Final Fantasy XIII-2 is such a weird game to review. On one hand, it fixes just about everything that I and other FF fans had an issue with FFXIII. It fixes the linearity issue and improves combat. The leveling system is improved and it gives the player the freedom to tackle most goals in the order that they want. It's no longer a hallway for 20 hours and the story is easy to understand.
What FFXIII-2 does wrong is it's a sequel to a game that not many really wanted a sequel to. Because of this, the story is so out there, so made up on the spot and doesn't really go at all with the themes of the original game or even fit in the context of the world, it just doesn't seem to fit. Yet the story that is presented is pretty simple and if you're able to ignore logic, for the most part, it does have some very entertaining moments.
The things it does right with the plot is all the new characters are great. Noel is a great protagonist, as well as Caius, is a fantastic villain. Caius is arguably one of the best FF villains of all time. I instantly loved everything about Caius from the writing of his character to his motivations and how he wasn't inherently evil. He didn't want to destroy the world for no reason and his motivations really fleshed him out. He felt like a more mature, realized version of Sephiroth and he is a great character in his own right.
The overall story of time travel and what pretty much equivalates to the consequences of said time travel does make for an interesting story. The issue with it is, it just doesn't fit within the context of FFXIII's world. Time travel was never in the original game, so why did it suddenly happen here? If it was an accident, ala Chrono Trigger I could accept that, but everyone is pretty much self-aware of time travel, even the NPC's are aware of it. It just seems very much off and it's almost like this shouldn't have been in a sequel to a mainline game but instead, an actual mainline game. The concepts it has here are great and easily could've been used in an actual mainline FF game within a new world and setting. Here it's just odd and out of place, severely.
If you can just ignore all of that and go with it, it's a pretty well-paced story and it's not nearly as long as the original game, which is good because the original dragged on, especially in the middle and here it didn't really have that problem. Just when I was starting to get a little bored, the action picks up and it made it a very interesting 20 or so hour story.
The gameplay does everything better. No longer do you have a series of long tutorials or basic classes locked out. There is no level cap either. The leveling system is both hit and miss. It would be nice if I could see what each node does before I go and unlock it but that's a minor complaint. The enemies give out quite a bit oF CP that you can use to power up the characters.
It's the same battle system but shifting between roles seems faster and if a character dies, it's not an instant game over, you can control the other character. The gameplay is as automated as the other one was. Sure you could do everything manually but auto battle seems to work best. I ended up playing in easy mode not because it was hard but because the battles tend to drag. I'm not a huge fan of the combat of the original but the sequel is better, it still has similar issues so if you hated the first's gameplay, this won't be your thing.
This time, there is variety. The areas are not hallways but semi-open spaces. It's not a sandbox so you shouldn't expect it but it does have breathing room and room to explore areas. It works. There are also side quests and even mini-games thrown in.
The soundtrack is pretty good. It has some WTF songs [go to youtube and type in 'crazy chocobo' if you don't believe me.] Yet it has some great tracks with some interesting vocal work. The antagonist, Caius has a series of great themes and it's arguably one of their best villain themes of all time.
The voice work is really good. Liam O'Brien steals the show as he usually does and him as Caius is the best decision they have ever made. Everyone else sounds great. The original cast is also back but most of their roles are limited.
The graphics are good. Some areas feel copy and pasted. The enemies are a straight asset copy and paste job with some exceptions. The bosses are varied and interesting and do give much-needed variety. The new areas introduced are very well done, especially a city you see about halfway through the game.
So it's a good game. It's not going to ever win a game of the decade award but I did like it and while it should've just been a standalone game and I hope one day they do, do either a Chrono Trigger sequel or an actual FF game with a similar theme, it is a decent alternative. It isn't as good as Chrono Trigger, that will always be the best time traveling game but if you can just ignore the story's nonsensicalness it's worth a playthrough, especially how you can easily get it used for under 10 dollars at a game store.