FFX-2 Review aka Was This $7 Well Spent?

[Meggiepants]

I liked the game okay. The outfit thing was interesting. And yes, it is a little like playing dress up with dolls, but some of the outfits are cute as hell. It's like a cosplayers dream. It actually made me wish I cosplayed just so I could dress up in some of those.

But to get the secret ending, man, if I hadn't looked that up before I played the game, I would be pissed as hell. Why make the best ending a fucking Easter Egg? You are totally right on that one.

 

[the_pleasure_is_mine]

10000: FFXIII

100000. FFXIII

I'm quite interested to know... what did you find so insanely bad about 13?

I mean yeah FFX was way better. Along with FF6-7-8-3 being all the ones I've played and largely enjoyed.

13 wasn't the best of the series... but at least it was FF12 >.< That thing was terrible.

13 has amazing graphics (graphics =/= good game... I know) but the combat felt like it was getting there.

Paradigm shifts mixed up combat and kept you changing to the best tactic and I thought the story was quite engrossing with a lot of detail.

OT: FFX-2 is a bastard child that should never have existed... it was also the start on the road bad combat systems.

And seriously I hate Paine...

 

[Skiff_Manchester]

OK I changed the title because there was enough whining about it that I started to worry it might snowball and hijack all the replies to this posting. Sorry for thinking that in a game where the basic plot is pushed by the main character's urge to find a lost love interest that everyone could assume that you might be able to...

Spoiler

actually find that person in the damn game.

But what do I know. Thanks for reading.

 

[The Hero Killer]

I was glad to see a return of the job system and Paine was a cool character but thats probably about the extent of my enjoyment of X-2. I still was able to put up with it enough to beat it and get the best ending.

 

[the_pleasure_is_mine]

Snip

The same ATB for every before FFX?

Are we talking about the same thing cause I'm confused...

I hated that it wasn't turn based.

I like my FF games to be turn based, not having enemies attacking me while I'm choosing what to do, if I wanted that I wouldn't play a JRPG.

It started the road to bad combat systems because it was the first time they did this in a main FF game and every main after that has tried to mix up the not-really-turn based combat system.

I was fine with the roles. I thought they worked well and they reminded me of my fun times with FF3.

Paine was like Squall... completely emo and 'dark' for the sake of it and it annoyed me.

Paradigm shifting was actually quite good. Mixing up your tactics mid-battle so you can instantly swap from powerhouse to turtle when your enemy starts charging up a super laser death beam.

 

[the_pleasure_is_mine]

Double post because my first wasn't appearing -_-"

 

[the_pleasure_is_mine]

In 13, that laser death beam, and all following up attacks, would target your party leader, causing game over. WHAT KIND OF BLOODY FINAL FANTASY HAS THE GAME END WHEN YOUR LEADER DIES. I HAD 45 EFFING PHOENIX DOWNS IN MY INVENTORY. These bosses were made hard not by design or strategy, but by auto-targeting the instant kill button. Are all my teammates so stupid that they can't use a Phoenix Down without a 6 week correspondence course?

Oh god yes... that was the stupidest thing in this FF game...

I played FF7 religiously and I played FF8 and FF6 to a less religious degree, I never played 9.

FFX-2 is the first FF game I was aware of that used ATB rather than turn-based.

I couldn't stand it...

Also I felt 13 was a very 'noobified' version of FF.

I could be okay with that if it was just they had lessened content to try and introduce new battle systems and work around that... but they're still lost with where to go next.

Just cut your losses, remake FF7, none of this ATB bullshit.

Oh well... I'll always have the originals of 6,7,8,10 and the remakes of 1,2,3 and 4.

 

[Dapper Ninja]

I thought X-2 was okay. The story sucked and most of the characters were annoying, but it had really fun combat. I never liked X that much, oddly enough.

FFXIII was (for me) 15 hours of running down corridors, entering fights, and pressing X for auto-attack every single time. I had to change paradigms in two fights, both bosses. It was CGI heavy, which can be good, but it wasn't. Most characters were okay, though I strongly disliked Hope and Vanille.

You said that FFX-2 started the road to bad combat systems? What? It used the same ATB system as every Final Fantasy before 10, and the dress sphere grid is a disguised update to the old class change system.

