches forward in slow-motion. Yuna again speaks through this shot and the next.
47. Real-time: Yuna dives forward in slow-motion, also reaching with her right hand. The rail of the ship is seen behind her.
48. FMV: Yuna raises her staff straight over her head, continuing to turn atop the geyser. More balls of energy are rising up from the sides of the geyser. As this is a distant shot, the temple-like building on the left is clearly visible; it has a peaked roof and what appear to be several blue bells hanging out front.
49. Real-time: The camera rotates around Tidus. He is standing on some sort of circular platform, surrounded by pillars. This could be part of the same scene as shot #20.
50. FMV: Yuna stands in the middle of swirling blue lights with an expression of wonderment on her face. (This scene looks similar to Serge's disappearance on Opassa Beach in Chrono Cross.) Tidus screams in voice-over, "YUNAAAAAA!"
51. FMV: Yuna stands just inside the temple seen throughout the trailer. The temple door is behind her. A curtain hangs on the left side of the screen and a green stone is embedded in the left side of the door frame to the left. (The right side of the door frame is off-camera.) Yuna staggers and falls forward, looking like she's fainting.
52. An X blasts out of a bubble and flies into the screen. It falls into the distance and lands atop a watery background. Two Fs appear in position; the rest of the words "Final Fantasy" expands out of them to form the words "Final Fantasy X". The music comes to a crescendo and Yuna, sounding distressed, says "Shinjite..." ("Believe...").
53. The full Final Fantasy X logo fades in over a black background.