False impressions

[Cloudane]

I have to say, this is yet another game by those lot that completely blows away any negative "first impressions" almost straight off.

First time I saw it I thought the girliness would spoil the whole thing, that Yuna had lost all personality other than "show off looks", that it wouldn't be the same without all the other characters being playable etc. I thought that a sequel was just a brand milking exercise generated by the merging with Enix, and that the game would be shallow and pointless, that it spoiled the "feel" of FF. I thought the recycling of existing areas of the world would make it seem boring.

How wrong I was.

Instead I saw one of the most gripping and involving stories since FF7, with some very good characters. It's one of the first FFs for a while where I've truly *enjoyed* the process of levelling up, gaining skills, perfecting a 'job' etc (it often tedious in their other games). It's a little 'easy', but I like that... it's light-hearted. Somehow you get used to the 'girly' feel and instead see it as an essential part of the story. Plus the healthy dash of humour... Brother cracks me up, as does little Tobli.

Kingdom Hearts did this too... the first thing you thought was "UGH, Disney, YUCK." That was the same pleasant surprise.

I guess the point of this thread is... if anyone's delaying grabbing this game because of any preconceptions - don't! This title proves that Squenix are still on the ball and can still produce some amazing ideas.

[Kupo]

I agree with all of that, very well-said!

[eternalshiva]

*cheers* I'm glad some one FINALLY went against their pre-judged decision and TRIED it out and FELL IN LOVE with it like ANYONE should xD

*hugs* That game rocks ;p

[aeris2001x2]

well i think its by far the worst ff. it has an AWFUL story! i thought it was pathetic. cramed full of crap subgames. awful battle systerm. charlies angels scenes horrid. music good but still worst ff sound track ever. hate the new take on atb. dress spheres and garment grids reek. some of the script is dire etc plus any atmosphere or tension or darkness setting in is always ruined by some horrible charlies angel scene.

yet i still think its a good game and have a objective opinion. i clocked up 120 hours, done all missions, beat all bosses including via infinito, lv 99, 100%, got best end. the only thing to do is get all abilities.

so i think my opinion is a fair one since i have played it alot. personally compared to ff6,7,8,9, 10 etc its awful but at least i didnt judge 2 early. i hope u can see there r ppl who didnt judge at first impresion but still think the game is rationally awful though good fun.

[Cloudane]

I think it's almost impossible to compare with the other FFs, as it isn't really the same kind of game. If it weren't a sequel to FFX, I wouldn't say it should be called Final Fantasy at all.

But it is an excellent game IMO, even the 'charlies angels' thing (that's who I thought of too) seems part of the experience eventually.

I respect other people's opinions, as long as they're justified... which yours are.

[Jenn]

oWn it love it.... well spoken.

[Skogs]

The 'girliness' of the game was initially off-putting but it didn't put me off the game. It was the randomness and pointlessness of most of the sidequests that spoiled the game. That and the weak storyline and rehashed graphics.

[Cloudane]

I've yet to see a sidequest (other than perhaps the calm lands stuff) that doesn't provide some sort of insight into the new Spira.

I'm on second play and a lot of questions I originally had are quite quickly answered by the sidequests

Weak storyline is just an opinion really. Just like my opinion that it is a very strong one.

[Kupo]

I especially loved getting to find out more about the war which spawned Sin... it was such an intriguing and critical part of FFX, and in several different sidequests, lots more is revealed.
I also really enoyed the parts with the Ronso and their feelings towards the Guado- a very good continuation from FFX. :moggie:

[zacks_clone]

The game was good enough for me to attempt a finish before a year went by,easy enough for me to manage it, and enough sidequests to furfill even my wildest dreams.

This game let me down alittle though. I, personaly, did not much care for X's story to much, the characters were pretty good but only twords the end,and...well...i think it was the over all game style. thefighting style and the spheres that turned me off.

X-2 I had hope for. Dont get me wrong,i loved X. It was a good,amusing game. Pain in the butt at times,but amusing. X-2 i knew would be just like that. Alright story,amusing to play. Exc. But,it did let me down. It was the whole Rikku and Yuna's additudes( "girlishness") that turned me off,and if not for Paine and the noneplayable male characters, the game would have been lost to my closet the day after christmas.

The story did surprise me. I expected it to be a "Lets clean up spira and hide Yuna from drooling men!OHHH!and lookie!the bad guys ALIVE again!!!". It wasnt. That was good. Very good. The story was short, sweet,not to many twists inside of it...but what can you expect for a folow up game anyways?All in all, the story was alright.

