Zanarkand

Story mode. Written for a first playthrough and kept free of spoilers — it will not tell you what happens here, only what the game is asking of you.

The opening is short, linear and impossible to lose. The only decision with weight comes before it starts.

New Game: the Sphere Grid

Before the first scene the game asks which Sphere Grid you want. This is fixed for the whole save — there is no menu option to change it later.

• Standard gives each character a track of their own that suits them. You can cross into other tracks later, once you have the means.
• Expert starts everyone near the middle and lets you send anyone down any path. More freedom, more ways to build a weak party.

Pick Standard on a first playthrough. It is the grid the game was balanced around and it keeps every character useful without planning. Expert is a good reason to play a second time.

You also choose between the original and the arranged soundtrack. That one is taste only.

The streets

You get control on a crowded street. Talk to the fans to name your character, and to the kids, in either order.

On the way to the stadium, say yes to the girl in the pink top who asks about a spare ticket. She gives you two Potions — the only item in the area.

The highway

From here it is fights and scenes. Attack the enemies directly in front of you and keep moving; you do not need to heal.

The boss on the highway is a tutorial for Overdrives. One of your characters starts with the gauge full — use it, and do not worry about fumbling the button prompt, because it still hits everything. The boss’s only attack takes a fraction of your current HP and cannot finish you. Clear the small enemies, then hit the big one until it falls.

Save at the sphere afterwards; it also heals you. In the last fight, when you are told to hit the tanker on the right, do that. Only turn on a small enemy if its fins start flickering — that is a strong attack charging.

Then follow the scenes.

Completionist mode. Full spoilers, in play order, with every permanent loss called out before you reach it.

Spoilers from here.

This is Tidus’s Zanarkand, the night Sin comes for it. There are no chests and nothing to steal. What you can get wrong is the menu before it.

Standard or Expert — decided once

The PC release carries the International version’s second grid, and the game asks which one you want before the first scene. There is no way to switch afterwards. A different grid means a new game.

Standard is the original layout. Each character starts at the head of a track built for them — Tidus toward speed and Haste, Yuna toward white magic, Lulu toward black magic, Auron toward strength and Breaks, Wakka toward accuracy and status attacks, Rikku toward Steal, Use and Mix, Kimahri sitting in the middle borrowing from everyone. Key Spheres open the gates between tracks later, and by the endgame every character can walk the whole board.

Expert puts everyone near the centre of a differently shaped board and lets you choose each character’s direction from the start. It makes early custom builds possible — an Auron with healing, a Tidus who casts — and it makes it easy to leave someone behind. Kimahri, who is a blank slate on either grid, benefits most.

What this means for a completionist:

• First run: Standard. The story fights are tuned around it and it is forgiving of a party you have not thought about yet.
• Second run or a planned build: Expert. It is the more interesting board if you know where you are going.
• Either grid reaches the endgame. Every superboss and every trophy is available on both, and the Clear Sphere route to filled-out stats exists on both.

The soundtrack choice on the same screen — original or arranged — changes no gameplay.

The streets

Name the hero by talking to the fans. The default is Tidus; voiced lines never say the name either way.

Potion x2: the girl in the pink top on the road to the stadium asks about a spare ticket. Say yes. Once you go into the stadium she is gone, and she is the only source of items in the area — two Potions you will not miss, but there is nothing else to take.

The highway

Auron is waiting outside the stadium and hands Tidus a sword, which he says is a gift from Jecht. Tidus starts with it equipped.

Sinscales come first. They die in one hit. Attack the front ones and move on.

Boss: Sinspawn Ammes. 2,400 HP, no steal, no drop. Its only move is Demi, which takes a quarter of current HP, so the fight cannot be lost. Auron starts with a full Overdrive gauge; Dragon Fang clears every Sinscale even if you miss inputs. Then attack Ammes. Tidus’s Overdrive fills during the fight and is free damage.

Save sphere right after — it heals.

Boss: the Tanker. More Sinscales, respawning, until you destroy the tanker on the right. Both characters on the tanker; Auron hits harder. Break off only for a Sinscale with flickering fins, which is charging its strongest attack. When the tanker falls the bridge goes with it.

The scenes take Tidus and Auron up into Sin. When you get control in the water, swim down toward the figure below. Tidus wakes up in the next area alone.

Nothing to lose here except the grid

No chests, no Primers, no steals. The two Potions are the only missable item, and the Sphere Grid choice is the only missable decision.