I'm trying hard to like X-2 :(

[Bloopie]

But I can't seem to...

Here's the thing... I started with FF8 on the PC, years ago, and fell in love with the game, I went on to play FF7 and thought it was even better!

I tried FF9 but couldn't really get into it for some reason...

A few weeks ago, I thought it was time to finally try FF10 and FF12... I borrowed my friend's PS2 along with both games, started and finished FF10 in a couple of weeks... I'm thinking it may be the best game I've ever played. It was just amazing!!

Somehow before starting on FF12 I knew it wouldn't be able to compare with FF10, but of course I had to try it.

Well, after having played about 10 hours of it by now, I have to say I am terribly disappointed with it. It feels like the magic is gone. The game, to me, lost its authentic Final Fantasy feeling... the battle system, which I thought was brilliant in FF7 and FF8, and perfected in FF10, was completely removed, only to be replaced by a battle system that feels like I'm playing an offline MMORPG...

The camera controls I just can't get used to... everything has become complicated... There is this constant need to grind monsters...

I can find some positive points about it.
For one, the graphics are beautiful and it looks like there are more breathtaking cut-scenes than ever. It looks like it is more challenging and that it less linear than FF10.

But having said that, I would still prefer to go back in time and start playing FF10 again for the first time...

I read many reviews about XII and realized I'm not the only one feeling this. It seems that opinions about this game are mixed.

What do you guys think?

[Darkswordofchaos]

it was a prty good game. it has the same atb battle system from ff7 the storys kind of lacking but gameplay is decent

[hhr1dluv]

Um...I'm a bit confused about whether or not you're mixing up XII and X-2. You're describing XII in your post, but then you ask about X-2?

Anyway, yes, you're not the only one feeling that way about XII...I found that I, too, initially felt that XII had lost its magic, and I had also played and loved all of the games that you played and loved (loved VII, VIII, X the most, initially uninterested in IX).

So, I was very disappointed with XII at first, but then I started it again after some time away from it and, using a powerleveling guide, I found that I actually really enjoyed the game. Of course, I didn't like it better than VII or X, but I still loved it. Maybe you should try again with an open mind...try and finish it...You can find better advice in the FFXII thread.

And as for X-2, with super!Yuna, I love that game! But it is very girly, so that might turn you off.

[Bloopie]

Oops. Sorry for mixing XII with X-2, I fixed that now.
Maybe I should leave it for the time being and start again in a few months or so once X isn't so fresh in my mind...maybe meanwhile I'll try to set myself goals I haven't achieved yet in X although it's hard for me to do that after I've already finished the game and *SPOILER* know what happens to Tidus and Auron *SPOILER*.

EDIT: You know, now that you mention it... I didn't even know that X-2 was a sequel to X, and thought it was actually FFXII... Is it a game as long as X was? and what's girly about it?

[Darkswordofchaos]

prolly a little shorter than x but its all about yuna rikku and a third girl named pain and they act like teenage girls thats the main girly thing about it

[Bloopie]

So is it a proper Final Fantasy game that I will enjoy, having enjoyed X so much? with mini-games, sidequests and a huge variety of items and equipment... or just one for the girls?

I'm asking because I am now definitely interested in buying it...

[Darkswordofchaos]

I has the same atb system as 7 so thats diffrent than x also a sort of job class system instead of spear grid. but it has tons of stuff to do youll have to play 2 or 3 times to get and do everything so it gives you a new game plus option to start with all your equipment and gill. I really liked it but a bunch of people didnt. Plus the girls ar hot thats a plus. But i would suggest it.

from x-play
When "Final Fantasy X-2" was first announced, the RPG nuts at "X-Play" got excited. There had never been a true "Final Fantasy" sequel before, and "Final Fantasy X" was one of the series' best games. Now that it's here, the confusingly titled "X-2" isn't all that we had hoped for. But it's a welcome addition to any hard-core RPG fan's library, nonetheless.

Return to Spira

Two years after Tidus, Yuna, and crew defeated the world-killing Sin, the world of Spira is finally able to let its hair down. No longer constantly fearing for their lives, the people of Spira start looking to the past, enjoying the present, and thinking about the future for the first time in a 1,000 years. Yuna, the quiet, straight-laced heroine of the first game, finds a video sphere of Tidus (who disappeared at the end of "Final Fantasy X") and sets off on a quest to find more spheres with Rikku and newcomer Paine as a part of the sphere-hunting team "The Gullwings." This quest for love, of course, inevitably becomes another quest to save the world.

