The FFX-2 appreciation thread

[Sefie1999AD]

Someone once said people aren't happy when they have nothing to bash. It seems no matter what kind of styles Square tries, be it old-school or new-school, the most recent FFs still get tons of haters who call the game utter piece of crap that nobody likes and which has absolutely nothing good whatsover, and that the new FF title is a product made by the devil, an evil game that should burn in hell. Every time a new FF comes, people will make loads of "tihs is teh worst ff eva!!!!11" threads.

Anyway, there are lots of that kind of threads in this forum, so I decided to make another kind of topic, called Final Fantasy X-2 appreciation thread. I got the idea from DJzen's similar FF2 thread. This thread is for writing only about the good things about FFX-2, to defend the game. I liked DJzen's idea about making a Top-10 list about those features that you liked best about the game, so let's do things on a similar way here. If you can't come up with a Top-10, then Top-5 is fine too.

I'll start.

10. There are many different endings to the game, and a New Game Plus.
9. There are a couple of deep themes in the games, such as (SPOILER)how Yuna changes from someone who helps people because they want it to someone who helps people because she wants it herself. There's also the theme of how Yuna tries to get on with her life after losing Tidus at the end of FFX.
8. There's a lot of funny moments in the game, like YRP's girly inside jokes, anything Brother says, Tobli's stuff and many other things.
7. The graphics are very good, and FMVs are absolutely breathtaking. I've never seen an FMV produced as well as the 1000 Words scene.
6. Even though the soundtrack could be a lot better, there are still many enjoyable songs like the opening menu song, Yuna's Ballad, 1000 Words (all versions of it), Aeons, Vegnagun Starting etc.
5. There's lots of side quests to do, and they actually enhance the storyline and character development.
4. The translation is pretty good, and the voice acting is very nice.
3. The battles are fast-paced and fun, and hardly ever get old.
2. The characters are all well done and developed.
1. The battle system is nice with the Job system (from FF3j, FF5 and FFT) returning.

[Big D]

I agree with your praise of X-2.

Much of the criticism of that game comes from people who played it for an hour or so, then decided that it is superficial and 'girly'. I can well understand how they'd come to that conclusion. However, the game has a wonderous level of depth that only comes from perseverance and exploration. I didn't unlock all the mysteries of the story until my second play through the game.

The entire back-story surrounding Shuyin is really quite moving, for me. Unlike a lot of FF villains, he's not really a "villain" as such. In life, he achieved a lot - a musician, an athlete, a warrior and a deeply devoted lover. The agony of his unjust death, an agony so great it bound him to this world and wouldn't die. A millenium of detached thought, wandering rage and bitterness at the senseless loss of life. Then the coming of Sin, and even more death, but at least a sense of purpose and unity. Then, only two years after Sin's defeat - barely the blink of an eye - and Spira's on the verge of self-annihilation again, like nothing's been learned from the past at all. It's easy to understand why Shuyin would believe that the world's destruction would be a fitting punishment for the depravity of its inhabitants, and the only way to stop them from finding excuses for killing each other for eternity.

The game's darker themes work very well. The way Spira's moved forward with the coming of the Eternal Calm, but lost a lot of what it had. Cheesy commercialism and aggressive business rivallry have replaced the self-sufficient, communal living of before; Summoners, who spent a thousand years giving their lives to provide Spira with a few years' peace, are treated as worthless relics by many. With Yevon's downfall, the people elected to abandon all of the teachings, even those which serve a good purpose - the restriction on Machina, for instance. Unfettered technological experimentation is back again, the very process which led to the terrible weapons of the Bevelle-Zanarkand war. Even the Machine Faction, who ought to know better, spend most of the game working on their "Experiment", a device which serves no purpose except to be the most powerful weapon ever created. Extremely stupid.
So the game effectively shows just how ignorant and greedy people can be, how exciting and shiny new ideas can corrupt long-standing values and turn people against one another.
Just because the world was saved from Sin, doesn't mean that all troubles are over. A realistic concept. The Ronso-guado conflict is yet another example of that.

