The deal with X-2...

[Fynn]

I mean, what is up with this game? Whenever I think about it I get extremely mixed feelings about it. It's like there is no middle ground between the game. The story is laughable with extremely poor writing and there's a HUGE difference in tone between this game and X (though X is not one of my favorites). And yet, the game is really fun to play with the staggering amount of sidequests and the return of the job class system. I want to replay this game much more than I do X. Another thing that baffles me is the music - it is horrible. Pop doesn't necessarily have to bad on a video game soundtrack (Persona 3 :D), but here it was totally puke-inducing. And yet, the piano collection - THE FRIGGIN' PIANO COLLECTION, oh my God... I honestly think it's the most wonderfully arranged album of all of the PCs released so far with it's jazzy rhythm and unique take on the melodies. I keep coming back to this one the most and it always makes me want to cry, THAT's how beautiful it is. But all this makes me go 'WTF? How?"

Oh yeah. After watching Spoony's review of the game, I gotta admit, there was one great thing about the story - the 1000 Words concert. He's right in saying this one scene makes you more involved in Lenne and Shuyin's romance then the entirety of FFX's plot makes you involved in Tidus and Yuna. And it does it without words!

So what do you guys think? What's up with this game? Did you like it? Did you perhaps like it more than X? Am I the only one so confused as to what exactly I feel towards this game?

And the Piano Collection needs more love :cry:

[Jinx]

I actually really enjoy this game. I think the story isn't terrible on its own. In canon with FFX, then it's pretty bad. I like to look at it as a stand alone game, personally.

Memory on Lightwaves is really the only good song (besides 1000 words.)

[Karifean]

I thought for a while that this one was, while enjoyable, easily the worst FF I had ever played. However, nowadays I think it's a very good entry in the series and in no way the worst. The International version also made everything 3x better.

Also, for music, Flash Over (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4mUFeTgrr60).

[darkmagus206]

What I really like about the game is the gameplay. Especially the battle system. I think they perfected the ATB in this game. The job system is also nice of course. I agree with the music being awful (except the main menu theme), but I hate the soundtrack from XIII-2 even more. The story is bad (IMO) and the characters can be annoying (IMO), but I think that if you don't take this game too seriously and don't expect a good sequel, you might enjoy this game for what it is. And I also pretend that this is non-canon, because I always hate it when sequels screw with the story of it's predecessor.

[Jessweeee♪]

I like a lot of the music themes in FFX-2. Most of them were kinda meh, but there aren't any I dislike and a few I like to jam out to in my car on the way to work. The piano collection is one of the bests in the series. Maybe the best! And I'm actually quite fond of the story. I don't hold it up as a great example of writing obviously (though I do think it's better than people give it credit for) but it was cute and fun and, well, girly! And of course there's no debating how fun the gameplay is. Overall FFX-2 is one of my favorite entries in the series.

I was disappointed at first though, because I was expecting a big dramatic journey with a deep plot like FFX and what I got was something different xD

[Depression Moon]

I just noticed that it seems like all the numbered FFs with job systems seem to suffer with story in exchange for great gameplay. I haven't played III myself, but the lack of people talking about III's story makes me think that it suffers in the same department.

[Lone Wolf Leonhart]

I was disappointed at first though, because I was expecting a big dramatic journey with a deep plot like FFX and what I got was something different xD

I agree with this. Although, I didn't necessarily feel disappointed. I just thought, "This game is more happy and girly than I thought it would be". I shrugged the thought off and kept playing anyway.

I wasn't too pleased about the amount of mini-games and the percentage completion. My main problem was I don't like the fact that you were kept from getting the best ending if you didn't get 100%. I don't like constantly worrying about whether I missed something or not.

I really like the dressphere transformations and the new characters. I remember one time my dad walked into my room when Yuna was changing her dressphere and he said "Should I leave you and the tv alone?".

I think one of the biggest draws to this game originally was "Finally, a sequel to a Final Fantasy game!". People got really excited about being able to see all their favorite characters again. It was a good feeling to know that there was more to the story.

The piano soundtrack really was great. I think i'll play this game again after I beat the FFX remake when it's released.

[Jinx]

WHAT ABOUT THE LEBLANC ORGASM GAME?

[Fynn]

WHAT ABOUT THE LEBLANC ORGASM GAME?