Yup, there are now three sexy ladies at the helm, each filling a role in the stereotypical female trio mold we've all seen in "Charlie's Angels," "The Powerpuff Girls," and stirring television programs like "VIP." The rest of the game's tone has changed to fit this decidedly lighter formula. Everything has a charming, poppy ambience, from the opening concert infiltration mission to the fashion-centric job system, and even the on-screen text. You don't just "get" a potion any more, you "score" it.

Be careful what you wish for

"Final Fantasy X-2" sort of embodies the phrase, "Be careful what you wish for, because you might just get it." The last "Final Fantasy" game eschewed many of the series' conventions, angering some fans. Well, every "Final Fantasy" convention is back, only kicked up a notch or eight. Yeah, that'll shut those whiny fans up! Really, though, just about everything in this game is calculated to please the hard core. While the game largely succeeds on this front, it may leave newcomers in the cold.

The most immediately noticeable change is the battle system. "Final Fantasy X" featured a fully turn-based system. "X-2", returning to "Final Fantasy" roots, uses an "active time" battle system. This is all well and good, but the pacing is so quick that it will take some getting used to. The ever-present job system has been folded into the battles as well, letting the heroines change between the game's extremely focused jobs on the fly, marked by brief transformation sequences à la "Sailor Moon."

As you progress through the game, new jobs are acquired and then placed into miniature board games called garment grids. Many of these questionably named grids confer new abilities for moving along certain paths, adding another strategic layer to the already deep battle system. Once you get used to its clip, the battle system finds a perfect balance between speed and strategy.

Much to fans' chagrin, "Final Fantasy X" revolved around a religious pilgrimage, and thus is a very linear affair. Clearly overcompensating for that, "Final Fantasy X-2" hands you the keys to an airship from the very beginning and lets you run free. A good alternate title for "Final Fantasy X-2" would be "Sidequests: The Game," seeing that more than half of the game's total content is optional. A few areas marked as hot spots denote missions that will advance the story, but one annoying side effect of this structure is that it's too easy to leave important items like job-containing dress spheres behind.

While this is a perfect game structure for really obsessive RPG fans, many people will find this to be too much to handle, especially considering that most of the sidequests are neither story-related nor all that entertaining. If you're not the sort that enjoys scouring every nook and cranny just for the sake of doing so, then pick up a game guide.

Retreaded treat

It's a Square game, so no one will be surprised to find out that "Final Fantasy X-2" is gorgeous. Character models and animations have been noticeably improved since the first game, and the usual over-the-top magic effects are in full force, too. While there's a lot less CG this time around, what little there is looks fantastic.

The only problem with the game's visuals, really, is that you'll be revisiting many of the previous game's exact environs. There are a handful of new areas, but the results are mixed. There are some really nice ones, and some that consist of blandly textured corridors. The music is also quite good, but is completely different from the "Final Fantasy" norm, as it trades in the usual orchestral fare for some lighthearted and funky guitar and bass. And the voice acting has only gotten better, thanks to better casting and direction all around.

Suckered in

While "Final Fantasy X-2" does have its share of flaws, you can't help but be suckered in by the game's charm and the quality of the core gameplay systems. While the structure and sidequests are a little too hard core and not as good as we would've hoped for in the first true "Final Fantasy" sequel, "Final Fantasy X-2" is a great game nonetheless.

[Jessweeee♪]

If you're expecting a deep storyline like with FFX when you first play FFX-2 like I did, then you'll be disappointed :(

I didn't like the game at all when I first played it. My first reaction when I started fighting "Yuna" in the beginning of the game was literally "what...the....fuck...?" It grew on me, though n.n

I'd rather have a deep storyline, but what I got wasn't all that terrible. I did like the fast paced battles!

[hhr1dluv]

Okay, here is what I think about X-2...
I absolutely smurfing love X-2, and I have since I first played it. Now, it's likely that the reason I love it so much is because I played it while X was fresh in my mind and I loved X. See, X's ending was so heartwrenchingly sad for me, that X-2's considerably lighter tone was refreshing and welcome. The combat system is fun and fast, and the gameplay is enormously varied with the most mini-games of any of the FF games.

Now, as I said, the game is a bit girly. Many male gamers that I know (and some female) did not like the all female main cast. Girliness also abounds in the game through its soundtrack (which is more upbeat and jazzier than its predecessor), its character designs, the character dialogue (which does sound a bit teen movie-ish at times), and some of the gameplay (there's a dancing minigame, a sidequest that involves a hot spring and bathing suits, and a very awkward massage for the villain). Again, I don't mind this light tone. To me, it's completely understandable that the characters would develop into more carefree folk after the world is saved in X. A lot of people dislike Yuna's transformation in particular, but I see it as a natural progression for her. I also felt like X-2 interestingly deals with how a civilization handles an averted crisis.