But then, there are the themes of hope, too. Optimism, positivity for the future, even though it won't aways be a rosy one. Yuna's significanty disillusioned with a lot of what Spira's become, but still fights for it and believes in the inherent value of preserving memory and freedom in the face of conflict and change.

Deep themes all around. A good cast of characters with believeable flaws, something I feel is important. Great glimpses of the past, too - alternate looks at what happened in the previous game. A completely new approach to an FF, which is understandable since it's a direct sequel. Instead of some lonely male warrior-type getting thrown in the deep end in a world-shaking conflict, we instead start the action from the point-of-view of a team of young women who're seeking their own ends, including adventure, exploration, discovery and research, with a bit of profit thrown in. Rather than being flung into the world's conflicts, they stay on the periphery, until such time as their intervention is actually required. And for once, there's no "evil empire bent on world domination", a la Shinra or Gestahl; instead, the political organisations - New Yevon and the Youth League - are both comparable, if both misguided.

A completely refreshing change, with new ideas and approaches to things that have spent the last decade becoming formulaic to the point of predictability.

There's also plenty of self-referential material to provide long-time fans with a tip of the hat; subtle and not-so-subtle hints of FFVI, VII and VIII pop up where they'd be least expected.

FFX-2 is not without its flaws, but I've mentioned those elsewhere. The game's doing a lot of things right, in my opinion. Not perfect, but innovative and fresh, and even if those innovations aren't all to my taste, I still approve of creativity.

[eternalshiva]

I'm uh, linking this in Site Staff ^_^ these could be used as reviews for the game if no one minds ^_^

[Cloudane]

The battle system is a large part of what makes or breaks an FF in my opinion (as I said in a thread about FF8 - *cough* - ^_^). The battle system in X-2 was really fun for me, and so that put a lot into the playability and replayability of the game. Add that to the light-hearted feel of most of the game and it was a winner straight away.

It was a refreshing change to have a 'light' FF rather than the dark, heavy stuff it usually revolves around. Not that dark, heavy stuff is bad... it just makes for an interesting change to have FF go in a completely different direction just once

[Del Murder]

Any game that uses the job system has to be at least decent. This game was more than that, it was...good.

[Xander]

Good things:

- Mission based structure meant more freedom to do what you wanted, you weren't tied down to one path

- Dresssphere/garment grid system was new, refreshing and fun, made a change, and you could experiment with various combinations of characters, etc, plus you got a good feeling when you won a new dresssphere =)

- The game had a lot of funny bits, as was mentioned earlier, and a lot of character interaction just makes you smile, Brother especially. xD

- A lot of the music I quite liked, and got stuck in my head for ages.

- Battle system being returned to ATB made everything more fast paced again after FFX, and being able to get combos, and timing your attacks was a lot of fun.

- The development of characters was good - Paine especially.

- Baralai and Gippal were just HOT. Yes I'm shallow.

- Fun extra games - digging, Sphere Break which wasn't half bad, unfortunately I still can't class Blitzball as fun, but never mind.

- New Game Plus - chance for me to see the ending I want easier!!!

I enjoyed many aspects of the game, especially being able to go back to all the places from X, was like a "trip down memory lane" or something.

However for some reason the game didn't totally satisfy me, something wasn't quite right, maybe the fact that I felt the whole Shuyin-Lenne story didn't pick up till really late on, maybe because I wasn't happy with the ending I got (although I did only get 77%). Maybe the lack of normal battle music, and chocobo music, silly things like when you go to use an Antidote or something it always defaults to Yuna.
I don't know, it's fun, but I still like FFX better.

[Beatrix Leonhart]

I love the whole game, and it's story. It was a nice change in the Final Fantasy games. The dressphere were so unique, there were so many and they all had their uses.

[Del Murder]

New game+ was a nice fature but it sucked because you can't keep your levels.

