Okay. WARNING! LONG TEXT AHEAD! Slightly edited at the end to reflect on how I thought about FFXIII, instead of referencing the original game. ALSO SPOILERS IN THE REVIEW.Originally Posted by KaiserDragon
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Unlike a good chunk of people, I didn’t find Final Fantasy XIII all that bad. Granted, it did have its problems. As time has gone by, the constant “corridor” feeling I got when when playing it bugged me. I wished you didn’t lose when the party leader ran out of HP. Also, while there was a degree of customization, the leveling up system suffered from spending points to go on a linear stat path per class.
One of the best things about Final Fantasy XIII-2 is that it addresses these problems. Thanks to the time travel story, no longer are you simply thrown into one area after another. If anything, there is plenty of extra stuff to do, especially after you beat the game. Getting a game over requires more than just the party leader to die, as well. As for how you level up, Crystogen Points are still used on a linear path…but you can choose which class to level per node. Throw in a monster catching/raising element as a third party member, and for the first time in years, a Final Fantasy game has a very customizable battle system.
I usually don’t get into monster related aspects in a Final Fantasy title, but I really enjoyed how well it was pulled off. At the end of battles, you randomly get a monster crystal from one of the critters you were fighting. Each monster has its own class. From there, you can set up to three monsters to be your third party member, as said before. So when you switch in battle using the Paradigm Shift System, all three monsters switch in and out. Different types of monsters level differently. Some take ages to be worth any value, while others peak in a short amount of time. On top of all of that, you can have a monster infuse another and gain a certain amount of abilities, both stat and battle related.
As for the story itself, I was worried, because while I also enjoyed the battle system in Square Enix’s last direct sequel, Final Fantasy X-2, I felt that everything else about that game fell short of my expectations. With FFXIII-2, I can breathe a little easier. I liked its unique look at time travel and its consequences, especially on how it worked in the FFXIII universe.
In this adventure you control Lightning’s (the main character of the original FFXIII) sister Serah and the newcomer Noel (save the Christmas jokes, it isn’t pronounced that way), who is from a distant future, where he is the last man alive. Long story short, Lightning has been erased from the timeline, but only Serah has seemed to notice the discrepancy. Both Serah and Noel gain the ability to time travel and aim to set both Lightning’s existence and the world’s terrible fate right.
The problem is in the details. I felt that both Serah and Noel’s characters didn’t really go anywhere. This is especially the case with Noel. Also, there were certain parts of the story where the characters reacted very oddly to terrible situations, or certain arcs felt rushed. Without truly spoiling anything, there is a sequence late in the game that gets rather dark, yet, within this setting is supposedly where the characters are tempted with ultimate happiness. This part of the story uses the whole, “illusionary world design to trick you into giving up and staying content deal.” Stuff like that just didn’t work and dragged down an otherwise great story.
Also, you will be lost if you haven’t played FFXIII, but I don’t see why anyone would play this sequel if they never bothered with the original. There is a primer you can read to catch yourself up, but that was another problem last time. All the other primers are an improvement since they are summaries of what you have already learned instead of being required to read the history of a city because it was mentioned, like FFXIII did.
I also wasn’t too sure about the Cinematic Actions. Just like in Resident Evil 4, there are scenes where you have to press buttons at the right time while a cinema scene is playing. While in RE4, there were dire consequences if you fail, here this type of element is simple used to get an edge. It didn’t really affect anything, so I don’t understand why it was needed. All in all, it was a very out of place gameplay choice to have in a FF title. I did like the Live Trigger dialogue trees. Though it doesn’t affect anything, it’s always funny when you choose an outrageous response in RPGs.
The last minor gameplay tweak I liked was the Moogle Clock. Enemies do pop up at random, but if you initiate a strike on the field, you get a head start in battle. If you and an enemy simply touch, the battle begins as normal. However, if the clock runs out while you are trying to run away or for whatever random reason, don’t even think about losing. Normally, if you die, you can retry the battle from starting over on the field, but if the clock runs out along with a game over, you have to start from your last save! I got into this because it gave me an incentive to always pay attention, and it rewarded me as a result. While I only found the last section of the game harder than anything else in FFXIII, this simple mechanic made it so not every battle could be breezed through for maximum rewards based on your time ranking.
As I touched on earlier, beating the main game is only the beginning. There is still a chunk of the game to be played after you face the final boss. Afterwards, you can continue your file as if you never beaten the game for new challenges, or try to earn one of several endings. In addition to that, you are also allowed to reset time periods as if nothing ever happened if you collect certain items. That way you can earn other goodies or simply see the minor difference in the story if you made a different decision. The only downside is that the main portion of FFXIII-2 is shorter than the average FF. I look my time on parts of the game, and yet I still managed to conquer the main course in 25 hours. Again, this is forgivable because of all the extra legitimate gameplay that comes afterwards.
I am going to talk about the end of FFXIII-2. I won’t spoil what happens, but if you want to go into the game completely fresh, SKIP THIS PARAGRAPH. Last warning with this sentence. For those of you still reading, I’ll just come out and say it. FFXIII-2 ends on a cliffhanger. Yes, there are multiple endings, but Square Enix has made it clear that the normal ending you get, which is the only ending you can get before getting any other one, is the true ending. Now, I don’t know if DLC or a possible FFXIII-3 will continue the story, but I have to say I feel kind of ripped off. I don’t mind that they want to continue the universe of FFXIII, but at least have a conclusive ending! I mean, isn’t there another FFXIII related game, Final Fantasy XIII Versus that has been in the works since 2006, I believe? I’ll just say this game is lucky that I am into the story and has an excellent battle system to support it.
When all is said and done, how you felt about FFXIII is how you are going to feel about FFXIII-2. As for FFXIII, I felt that it was the glimmering light in the middle of darkness, as in that maybe the game is an early sign that eventually Square Enix will produce a universally acclaimed title again. FFXIII-2 won’t accomplish that, but I once again feel like they are getting close to the mark, just in a different way.
RATING: 7.5/10
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