July 19 marks 20 years sinceFinal Fantasy 10was released, and fans are reminiscing about their favoriteFF10moments. While there’s plenty of great things to remember the game, fromTidus and Yuna’s iconic love story, the soundtrack, and its groundbreaking visuals, one moment of the game lives in infamy in the minds of anyone who’s even heard of the game: the “let’s try laughing” scene.
The scene in question is one of the most memorable in all ofFinal Fantasy 10,and honestly might be one of the most infamous in all ofFinal Fantasyas a whole because of its canned laughter and cringeworthy dialogue. While there certainly are some merits to the many critiques of the scene, in many cases when it’s being used as an example of why the game is bad, the overall meaning of the scene is often left out of context.
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Context for Final Fantasy 10’s Most Infamous Scene
The scene starts simply enough: asYuna and her party of Guardiansleave Luca following a big Blitzball tournament, Tidus seems pretty down. He just found out that his father Jecht, whom he already has a complicated relationship with, is actually the giant monster Sin that terrorizes all of Spira. Yuna tells Tidus that she’s learned to smile despite the immense pressure being put on her as a Summoner, so she suggests that he tries to fake a smile to feel better as that works for her. After trying to smile to no avail, Yuna instructs Tidus to laugh out loud.
This leads to the moment that everyone knows, as it’s painfully obvious that the laughter is fake and it goes on for a long time - almost too long. Eventually,Yuna joins Tiduswith her own canned laughter, but the two end up laughing for real resulting in Tidus' spirits being lifted. At the end of the scene, Wakka checks in to make sure that the two haven’t gone crazy.
Critiquing ‘Let’s Try Laughing’ in Final Fantasy 10
When many people talk about how bad the scene is, they’re usually referring to how bad the canned laughter is because that’s the short clip most people know. The ironic thing is that Tidus and Yuna’s laughter being fake is precisely the point of the scene. The pair try their best to laugh in the face of adversity and immeasurable odds asthe Summoner needs to defeat Sin, so it starts out as feeling pretty hollow.
While the context certainly does help give a better look at the scene to those who haven’t ever playedFinal Fantasy 10, it doesn’t make the moment free from all legitimate critique. Although the laughing is meant to be bad, the rest of the scene doesn’t necessarily feature the voice cast’s best performances, and it can definitely be seen as cringeworthy and uninspired. Another knock against the scene’s quality is that the animations for Tidus and Yuna haven’t held up the best in the20 years sinceFinal Fantasy 10’s release. Motion capture and animation have come a very long way since the days of the PS2, making the overacting feel awkward and alien to those not accustomed to the game’s dated nature.
At the end of the day, the scene isn’tFinal Fantasy 10’s best, but it certainly isn’t its worst. The context of this scene is important to understand why the laughing is so egregiously bad. There are certainly other parts that don’t hold up very well, but the actual meaning of the scene is just as good as it was back in 2001.
Final Fantasy 10/10-2 HD Remasteris available now on PC, PlayStation 4, Switch, and Xbox One.