[admat97]

yeah...I got passed the embarrassing girlie stuff...now I don't even notice that they're hardly wearing clothes. Also...I love playing with the girls' special dresspheres

[aeris2001x2]

i cant write bad stuff right? ok

the game was infinitly fun
Yuna is hot
Gippal is hot lol
wonderful end upon 100% completation at Zanerkand
lots of replay value
two lovely j-pop songs
Shinra is a class act
Buddy rocks 2
A ton of super bossess
Via infinito

however there are so many bad th...*gets trampled to death by eoff members*

i too do get annoyed when ppl who,ve played it bout 1 hour diss it. only ppl like me with 100% and 116 hours game time have that right

[Ultima Shadow]

Hmmmm... I don't know 10 good stuff about this game... oh, well...

1: The super bosses.
2: The game was sick enough to make me laugh (hmmmm... is that good or bad?).
3: More than one ending.

[m4tt]

Any game that uses the job system has to be at least decent. This game was more than that, it was...good.

I agree.

I really should finish this game.. I haven't played it in a while.

[Ouch!]

10. Characters were believable and interesting.

9. Yuna's character became a lot more interesting and she evolved nicely as a character and began to do things because that's what she wanted to do.

8. Mini-games out the wazoo. There was always something to do.

7. I loved that there was multiple endings, even if it's pretty much impossible to get 100% completion without some sort of guide.

6. The battle system was fun, and I especially liked how it was fast paced.

5.It was non-linear, something extremely different from FFX.

4. Because it was near impossible to get everything on the first go around, it made for great replayablity.

3. The villian was believable and actually had motivations besides being insane. Shuyin reminded me of Kuja, not as their personalities, but rather that they were both put in unique situations that brought upon their thirst for revenge.

2. The garment grid and dress sphere system was awesome. It allowed various combinations that meant endless strategies for battle.

1. It was just fun to play.

[Squall and Rinoa]

There are a lot of things that I agree with concerning previous posts. I also have a few things to add.

6.- I love video games with good dungeons and secret caves and whatnot. X 2 had a few good ones that really got to me, in terms of making the game much more enjoyable. Via Infinito made me angry, but made me laugh. I got to level 56 before I got too tired to go all the way down to level 100. A great place to level up your characters and stats, if you ask me. The secret cave in the Thunder Plains accessible only by the Al Bhed standing at the bank was interesting. It took me a few tries before I could get all the way through it without dying in between. The other secret dungeon that was interesting, was the one found on the south end of the Mi'hen Highroad. THAT was annoying, but a good experience, due to the fact that you could gain SO many items and a lot of Gil.

5.- Video games with likeable characters is a plus to me. There are only 3 in the FF series that I like - VIII, X, and this one. Yuna has changed a lot in two years, and it shows in this title. More mature than previous, more sensible, more free spirited, more independant. I like the change in her for the better. Rikku, I really have no opinion on. She's still the hyper, upbeat blondie to me. Paine, to me, has got to be one of the better female characters of the entire series. Why? I'm not really sure. In a weird sense, I see her as a counterpart to VIIIs Squall. Quiet, but not afraid to say what she thinks, or what's on her mind. I think I like that in her the most, mainly because it comes out to be the comic relief of the playable cast.

4.- Game structure - linearity versus non linearity. Being that this is the only non linear storyline in the entire series, this was a big plus for me. As someone stated earlier - the mission based storyline gives the player the freedom to do whatever he or she pleases. It's a breath of fresh air, to me, something that I'd like to see more often down the line.

3.- Mini games and side quests are something that I love in a video game, even if they aren't in most, or even if they are in some. X 2 has a wide variety of games and quests to choose from, all of which could be considered time consuming. A personal favorite of mine is Sphere Break. I whooped Shinra on the first try, hehe. I'm actually trying to beat some of the other players on the left side of the Luca lockerrooms. They are the harder challenge, but I have a feeling I'll be able to best them sooner or later. I just have to dig for more coins in the desert, and I think I'll be set.

2.- Playability and replayability. I don't like boring games. What's the point of playing a boring game when I could be doing something better with my time? VII and IX were boring to me, but strangely enough, X 2 wasn't. As someone mentioned, this game is pretty light hearted, even though it has a nice purpose. I guess I liked it because the story itself was pretty good. Girl loses boy, but goes out on a search to find him. Kind of nice, but then again, I'm a sucker for a love story of sorts.