Combat
FF6: 80% Use Special Skill 20% Basic Attack or Spell
FF7: 60% Basic Attack or Spell 40% Summon
FF8: 95% Summon 5% Attack
FFX: 70% Attack, 30% Skill
FFX-2: 70% Special Skill 30% Basic Attack
FFXII: 85% Basic Attack 15% Esper
FFXIII: 99% Auto-Attack 1% Change Paradigm

It seems that I've found someone who shares my absolute hatred of Final Fantasy XIII for strangely similar reasons.

 

[Flamezdudes]

I thought X-2 was okay. The story sucked and most of the characters were annoying, but it had really fun combat. I never liked X that much, oddly enough.

FFXIII was (for me) 15 hours of running down corridors, entering fights, and pressing X for auto-attack every single time. I had to change paradigms in two fights, both bosses. It was CGI heavy, which can be good, but it wasn't. Most characters were okay, though I strongly disliked Hope and Vanille.

You said that FFX-2 started the road to bad combat systems? What? It used the same ATB system as every Final Fantasy before 10, and the dress sphere grid is a disguised update to the old class change system.

Combat
FF6: 80% Use Special Skill 20% Basic Attack or Spell
FF7: 60% Basic Attack or Spell 40% Summon
FF8: 95% Summon 5% Attack
FFX: 70% Attack, 30% Skill
FFX-2: 70% Special Skill 30% Basic Attack
FFXII: 85% Basic Attack 15% Esper
FFXIII: 99% Auto-Attack 1% Change Paradigm

It seems that I've found someone who shares my absolute hatred of Final Fantasy XIII for strangely similar reasons.

Change Paradigm is definatly not 1%, later on in the game it'll be about 50% each. FF13's combat system is about being quick and strategic about what your team is doing. I don't care what anyone says, FF13 is a good game.

 

[Dapper Ninja]

I thought X-2 was okay. The story sucked and most of the characters were annoying, but it had really fun combat. I never liked X that much, oddly enough.

FFXIII was (for me) 15 hours of running down corridors, entering fights, and pressing X for auto-attack every single time. I had to change paradigms in two fights, both bosses. It was CGI heavy, which can be good, but it wasn't. Most characters were okay, though I strongly disliked Hope and Vanille.

You said that FFX-2 started the road to bad combat systems? What? It used the same ATB system as every Final Fantasy before 10, and the dress sphere grid is a disguised update to the old class change system.

Combat
FF6: 80% Use Special Skill 20% Basic Attack or Spell
FF7: 60% Basic Attack or Spell 40% Summon
FF8: 95% Summon 5% Attack
FFX: 70% Attack, 30% Skill
FFX-2: 70% Special Skill 30% Basic Attack
FFXII: 85% Basic Attack 15% Esper
FFXIII: 99% Auto-Attack 1% Change Paradigm

It seems that I've found someone who shares my absolute hatred of Final Fantasy XIII for strangely similar reasons.

Change Paradigm is definatly not 1%, later on in the game it'll be about 50% each. FF13's combat system is about being quick and strategic about what your team is doing. I don't care what anyone says, FF13 is a good game.

What exactly do you mean by "later on"? Are you one of those people who argues "It's a good game! You just need to keep playing past the first 30 hours! It gets better!"?

 

[Flamezdudes]

I thought X-2 was okay. The story sucked and most of the characters were annoying, but it had really fun combat. I never liked X that much, oddly enough.

FFXIII was (for me) 15 hours of running down corridors, entering fights, and pressing X for auto-attack every single time. I had to change paradigms in two fights, both bosses. It was CGI heavy, which can be good, but it wasn't. Most characters were okay, though I strongly disliked Hope and Vanille.

You said that FFX-2 started the road to bad combat systems? What? It used the same ATB system as every Final Fantasy before 10, and the dress sphere grid is a disguised update to the old class change system.

Combat
FF6: 80% Use Special Skill 20% Basic Attack or Spell
FF7: 60% Basic Attack or Spell 40% Summon
FF8: 95% Summon 5% Attack
FFX: 70% Attack, 30% Skill
FFX-2: 70% Special Skill 30% Basic Attack
FFXII: 85% Basic Attack 15% Esper
FFXIII: 99% Auto-Attack 1% Change Paradigm

It seems that I've found someone who shares my absolute hatred of Final Fantasy XIII for strangely similar reasons.

