Final Fantasy XIII-2 (Square Enix)
As an out of the closet Squaresoft (not so much Square Enix) fanboy, the FF series has always been a source of much love, having obtained every one of the main numbered series from V to XIV and probably ongoing til XXIIVVVVVCC or however high those numbers go, but after the bizarre adventure that was Final Fantasy X-2, I was not too sure if another sequel to the main series would be a good or a bad thing, which is why when I heard XIII-2 was on the way, I didn't really get into the hype, and was ready to ignore it completely, safe in the fact that XIII simply wasn't that great. I was one of the few that stuck it out till the end, and did all the additional stuff too, and while it wasn't even in the same league as VII, VIII, IX, X, XI, I, II and III, it was enjoyable, if a little too much of it being a movie with the occasional interactive battle sequence. The graphics were stunning, the music was beautiful in places, and the character progression was strong enough, but they forgot to put the game in and as such, people were quickly dissuaded from continuing, and left it by the way side, making it one of the more ridiculed games in SE's arsenal.
The demo for XIII-2 popped up on Xbox Live one lazy afternoon so I thought what the heck, i'll try it. A friend had already been hyping it up so meh, nothing ventured, nothing gained, and boy was I surprised, which suffice to say resulted in me buying the game on release and having the gaming experience of a lifetime with it.
The demo for XIII-2 popped up on Xbox Live one lazy afternoon so I thought what the heck, i'll try it. A friend had already been hyping it up so meh, nothing ventured, nothing gained, and boy was I surprised, which suffice to say resulted in me buying the game on release and having the gaming experience of a lifetime with it.
First Impressions
The game didn't start out too well, as out of habit I like to install all my Xbox 360 games, mainly to stop the whirring noises the machine makes while accessing the discs, and to a lesser extent, to help extend the life of my now 5 year old system. It hangs on the install and crashes, but after working out that signing out of Xbox Live and then running the install solves it, I sat back on my sofa, put my feet up, lights on low and hit Play.
The standard intro credits found in all FF games rolled up, nice music but I don't want to watch them so skipped through, started my game, and the main introduction sequence begins, which drops you right into the action of a battle at the end of time, with the protagonist from the previous game, Lightning, fighting against some unknown villian who looks oddly like Seymour from X, only without the handlebar hair and kimono. He has a huge Soul Blade like sword, and keeps trying to summon a humongous meteor as the game whips you from cutscene to battle, to action sequences and then back to more battle. The visuals were even better than the previous outings, the music was pulse pumping, and the story was right into the good stuff. Honestly from this section alone I was sold.
The game moves on quickly as it talks you through battle basics, paradigm shifting and the cinematic quicktime events, but allows you enough time to understand and try out each one as you go, but already the frame rate is a little stuttery as there is just so much going on on screen, which is at the point I realised that this wasn't CGI, this was an ingame movie using actual ingame graphics! It was stunning, and you would be forgiven for thinking it was a movie.
Anyways, after we see time come to end and Lightning getting obliterated, our main character, Serah, wakes up to find things are going a bit mental outside in New Bodhum. A meteorite has landed and has caused some crazy time shifting to go on around her. She goes out, learns a bit about whats going on, the story from the previous game gets summarized and then off you go to meet the other protagonist, Noel, who was inside the Meteor.
The game is basically following them through various times and paradoxes as they unravel the mystery and eventually start saving the universe, and seeing how the actions they take in one timeline have serious consequences on another.
Just judging from the offering that the demo gave, I got to experience most of the mechanics the game had to offer, such as the questing, pet growth (more on that later) and how to use the Moogle, as well as how time gets affected by each action taken, and it all seemed to be a very well rounded and enjoyable experience.
The standard intro credits found in all FF games rolled up, nice music but I don't want to watch them so skipped through, started my game, and the main introduction sequence begins, which drops you right into the action of a battle at the end of time, with the protagonist from the previous game, Lightning, fighting against some unknown villian who looks oddly like Seymour from X, only without the handlebar hair and kimono. He has a huge Soul Blade like sword, and keeps trying to summon a humongous meteor as the game whips you from cutscene to battle, to action sequences and then back to more battle. The visuals were even better than the previous outings, the music was pulse pumping, and the story was right into the good stuff. Honestly from this section alone I was sold.