Sound. Everyone complains about the sound.I complained about it, actually. You know, once you start to play the game, and get into it, the sound just becomes part of the background. You dont notice it to much at all.

Characters. HATED what they did to Yuna,but...you know,you can still tell that the "old" yunas still living in her new shell.Rikku seems to have...grown up alittle too. I liked Paine bunches,for she was the one character keeping me sane as the gigles went on.

battle.Yippie!loved this. Loved loved loved it. Loved the switching of the spheres and loved how you could practically kill and enemy before they attacked and STALL their attacks and...and...just everything.loved it.

Not as good as Kingdom Hearts, but falls pretty close. NOT as good as Final Fantasy VII, but few games are i believe. Worth playing?Yeah. Worth buying?Yeah.

[Big D]

omg da gaem has da 3 womans it r obvuasely da rip of off da Charlie's Angels, liek ff7 has da 3 womans 2 & we all no it r da rip of off da Charlie's Angels!!!11!!

No, in all seriousness, I agree with what zacks_clone said from "The story did surprise me" onward, for the most part. I read up quite a lot about X-2 before purchasing it; I knew it was going to be mission-based, with a fixed rather than flexible cast of three women. Most people knew, or should've known, that it was never going to be the "epic quest" type of RPG that the other FFs are; this was made quite clear. Also, expecting three young women to be a constant source of seriousness and doom is perhaps a little much. Flippancy, juvenile antics are a natural and forseseeable thing, from a group who're gallavanting around the globe without an overwhelmingly ominous mission to fulfil.
I enjoyed X-2 a whole lot, it's a fun new 'angle' on the characters and situations compared to what we usually see in FFs. Imagine an FFVII sequel told from a materia hunter's perspective - it'd be a completely different picture of the world, different values and priorities to Cloud & co.
Now, there were things I didn't like about X-2: In particular, the rather snooty attitude that anyone over 20 is useless to this world and should either retire or die to make way for the "worthy youngsters". Nooj, at 22, is the oldest of the three world leaders, a fairly ridiculous notion when you think about it. All of the "heroes" are fairly young; "Seasoned" Leblanc and her goons are quickly overwhelmed during the final fight, and it's up to the littlies to step in and save everyone. Maechen is presented as a doddering, senile old fool, rather than the wise and venerable man he really is. Cid has gone from being the leader of his people, to merely being a grumbly old bugger trying to make money on dodgy ventures, who sulks around in the rain for weeks when his niece is mean to him. I just found it rather distasteful that age should be presented as such a 'social disease'.

I missed Yuna's gentle nature; if anything, I thought she'd be more serious after her fight with Sin, rather than the flighty and somewhat selfish person she's become in X-2.

But then, it's not like Square-Enix were trying to make a game to satisfy my tastes; if I want a 'perfect' story, I'll have write it myself - and then you can be sure no-one else would like it.

Basically, if you know the kind of game X-2 is, you shouldn't buy it if you're convinced you won't like it. If you're not sure, then maybe you could rent it or borrow it and give it a try. You may be pleasantly surprised...

[aeris2001x2]

thanks Cloudane. it really is different, so unexpected. but i normally subscribe to the "if it aint broke" dynamic.

by the way i take my words back on it being the worst ff. ff2 now holds that crown.

[BatChao]

A lot of the things that people hate about FFX-2 are the things that make me really like it. I won't say I 'fell in love' with it, but I will say it was very enjoyable. The battle system is easily one of the best I've seen in any FF, the storyline is fun, but also somewhat deep, it's got a wealth of sidequests, etc, etc. But most importantly, the thing that drew me in was the fact that the game didn't take itself seriously. It wasn't like: 'Oo! I'm a FF! I have to have some super deep plot, a sappy love story (though it did still have one), and lots of parts that makes everyone want to cry!'. Nope. The game totally trashes it's namesake and adopts something new. It's like the illegitimate child of FF, Charlie's Angels, and a whole slew of super mockery. It's great.

Also, the soundtrack is eons better than anything in FFX.

[aeris2001x2]

Batchao, take back your blasphemy on comparing the sounstracks.

lol i joke. i did like the j-pop songs, of a very high quality and some other pieces, particulary at the end against vegnegun and beville/trema theme were great but on the whole i,d say its the weakiest ff musically.

[Cloudane]

The music wasn't exactly the sort of quality I'd come to expect either, yet it managed to be incredibly catchy... countless times I found myself whistling some of the tunes!