Change Paradigm is definatly not 1%, later on in the game it'll be about 50% each. FF13's combat system is about being quick and strategic about what your team is doing. I don't care what anyone says, FF13 is a good game.

What exactly do you mean by "later on"? Are you one of those people who argues "It's a good game! You just need to keep playing past the first 30 hours! It gets better!"?

Not 30 hours, just about 5 hours for me i guess. The game can get difficult and requires thought later on and sometimes grinding but thats true for all FF games.

 

[Dapper Ninja]

I thought X-2 was okay. The story sucked and most of the characters were annoying, but it had really fun combat. I never liked X that much, oddly enough.

FFXIII was (for me) 15 hours of running down corridors, entering fights, and pressing X for auto-attack every single time. I had to change paradigms in two fights, both bosses. It was CGI heavy, which can be good, but it wasn't. Most characters were okay, though I strongly disliked Hope and Vanille.

You said that FFX-2 started the road to bad combat systems? What? It used the same ATB system as every Final Fantasy before 10, and the dress sphere grid is a disguised update to the old class change system.

Combat
FF6: 80% Use Special Skill 20% Basic Attack or Spell
FF7: 60% Basic Attack or Spell 40% Summon
FF8: 95% Summon 5% Attack
FFX: 70% Attack, 30% Skill
FFX-2: 70% Special Skill 30% Basic Attack
FFXII: 85% Basic Attack 15% Esper
FFXIII: 99% Auto-Attack 1% Change Paradigm

It seems that I've found someone who shares my absolute hatred of Final Fantasy XIII for strangely similar reasons.

Change Paradigm is definatly not 1%, later on in the game it'll be about 50% each. FF13's combat system is about being quick and strategic about what your team is doing. I don't care what anyone says, FF13 is a good game.

What exactly do you mean by "later on"? Are you one of those people who argues "It's a good game! You just need to keep playing past the first 30 hours! It gets better!"?

Not 30 hours, just about 5 hours for me i guess. The game can get difficult and requires thought later on and sometimes grinding but thats true for all FF games.

I made it about seven or eight hours before I dropped XIII and my strategy for the entire game up until that point was to use auto-attack over and over because doing anything else would be completely unnecessary. The most strategy I ever had to use was staggering an enemy, which is just a matter of auto-attacking it a lot and then auto-attacking it some more.

 

[Flamezdudes]

I thought X-2 was okay. The story sucked and most of the characters were annoying, but it had really fun combat. I never liked X that much, oddly enough.

FFXIII was (for me) 15 hours of running down corridors, entering fights, and pressing X for auto-attack every single time. I had to change paradigms in two fights, both bosses. It was CGI heavy, which can be good, but it wasn't. Most characters were okay, though I strongly disliked Hope and Vanille.

You said that FFX-2 started the road to bad combat systems? What? It used the same ATB system as every Final Fantasy before 10, and the dress sphere grid is a disguised update to the old class change system.

Combat
FF6: 80% Use Special Skill 20% Basic Attack or Spell
FF7: 60% Basic Attack or Spell 40% Summon
FF8: 95% Summon 5% Attack
FFX: 70% Attack, 30% Skill
FFX-2: 70% Special Skill 30% Basic Attack
FFXII: 85% Basic Attack 15% Esper
FFXIII: 99% Auto-Attack 1% Change Paradigm

It seems that I've found someone who shares my absolute hatred of Final Fantasy XIII for strangely similar reasons.

Change Paradigm is definatly not 1%, later on in the game it'll be about 50% each. FF13's combat system is about being quick and strategic about what your team is doing. I don't care what anyone says, FF13 is a good game.

What exactly do you mean by "later on"? Are you one of those people who argues "It's a good game! You just need to keep playing past the first 30 hours! It gets better!"?

Not 30 hours, just about 5 hours for me i guess. The game can get difficult and requires thought later on and sometimes grinding but thats true for all FF games.

I made it about seven or eight hours before I dropped XIII and my strategy for the entire game up until that point was to use auto-attack over and over because doing anything else would be completely unnecessary. The most strategy I ever had to use was staggering an enemy, which is just a matter of auto-attacking it a lot and then auto-attacking it some more.