The game moves on quickly as it talks you through battle basics, paradigm shifting and the cinematic quicktime events, but allows you enough time to understand and try out each one as you go, but already the frame rate is a little stuttery as there is just so much going on on screen, which is at the point I realised that this wasn't CGI, this was an ingame movie using actual ingame graphics! It was stunning, and you would be forgiven for thinking it was a movie.
Anyways, after we see time come to end and Lightning getting obliterated, our main character, Serah, wakes up to find things are going a bit mental outside in New Bodhum. A meteorite has landed and has caused some crazy time shifting to go on around her. She goes out, learns a bit about whats going on, the story from the previous game gets summarized and then off you go to meet the other protagonist, Noel, who was inside the Meteor.
The game is basically following them through various times and paradoxes as they unravel the mystery and eventually start saving the universe, and seeing how the actions they take in one timeline have serious consequences on another.
Just judging from the offering that the demo gave, I got to experience most of the mechanics the game had to offer, such as the questing, pet growth (more on that later) and how to use the Moogle, as well as how time gets affected by each action taken, and it all seemed to be a very well rounded and enjoyable experience.
Gameplay
Comparing it to XIII, it doesn't even sit in the same ballpark. XIII-2 offered so much more in pretty much every way compared to it's first part, and improved on all the things that were wrong with it.
Levelling was much less of a confusing affair, having only one track through each Crystarium (the levelling field used to increase stats by spending Crystarium Points aka CP) allowed better focus on which role to manage first, rather than having a spattering of everything and being generally weak across the board. The Paradigm System, where by you choose a setup of roles (for example Healer, Tank and Damage Dealer) and set them against other role configurations to be used in battle was on the whole unchanged, but tweaked to enable better usability without as much confusion, offering faster switches in battle and more information on how each setup would work. The basics were generally unchanged, but instead of having a 3rd party member, we have Feral Linking.
In XIII-2 you can tame the monsters you fight across Pulse and Cocoon, using them as your last party slot to help in battle, and I have to be honest, I really did not understand the intricacies of this system at first, but as time went on, I loved it. The beauty of it being that you could literally tame anything (with the exception of a few key boss fights) and have them join you, as well as 2 other creatures for your set of Paradigms, and they all have their own roles too. For example, my team to start with was Noel, Serah and a little cat called Cait Sith, who lives in a floating pot, and heals my characters, as they didn't yet have Medic unlocked, but then found a Synergist called Amanojaku who helped to buff my party up with powerful enhancements. Switching between these 2 in battle kept me alive and strong, and kept the pace of battle moving quickly. As you level the monsters they unlock new spells and abilities, and there is no limit to how many you can have tamed, but you are limited to how many you can have active at a time (3). As they level, they can also devour other tamed beasts to take on their traits and abilities too, so there was rarely a time when after spending so much on levelling a creature, and then finding a newer, more powerful version of that role, that the points I had put in already were wasted, as they carried over in the form of abilities into my new pets. This became my obsession on completion of the main games storyline, to get the most powerful pet possible, and I did!
Regarding the games progression, it is meted out in digestable chunks along the Historia Crux (the level selection hub) which is found outside of time. This is where decisions are made to continue on or reset the current time period and try for a different outcome, but it wasn't really as dynamic as first thought, as there are really only 9 true outcomes to the game, based on the bigger decisions made, as it turned out the smaller conversation topics had little sway on the path taken. In direct response to the complaints that the previous outing was far too linear, the game now lets you explore at your own pace, and each area is a maze more than a single lane to run down, giving you much more control over how you progress through the games main storyline, and after a little confusion initially with how it would all work, it actually makes a lot of sense and is very easy to use, with options to view it either as a timeline, or as zones.
Found in the Historia Crux, is Serendipity, the theme park in the style of VII's Golden Saucer where people lost in time come to waste some gil, and pass the days away. Currently there is Chocobo Racing, Slot Machines and an NPC that awards you with skills based on achievements ingame, and I have to say that I really enjoyed this little time wasting area. The slot machine has multi-tiered modes and rewards (and even mood swings which affect it's payout rates) and the Chocobo Racing is very well built, allowing you to catch one out in the games world and either use it in battle or bring it here to race with. You use the Crystarium grid to give your monster skills and traits that can be used while racing, and then cheer it on via a boost bar as it does laps around the circuit. The prizes on offer are really cool, ranging from vanity adornments to put on your creature (like hats and bows etc) to unique and powerful weapons, and rare upgrade materials to help you get better gear. I spent hours doing these races, and enjoyed earning all the rewards through each racing career my Chocobo had.
