Difficulty:

Easy

Time Spent:

20 to 40 Hours

The Bottom Line:

"Highly addictive"

Final Fantasy X-2 is the first true direct game sequel in the Final Fantasy series. It takes place two years after the events of Final Fantasy X. This is also the first Final Fantasy game to have only three main playable all-female cast. The story is told throught the eyes of Lady Yuna. She joins a group of sphere hunters called the Gullwings with her Al-Bhed cousin, Rikku, who are lead by Brother (Rikku's big brother and Yuna's other cousin). The third member of the Gullwings is Paine, a sarcastic and cynical young woman with a mysterious past. The main reason why Yuna joins the Gullwings is because of a video sphere about a mysterious young man who looks like Tidus. After the fall of Sin and the start of the Eternal Calm, there are several factions trying to gain power and also find spheres about Spira's past. Three of these factions are New Yevon led by Praetor Baralai, Youth League led by Meyvn Nooj, and the Machine Faction whose led by Gippal. During the game, the Gullwings find ancient spheres about a weapon machina called Vegnagun and the mysterious young man named Shuyin trying to use the machina to end a war between Zanarkand and Bevelle to protect his summoner girlfriend who is a famous singer in Zanarkand and looks similar to Yuna. The Gullwings decide to stop Shuyin (who's an Unsent) from using the Vegnagun to destroy Spira. There are lot of returning characters from the first Final Fantasy X game like Wakka, Lulu, Kimhari and many others. Final Fantasy X-2 does an interesting spin on the Job System called Dresspheres. Every Dressphere have abilities that you can master by using that certain Dressphere in battle. Also, you can switch Dresspheres in and out of battle. Each of the Dresspheres have their pros and cons. All three girls have their own special Dressphere. To use the dresspheres, you must have a Garment Grid. There are many different Gament Grids. Each one has certain special abilities like boosting defense and letting the user to cast certain magic. The game has a mission-based storyline and is split up into five chapters. Some of the missions move the story along and others are optional. Many of the side-quests and mini-games add a certain percentage to your total percentage so far. Depending on how much of the game you completed, you can get several different endings. In one of the endings, you may choose to see Tidus return to Spira. I really loved the J-Pop atmosphere of this game and the characters. It's a really fun game to check out.