I love this game! It's just...amazing!
+ interesting and compelling story
+ all characters are beautifully depicted, especially Serah, Noel and Hope
+ interesting pokémon-like monster hunting/taming system
+ Caius is a great villain
+ shops are back
+ gorgeous graphics
The bad
+ you can't recruit more than two playable characters
+ at times, the soundtrack is really annoying
+ it has very long locations loading times
Story and Characters
The story begins with Lightning fighting Caius, in Valhalla.
Then Noel appears from a rift in the sky and Lightning fetches him and asks him to go and find Serah, so that, together, they can change the time-line and save the future that she couldn't save. She gives him Mog, a good-luck charm for Serah and sends him away, while she keeps fighting. Serah dreams of the events unfolding in Valhalla and wakes up in chaos-stricken New Bodhum, to find out the dream she had was true and meets Noel, who gives her Mog.
Together, they set out on a journey across time to find Lightning and save the future.
Gameplay
Battle system
The battle system is similar to XIII's. There's still the ATB gauge, the Paradigm Shifts, the player can still control only one character at a time, but in addition, the player's given the option to change leader during battle, so that the KOed character can be revived. The third slot in the party is for monsters. Either of the two main characters can be controlled by the player, while monsters are managed by the AI. Serah and Noel can switch to different roles. Instead, each monster has only one role, so choosing the right monster to add to the party and using the Paradigm Shifts cleverly is key to win the battle. Up to three monsters can be added to the party at once, through the Paradigm Pack option. Setting paradigms for battle works in the same way it worked in XIII, plus, for each Paradigm, the player can choose three different stances: normal, cross, wide. Normal lets the AI decide which kind of action will be taken by the party, according to the role assigned to each combatant. Cross will focus the action of the party on the enemy targeted by the leader. Wide is for area attacks.
Using the system wisely, by changing leader at the right time, by rotating the Paradigms swiftly according to the situation and by choosing the right combination of monsters to add to the party, makes for a pretty strategic battle system.
The player actually has to think before taking action. Also, there is a wide variety of behavioral patterns both for normal monsters and boss monsters, so the player will have to focus and look for the best strategy to beat them.
Another feature of XIII-2's battle system is the Mog Clock: by hitting the monster while the clock counter's still green before entering battle will make for a pre-emptive strike, another key feature to win battles easier and faster. A five-star rating will make for a bigger prize and for an higher rate of rare drops by monsters and bosses.
At the end of some of the boss battles a Live Trigger Action will play, in which the player will have to cooperate by pulling the analog stick and hitting and/or tapping a combination of buttons at the right time. If the cinematic action is played flawlessly, the player will get a bonus. A trophy is the prize for the player who plays them all correctly.
Exploration
Exploration is interweaved with the time travelling element of the main storyline, so that locations will change over time and by visiting the same location in a different era, areas that were inaccessible before will be unlocked. Also, as part of the unfolding of the story itself, is a game-wide fragment-fetching quest. Fragments are awarded to the player in many ways: by completing a story arc, by accepting quests from npcs, using Mog's treasure hunting abilities and sometimes certain fragments are required to progress through the story itself. There are some fragments that can be fetched only by visiting the same location in different times, so the time travelling element becomes all the more important. There are a couple of fragments that require the player to complete all maps and fill out the bestiary up to the very last monster before they are awarded to the player.
Also, by reversing time for some of the locations and doing things in a slightly different way, alternative endings will be unlocked. Another key feature of exploration, is looking for artefacts to unlock the various gates. While most of the gates are unlocked by an artefact obtained completing a story arc, there are some gates that require a Wild Artefact to work.
Wild Artefacts are scattered across different locations and different eras; some of them can only be acquired by using Mog's abilities; others are given as part of quests or by completing a story arc and then going back to that location to fetch the artefact. Sometimes they will be out phase and can be found only by using Mog's bubble.
Sometimes they will be in plain sight. There is a finished number of these in the game.
And the player will have to fetch them all to progress through the story. Monsters are random, but not spreaded all across the maps. They appear as a sort of bubble in fixed areas of the different locations.
Crystarium
The Crystarium is used only by Serah and Noel. Monsters grow by using items.
Serah and Noel can master all the roles from XIII's first installment and it can be done in a single playthrough. Their Crystarium develops faster and freer than that of XIII's characters. Monsters require monster materials, which are dropped by monsters or sold by Chocolina's shop, a mysterious and funny npc which shows up at every location of the game safe for one. She sells various goods, monster materials and weapons, too.
Low level monster materials are pretty cheap, while higher level materials are fairly pricey, so the player might want to gather them by fighting monsters.
Each monster has its own role to develop and in addition to a traditional leveling system, there's also a leveling system linked to the materials used. High level monsters can develop up to level 5 monster materials type. Some will stop their growth at level 2.
There's also an infusion system through which, by sacrificing some of the monsters, the monster infused will inherit passive and active abilities from the sacrificed monster, if they're compatible.
Graphics
Visually, the game is stunning. There's nothing more to say.
Sound
All dialogues, not only those that are played during cut-scenes, but also those that Serah and Noel catch by passing by npcs or talking with them to get quests, are voiced.
Some dialogues are overlapped by the bgm at times, though and this is kind of annoying.
As for the soundtrack, some themes are beautiful: New Bodhum's 003 AF, Oerba's and Dying World's are some of my favorites. Other themes are just plain irritating, like the theme that plays while fighting hordes of Cieths in Academia 400AF or when facing Caius.
Some others are taken straight from XIII's soundtrack. And the standard battle theme, I find it deafening. I wish SE would give the player the option to adjust the sound levels.
Conclusion
Overall, I'd say this game makes for a pretty solid 70 or more hours of gameplay.
It fixes some of the issues that made XIII not an instant classic as an FF game.
It tells an interesting and compelling story and it makes of its only weakness its greater strength, by making Serah and Noel, the only two playable characters, also great lead characters. Caius is a different kind of villain than those met in previous games, since his desire to annihilate time itself doesn't come from angst or vengeance or egoism, but from grief.
Side characters are all developed carefully and beautifully: Hope, Alyssa, Yeul, Mog.
Even guest characters such as Snow, Vanille, Fang, Sazh and Lightning play their role and fit into the game perfectly.
XIII's mythology is handled with great wisdom and while it leaves some questions open, it answers to many of those raised by the first installment brief ending in a crafty way.
Times, players have changed and SE is looking for a way to adapt to these changes.
For me, Final Fantasy XIII-2 is an outstanding game which tries to innovate while not rejecting the tradition.