And how different is that to other FF games? Its just quicker, at the start of many FF games all you would do is press Attack a couple of times until the enemies are dead.

 

[Dapper Ninja]

I thought X-2 was okay. The story sucked and most of the characters were annoying, but it had really fun combat. I never liked X that much, oddly enough.

FFXIII was (for me) 15 hours of running down corridors, entering fights, and pressing X for auto-attack every single time. I had to change paradigms in two fights, both bosses. It was CGI heavy, which can be good, but it wasn't. Most characters were okay, though I strongly disliked Hope and Vanille.

You said that FFX-2 started the road to bad combat systems? What? It used the same ATB system as every Final Fantasy before 10, and the dress sphere grid is a disguised update to the old class change system.

Combat
FF6: 80% Use Special Skill 20% Basic Attack or Spell
FF7: 60% Basic Attack or Spell 40% Summon
FF8: 95% Summon 5% Attack
FFX: 70% Attack, 30% Skill
FFX-2: 70% Special Skill 30% Basic Attack
FFXII: 85% Basic Attack 15% Esper
FFXIII: 99% Auto-Attack 1% Change Paradigm

It seems that I've found someone who shares my absolute hatred of Final Fantasy XIII for strangely similar reasons.

Change Paradigm is definatly not 1%, later on in the game it'll be about 50% each. FF13's combat system is about being quick and strategic about what your team is doing. I don't care what anyone says, FF13 is a good game.

What exactly do you mean by "later on"? Are you one of those people who argues "It's a good game! You just need to keep playing past the first 30 hours! It gets better!"?

Not 30 hours, just about 5 hours for me i guess. The game can get difficult and requires thought later on and sometimes grinding but thats true for all FF games.

I made it about seven or eight hours before I dropped XIII and my strategy for the entire game up until that point was to use auto-attack over and over because doing anything else would be completely unnecessary. The most strategy I ever had to use was staggering an enemy, which is just a matter of auto-attacking it a lot and then auto-attacking it some more.

And how different is that to other FF games? Its just quicker, at the start of many FF games all you would do is press Attack a couple of times until the enemies are dead.

That's the key phrase. You might find yourself just tapping X until everything in front of you falls down and you hear a few notes of victory music during the first few fights in another FF game while you're still being introduced to new concepts and basically playing a tutorial, but it quickly develops into something more than that.

Within half an hour or so, you'll probably have a few party members gathered, a few spells learned, maybe a couple of new weapons or items and possibly your first summon. You end up having to balance your party's roles and adapt to new situations and the game becomes pretty complicated.

The problem with Final Fantasy XIII is that it never seems to grow out of that beginning stage. You have a party, but you don't get to choose who's in your party or even what they do in battle. You can change your paradigm, but that only changes one or two abilities that you probably won't need anyway. You get a few new weapons, but they only do minor stat upgrades that give you no reason not to use them. You barely even need to worry about healing, because you're automatically brought back to full health after every battle.

That and the fact that the entire game is set entirely in a series of linear corridors with no towns or NPCs in-between makes it feel like the game is just babying you from start to finish.

 

[Flamezdudes]

That's the key phrase. You might find yourself just tapping X until everything in front of you falls down and you hear a few notes of victory music during the first few fights in another FF game while you're still being introduced to new concepts and basically playing a tutorial, but it quickly develops into something more than that.

Within half an hour or so, you'll probably have a few party members gathered, a few spells learned, maybe a couple of new weapons or items and possibly your first summon. You end up having to balance your party's roles and adapt to new situations and the game becomes pretty complicated.

The problem with Final Fantasy XIII is that it never seems to grow out of that beginning stage. You have a party, but you don't get to choose who's in your party or even what they do in battle. You can change your paradigm, but that only changes one or two abilities that you probably won't need anyway. You get a few new weapons, but they only do minor stat upgrades that give you no reason not to use them. You barely even need to worry about healing, because you're automatically brought back to full health after every battle.

That and the fact that the entire game is set entirely in a series of linear corridors with no towns or NPCs in-between makes it feel like the game is just babying you from start to finish.

It is annoying at times that the party is split up for a lot of the game, but its all part of the plot and they all get together eventually. Paradigms and healing is very important during battles! Without it you would be fucked, you gotta change up your strategy and make sure the teams doing the right things.

