is this the worst final fantasy game?

[haravikk]

I'm not sure what to make of X-2, I loved X but this one just doesn't quite compete. Firstly, the story-line, although pretty good isn't quite what I had hoped, the Leblanc syndicate was just plain annoying, it was embarrassing to have to fight them while playing in the privacy of my own home.
It didn't seem to have quite the same 'cool factor' as X did, Sin and the intro cut-scene were just plain kick-ass, in fact the whole start to X was kick-ass until you arrive in nice peaceful Besaid where things are a little quieter. X-2's start paled in comparison, firstly because the style of song wasn't really the type I can enjoy, and it was just plain confusing since none of the answers really came till later. Further to this other aspects are poorly explained, such as why the Aeons came back and so-on.

The mini-games blow ass in X-2. I actually really enjoyed/enjoy Blitzball in X, in X-2 Blitzball is a mess of bewildering stats, apparently random numbers, frustrating training/experience gaining and idiot AI. To say that playing Blitzball mk2.bad made me want to kill myself and everyone else around me wouldn't be far off. The time Square Enix spent making this new enraging style of game could have been better directed at making the original faster-paced and more in depth (e.g more teams/players and thus different levels of leagues).
The other mini-games are not a whole lot better. Although I can understand Sphere-break and am fairly good at it, I cannot however see the point behind it. It's a one player game with two players! No matter who you face it's always you that is throwing coins at a sphere, no-one else gets a turn back at your sphere (which you don't have). It's a stupid mini-game IMO.
I won't even go into the Calm Lands except that I was not impressed.

There are however similar amounts of good points, I was impressed by the dress system which I was very much of a skeptic about before. The story-line other my main gripes is fairly good, it has a nice amount of depth if you take the time to go into all the side quests and episodes. It's a very nice nostalgic game at points as well.
The story really does grip you into it, it actually has me fighting to try and get 100% so I can see the perfect ending (though with some of the crap I have to put up with for it I don't think I'll manage ever).
Graphics are superb as usual, there are some really nice cutscenes and Vegnagun, although fairly disappointing at the end was a very cool enemy to be fighting.

[schapkerj]

i like final fantasy ix beter then ffx-2 it more fun

[listentomystory]

for me ffx-2 was great reason being the final scene with tidus and yuna made it all worthwhile

[aeris2001x2]

i must admit, while i felt it underminded ffX end, i loved tidus and yuna's sombre discussion at zanerkand. quite a beautiful scene that was.

[SeeDRankLou]

I didn't feel this game undermined the end of FFX at all. No matter what ending you get for this game (except the bad one), there is one thing that remains the same, Yuna changed. Yuna was able to become the person the she wanted to be, not the person she had to be, but wanted to be. And that is all because of Tidus. Tidus had an impact on her life that extended past his passing, past his presence. The mere hope that she could see him again, the mere hope that she could have the life she wanted, changed her perception on the world, and changed her. She didn't change for Tidus, she changed because of Tidus, and no matter if she finds him or not, she ends up with a life she wouldn't trade anything for. I think FFX-2 personifies the importance that Tidus had on everyone, especially Yuna, and greatly hightens the impact that the ending of FFX had.

[listentomystory]

i couldnt have put that better myself seedranklou, well said

[aeris2001x2]

I didn't feel this game undermined the end of FFX at all. No matter what ending you get for this game (except the bad one), there is one thing that remains the same, Yuna changed. Yuna was able to become the person the she wanted to be, not the person she had to be, but wanted to be. And that is all because of Tidus. Tidus had an impact on her life that extended past his passing, past his presence. The mere hope that she could see him again, the mere hope that she could have the life she wanted, changed her perception on the world, and changed her. She didn't change for Tidus, she changed because of Tidus, and no matter if she finds him or not, she ends up with a life she wouldn't trade anything for. I think FFX-2 personifies the importance that Tidus had on everyone, especially Yuna, and greatly hightens the impact that the ending of FFX had.

i agree, wow, i never thought of it that way. thanks, u have really opened my eyes. this is why i love ff discussions on, u see ff from all angles.

[TasteyPies]

Yeah too bad ffx-2 was a look at my boobies bounce final fantasy to rake in all the young males

[aeris2001x2]

maybe so but why is ffX included in your sig as a moudly ff instead of ffVIII?

[TasteyPies]

Because ff8 is the best ff there ever was

[aeris2001x2]

wow, i never knew u were an ff8 worshipping zealot...i mean ff8 liker . i always assumed u were an ff6 lover.

