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On March 15, 2014, representatives from Square Enix held an unprecedented event in a Los Angeles art gallery to celebrate the North American release of Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD Remaster. This official event was attended by producer Yoshinori Kitase and art director Yusuke Naora who came all the way from Japan to express their gratitude to American fans.
Some fans in attendance had cherished the classic FFX story since its original North American release in 2001. An avid fan, Sarah, shared, "I've cosplayed as Yuna since 2008... My best friend is here cosplaying Rikku from X-2. That's how we met. We found out we were both cosplayers. She's crazy obsessed with the game, and I love it too." Another gamer named Victor claimed that as a tradition, he makes sure to play through FFX once every year. And cosplayer LeelaBluePins had painstakingly crafted her Paine cosplay countless hours every day for a month in preparation for the event.
The event was held in an art gallery that had original FF X/X-2 artwork on display from March 15-26. Thousands attended the March 15 grand opening to purchase advance copies of either the limited edition or collector's edition versions of the game, which would not be available until March 18 for the general public. Fans were also able to purchase limited edition Play Arts Kai figures of the characters Yuna and Tidus.
Throughout the event, several raffles were held so that attendees had a chance to win free copies of the game, figures, or original artwork. Attendees were also treated to a live art demonstration by Yusuke Naora himself. While creating a never-before-seen FFX painting in real time, he answered questions from the fans about the games.
The art on display was available for auction, with proceeds made going to relief for the Philippines. Naora said about the event, "As you all may know, last December there was a typhoon disaster in the Philippines. If anybody here loves Final Fantasy X, you’ll know there's a town in the game called Kilika. We wanted to tie that into the theme––with Final Fantasy games, the theme is usually to save the world or save the universe––and we wanted to share their [residents of the Philippines] pain. We want to do something to help the people there and contribute to the efforts of the typhoon disaster." Fans were invited to share their experience of the gallery and the FFX game as well as give words of encouragement to the victims of the typhoon by tweeting "#listentomystory."
At the end of the event, producer Kitase said to the crowd, "Thank you for supporting Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD Remaster. We feel your excitement and your passion for this title. We really appreciate that."
This is a Tokyo Otaku Mode original article written by Dasuken Revolver.
