It might be hard for some to fathom this, but we are nearly 25 years removed from the release of Final Fantasy X. I know, you weren’t the only one who felt old when reading that. Celebrated as one of the best video games ever released, Final Fantasy X follows Tidus, an elite athlete, who gets yanked from his comfortable life when a monstrous creature called Sin wipes out his home city. What follows is a cross-country trek with Yuna, a summoner who’s hell-bent on ending Sin’s reign of terror. This is admittedly a gross oversimplification of the game’s now-revered story, but it’ll suffice for now. Because I’m not here to list off the 100,000 reasons why Final Fantasy X is great, you already know it’s great. I’m here to talk about blitzball, baby!
For the few of you reading who haven’t at least dabbled in Final Fantasy X (you don’t know what you’re missing), blitzball is a fictional sport that is featured quite prominently in the game. In fact, it’s the main character’s main occupation until an “act of God” changes his life course. And let me tell you this: It’s awesome! And even some two-and-a-half decades later, I still think this fake sport is worth its own standalone game.
What Is Blitzball?
All joking aside, I completely understand if one isn’t all too familiar with Final Fantasy X, much less blitzball. RPGs aren’t for everyone — even I don’t play them nearly as often as I did when I was younger. So, before I make my case for why blitzball deserves its own game, I must first describe what it is.
Imagine soccer meets water polo, but with a dash of RPG strategy and some off-the-wall techniques that could’ve come straight out of a sci-fi novel. It’s a fast-paced, tactical mini-game that’s not only fun to play, but also tied directly into the main story.
The pitch? Yeah, it’s not your typical grass or turf. We’re talking about a giant sphere of water; an arena suspended above ground where six players on each team battle it out, passing, blocking, shooting, and diving in a way that looks like it should come with a “do not try this at home” disclaimer.
But it’s not Attitude Era WWF, either. It’s instead a turn-based game as it’s presented in Final Fantasy X. So actions need to be well thought out and deliberated before you decide to do anything.
If all of this sounds like it’s fun, that’s because it is. So, can you see my point for why it would be a great time?
Why I Long For A Standalone Blitzball Game
Look, I completely understand that video game developers and publishers alike don’t have it easy. It’s hard to create a game that is not just good, but profitable as well. It may be a bitter pill to swallow for many (it certainly is for me), but it’s just a fact. So, will we ever see a standalone blitzball game? I’d wager the chances are somewhere between “not a chance” and “LOL.” But a guy can dream, can’t he?
So, if there was a blitzball game, what would it look like?
I know this first comment will be pretty controversial, considering the kind of game the sport itself spawned from, but I’d do without the turn-based mechanics. If a game based on blitzball were to have any chance of being successful, it’d have to do enough to differentiate itself from the minigame for Final Fantasy fans, and be engaging/fun enough for sports gamers. Therefore, some kind of real-time system would be needed.
And it’s not like this is a completely foreign concept — Rocket League and the newly-released Rematch are both high-paced sports titles where physics are prioritized, and are both plenty fun and popular, I’d imagine a similar approach would work for blitzball.
Take a look at the opening cinematic in Final Fantasy X. This is what blitzball is intended to look like.
As you can see, this is supposed to be a fast-paced, frenetic, and violent game. And that’s something I’d figure Square Enix would want to capture in a hypothetical blitzball esport. Remember, Final Fantasy X came out in 2001 on the PlayStation 2 and was not only a turn-based RPG, but extremely limited by the hardware that was available at the time. Yes, blitzball as it exists is a good time. And yes, Final Fantasy is historically a turn-based affair. But why not change this traditional formula for a standalone game?
Now, maybe I’m completely alone in this. Maybe the demand for a standalone blitzball game isn’t there, and/or the potential margins aren’t great enough for Square Enix to care. After all, blitzball is only a small portion of what makes Final Fantasy X great. But a man can dream, can’t he?