And so what if its linear? It's all part of the plot and its not like its the only FF game that does it other than FFX.

 

[Dapper Ninja]

That's the key phrase. You might find yourself just tapping X until everything in front of you falls down and you hear a few notes of victory music during the first few fights in another FF game while you're still being introduced to new concepts and basically playing a tutorial, but it quickly develops into something more than that.

Within half an hour or so, you'll probably have a few party members gathered, a few spells learned, maybe a couple of new weapons or items and possibly your first summon. You end up having to balance your party's roles and adapt to new situations and the game becomes pretty complicated.

The problem with Final Fantasy XIII is that it never seems to grow out of that beginning stage. You have a party, but you don't get to choose who's in your party or even what they do in battle. You can change your paradigm, but that only changes one or two abilities that you probably won't need anyway. You get a few new weapons, but they only do minor stat upgrades that give you no reason not to use them. You barely even need to worry about healing, because you're automatically brought back to full health after every battle.

That and the fact that the entire game is set entirely in a series of linear corridors with no towns or NPCs in-between makes it feel like the game is just babying you from start to finish.

It is annoying at times that the party is split up for a lot of the game, but its all part of the plot and they all get together eventually.

When exactly is "eventually"? If it takes more than eight hours to get a changeable party, then the game is doing something wrong.

Paradigms and healing is very important during battles! Without it you would be fucked, you gotta change up your strategy and make sure the teams doing the right things.

They're only ever needed during the harder boss fights, and even then you only need to make sure that someone is set to medic and maybe use a potion or two.

And so what if its linear? It's all part of the plot and its not like its the only FF game that does it other than FFX.

I don't have a problem with linearity in games, especially RPGs. I do, however, have a problem with games not allowing any degree of exploration or drifting from the main path because they're impossible to do because there's only one, straight path that you follow for the entire game. No amount of plot excuses that and no other Final Fantasy tried that. It just doesn't work.

 

[Flamezdudes]

That's the key phrase. You might find yourself just tapping X until everything in front of you falls down and you hear a few notes of victory music during the first few fights in another FF game while you're still being introduced to new concepts and basically playing a tutorial, but it quickly develops into something more than that.

Within half an hour or so, you'll probably have a few party members gathered, a few spells learned, maybe a couple of new weapons or items and possibly your first summon. You end up having to balance your party's roles and adapt to new situations and the game becomes pretty complicated.

The problem with Final Fantasy XIII is that it never seems to grow out of that beginning stage. You have a party, but you don't get to choose who's in your party or even what they do in battle. You can change your paradigm, but that only changes one or two abilities that you probably won't need anyway. You get a few new weapons, but they only do minor stat upgrades that give you no reason not to use them. You barely even need to worry about healing, because you're automatically brought back to full health after every battle.

That and the fact that the entire game is set entirely in a series of linear corridors with no towns or NPCs in-between makes it feel like the game is just babying you from start to finish.

It is annoying at times that the party is split up for a lot of the game, but its all part of the plot and they all get together eventually.

When exactly is "eventually"? If it takes more than eight hours to get a changeable party, then the game is doing something wrong.

Paradigms and healing is very important during battles! Without it you would be fucked, you gotta change up your strategy and make sure the teams doing the right things.

They're only ever needed during the harder boss fights, and even then you only need to make sure that someone is set to medic and maybe use a potion or two.

And so what if its linear? It's all part of the plot and its not like its the only FF game that does it other than FFX.

I don't have a problem with linearity in games, especially RPGs. I do, however, have a problem with games not allowing any degree of exploration or drifting from the main path because they're impossible to do because there's only one, straight path that you follow for the entire game. No amount of plot excuses that and no other Final Fantasy tried that. It just doesn't work.

You obviously haven't played the entire game then. There is a free roam area later on and there are MANY non boss fights which you need to have medics for, i'm very curious as to whether you've even played the whole game.

You say you don't mind linearity and then ***** about how straight forward the game is. Thats what linearity IS! There are a few branching paths however so i don't understand the problem. Why is it something wrong if you don't have a changeable party from the start? Because all the other FF games did? Well Square Enix has tried to make something different and not stick to the same thing all the time, like i said its part of the plot.