1.- Battle systems and their attributes make a game worth playing if I like them. I liked the garment / dress spheres. They were pretty cool to look for, obtain, and build stats for. Obviously, there are set ones for each character - Yuna with her Gunner, Rikku with her Thief, Paine with her Warrior. Each of those were good to keep for each girl, and coincidentally, they were the first to be maxxed out for each girl.

More probably later.

[SeeDRankLou]

Note: This is a rather long post, if you want to read it give yourself a few minutes.

Final Fantasy X-2 is an awesome game, and in many ways a “type” of game that Square-Enix should continue to make. What I mean by “type” is that it is in many ways like its predecessors and in many ways very new and original. Square-Enix always changes Final Fantasy games up, but not in so much a way that the change(s) are so noticeable over what stays the same. The static qualities that Final Fantasy games have had for so long have appealed to many gamers, including this one, and have made a very good formula for these games—the key word in that sentence being static. But this formula is not set in stone, and it’s good that Square-Enix let us know that they still possess the innovative qualities that they did when this series first started. The formula that has been in play for a while is not what makes a Final Fantasy game, and the creators of these games have every right to be innovative and keep us on our toes, as they did when this series first started.

Probably the most notable quality about this game is its title, Final Fantasy X-2. It’s a direct sequel, first sequel in this series of games. Blasphemy? Not in the slightest. In fact, it’s kind of a stretch to even call this game a sequel. Many complain that this game doesn’t have the same feel as Final Fantasy X did, and notably so, which is why I say “sequel” is a stretch. You are in the same Spira, but it is an entirely different Spira. You have the some of the same characters, but the difference in character between these two games is vast. When one thinks of a sequel, one thinks of the continuation of a story, the elements of the first story playing a rather integral role in the sequel. This is not the case for this sequel. In fact, a player could play this game without having played Final Fantasy X and really not be missing that much background story. There are two important elements from Final Fantasy X: Yuna defeated Sin for good and brought the Eternal Calm, and Tidus faded away. That’s it. All the details of Final Fantasy X have little if anything to do with this story. All the small details that pertain to Final Fantasy X-2 are explained by Yuna’s narration. You may think all the above qualities are negative, but quite the contrary. I think Square-Enix has succeeded brilliantly in making this sequel. The stories of Final Fantasy X and X-2 are separate, greatly intertwined, but separate. Final Fantasy X was Tidus’s story. Yuna was there, as were others, and she played a big role in his story, but it was his story. Tidus plays an integral role in this game, even though he is just a memory. He is Yuna’s motivation, her initial reason. But this is Yuna’s story, separate from Tidus’s, a different world, a different journey. Ironically, it’s the non-sequel qualities of this second installment that make it a wonderful sequel.