[Trumpet Thief]

(Many Spoilers)

Remember, all of this is just my opinion!

Yes, finally a thread that understands what I believe!

First off, FFX was better the way it ended. It beat the crap out of all those other happy endings, making it a good game. Then came along the internation version of FFX's ending, which gave Square the idea to make another sequel. So, because of that, they made change a lot, which I didn't like. I liked some of the characters they added, like Paine.

The Final boss attempt wasn't very good either.as well; Vagnanun was nothing powerful, and Shuyin being the final boss wasn't what I really wanted.

IMO FFVI beats FFX-2, but it's just my opinion. this game had some good things about it too.

The minigames were fun, like Blitzball, and Paine was awfully funny.
I agree though, I think this is the worst Final Fantasy! Just my opinion, of course!

[Auron_Kotetsu]

Ahh, excellent. I return from a 3-month sabbatical to find one of my favorite debates ever going on. This is like Christmas in May!

I agree with the first post made. I will not lie. FFX-2 is, without any doubt in my mind, the worst FF game ever made (and I'm not including IX because it's not really a FF game, so it doesn't count). Now before you all attack, hang on a sec. I'll start by saying the things I liked about it.

The battle system. It's awesome. Finally, you get to interrupt attacks! You see an enemy power up to cast a spell, and you get a chance to kill it before it gets it off. That is fan-frickin-tastic. If you're quick, you can even Trigger Happy a charging enemy and finish him off before he gets to you. Chaining attacks is brilliant, as well. I've thought about it, and it makes sense that one's guard would go down somewhere if he were receiving 3 attacks at once.

The Dressphere/Garment Grid system. I'm only just becoming a fan of this, now that I've read some FAQs and figured out how it all works (on my second playing). It's a really interesting way to develop a character's abilities, and is a really great answer to the complaint that development in X was too structured, and allowed for no personalization - at least, if you played the US version, which I did.

The Mission system. Another great response to one of the hugest criticisms of FFX: that it forced you to play it in a certain way. You certainly have the run of all Spira in this game, whenever you want. (I enjoyed going back to Bevelle repeatedly after siding with the Youth League, just to trounce all the silly Yevonites with their silly helmets -heh heh)

But, sadly, you can put all the garnish you want on your burger, and it still won't be a steak. While the mechanics of this game are irrefutably excellent, the game itself is so bad that it doesn't deserve to boast them.

Now, when I talk about this, keep in mind that I'm talking about X2 in terms of FF games, NOT video games in general. As a rule, FF's have higher standards than other video games, and are thus more critically judged.

For starters, I COMPLETELY agree with the point that the game is made up entirely of forgettable fluff characters. One of my favorite things about FF games is that EVERY character in the game develops over its course, and comes out different than they started. That doesn't seem to be the case here. First of all, they ruined Brother. Where's the stoic Al Bhed tattooed badass who use to threaten Tidus and throw down in the Blitz sphere (remember how great he was)?! And who the hell is this homoerotic, flamboyant, flapping, unprofessional, whining, shrieking, overgrown six-year-old (sorry if I offended any six-year-olds out there) who they're telling me is the same guy? No way. I'm sorry. Nuh-uh. Rikku just sucks. She's awful. I've never encountered a more poorly developed main character. I guess they figured when they were making X2, "Well, hell, we developed her enough in X! She doesn't need any more in this game. Just throw her in a bikini and give her dreads!" Bzzzt. Wrong. I could have cared less if Rikku had gotten shot in the head at any point in this game - except that then I'd be short a body in battle. Yuna completely fails to actually change. You can take the summoner out of the temple, it seems, but you can't take the temple out of the summoner. Put her in a halter top and biker shorts and she's still a wishy-washy irritant.
I'll take a break on Paine. She's actually interesting--which probably has a lot to do with the fact that, oops, she's the only really new major character in this whole game! Thus, her backstory is intriguing, especially now that I'm playing it for the second time and finding out a lot more.

The way this game plays is another bone I've got to pick. You CAN NOT do it without a walkthrough. CAN NOT. If you try, you'll just end up getting, oh, I don't know, 60% completion at the end, shall we say . That's what happened to me, sort of. Actually what happened is that I got so disheartened when I reached Chapter 5 with 3 l. 42 characters, and 54% completion, that I shrugged and played VIII for a couple months to keep from killing myself. Yes, that's right. I turned to VIII to regain faith in the FF title, and was even considering going back to IX - but I wasn't that desperate.

