The sequel to the most hated Final Fantasy yet is also one of the best JRPGs I've played!
% = emphasis placed
Story = 25%
Design = 20%
Gameplay = 35%
Presentation = 10%
Final Fantasy is one of the biggest RPG franchises in the industry if not the biggest. Yet I have never played any of them with the exception of III (which is terrible by the way). So I decided to dive into the series with this one, the sequel to what many Final Fantasy fans think is one of the worst in the series. Since I mostly play games for their gameplay and since I heard they made this one way more open-ended than its predecessor I decided to give this one a shot. It also made my list of Top 10 Most Anticipated Games of 2012. I was pretty excited when I got my hands on it. How well does it do in its inaugural performance with me, perhaps one of the biggest RPG fans in the business? Time to rate and review!
Story
I kept hearing about how convoluted Final Fantasy XIII's story was. While I agree for some parts of it, I think I understand how XIII's story played out thanks to a helpful primer in the game. So the premise of the game is this: it takes place three years after the events of FF XIII. Lightning, the main character of XIII, has mysteriously disappeared and no one but her sister Serah remembers Lightning before her disappearance. You play as Serah and Noel, a young man from the distant future and the last person on the planet. The initial goal of the pair is to get to Lightning who after her disappearance appeared in Valhalla, a place in purgatory. As they travel, they discover they have the chance to change the future from its bleak end. For the most part, it is a good tale but if you don't pay attention to the cutscenes, it is very easy to get lost. In addition, the game expects you to know the events of XIII to get some of the dialogue and characters. Fortunately, it doesn't focus too much on XIII's events and tells a story of its own. The story is pretty good until... no, I'll leave that out because of spoilers. But it will affect the score here. Let's just say, it was not the ending you will expect.
Story: 6.5/10
Design
For RPGs, longevity is important. I would say the main story clocks in around 25-30 hours. However, there are alternate areas and plenty of distractions to keep you busy. At the time of writing this review, I have clocked in over 50 hours. There will also be DLC in the future to keep you playing. Once you get into the game, it is hard to pull away. The game provides you with lots of opportunities to get lost in its world whether it be collecting monster crystals, which takes the place of other team members, gambling, and defeating the powerful sub bosses. Aside from monsters, you only get two team members, Serah and Noel. However, you have the ability to develop them along whatever path you choose. The crystarium from XIII has been improved allowing for level-ups whenever you choose instead of specific points in XIII. The core design works well for the game.
Design: 9/10
Gameplay
Not having played any other Final Fantasy games before, I'm not sure if this is biased or not but I found the gameplay of XIII-2 amazing. The flashy effects really made the game fun to watch which was important considering you aren't performing the attacks yourself. There is room for strategy but I found just grinding away and hitting auto-battle got me through most of the game. Fortunately when it comes to grinding it's not bad since you gain a fair bit of XP, or Crystogen Points in this game, whenever you fight. There was never really a point where I felt overwhelmed by the challenge of the game except for some of the bosses. For those you have to think strategically and make calls when appropriate. The paradigm shifts from XIII return which leads to strategically placed shifts to heal, tank, or deal damage. Although it is daunting to learn at first, it quickly becomes second nature as you understand what each one does. The class of your character also changes the paradigms which leads to a ton of different combinations. The paradigms you use depend on your playstyle. Gameplay is addicting, fun to watch, and simple once you spend time with it. I have no complaints whatsoever here.
Gameplay: 10/10
Presentation
Final Fantasy XIII-2 looks stunning. During the opening cutscenes I had to remind myself I was playing a game and not watching a TV program. The characters look real enough for me to interact with. It's clear that most of their time was spent on this. It shows occasionally with a few frame rate issues. Draw distances are great with good texturing. Music is varied going from songs about hope, to rap and to screamo. It's a wide range of music and I'm sure there is one piece that will get stuck in your head. Voice acting ranges from good to horrible. It seems to be a curse with Japanese games. Main characters like Serah sound ok but the NPC voices were clearly put on the back burner. They sound terrible combined with their horrible dialogue animation. Given that most of your side-quests are given by NPCs, this becomes an issue. Chocolina, the vendor in the game, has to be the strangest. In typical girl style her voice is high-pitched and can get on your nerves.
Presentation: 8.5/10
Final Fantasy XIII-2 is a great standalone RPG and easily one of the better JRPGs I have played. Initially I thought this would be a good game to keep me occupied until Mass Effect 3's launch in March. I didn't think I would like it as much as I did. The gameplay and quests had me hooked right up until the very end of the game. The year is still young but I can still see myself remembering this experience for a long time.
I'm Sniper-Gamer and I rate this game 9 out of 10. I hope you found this review useful!