Once you complete the main storyline, you can then jump right back into the Historia Crux and continue to gather up the fragments (little pieces of memory that give you insights into the games world and lore) which are rewards from the various side quests in each time zone. Some are found just out in the world, or as purchases from the casino for the special currency earned in Serendipitys games, and a few are handed out automatically on completing sections of the main story. 160 in total leads you up to the games secret and supposedly "true" ending, where we find out what actually took place and where things are going, as the DLC on it's way will be completing the story.
Levelling was much less of a confusing affair, having only one track through each Crystarium (the levelling field used to increase stats by spending Crystarium Points aka CP) allowed better focus on which role to manage first, rather than having a spattering of everything and being generally weak across the board. The Paradigm System, where by you choose a setup of roles (for example Healer, Tank and Damage Dealer) and set them against other role configurations to be used in battle was on the whole unchanged, but tweaked to enable better usability without as much confusion, offering faster switches in battle and more information on how each setup would work. The basics were generally unchanged, but instead of having a 3rd party member, we have Feral Linking.
In XIII-2 you can tame the monsters you fight across Pulse and Cocoon, using them as your last party slot to help in battle, and I have to be honest, I really did not understand the intricacies of this system at first, but as time went on, I loved it. The beauty of it being that you could literally tame anything (with the exception of a few key boss fights) and have them join you, as well as 2 other creatures for your set of Paradigms, and they all have their own roles too. For example, my team to start with was Noel, Serah and a little cat called Cait Sith, who lives in a floating pot, and heals my characters, as they didn't yet have Medic unlocked, but then found a Synergist called Amanojaku who helped to buff my party up with powerful enhancements. Switching between these 2 in battle kept me alive and strong, and kept the pace of battle moving quickly. As you level the monsters they unlock new spells and abilities, and there is no limit to how many you can have tamed, but you are limited to how many you can have active at a time (3). As they level, they can also devour other tamed beasts to take on their traits and abilities too, so there was rarely a time when after spending so much on levelling a creature, and then finding a newer, more powerful version of that role, that the points I had put in already were wasted, as they carried over in the form of abilities into my new pets. This became my obsession on completion of the main games storyline, to get the most powerful pet possible, and I did!
Regarding the games progression, it is meted out in digestable chunks along the Historia Crux (the level selection hub) which is found outside of time. This is where decisions are made to continue on or reset the current time period and try for a different outcome, but it wasn't really as dynamic as first thought, as there are really only 9 true outcomes to the game, based on the bigger decisions made, as it turned out the smaller conversation topics had little sway on the path taken. In direct response to the complaints that the previous outing was far too linear, the game now lets you explore at your own pace, and each area is a maze more than a single lane to run down, giving you much more control over how you progress through the games main storyline, and after a little confusion initially with how it would all work, it actually makes a lot of sense and is very easy to use, with options to view it either as a timeline, or as zones.
Found in the Historia Crux, is Serendipity, the theme park in the style of VII's Golden Saucer where people lost in time come to waste some gil, and pass the days away. Currently there is Chocobo Racing, Slot Machines and an NPC that awards you with skills based on achievements ingame, and I have to say that I really enjoyed this little time wasting area. The slot machine has multi-tiered modes and rewards (and even mood swings which affect it's payout rates) and the Chocobo Racing is very well built, allowing you to catch one out in the games world and either use it in battle or bring it here to race with. You use the Crystarium grid to give your monster skills and traits that can be used while racing, and then cheer it on via a boost bar as it does laps around the circuit. The prizes on offer are really cool, ranging from vanity adornments to put on your creature (like hats and bows etc) to unique and powerful weapons, and rare upgrade materials to help you get better gear. I spent hours doing these races, and enjoyed earning all the rewards through each racing career my Chocobo had.
