Does XIII-2 actually improve on XIII?

[YCRanger]

I played through XIII and was incredibly disappointed. I thought it could never be as bad as they said it was. It was so bad. But there is much interesting about the themes involved that just kind of make me want to revist that universe. In XIII it was badly told and translated covered by a thick layer of japanese melodrama. However to me the idea of how the party came together was cool and it started out as a really interesting premise. Unfortunately once they opened their stupid mouths you became less and less interested and the answers that eventually come barely make sense. I still don't know how that ending worked.

So essentially I've read about XIII-2 time jumping mechanic. Does Squeenx attempt to rewrite the universe so it makes some sort of sense? Not asking for spoilers but if you've played both; did X-III 2 make you interested in the series again? Or is it just another waste of time?

 

[OrpheusTelos]

Not really.

I'm coming as someone who enjoyed what XIII was trying to do with it's setting and themes, even if it didn't succeed. XIII-2's story is somehow even more convoluted and nonsensical than the last game, and it does nothing interesting to expand on that universe.

Though I did actually really like the villain, Caius.

 

[krazykidd]

In my opinion , no . I personally ( see here guys ,opinion , don't quote me that i'm wrong) it did everything worse.Worse story , worse gameplay, worse characters , worse everything . The story makes no sense, the characters are not memorable , the leveling system is confusing , the combat is boring. This coming from someone who like the first game.

 

[Ryotknife]

Yes and no.

it improves on many faults with 13, but it has new flaws of its own. It is nonlinear, it doesn't hold your hand at all, the characters are "better (or at least less annoying/fewer of them), combat focuses more on picking specific seqences, and it has a much better villain. Downsides are Serah, Not all paradigms are created equal, plot is not as good, and how leveling/skills are handled.

Course, that is just my opinion.

 

[ShinyCharizard]

Well I found it did the combat better, and the soundtrack was kickass. And it had a better villain. However the story and characters are undeniably worse compared to the first game (except for Hope, he was better this time around)

 

[ScrabbitRabbit]

I got it not so long ago after some guys in the JRPG group assured me it was better than the first (which I didn't like). It's a bit better, though you can win most fights with some mix of ravagers, commandos and medics, so there's not a tremendous amount of depth. Some fights do require the use of the other classes, but they felt few and far between to me. The monster catching adds a somewhat novel twist, though.

The story is a fair bit darker than the original, but it isn't much (if at all) better. It's still all very melodramatic and the presentation still looks like an explosion in a skittles factory. The opening cutscene almost turned me off the game.

 

[Xathos]

I liked XIII, but didn't like XIII-2 as much. I found it to be average, which is fine I guess, and I got my moneys worth out of it, but it could have been better. It has a good villain, and the whole time jumping aspect of it is interesting, as it the monster capturing. Oh, and the music continues to be really good.

Unfortunately, I didn't find the graphics to be as sharp, found the previous cast of heroes to be better since it isn't just limited to the same 2 people, the occasional dialogue options seem to do absolutely nothing except getting you some superfluous items, and the story doesn't seem as tight as the last game. Game also has DLC, which may or may not put you off (one of them even takes place during the ending and can almost be seen as the...real ending I guess.). I don't think the pricing is too bad, but I never got any.

But my biggest problem was the difficulty. I can count on one hand how many times I died in this game. For XIII, I was always constantly shifting paradigms to try and deal with enemies, and actually didn't have a problem dying since it made me go about battles differently the next time around. This game? Didn't have to do as much until around the Final Boss, and even then my party wasn't amazing or anything. I was worried since it had been awhile since playing XIII, but I was hardly on my toes or anything.

That said, I will eventually get lightning returns. Got to see how this all ends up.

 

[JonnyHG]

XIII-2 is the only game I have ever put over 30 hours into and then quit playing because what the game was asking me to do was so ridiculous. I enjoyed XIII much more.

 

[WeepingAngels]

XIII-2 is the only game I have ever put over 30 hours into and then quit playing because what the game was asking me to do was so ridiculous. I enjoyed XIII much more.

So...what was it asking you to do?

 

[Bara_no_Hime]

Not asking for spoilers but if you've played both; did X-III 2 make you interested in the series again? Or is it just another waste of time?

Yes.

XIII-2 is a much better game from a purely gameplay perspective. Non-linear, exploration focused, side-quest heavy from the outset. Combat is smooth and fun.

The plot is... good, but I actually liked the plot in XIII better. It is a nice twist on the usual game because it looks at the consequences of the hero's actions - both their actions in XIII and their actions throughout XIII-2. You actually get to look into the future to see the results of what you've done in the present (or very-near-future).

The only really convoluted part is when they try to ret-con explain the end of XIII (why everyone turned into Cieth, then turned back - in XIII they claimed it was just a hallucination, but that explanation is ret-conned out for a more complicated one). Otherwise everything makes good sense storywise.

FF XIII-2 is one of my top five favorite Final Fantasy games ever. Give it a chance - it does a lot right.

 

[JonnyHG]

XIII-2 is the only game I have ever put over 30 hours into and then quit playing because what the game was asking me to do was so ridiculous. I enjoyed XIII much more.

So...what was it asking you to do?

Well...let me just say...POSSIBLE SPOILERS

If I remember correctly, it went something like this. The game gives you every indication that you're about to fight the final battle. It tells you to make sure you have everything you need etc. You then get transported into some other dimension where you have to jump across platforms to continue. Then the game informs you that if you find yourself unable to jump far enough to reach the next platform, you need to go back through time to get these items and then trade them in at this place for an ability that lets you jump far. I even remember my exact thought...'There's NO way in hell I'm doing that!' I sold the game that day.

