Square caused another huge rift in the Final Fantasy fanbase when the released the highly anticipated Final Fantasy XIII. Some people liked it, some people loved it and most people hated it. More importantly, the vast majority, like it or not, found it a disappointment. If you follow my reviews you'll know that I enjoyed the game greatly and it never felt like a disappointment to me mainly because I never fell victim to it's hype. Now that the hype is over and disappointment is what was left behind, why would Square ever release a sequel to the game that almost destroyed Final Fantasy? To try and undo that damage.
Final Fantasy XIII-2 is Square's atempt at fixing the issues people had with the original game such as the linear nature and the restricted battle system. Have they made a sequel that restores faith to it's father's name? Or have Square simply tried too hard to make a dead horse run?
The game takes place 3 years after the end of the first game and follows Lightning's sister Serah instead of Lightning herself. She's living a peaceful life on Gran Pulse with the members of NORA but something isn't right. Lightning and Snow are both missing. Serah vividly remembers Lightning giving her and Snow her blessing for their marraige yet she is told that Lightning didn't make out of Cocoon, she has become part of the pillar with Vanille and Fang. Serah swears Lightning survived and Snow heads out to look for her. Then, Serah's village is set upon by strange monsters after a meteor fell from the sky and crashing near by. Serah is about to be attacked when she is saved by a strange young man named Noel.
Turns out Noel is from the future and he carries a message from Lightning asking for Serah's help. Determined to help her sister, Serah sets out on a journey through time and setting things in the timeline straight as she does so. It's an interesting concept and not unlike Chrono Trigger, another classic Square game, but I find it uses the time travel in a more interesting way than Chrono Trigger ever could. You revisit areas in different times and even timelines and it's interesting to see how things change. What you did in one timeline could be the opposite of what you did in another and this even leads to alternate endings. The main plot and the villain, Caius, are great as well. It can get a little confusing, but I found that the confusion made it more interesting and memorable. There are plenty of twists and revelations to be found here.
My only issue with the plot comes from the game that came before. For how fantastical Final Fantasy XIII was, it's story was pretty grounded and made sense. How did that simple story turn into this convoluted and out there story of time travel. Aside from the serious tone change, Final Fantasy XIII-2's plot is pretty well done and it keeps you playing, granted you like Time Travel that is.
The gameplay is basically the same just with some improvements. The first improvement is that the way you unlock new classes is not through story progression but through level progression. The second improvement is the overall battle speed, it feels much faster and changing paradigms is a lot less annoying. The third, and most important, improvement comes in the form of some freedom. It's not as open as the Final Fantasy I-IX, but it as open, or more open, than X was. You have freedom in where you go and how you advance on the Historia Crux, the timeline menu, plus there are plenty of side-quests to participate in. If you thought the first game was linear, this one isn't.
Now, instead of human allies, you get monsters. Every so often, you'll obtain monsters you kill and then you can add them to your team and each one is set to a certain role. The roles are the same as in the first game and they all act the same. The combat is basically the same deal as well, beat on an enemy until it dies but if you are fighting a tougher monster you beat on it until you stagger it. Once a monster is staggered, they take a lot more damage than normal. The Commando and Ravager are still the two classes you'll be using the most and the Ravager is still the staggering master while the Commando is required to keep that stagger up. The other classes are still used, mostly Medic, but the game is far easier than the first game. This isn't a bad thing, but it can be slightly disappointing.
The other thing that changed is the Crystarium. It's no longer open and it's been simplified. I didn't have an issue with it but if you like to choose what you unlock next then you will be disappointed. Other than that it works the same way. You spent points earned from battles, side quests and story quests to unlock nodes that give either bonuses or abilities. A new addition to the game are the Live Trigger and Cinematic Action sequences. Live Triggers are situations when you get to make a dialogue choice and this dialogue choice changes the main conversation for a little while. They don't add much but they are welcome.
The Cinematic Action sequences happen during boss battles and they are simple Quick Time Events. I know people are getting tired of them, but they are well done here. They are simple and losing or winning them actually changes things. Winning is obviously what you want, but losing opens up new possibilities within the timeline. It's interesting to see them amount to more than simple energy loss. Overall, it's a massive improvement over the original game and it's amazingly fun.
There is a lot of music to be found in this game. There are many different sounds to be heard here and all of it is well made. The music suits what is happening and some of the tracks are picked perfectly and make certain moments that much better. Best song in the game? The music you hear riding the Red Chocobo, it's magical. The voice work is fine, but some of the voices are pretty lacking. Serah and Noel sound good, but some minor characters can get annoying. The sound effects are fitting and the battle music is still great. It's Final Fantasy through and through.
The visuals were the best thing about the original game, sad to say, and here they are not. The visuals are still amazing, but they are noticably worse than the linear XIII. Each location still looks fantastic and there is plenty of visual variety to be found here and the art style is still top notch, but the framerate rarely stays at a steady clip. It's falling all over the place but manages to stay smooth during battles. The character models all look great, with the exception of some of the minor characters, and Caius stands out as one of the best modeled characters. The CGI cutscenes still wow, but they are less often here and that's not a bad thing when your in-game visuals are as great as they are.
PROs
- Interesting plot
- Noel is an interesting character
- Time Travel concept is a neat idea
- Battle system has been improved
- Linear nature has been removed
- Tons of side-quests
- Ability to replay stages adds some replayability
- Monster capturing system is overused but fun
- Music is great
- Visuals are fantastic and varied
- QTEs are well done
CONs
- Game is a little too easy
- Story went off the deep end when compared to original
- Monsters are a poor stand in for actual characters
- Visuals are weaker than the original's
- Some weak and annoying characters
Overall, Final Fantasy XIII-2 is a massive step in the right direction for the XIII saga. It has it's issues but what game doesn't? It's still a lengthy and content filled adventure with an interesting plot and interesting characters. What does the future hold for the Final Fantasy series? You'll find out at the end of your time traveling journey.
Story: 9.0/10
Gameplay: 9.5/10
Audio: 9.0/10
Presentation: 9.5/10
TOTAL = 9.0/10