Some ingredients that could be helpful for the enjoyment of Blitzball:
a certain appreciation of sports in general, sports video games, sports statistics, office pools, and the underdog sports films genre.
Fewer ingredients are incorporated in the recipe, less satisfactory Blitzball tastes.
On the other hand, by mixing all necessary elements, Blitzball could taste like the best FF [STRIKE]dish[/STRIKE] side quest bar none. 
If I OUTRUN someone, that is, managed to move in such a way in which the man I just RAN PAST would be situated BEHIND ME, I would like that man to STAY BEHIND ME INSTEAD OF MAGICALLY TELEPORTING IN FRONT OF ME WHEN I’M GOING TO FUCKING SHOOT.
Yeah, no. I don’t care if you do like sports, blitzball bites pus-swollen anus. It’s poorly executed, boring, and just stupid. How can all those idiots breathe underwater without some sort of apparatus? How is the crowd entertained by this? Is it honestly the only form of entertainment in Spira? If so, that’s just sad. Also, if it IS the only form of entertainment, WHY IS THE ONLY STADIUM IN LUCA? Even the story element wasn’t thought out AT ALL.
Well, it’s slightly less sad than everyone ever world-over playing Triple Triad and forming strange cult-like hierarchies within a fucking paramilitary base… that fails tremendously at looking like anything remotely resembling a place to train soldiers at… but nevermind.
Triple Triad didn’t suck, for one thing. Also, it was not the only form of entertainment, unlike in Spira where it is explicitly stated that it is the only form of entertainment.
Like everyone else in FF X, I’m going to blame it on Machena and Sin.
I think the point is that, by the time you shoot, they can move fast enough to get in front of you. The game only puts them in front so you can see who’s there. It’s more of a visual presentation thing than a that’s-actually-happening thing.
It’s like how the characters line up in two rows for battles and then take turns swinging their weapons. It’s presented that way so you can see what’s happening, not because that’s how battles are fought.
But yeh, the breath thing was pretty bad. And don’t get me wrong, I only ever play enough Blitzball to get Attack Reels. It sucks.
That doesn’t make any sense. Apparently, getting in position to shoot is enough for several characters to move at least four or more metres ahead when they were four behind and also get in perfect position to block. It’s retarded, if they were behind, I want them to stay behind unless I actually give them enough time to pass me by. What the hell is the point of movement if anything but halfway across the screen is within their teleporting range?
I didn’t say their range made sense. I was just explaining why things were done the way they were. Blitzball is a game within a game, and on top of that, it’s a sports game within an RPG. Two pretty much completely opposing genres. Don’t expect it to play like a good sports game.
I wouldn’t be surprised if the gamers exposed to this mini-game were more or less evenly split into “blitzball bites pus-swollen anus” and “blitzball rulz! Rah-rah-rah!” camps. The level of gaming experience/sophistication and genre preferences could be factors here.
How can all those idiots breathe underwater without some sort of apparatus?
It’s a fantasy universe where anything goes. Just to make the underwater breathing plausible (?), I imagined that all Spira humanoid species evolved naturally or were genetically enhanced, and became amphibians a la Kevin Costner in Waterworld.
The movements of the players and the ball inside a liquid substance, which defy the laws of physics, stumped me though – it’s as if friction and gravity inside the Blitzball Sphere have been altered.
I just remembered this blast from the past:
Edit:
I am reading Blueberry’s post and …. Yeah, maybe the ball dilemma could be explained/solved (?) after all.
No- a good fantasy setting is not “anything goes.” People assume that writing fantasy is easy and you can do whatever. But you need an underlying logic for your world. The reason why some, but not all people could breathe underwater indefinitely was not adequately explained (especially since it is a main plot point).
Fantasy does not necessarily have to follow the logic of OUR world… but it still needs to follow SOME sort of logic. And the fact that only three out of seven characters can breathe underwater for whatever reason doesn’t work. I mean, okay, I get that only blitzball players and apparently Al Bhed can breathe underwater, but WHY is it only them? They need to accurately explain this.
Anyone can, with practice. Unless you’re forgetting, every race in Spira had a team except the Hypello, but they’re underwater creatures anyway.
It wasn’t something that only some people could do. They still didn’t explain why anyone could though.
I’m Guybrush Threepwood and I can hold my breath for ten minutes.
You win the thread.
Did they actually BREATHE underwater? I was under the impression that they could just hold their breath. I thought the game even said as such.
984: It stretches credulity to suggest that they could perform such strenuous activity while merely holding their breath. Furthermore, if they ARE holding their breaths, they have much greater lung capacity than any human ever. Furthermore, in the underwater sections of the game, Tidus can “hold his breath” indefinitely. No. It still doesn’t make sense.
Tidus fell unconscious in the water, face down, for what appeared to be at LEAST an entire night, and woke up perfectly fine the next morning at the very beginning of the game. No WAY could he hold his breath while unconscious.
Speaking of this, what about the Evrae Altana (and later, Shinryu) fight? Either they grew gills, or can somehow battle underwater without any fatal effects.
Also, always kinda irritated (and puzzled) me that you could only use Tidus, Wakka, and Rikku underwater. Everybody else afraid to get wet?
More likely they didn’t have underwater swimming sprites for them. Also, Lulu fighting underwater? Something very wrong with that mental image.