 

[UrinalDook]

People, please.

I take it, as it's only actually been mentioned once - and not in the OP, that you are in fact talking about Final Fantasy XIII and not, as I initially excitedly thought: XIII [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XIII_(video_game)].

XIII appears to be largely forgotten these days, but it was an amazing game with a ridiculous cliffhanger (a holdover from the comics it was based on) that never got the sequel it deserved. Don't go throwing around thread titles about 'XIII - 2' making me think that a sequel has somehow snuck out without me realising.

 

[WeepingAngels]

XIII-2 is the only game I have ever put over 30 hours into and then quit playing because what the game was asking me to do was so ridiculous. I enjoyed XIII much more.

So...what was it asking you to do?

Well...let me just say...POSSIBLE SPOILERS

If I remember correctly, it went something like this. The game gives you every indication that you're about to fight the final battle. It tells you to make sure you have everything you need etc. You then get transported into some other dimension where you have to jump across platforms to continue. Then the game informs you that if you find yourself unable to jump far enough to reach the next platform, you need to go back through time to get these items and then trade them in at this place for an ability that lets you jump far. I even remember my exact thought...'There's NO way in hell I'm doing that!' I sold the game that day.

Sounds like padding. I agree that XIII was better, I never got to the end of XIII-2.

 

[BrotherRool]

Theoretically XIII-2 should be better, it had a more complicated and sensical plot (which didn't randomly drop out for 10 hours). It actually has a villain this time around who you get to see repeatedly instead of turning up in a random battle and saying 'btw I'm your archnemesis'. He's memorable enough and has actually got some pretty cool motivation.

They've expanded on the mythology a lot, the combat is more flexible (although I actually found there were even less times when I needed much active control. XIII got quite twitch at it's finer moments). There are lots of big open environments, the time mechanic is fairly neat. There are actually cities and people you talk to etc...


But despite all that I think I enjoyed XIII more. I completed XIII multiple times and yet I havent managed to get all the way through XIII-2 yet (I think I stopped right before the end though).


I think the story and characters were a lot more personal and interesting in XIII. Sazh's thing with his son was sad, I loved Lightnings relationship with Hope, Hope's arc with Snow etc. And somehow XIII feels a bit more genuine and layers less between you and the game than XIII-2 does

 

[slavec]

I enjoyed XIII-2 far more than XIII.

Spoiler: XIII vs XII-2

XIII was incredibly boring to me. The game had a big focus on characters, and I didn't give a damn about most of them. I only cared about Lightning and Sazh, the others could go die in a fire for all I cared. Snow's a moron, Hope's a whiner, Vanille made me mute the TV everytime she opened her stupid mouth and Fang didn't get to do a goddamn thing (which was a shame because she's awesome). The game only got interesting when you reached Cocoon, and that about 80% into the game. But I really liked the combat even if it was a bit clunky, the game still looks amazing and it has some incredible cinematics. I even liked the villains, even though their plan made absolutely no sense whatsoever. I finished it and I recently tried playing it again, but I just can't get through it because it's so dull.

XIII-2 is much better. The characters were far more interesting, the villain was both interesting & threatening and the story was remarkably easy to follow. The combat is actually really good. It's considerably faster compared to XIII, and switching paradigms and creating combo's is not a pain in the ass anymore. The characters can access all the roles pretty much from the word go, and because the party doesn't constantly split up and switch members like in XIII you won't have to recreate your favorite paradigms every 5 seconds. There's more enemy variety, the optional bosses are far more difficult than their XIII counterparts, and collecting and leveling monsters is a lot of fun. If you like Pokemon, you'll like XIII-2. You can replay episodes at will, so new game plus is basically built into the normal game. The final boss is fucking awesome and has a rocking tune playing during the fight.

On the other hand the game doesn't look nearly as good as XIII, it lacks a really interesting combat theme (barring a few awesome boss themes, it has long loading times and the locale variety is a bit lacking. You'd think having a time travel mechanic would let you visit a lot different and exotic places, but instead you'll see a lot of places that have been palette swapped. It's clearly a lower budget title. The game is also easier than XIII, mostly because you level much faster and the combat is easier to manage. The game still has that annoying habit of not telling you what you need to do to get several key items and fragment skills.

In short: XIII looked and sounded better, but XIII-2 outshines it in the gameplay department in every way. In XIII I dreaded every new chapter for the stupidity and boredom it was going to throw my way, in XIII-2 looked forward to playing the next episode. XIII-2 is not a great game but at least it was fun, which is more than I can say of XIII.

 

[Auron225]

It depends what you value most; non-linearity or a story with some sense in it.

Personally I liked XIII more. I enjoyed the story and characters... quite a lot actually. Yes it was linear as hell and the gameplay wasn't great but I liked the hopelessness of their situation and the strategies involved with building and switching between paradigms.

XIII-2 on the other hand; it did have a few very interesting moments and all that but the story just became non-nonsensical to me in the end. Time-travel is always dangerous territory for a plot to be going in. Also as much as I like Serah & Noah, I like some more characters around for the sake of interest.

EDIT: Haha, it's interesting to hear people say that XIII-2's plot made more sense I understood XIII pretty easily but XIII-2 just confused me.

 

[Atmos Duality]

Well, it may not be a great game, but at least FF13-2 was trying to be a VIDEO GAME rather than a shitty semi-interactive MOVIE.