Once you complete the main storyline, you can then jump right back into the Historia Crux and continue to gather up the fragments (little pieces of memory that give you insights into the games world and lore) which are rewards from the various side quests in each time zone. Some are found just out in the world, or as purchases from the casino for the special currency earned in Serendipitys games, and a few are handed out automatically on completing sections of the main story. 160 in total leads you up to the games secret and supposedly "true" ending, where we find out what actually took place and where things are going, as the DLC on it's way will be completing the story.
Characters
The worlds of Pulse and Cocoon are laden with various memorable people as Serah and Noel venture through the timelines, attempting to stop Caius (the games baddie) from bringing about a Cataclysmic end. Each character has their own history and is quite well explained as you progress, offering further explanations through the Datalog in the games menu if you want to set aside some time to read more about the lore.
The first of the main cast is Serah, Lightnings sister. Serah was trapped in crystal for the events of the first game, and Lightning saving her was the ultimate goal, as well as stopping Cocoon from crashing down into Pulse. Now the tables have turned as Serah much save Lightning who is locked in an eternal battle with Caius at the end of time in a place called Valhalla. Sarah can be a little too skippy at times, as she tends to drift along the Rikku/Selphie/Yuna from X-2 side of the annoyance scale, but has enough moments throughout the events of XIII-2 to connect with her, as you find out that she is dealing with a lot more than we first thought.
Assisting Serah is Noel, a mysterious boy who turns up in the middle of Lightnings battle in Valhalla, and is tasked by her to find and protect Serah, and ultimately bring them together. Noels story stems from his timeline, which is a world where everyone is dead, leaving only him, a strange girl and Caius left to live alone. He see's some pretty rough stuff so decides to leave his world when a portal opens, bringing him to Valhalla, and the games beginning. My one criticism for this character would be that he seems far too grown up for his age (18), as he often says things that I could never imagine someone of that age saying, but otherwise, he is quite a strong presence and very likable.
A gift from Lightning to Serah, Moogle is the 3rd piece in our group, and has a bizarre role, in that it is Serah's weapon, literally. It physically turns into her bow when combat starts and leaps into her hands, ready to help fight. On top of this strange function, it also acts as a treasure hunting device in one of 2 ways. First it can be called upon to reveal small pockets of broken time, where items have been shifted into another time, allowing you to pick them up. It's second, and much more fun ability is that it can be tossed anywhere you choose by throwing it along a guiding arc, into large pits, behind scenery, and out of the map, to find secrets. Moogle starts out as quite annoying, but you quickly get used to it, and as far as mechanics go, it definately holds a torch for some unique ideas in a game.
Chasing our protagonists across time is Caius. Caius appears to be the love child of Ansem from Kingdom Hearts, Seymour from Final Fantasy X, and Fang from XIII/XIII-2 in looks. He is the one trying to cause the end of all time in battle with Lightning, but as the story progresses we find out that it isn't the usual madmans lament common in a lot of FF games, instead he has seen things one too many times to bear, and wishes to save the life of Yul, the shamanistic seer who he accompanies through time. Yul is born in every era anew, and dies once she has seen too many future visions, fated to be born again, and repeat the same actions for all eternity. Caius is her guardian, and has to watch her die every time, which we find out is his reason for ending time, as it will break this cycle. While initially a blank slate, his motives and story are made clear, as well as his connection with Noel, and turns out to be one of the more understandable villians in the series.
As well as these guys, there is Hope and his partner in time, Alyssa, who are both working to keep Cocoon (the small inner orbital planet suspended in the skies of Pulse) up in the air. Hope has grown up alot since his previous adventure, and has become a much better character for it. He was originally whiny and complaining about everything, but now he has manned up and taken the role of the head of a major restoration of the worlds various towns, ultimately with the goal of developing the technology to hold Cocoon up, allowing Vanille and Fang to be free'd from their prison inside the crystal pillar. He is very likable in this outing, and you see that he only wants what is best for the people, and seems to have not noticed the affections directed towards him from Alyssa. She is a mysterious girl who claims to be a researcher, and only wants to help out, tasking Serah and Noel with various collection and fact finding quests to help things along, but there is just something that doesn't seem quite right about her, as she bounces through time with Hope by her side.