The plot. Oh, God, the plot. Alright, I'll give you that the plot twist in Ch 3 Bevelle Underground was awesome. I even said so out loud the first time I saw it (though killing B. in 10 hits was pretty sad, considering my B. was WAY better than that... *sigh*). But once that was over, you're back to the same old crap. Jouncing all over the world and doing completely random, unrelated things. See, FF games are supposed to be epic. They're supposed to be dark. The world is supposed to be in danger, and they're about finding hope where there isn't any. This game was... fluff. A few chicks running around, singing and dancing and having a gay old time. Remember Auron, who (SPOILER)chose to live as a dead man to ensure the safety of his world? Remember Kimahri, who (SPOILER)saw his race butchered at the hands of a madman? And speaking of madmen, remember Seymour? What an amazingly developed character - especially if you really played deep into X.

Here, we have a plot that's so small and specific, it really doesn't matter. The people you play as are already established as heroes, so it doesn't matter whether you succeed or not. Except for Paine. Poor Paine. Supposedly there's some threat that's going to destroy the world... but then why is everyone so happy? Why aren't they living in fear of it? I mean, come on. This is Spira. These people are great at living in fear - they've been doing it for 1,000 years! Lots of practice, and all that. Basically, you end up with a storyline that doesn't know what it wants to accomplish, and so ends up being annoying, confusing, and at times, just plain dumb.

The few good characters who have any real potential are either glossed over, or treated with so little seriousness that you cease to care. Ormi and Logos, for example. Oh, and how about Nooj, Gippal, and Baralai? I'd like to see them as party members, not NPC's. What a waste.

There's another problem. With so many abilities to be learned, a 3-person party just doesn't work. There are WAY too many dresspheres and not nearly enough characters to be using them. Seriously, with this much stuff to learn, I can see at least a 6-person party, and a 4-person battle system (it's been done -remember VI?) being used to spread all that out. Oh, and the same with Garment Grids. I think I've only actually placed Dresspheres into about 10 of my Garment Grids; the rest are just sitting there, not worth using. More people in the party = more stuff getting used, and therefore more of a challenge to equip everyone right.

Special dresspheres are so cumbersome that the first time I played, I only used each of them once to see what they looked like, and then never used them again. I don't care how powerful they are; when you get right down to it, it's just another job class whose abilities need to be learned--and what's more, the other party members can't even learn anything while the one's doing that.

What else, what else... Ah, yes. There are NO good mini-games in this game. In every other FF there's been one that I've enjoyed (I still love playing cards!) to at least some small degree. Not so here. Once I got over the fact that "Reptile Run" is a cute version of Frogger, it was over. They've managed to completely ruin Blitzball (which I really liked in X), and none of the new ones are any good either. Forgive me if I don't elaborate; I'm running out of stamina for this topic.

The music blows. Period. I honestly wish they'd just left it the way it was - this new funky-hip crap does nothing for me. Bring back Nobuo Uematsu, this new guy is terrible. Boo. Oh, and what is this pap about the graphics being incredible?? NEWSFLASH, PEOPLE: THEY'RE EXACTLY THE SAME AS THEY WERE IN X!!! Yeesh!

I disliked the fact that they didn't actually bother to make any new landscapes or enemies; instead we get jumbled re-paints of the same old stuff. The aquatic fiends in Macalania forest - they were a nice touch. Desperate much? And how come Yuna doesn't do any swimming? We already know Rikku's a swimmer, and at the end of X Yuna said she could hold her breath for two minutes already. I would have liked some underwater scenes. Little things like this make for a weak, flat game with too many plot holes, and that's exactly what this title was.

If your personal taste leads you to think of this as a good FF game, congratulations--but it's not. It's fun, yes. You can have a good time playing it. It could even be thought to be a great game, if you've had the right brain surgery done beforehand. But under no circumstances is it a great - or even a good - FF title; in fact, I'd say that all the debilitating deviations from the norm make it a shoe-in for Worst Final Fantasy Ever.

'Nuff said.

[Ragnar[PT]]

In terms of graphics of course it's not the worst, but the game's story is purelly for covering certain plot holes and the gameplay and battle musics are my least fav in all FFs. Maybe Square Enix will learn with this one to not make FF sequels. (at least not in games)

[Trumpet Thief]

I agree 100%.