X-2 vs. XIII-2

[Forsaken Lover]

There has been one thing I just couldn't get over after first playing and beating XIII-2 several months ago. It was brought back to my attention by my finishing the XIII Trilogy and then I decided to make a thread on this because of the X-2 Rocks topic.

That thing on my mind is how alike these two games are. First, notice how radically different the two games are from their previous installments. X and XIIi were incredibly serious games, melodramatic one might even say. They were also extremely linear in order to keep you completely engrossed in the narrative. Then here comes X-2 and XIII-2, both of which throw linearity out the window and more or less let you go anywhere you want. X-2 opens up faster than XIiI-2 but XIII-2 is still infinitely more expansive than XIII. Second, there was the tone of both of these games. As I said, X was very dark and depressing and XIII had barely any levity or comedic relief at all. Then comes X-2 which is a portrait in absurdity and makes no apologies for it. If anything, just like how XIII was even more super-serious than X, XIII-2 is even more super-ridiculous than X-2. You really do get a sense of whiplash going from X to X-2 or XIII to XIII-2.

Of course the exact details of X-2 and XIII-2 are worlds apart. I just think both games were designed with the same essential philosophy in mind.

And so we come to the topic. Which game do you think did its philosophy better? Which game do you like more and why?

[FinalxxSin]

I favor X-2 simply because the ending wasn't cut out to be resold as DLC later on. In fact, the game had no DLC at all. Even though the story confused the hell out of me, at least it felt complete. Plus, it has one of my favorite battle systems in the main line series.

[Mirage]

FFX-2 has as good gameplay as FFXII-2, but also has an actually coherent and believable story. The fact that it also isn't extreme sequel-bait also helps. X-2 without a doubt.

[Shiva95]

I prefer FFXIII-2. I find the story and the characters very interesting. FFX-2's story never really gets me, except for the ending and my favorite characters died/disappeared at the end of FFX so I was not as interested.

[maybee]

FF X-2 ! Just adore the job class system and the fun, outgoing spirit the game has. Though the Pokemon collecting battle system that XIII-2 was pretty fun as well.

[Mr. Carnelian]

In regards to gamplay, X-2, no question. But, overall, I preferred XIII-2. Although I disagree that it was as silly as X-2. X-2 started silly and got more serious towards the end. XIII-2 just has moments of levity. There's actually quite a lot of dark, serious stuff in there. Coping with the loss of a loved one, the horror of a society gone wrong, loneliness, the illusion of choice... Sure, there were a fair few light moments scattered in there, but the overall tone was pretty bleak.

[Fynn]

I haven't played enough of XIII-2 to give an proper opinion on this, but X-2 is one of my top 10 FFs, while XIII-2 retains XIII's Crystarium and Paradigm systems which, while fixed a bit in this installment, are definitely not among my favorites.

[Forsaken Lover]

In regards to gamplay, X-2, no question. But, overall, I preferred XIII-2. Although I disagree that it was as silly as X-2. X-2 started silly and got more serious towards the end. XIII-2 just has moments of levity. There's actually quite a lot of dark, serious stuff in there. Coping with the loss of a loved one, the horror of a society gone wrong, loneliness, the illusion of choice... Sure, there were a fair few light moments scattered in there, but the overall tone was pretty bleak.

Well no doubt it has several very depressing moments, and now you bring it up coping with the loss of a loved one is another parallel between X-2 and XIII-2, but I think we need look no farther than the "FINAL FANTASY XIII-2: THE STORY SO FAR....!"' to see that the developers were having some fun. If you recall, the story so far segments when you loaded up the game was a mishmash of random clips that had nothing to do with whatever was most relevant to the story and only confused you more, all set to the tune of some lovely soap opera music. I found that absolutely delightful.

Yes, a lot of the silliness is in sidequests or optional dialogue but never forget that screaming at Hope was the right choice to defeating Adam as opposed to something logical like "defeat the original."

[Saber]

I'm gonna have to go with XIII-2 on this one.

X-2 Pros - You had a lot of choices on how you did things. You could explore every area and get different outcomes due to certain things. The job system, battle system, and accessories made this game the best. I've beat X-2 over 10 times.

X-2 Cons - The story is based around three women and I can't get over the fact how cheesey it is. It was made for girls. Another thing is in order to get everything in the game you have to play it three or four times.

XIII-2 Pros - Nothing is missable. If you count the monsters you got over 100 playable characters. You can equip up to four accessories at a time. The game is super easy to play. The story line is also my favorite in all the series.

XIII-2 Cons - It takes too long to do everything. As a matter of fact to do all side quests you have to do everything besides open all chests. The DLC weapons are not all that great and even the DLC characters are for end game (bar lightning (COM) and Sazh (Syn).

[Fynn]

It was made for girls.

Pretty sure the intention behind an all-girl team was a liiiiiittle bit different

[Shauna]

So what if it's "made for girls"?

[Mirage]

Just like FF15 is being made for boys, right?

[Fynn]

Yeah, that's a rant I didn't wanna go on. Going on a tangent about misogyny and the patriarchy in a lighthearted game forum didn't really feel appropriate

[Mr. Carnelian]

Yeah, that's a rant I didn't wanna go on. Going on a tangent about misogyny and the patriarchy in a lighthearted game forum didn't really feel appropriate

I often find myself in the same situation when talking about X-2. I mean, it's a fun game, but really... I can only imagine that women had no say at any point in the process. Otherwise, surely they would have gone "Hang on a moment. Are you REALLY going to do that? REALLY?" at some points.

[Karifean]

X-2 is pretty good.

XIII-2 is pretty good.

But X-2 INT/HD is amazing.