All the old cast return too, including an older Snow, now with a chocobo for hair, Sazh and Dahj, who are flying around in airships to aid Hope and Alyssa, as well as a brief scene where Vanille and Fang show up to offer some sagely wisdom during one of the darker moments in the games story.
I found the entire cast to be likable, enjoyable and interesting enough to keep me playing, but no one stands out more in this game than Chocolina. Square Enix are known for their bizarre sense of humor, and she is definately no exception. Originally pegged to be a waitress in Serendipity, the developers liked her design so much, they decided to give her a more prominent role in the game, and she became the main shop vendor appearing in every time zone and paradox. She is apparantley half human and half chocobo, and provides upbeat one liners that admittedly made me chuckle on the odd occasion, as you can't help but like her, as she sells various items, equipment and weapon upgrades. There are alot of theories behind who she actually is, one of them being that due to her knowing alot of intimate stuff about the main cast, she is the grown up version of the chocobo chick in Sazh's afro, but nothing was confirmed.
The first of the main cast is Serah, Lightnings sister. Serah was trapped in crystal for the events of the first game, and Lightning saving her was the ultimate goal, as well as stopping Cocoon from crashing down into Pulse. Now the tables have turned as Serah much save Lightning who is locked in an eternal battle with Caius at the end of time in a place called Valhalla. Sarah can be a little too skippy at times, as she tends to drift along the Rikku/Selphie/Yuna from X-2 side of the annoyance scale, but has enough moments throughout the events of XIII-2 to connect with her, as you find out that she is dealing with a lot more than we first thought.
Assisting Serah is Noel, a mysterious boy who turns up in the middle of Lightnings battle in Valhalla, and is tasked by her to find and protect Serah, and ultimately bring them together. Noels story stems from his timeline, which is a world where everyone is dead, leaving only him, a strange girl and Caius left to live alone. He see's some pretty rough stuff so decides to leave his world when a portal opens, bringing him to Valhalla, and the games beginning. My one criticism for this character would be that he seems far too grown up for his age (18), as he often says things that I could never imagine someone of that age saying, but otherwise, he is quite a strong presence and very likable.
A gift from Lightning to Serah, Moogle is the 3rd piece in our group, and has a bizarre role, in that it is Serah's weapon, literally. It physically turns into her bow when combat starts and leaps into her hands, ready to help fight. On top of this strange function, it also acts as a treasure hunting device in one of 2 ways. First it can be called upon to reveal small pockets of broken time, where items have been shifted into another time, allowing you to pick them up. It's second, and much more fun ability is that it can be tossed anywhere you choose by throwing it along a guiding arc, into large pits, behind scenery, and out of the map, to find secrets. Moogle starts out as quite annoying, but you quickly get used to it, and as far as mechanics go, it definately holds a torch for some unique ideas in a game.
Chasing our protagonists across time is Caius. Caius appears to be the love child of Ansem from Kingdom Hearts, Seymour from Final Fantasy X, and Fang from XIII/XIII-2 in looks. He is the one trying to cause the end of all time in battle with Lightning, but as the story progresses we find out that it isn't the usual madmans lament common in a lot of FF games, instead he has seen things one too many times to bear, and wishes to save the life of Yul, the shamanistic seer who he accompanies through time. Yul is born in every era anew, and dies once she has seen too many future visions, fated to be born again, and repeat the same actions for all eternity. Caius is her guardian, and has to watch her die every time, which we find out is his reason for ending time, as it will break this cycle. While initially a blank slate, his motives and story are made clear, as well as his connection with Noel, and turns out to be one of the more understandable villians in the series.
As well as these guys, there is Hope and his partner in time, Alyssa, who are both working to keep Cocoon (the small inner orbital planet suspended in the skies of Pulse) up in the air. Hope has grown up alot since his previous adventure, and has become a much better character for it. He was originally whiny and complaining about everything, but now he has manned up and taken the role of the head of a major restoration of the worlds various towns, ultimately with the goal of developing the technology to hold Cocoon up, allowing Vanille and Fang to be free'd from their prison inside the crystal pillar. He is very likable in this outing, and you see that he only wants what is best for the people, and seems to have not noticed the affections directed towards him from Alyssa. She is a mysterious girl who claims to be a researcher, and only wants to help out, tasking Serah and Noel with various collection and fact finding quests to help things along, but there is just something that doesn't seem quite right about her, as she bounces through time with Hope by her side.
