So I’ve finished XIII-2 for the first time and you’ve been on discord lately, you know I’ve been losing my mind over it. In many ways.

It’s really hard to put into words what my relationship with this trilogy has become. It’s an amalgamation of good and bad that just won’t sit still and I’m having difficulty making sense of this. But I’ll make an attempt to at least keep this brief

XIII-2 is an improvement over XIII in pretty much every way. I like that there’s more freedom right from the getgo, and while I still really don’t like the battle system, the battles go by considerably faster. In fact, all the exploitable episodes are nicely bite-sized, so the game just flows so much better. I’ve had a lot of fun just going from place to place and seeing what I can find.

The story is just as haphazard as the previous game, if not more so. It’s more campy and fun with more personal scenes, but as I went along I kept getting the feeling that the game had no idea where it was going. Caius failed to grip me as an antagonist since I feel he’s extremely overpowered (like seriously, you’d think an all powerful immortal walking around Gran Pulse around the time of the War of Transgression would make a bigger impact on the events of XIII but it doesn’t) and his motivation feels half baked. I get it, he wants to save Yeul, but does it really count when he’s going directly against her wishes and destroys the world as we know it? Also, for how much he talks about saving here, it’s also frustratingly unclear what their relationship even is since I don’t think they ever talk. About the only idea taken to it’s full extent in this game is Alyssa, whose disappearance at the end of the plot makes so much sense and is done in a remarkably subtle fashion.

Still, the story had some neat moments, but overall I’m frustrated that it throws pretty much everything established in XIII out the window, since the lore established there was one of the few truly redeeming things about that game, imo. Don’t get me wrong, I had great fun with XIII-2, much more than with XIII, but throughout the time of my playthrough I couldn’t help but feel cynical about it. Everything about its design felt like an apology, like a desperate plea from SE to the fans to keep giving them money at a time when the brand’s image was in a dire situation. Everything had to be decided by what’s popular, from Caius being a sympathetic villain and whose theme was specifically written to occupy the same space as One-Winged Angel, to a moogle being a companion after fans crying XIII didn’t feel like FF, to the entire reason behind this story centering on time travel being the fact that Chrono Trigger is one of the most beloved SE titles ever, no matter how little sense it makes to take a sequel to XIII in this direction.

The music is great though. I still prefer XIII’s soundtrack, but XIII-2 gets kudos for being very different for FF. And overall, I definitely see myself replaying XIII-2 sooner than XIII. I just need this manic episode it’s sent me down to end.

Now, moving on to Lightning Returns. I’ve only just started the game, got to the point where I’m sent back to the Ark. so far, the impression is really good. The PC port runs like butter on max settings out of the box, which wasn’t the case for the previous two even after extensive modding. In general, I really dig the new vibe and aesthetic and I’m hooked from word go. The battle system is also a huge improvement. I’m really looking forward to experiencing this for the first time. Feels like this game could be something special.