The game can be very long or very short, depending on how you play. There is a large amount of optional content. Yet, if you do decide to do all of what the game offers, and hence get a higher story percentage and a better ending/endings (in my opinion), the game can actually last a pretty long time. The game is also full of the typical RPG fare: items, accessories, job classes, etc.

Overall, I had a lot of fun with this game. It has its funny parts and its sad parts, just like all the other FFs, but this one does try to focus a bit more on the light side of things. Of course, X's ending is not ignored, and Yuna's dealing with the effects of that ending makes for some of the game's more touching moments...or at least it does for me.

I think you'd enjoy it.

[Bloopie]

Thanks :)
I think I will try it.

[Renmiri]

I went into it expecting another X and hated it.

But I just had to see the "perfect ending" with Tidus and Yuna in Zanarkand so I played it till I got that.. And found myself enjoying x2 once I got over the fact that it wouldn't be as good as X

[Markus. D]

They made the AI too perfect in XII.

I don't like doing less.. and even all manual, the gameplay has been done with classic turn based games.

I've become a wh0re for complexity in my gameplay, and in the end it was just too basic (pretty, extremely pretty mind you).

Which is why I love X-2, there's so much to build upon within the gameplay, and especially not forgetting to touch on the Gate System it had (which was easy to miss out on..) all adds to the various types of fun you could have with X-2's battle system.

edit: can we also have this moved to the FFXII forum? I doubt a majority are reading the OP.

[Yar]

X-2 >>> XII. My opinion is absolute and no else's matters.

[Jessweeee♪]

Hahahaha, I don't like to play FFXII when my parents are watching, because they think I've gone crazy and I'm just staring at the screen not playing. You use the controller so little in the game, most of it's played in your mind xD

[Darkswordofchaos]

Somtimes when fran is on the screen i am just staring at it lol

[FFIX Choco Boy]

Somtimes when fran is on the screen i am just staring at it lol

That's sick.

Mm'k, so X-2 I really loved, and my favorite part of it is the class system. This helps add a nice degree of difficulty to the game, since you will have to devise a strategy for every fight and equip classes effectively, untill you get the Trainer DS, but by that time you've done enough planning you deserve a break. Some other things I liked about X-2 was the battle system, which being a very experienced RPGer, I like because it wasn't boring and you couldn't guess what was going to happen next, and again it adds difficulty timing attacks right for huge chains. I also like the AI, because it's not just stupid monsters using stone gaze on someone with Stoneproof, it's monsters that know what you have equipped and they change thier strategy accordingly.

2 things I didn't like though. As a huge fan of FFX's Blitzball, the new Blitzball "Overseers only" sucks. You're not playing, you're in the stands cheering your team on. The other thing I didn't like was the missing background on many characters. I've played through the game many times, gotten 100% a few times, and I still don't know about a few characters. They should have explained this more, or only stuck to FFX characters, instead of showing us more people they would just leave in the dark.

Over, I give the game a great big thumbs up though.

[Jessweeee♪]

I think this would be a cooler game without Nooj. I...I can't say anything nice about Nooj, no matter how much I like this game.

[sdm42393]

And the voice acting has only gotten better

I would agree for the most part, but I think Hedy Burress gave a less convincing performance as Yuna this time around (although that could be because of the mediocre script).

[Elly]

i actualy thaught Hedy did a much better job the 2nd time around, as did Tara to some extent... i know Yuna was supposed to be reserved and hesitent in X but i thaught she took it a little too far in that direction her first time around, sounding cold & detached, the acting on X-2 was much better than X... though that does not diminish my view on X in any way, i still love both games...

[Chencheya]

I can't say I really enjoyed X-2 either, to be honest. I liked FFX well enough, and thought X-2 would be just as good, but it just didn't have the sort of charm that I so enjoy with FF RPG's. It was fun and different for a change, but all in all, just not my sort of thing. Completed the whole game with 100% however, and got all the dress spheres.

[Jessweeee♪]

And the voice acting has only gotten better

I would agree for the most part, but I think Hedy Burress gave a less convincing performance as Yuna this time around (although that could be because of the mediocre script).

Well, her role has changed considerably! Yuna's gone from quiet and reserved summoner to outgoing singing and dancing treasure hunter!