All the old cast return too, including an older Snow, now with a chocobo for hair, Sazh and Dahj, who are flying around in airships to aid Hope and Alyssa, as well as a brief scene where Vanille and Fang show up to offer some sagely wisdom during one of the darker moments in the games story.
I found the entire cast to be likable, enjoyable and interesting enough to keep me playing, but no one stands out more in this game than Chocolina. Square Enix are known for their bizarre sense of humor, and she is definately no exception. Originally pegged to be a waitress in Serendipity, the developers liked her design so much, they decided to give her a more prominent role in the game, and she became the main shop vendor appearing in every time zone and paradox. She is apparantley half human and half chocobo, and provides upbeat one liners that admittedly made me chuckle on the odd occasion, as you can't help but like her, as she sells various items, equipment and weapon upgrades. There are alot of theories behind who she actually is, one of them being that due to her knowing alot of intimate stuff about the main cast, she is the grown up version of the chocobo chick in Sazh's afro, but nothing was confirmed.
Design
There is not much to say other than how mind blowing this game looks and feels. Each area is beautifully built, resembling CG in their detail and intricacy, the characters have amazing little details, the eyes, the hair, all looking almost real, and the world itself is very solid, as to my memory from running through the game, I can't actually recall any glitches or bugs that popped up.
In an effort to reduce the overall file size of the game, to allow for it to be on one disc, they omitted alot of CG and instead went for super shiny ingame cutscenes instead, and honestly, they did a fantastic job of it, as at points, I didn't realise I was back in control of my character, as I thought I was watching a rendered video sequence.
The UI has remained pretty much the same as the first game, with the super futuristic style, and squashed tech style font, only has been cleaned up a little, and had the flab removed. The battle mechanics are similar too, only instead of summons, there are now the Feral Link abilities, which are basically your pets limit break move, allowing it to unleash a unique ability every time it's Feral Charge bar fills up. The focus is again on how you build your paradigms, and less on the battles themselves, giving it a more strategic angle than other games in the series, as if you enter a battle without the right paradigms, you are going to either lose or struggle immensely.
Overall the design of the game is very solid. It feels like a lot of care and attention went into it, and even now I find myself loading it up just to stand in the utopian city of Academia, and think how amazing it would be to live there.
In an effort to reduce the overall file size of the game, to allow for it to be on one disc, they omitted alot of CG and instead went for super shiny ingame cutscenes instead, and honestly, they did a fantastic job of it, as at points, I didn't realise I was back in control of my character, as I thought I was watching a rendered video sequence.
The UI has remained pretty much the same as the first game, with the super futuristic style, and squashed tech style font, only has been cleaned up a little, and had the flab removed. The battle mechanics are similar too, only instead of summons, there are now the Feral Link abilities, which are basically your pets limit break move, allowing it to unleash a unique ability every time it's Feral Charge bar fills up. The focus is again on how you build your paradigms, and less on the battles themselves, giving it a more strategic angle than other games in the series, as if you enter a battle without the right paradigms, you are going to either lose or struggle immensely.
Overall the design of the game is very solid. It feels like a lot of care and attention went into it, and even now I find myself loading it up just to stand in the utopian city of Academia, and think how amazing it would be to live there.
Sound
The games audio is a double edged sword, in that at first, the poppy vocal tracks tend to annoy, but over time, you see that they fit perfectly with the tone and style of each area, but with the lack of Nobuo on the soundtrack, you can see a distinct change in the musical score.
There are a number of tracks that stood out to me as really well made, but others were very much elevator music, however it is still one of my most listened to soundtracks on my i-Pod.
The wooshes and slashes of the spells and weapons are all nicely done, as are all the voices (of which there are tonnes) and in general, there is little about the games audio that stood out as bad.
There are a number of tracks that stood out to me as really well made, but others were very much elevator music, however it is still one of my most listened to soundtracks on my i-Pod.
The wooshes and slashes of the spells and weapons are all nicely done, as are all the voices (of which there are tonnes) and in general, there is little about the games audio that stood out as bad.
Rating
Compared to previous Final Fantasy games: 8/10
Standalone Score: 9/10
Standalone Score: 9/10