That was awkward. Although I guess that's an understatement. When I was at that point, my mom's student (she's an English tutor) was sitting right next to me, waiting for her. And Leblanc was just doing her thing...

The amount of fanservice in this game is pretty uncomfortable on its own, even with that scene taken out. Hot spring scene, anyone? Or maybe the practice before the concert with its blatant ass and cleavage shots? Seriously, all that game was missing was jiggle physics and then it could practically be classified as an eroge :/ I'm probably exaggerating, but I never understood the allure of scantily clad pixels.

EDIT: I just remembered the incestuous hots Brother had for Yuna. Dear God. And to top it off, I guess in order to amp up the fanservice, they threw in some subtext for YunaxRiku. So that's an incestuous love triangle with lesbians in it. And need I mention Riku's still jailbait in this game? (well, not in Japan, but still...) I guess I just don't like the idea of making a game that tries to use some disturbing amounts of (weird) fanservice to attract more people when it's already got some great gameplay going for it.

[Depression Moon]

I thought the fanservice of the game was providing a non-linear story progression which was what people had complained about with X.

[Jiro]

The term fanservice generally just refers to tits. Doing what the fans actually want is called... well there's not really a term because it doesn't happen all that often ;)

[ShinGundam]

The term fanservice generally just refers to tits. Doing what the fans actually want is called... well there's not really a term because it doesn't happen all that often ;)
Which is shame but not all jobs were about fanservice.
http://images.wikia.com/finalfantasy/images/e/ec/Last_mission1.jpg
http://i44.:bou::bou::bou::bou::bou::bou::bou::bou::bou::bou::bou::bou:/11kcd2b.jpg

[Jessweeee♪]

I'd say very few of the dress spheres were scantily clad! It's just the defaults and a couple of others.


http://images1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20061220224342/finalfantasy/images/thumb/1/1c/Ffx2-alchemist.jpg/260px-Ffx2-alchemist.jpg
http://images4.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20061221035807/finalfantasy/images/thumb/b/b8/Ffx2-samurai.jpg/300px-Ffx2-samurai.jpg
http://images4.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20061220230505/finalfantasy/images/thumb/9/9a/Ffx2-darkknight.jpg/275px-Ffx2-darkknight.jpg
http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20061219002232/finalfantasy/images/thumb/a/a6/Ffx2-berserker.jpg/260px-Ffx2-berserker.jpg
http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20061221041214/finalfantasy/images/thumb/5/56/Ffx2-whitemage.jpg/260px-Ffx2-whitemage.jpg
http://images1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20061223020959/finalfantasy/images/thumb/7/78/Ffx2-mascot.jpg/250px-Ffx2-mascot.jpg
http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20061220235326/finalfantasy/images/thumb/3/3d/Ffx2-trainer.jpg/260px-Ffx2-trainer.jpg

[Jinx]

I love Trainer!

What is that one where it looks like they're Moombas? They have claws and feet...is that Berserker?

[Jessweeee♪]

Yep!

[Fynn]

But fanservice is not just about skimpiness! It's all about trying to appeal to various fetishes. It's like with the gothic lolita or maid outfit - most anime simply put them there for pure fetish fuel. And that's exactly what FFX-2 did with most dresspheres. I'm surprised there actually isn't s lolita or maid dress in the game... :roll2

[Jessweeee♪]

Man what does a girl have to wear to not be a sex object :confused:

[Fynn]

Man what does a girl have to wear to not be a sex object :confused:

That's just the despicable society to live in. Women are objectified and this sells stuff. But we're getting a bit too deep into this matter. Let's just keep talking why we like this game and why that is weird ;)

[Old Manus]

The deal with FFX-2 was that it was absolute pants.

Hotpants.



No seriously it was utter garbage

[DMKA]

I like it, and to a degree, I even love it. Everyone hated it because it wasn't SERIOUS BUSINESS like every other FF game.

My only real complaint, frankly, is that the game's difficulty; or rather, the game's nearly complete lack of difficulty. Aside of the giant thing in the Desert and the bosses in the Via Infinito, there was virtually no challenge in the game's battles, and the final boss fights are just a joke. I had to kill myself in order to see the bad ending.

But I loved the battle system to death; it's by far my favorite in the whole series; dare I say, in any game I've ever played. I love the job system and the ability to change jobs on-the-fly. The costume designs, and the designs of the unique story bosses were also wonderful.

The soundtrack isn't my cup of tea, but I don't find it necessarily bad; it certainly fits the game and it's settings perfectly.

