The popular FIFA Ultimate Team game mode has been imagined as a part of Final Fantasy X's Blitzball by one talented creator, and the result is pretty strong evidence the world deserved a more in-depth management game related to Final Fantasy's best sport. FIFA Ultimate Team is the money-maker for the franchise, a game mode that allows players to pay money to open packs of players and try to collect the best ones. Each player is assigned stats and the entire process - from the decision-making on how to rank players to how difficult they are to unpack - is often one of the biggest talking points of each FIFA game.
Those less familiar with Blitzball could be forgiven, as the oft-forgotten sport factored heavily into Final Fantasy X's storyline and gameplay but never really got the same treatment again. Blitzball was a weird mash-up of turn-based combat selection and real-time sports when it was being played, but also featured a team management sub-game that allowed Final Fantasy X players to travel across Spira to recruit new players to their squad. Blitzball was fairly divisive, but time has brought fans around on the ambition of the mini-game, and it lends itself quite well to mashups and re-imaginings due to its depth.
That's why the FIFA Ultimate Team and Final Fantasy X Blitzball mashup works so well. Created by Instagram account finalfantasy.memes, the mash-up consists of FIFA Ultimate Team-style cards and skill breakdowns accompanied by the portrait of a Final Fantasy X blitzball player and their team association. The work is extremely well done and highlights Final Fantasy X locations and the player skills quite well. So far, the account has created FIFA Ultimate Team renditions of Tidus, Jecht, and Wakka.
The player rankings even account for their various skill levels and strengths, which is an impressive amount of Blitzball knowledge. Blitzball always felt like it had potential to include elements like the ones touched on here, and it would be fascinating to see what the game might have looked like if it were made in today's industry rather than nearly two decades ago.
Of course, a Blitzball Football Manager-style game would be of interest even now to some, and these renditions of FIFA Ultimate Team in Final Fantasy X are a compelling argument to give that a try. There's an even bigger question that needs answering, however: which Final Fantasy X Blitzball player would be the most expensive in a FUT style market? It seems like it should be Jecht, but depending how much time a player sank into the game over the course of Final Fantasy X, Tidus would be a strong choice too.
Source: finalfantasy.memes