The second notable quality about this game is its playable cast, all female. Bad thing? Not at all. Something we’ve never experienced before? Yes and no. First, we have once experience a female lead protagonist, but not to this extent. Final Fantasy VI’s lead protagonist was Terra, a female. But the ensemble-like characterization method used in Final Fantasy VI gave all the characters in the game more or less equal characterization, and in the end Terra didn’t feel like the lead protagonist, even though I believe she was meant to be. In Final Fantasy X-2, the central point of this story is Yuna’s journey, so it would be expected for Yuna to be the lead protagonist, and the writers do a very good job evening out Yuna’s story and the overall story of this game, while still making this game in large part about Yuna. Now it’s hard to say the rest of this paragraph without sounding sexist, but just know that I in no way equate gender with personality traits. The Final Fantasy games to precede this one (expect for the one mention earlier) have all been lead by a male. I have no problem with this at all. But one of the many changes about this game is that it’s lead by a female, and really for the first time we are viewing a Final Fantasy through the eyes of a female. Viewing the world through the eyes of a male has always been a melancholy, stoic, militarist and overtly serious experience until toward the end when the male’s character changes but he is unwilling in some way to properly reveal this important change until one of the female characters comes in, works her magic, and suddenly the lead male is a better person and now capable of saving the world. And that has been going on for entirely too many games. With this one however, we skip all of that. We have Yuna, a vibrant, optimistic and moderately cheerful person. We see the world in a light that I have never seen in a Final Fantasy game before. She’s honest, she’s open about her feelings upfront instead of finding out about them later, she sees the good in everything and everyone, and she brings a sense of hope into despair where many lead protagonists would bring the opposite. In the beginning of the game this is expected, nothing major is really going on. But even when the threat shows itself, she retains these qualities. Even to hear her speak of Tidus isn’t all that depressing, and at least we know how she feels as she feels it instead of finding out later that she had had feelings all through this game but we just find out about them with five minutes left. And she shows a type of weakness that in our stereotypical society only a woman can really pull off, and that is the weakness of love. She is driven partially by her want to see Tidus, and every once in a while she will show that weakness, very convincingly, and so convincingly that it usually moves the story along, as you slowly see her despair and longing turn into courage and motivation. Having a female lead has made a vast improvement on story telling style, a change that should be used again. Maybe not an all female cast, since it’s good to have a mix, but definitely another female lead every once in a while. Speaking of the all female cast, my second point here is that we’ve never seen one before. I love the bond and the playfulness that these three girls have, and again, due to society, this bond is only feasible to be had by a group of girls. They’re wacky, fun, carefree, crazy, and in many cases smiling. They care about one another and they have a genuine want to be there for each other. This bond has been there in previous casts, but not nearly to the extent that it is in this game, and that is another very nice change in this game. And seriously though, the only real comparison I see between these girls and the girls of Charlie’s Angels is the pose.

Let me just say I love the battle system in this game. Battle system is all to preference, but I love. It has a little bit of old and a little bit of new, and even something both old and new. The Active Time Battle is back, and it’s on crack. It’s so fun, you can attack with all characters at once, and the fiends retain this power as well. It’s very real-time like, but so much that I actually think it is. The Dress Sphere system is cool, a welcome return of the job class system, just with better clothing. And I like that you can change them mid-battle, nice addition. Garment Grids were kind of useless at first, but they became useful after a while. And while I like the interactiveness of the Sphere Grid, it’s kind of nice to just level up and pick abilities for AP gaining. And the talking that goes on during battle is awesome.

The graphics I still love. First of all, it rather annoyed me that they didn’t re-synch the words with the lip movements in Final Fantasy X, but they did in this game, almost flawlessly might I add. Now, while I am a bit upset that they didn’t change some of the area scenery or NPC models at all, I forgive them because they made quite a few new areas and several new NPC models. The FMVs are breathtaking, even more so than in Final Fantasy X. Yuna’s transition from in game character to FMV character looks kind of sketchy, but not so much as in Final Fantasy X. The character redesign of Yuna and Rikku is wonderful, and I love how they have changed. Yuna looks more laid back, and Rikku's hair is really awesome. To anyone who says they looks slutty…..grow up. Paine has a wonderful character model, and whoever designed her clothing should do it for a living. I love the music in this game. I think that while it is a big change from what we expect in a Final Fantasy game, the initial atmosphere of this game isn’t what we are used to either. We’re in happy mode at first, and the music reflects that, and reflects how Spira has changed into a much better and happier place than it was. Yuna’s Ballad is beautiful. I never thought I would hear a theme song more beautiful than Aeris’ Theme, but I have. And it has its fair share of serious songs as the mood of the game shifts, especially the aeon battle music.

