Since its initial release in 2001, Final Fantasy X has become a beloved entry in the storied JRPG franchise. Featuring fully voice-acted scenes, characters with incredible facial features, and an interconnected Sphere Grid system in lieu of traditional leveling, the game is still perhaps best remembered for its story, characters, and blitzball. The sport, which is a kind of underwater soccer, was a major part of the game. In the years that have followed since Final Fantasy 10's release, blitzball has developed a large cult following within the fandom.
The world of Final Fantasy X is known as Spira, and other than a giant flying whale named Sin, blitzball is the only thing its citizens seem to care about. The towns are full of blitzball fans cheering for their favorite teams on giant TVs. One of the major cities in the game, Luca, is known for its awesome blitzball stadium, and one of the main characters in the game, Wakka, is the team captain for the Besaid Aurochs. Even FFX's protagonist, Tidus, is the star player for the Zanarkand Abes. Blitzball is an intricate part of Final Fantasy 10's world. Like Pokémon battles in Pokémon games, it's all regular people seem to be able to talk about.
Because blitzball is such an important part of Final Fantasy X's world, it should come as no surprise that fans have latched onto it. Blitzball has become more than just a mini-game. Even in Final Fantasy X, people had to play through a mandatory match in Luca just to advance the story. For most of the game after that, players could experience the wonders of blitzball and manage their team, the Besaid Aurochs, from any save point. It was a complicated sport with many intricacies that practically made blitzball its own game already, so why did developer Square Enix never create a sporty FFX spin-off?
FFX's Blitzball Needs To Come Back
Blitzball in Final Fantasy X was a complicated, time-consuming affair. Players could learn new abilities and level teammates up, but instead of doing it through combat, it was done through playing and winning blitzball matches. Blitzball also featured Madden-like team management and tournaments, coupled with gameplay that felt like underwater FIFA. Blitzball was practically already its own game, and it could work great as a standalone Final Fantasy spin-off.
The Final Fantasy series has never shied away from spin-offs, with Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles Remastered releasing just last week. There have been fighting game spin-offs (Dissidia), rhythm games (Theatrhythm), and racing games (Chocobo Racing). A sports-themed spin-off isn't that weird, especially since the bones for such a game already exist in Final Fantasy 10. With the variety of Final Fantasy mobile games out there already, it's weird there isn't a blitzball game on iOS and Android yet, especially considering blitzball's popularity.
For almost twenty years, blitzball has remained a beloved mini-game from Final Fantasy X. Over the course of several remasters and ports, however, blitzball has yet to leave the confines of Spira and become its own standalone game. There appears to be a demand for such a game, considering blitzball's cult following, if Square Enix is ever willing to make one.