East meets West.

User Rating: 9 | Final Fantasy X-2 PS2
Where would Star Trek go when its gone everywhere (thus, there will be nowhere where man hasn't gone before)? The same place Square goes once its created more worlds than imagination permits - backwards! But oh! they've done it in style (read fashion-style). Traditional Final Fantasy with new elements in an east meets west scenario has yielded good results.

FFX-2 is good! OK? Good! Its faster, more diverse and less tedious than previous titles. Yuna, Rikku and Paine slash, shoot, magick their way through battles while working as full-time fashion models. Occassionally, they go on Next Top Model and exhibit singing and dancing skills so potent that it drops their opponents senseless! No, these aren't mini-games, thought there are plentiful mini-games in FFX-2. Through the use of dress-spheres the girls can switch between warrior-types, something that changes their strengths and weaknesses as well as their costumes. Such warrior-types include Gunner, Gun-Mage, Thief, Samurai, etc as well as some exotic ones like Songstress and Lady Luck. After getting special spheres, any girl won meets the conditions can transform into a uber-warrior who fights solo ( the replacement for summons).

FFX-2 has non-linear, non-story driven gameplay where you can take up a mission whenever you want and you needn't finish all of them. There is a story though of course and a pretty good one at that. The difference here is that there isn't just ONE story, there are multiple events unfolding over Spira simultaneously and you can tackle which you want at your leisure. A truly nice touch.

FFX-2 combines good story-telling with solid, fast and FUN gameplay and the mood varies between upbeat to melancholy - the music makes sure you feel it. The graphics are stunning of course and the game is populated with several beautiful and touching cutscenes- prime example, Yuna's concert on the Thunder Plains. And because the game is so much fun to play (as opposed to addictive), you might want to play this again and again.