Honestly the game is full of great ideas, but a screwed up overall picture, and tons of wasted potential (imagine how much more awesome battles would have been if fights were challenging enough to give you time to use the wide array of abilities within the different jobs? Imagine how epic the final boss battles would have been if they lasted more than a minute due to lack of challenge? Imagine how much more fun going for 100% could have been if it didn't consist of a wild "WATCH THIS COMSPHERE NOW" goose chase?).

Incidentally, I've probably spent more time playing FFX-2 than any other one game, aside of maybe Final Fantasy VII, but I can't tell because FFVII's clock stops at 99:99:99.

[Jinx]

Haha, DMKA--if you get the Cat Nip accessory you do 9999 damage with every hit if you're in the yellow on HP. If you use a Gunner's Trigger Happy, the game is basically over.

[Depression Moon]

On my first playthrough the final boss was easy. On my second playthrough Vegnagun seemed impossible to defeat. I actually found the game to be one of the more challenging ones.

[Jessweeee♪]

Oh god the commspheres. Fuck those things.

:mad2:

[Jinx]

I hated calibrating fucking towers.

[Depression Moon]

Some of those dresspheres were too hard to obtain in this game too. I never got the Dark Knight, Lady Luck, and Mascot jobs

[Jinx]

Dark Knight is really easy to get.

[Jessweeee♪]

Kind of. It's easy to get but not easy to find by accident. If you don't know before hand that it's there, you'll probably miss it forever. Mascot is a bitch.

[Rostum]

It's been so long (since around 2004 I believe), but I remember enjoying this game. So long as I looked past the terrible premise of the entire thing. The battle system was probably my favourite out of the entire series. Now if only they could throw that in to a... you know, better game. >_>;

Ah maybe I'm being too harsh there... Or maybe not, it's been so long! If they ever manage a HD port like they're doing with FFX then I'll definitely grab it and give it another go.

[Old Manus]

FFVII's clock stops at 99:99:99That's one interesting clock.

[DMKA]

FFVII's clock stops at 99:99:99That's one interesting clock.
*99:99:59 :p

[Fynn]

FFVII's clock stops at 99:99:99That's one interesting clock.
*99:99:59 :p

Still kinda weird.

[Mercen-X]

On my first playthrough the final boss was easy. On my second playthrough Vegnagun seemed impossible to defeat. I actually found the game to be one of the more challenging ones.

Yeah, I think I had that problem. Damned weird.

[Final Fantasy Rookie]

The most difficult part for me in the game was trying to get 100% completion, obtaining the Lady Luck dress sphere (which to this day, I've never succeed in kicking Shinra's ass), finishing the Fiend colony (never got to fight King Vermin), and of course, the Via Infinito. Aside from all that, I thought X-2 was an enjoyable entry and loads of fun but I still like X a bit better.

[Old Manus]

*99:99:59 :p
:grover:

[Nebulance]

The most difficult part for me in the game was trying to get 100% completion, obtaining the Lady Luck dress sphere (which to this day, I've never succeed in kicking Shinra's ass), finishing the Fiend colony (never got to fight King Vermin), and of course, the Via Infinito. Aside from all that, I thought X-2 was an enjoyable entry and loads of fun but I still like X a bit better.

I'm in the same boat about Via Infinito -- I got down to level 80 or 90 or something, and I just got exhausted with it... the story was less than stellar to me and didn't really connect with X in my opinion -- Yuna's polar-opposite personality bugged me a lot, to say the least.

[Jinx]

I have to say, that's like, the biggest reason I didn't like FFX-2. If they had kept Yuna's personality the same way it was, I think it could've made the story much better.

Of course, then you wouldn't have had a J-Pop panty party.

[black orb]

>>> We need a FFX-3 with even more fanservice..:luca:

[BG-57]

There have been some homebrew attempts, one of which I was involved with, but nothing canonical as far as I know.

My feeling for this game are very mixed. On the one hand it's clearly inferior to FFX and will always be compared unfavorably to it's sister game. On the other hand, it has a great battle system and the original ideas were good.

Frankly it should have been a stand alone game but it would never have been made except as a sequel.

I have problems with the uneven music, the plot silliness, the distracting costumes, but those pale in comparison to my biggest problem with this game: the carryover characters from FFX are portrayed in FFX-2 in ways that demean and diminish their characterization.