Many writers say you should start the story with a bang before you give it to them. Well, of all the bangs to start a story off with, this game really just pops a balloon. This game has a very good story, but the story is gradual and in pieces. The non-linear aspect of this game is both a good and bad at the same time. It’s good because you have almost complete control of the story, so you can see it how you want. It’s bad because you can see some sequences too far apart from one another and forget some small aspects of the story which were rather important to that next scene. However, you have control of how the story unfolds itself or if it even unfolds at all, which is a nice change from having it forced upon you. That being said, the story of this game suits Yuna’s journey perfectly. It gives Yuna hope and despair at the same time, makes her face opponents who she once defeated and sent with her own hands, and introduces a whole new one. Shuyin is a good villain, because he’s not really the villain. He’s similar to Riku in Kingdom Hearts, not the bad guy, just misguided. And Leblanc is just funny, from her accent to bossing Ormi and Logos around, good stuff. There are so many sub-stories in this game that all intertwine themselves, so much for Yuna to see and interact with, so much for her to get involved in. Not to mention the whole conflict between New Yevon, the Youth League, and somewhat the Machina Faction. That was good stuff right there. It was interesting to see how peace only turned into more war in this world, and how Shuyin reacted to that, as well as the rest of Spira. It’s a nice change to have multiple endings. And not just the five possible at the very end, every area has different endings, and you more or less have control over that. So many possibilities to the end of this game as a whole, you could replay it several times and still not see everything there is to see. Luckily you can replay it several times and keep your stuff, thanks to the very convinient New Game+, because it would really annoy everyone if the only way to see the perfect ending was to get 100% in one game. And might I just say that the reuniting of Lenne and Shuyin brought tears to my eyes, beautiful scene.

More than anything about this game, I loved the characterization, especially the transition characters from Final Fantasy X. Rikku and Brother are wonderfully done. Rikku became this fun and ambitious teenage girl who loves what she does. Brother can speak English and has let the role of leader go to his head. The back-story of Paine, Nooj, Barali and Gippal was very intriguing and fun to see unfold. Paine’s character especially was very well done. You see her change in so many ways, figure out why she became who she was in the first place, and see very deep emotions in her. She received more characterization that many Final Fantasy characters ever have. And then there’s Yuna. On my list of best Final Fantasy characters ever, Squall was at the top (*dodges stones*). But with the advent of this game, Yuna is at the top, followed by Paine. Yuna’s character took a 180 that I personally didn’t see coming. She changed in ways that took me completely by surprise. If you look at her transition as a whole, from the beginning of Final Fantasy X to the perfect end of Final Fantasy X-2, it is truly awe inspiring to see how she changed and grew, very enthralling. In fact, to see her character change like she did leads me to believe that Hedy Burress purposefully did Yuna’s Final Fantasy X voice the way she did, it wasn’t just bad voice acting (possibly).

I have heard many say that the good ending of Final Fantasy X-2 undermines the ending of Final Fantasy X, and I will now challenge that. At the end of Final Fantasy X, Tidus helps defeat Sin and Yu Yevon, knowing that upon their defeat, the fayth will stop dreaming and he will vanish. So he sacrificed himself so that Sin would be destroyed and Spira would be saved. But this was Tidus’s decision, not anyone else’s. That was not Yuna’s sacrifice. Yuna didn’t let Tidus fade, he faded of his own will. It was not a sacrifice for Yuna, it was a loss, a loss that she couldn’t stop. Or so she thought. Tidus’s fading changed Yuna. It drove Yuna, gave her hope, gave her life, gave her meaning. And when she possibly had the chance to see him again, it gave her motivation. Through her search for Tidus, she found so many things that weren’t Tidus. She found people that needed her help, she found conflict between several groups, she found Shuyin and Lenne, she found an ancient machina as powerful as Sin was. And through all of this, she found herself, cheesy as that may sound, that it what happened. She found out who she really was, gave herself the chance to be who she really was, and realized that Tidus’s sacrifice was not the way. It worked, and Sin was destroyed, but the ends don’t justify the means. To have to lose in order to win isn’t winning, isn’t victory. Her speech before the fight with Vegnagun is a perfect example of how she changed, not just that she said that, but that she had the courage to say it. After all is said and done, Tidus’s fading had more of a meaning than just to save Spira, and that meaning is given through this story and through Yuna’s journey. Yuna's story began when Tidus's story ended, but he was still a part of her story, even in passing. He may have sacrificed himself, be she didn't let him die, and through this journey she found the courage and strength to not let him die, whether he comes back or not.

A wonderful game this is indeed. Not without its flaws, not without its mini-games that make you want to pull your hair out, not without a really really easy final boss, but a wonderful game, and an innovative step in the right direction for future Final Fantasy games.