When the Playstation 2 was very young, a groundbreaking game came along called Final Fantasy X. In addition to continuing the beloved-by-millions franchise to the premiere console (at the time), many new features were added. Beautiful CG, improved graphics and sound, and voice acting. Thanks to its epic storyline, quality gameplay, and memorable characters, FFX became an instant classic.

When a sequel was announced FF fans everywhere were ecstatic. But when the details of the sequel, Final Fantasy X-2 were announced, gamers everywhere went crazy, and not in a good way. Before its release, people were dismissing X-2 because of its flighty tone and its major make-over of prim and demure Yuna into a booty-short sportin’ adventurer akin to Lara Croft.

Despite this, one thing didn’t change. No matter how much T&A, pop songs, and girl power was thrown in, X-2 is still a Final Fantasy at heart, and a rather good one at that.

FFX-2 takes place two years after the events of FFX. The world of Spira is enjoying the Calm, thanks to Yuna and her crew taking care of the monstrous Sin. What’s a heroine to do after saving the world? Go treasure hunting! A summoner no more, Yuna and her cousin Rikku hook up with the Gullwings, a group of adventurers who travel the world hunting for spheres, relics that act as recording devices. During one hunt, Yuna discovers a sphere that shows Tidus — or, somebody who looks suspiciously like him — being assaulted by guards of unknown origin. Could this mean her lost love is actually alive and out there somewhere? This is what sets X-2 into motion, as Yuna, Rikku, and newcomer Paine begin the search for Tidus.

X-2 is set up quite differently than your typical Final Fantasy. The game is divided into five “chapters”, with each chapter requiring you to visit certain places — known as “Hot Spots” — via your airship in order to advance the story. You have the option of going directly to these areas and doing what you need to do to get to the next chapter, or you can visit any of the other areas available to take in the many side-quests before you continue the story.

There are two areas of gameplay that are vastly improved over FFX (in my opinion, of course). Number one is the dress sphere/garment grid system, otherwise known to Final Fantasy veterans as the job system. Each of your three characters starts off with a default job, and can switch out at any time to a different acquired job. As you defeat enemies and use skills, you earn Ability Points, which allows you to learn new skills based on what job class your character is at the time.

Secondly, X-2 utilizes the active time battle mode of combat, meaning that battle turns are not predetermined, as in FFX. Your characters each have a speed at which they can attack, based on their job and level, and your enemies have the same ability. If correctly timed, two or more of your characters can attack at the same time, creating a combo that will deal extra damage to your opponent.

As for graphics, much of the game’s look is imported directly from FFX, but that’s not to say the developers got lazy. The towns and environments show subtle and not-so-subtle change from FFX. There are plenty of new areas to explore as well. The CG is, of course, top notch. The various costumes for your characters are interesting and neat to look at as well, with each girl having a different variation for each dress sphere.

Unfortunately, the sound and music suffer. Nobuo Uematsu is nowhere to be found in this game, sadly, and we are giving a soundtrack that is a mix of synthesized techno and pop. There are a few memorable and catchy tunes, and the music does fit the mood of the game, but it’s definitely not up to the standards of Final Fantasy. The two vocal songs — Real Emotion and 1000 Words — are mediocre at best. The high point of the audio is the voice acting. Hedy Buress, who provided Yuna’s voice in FFX, returns and gives a much better performance this time around (her portrayal in FFX was widely panned). Tara Strong, who basically voices every female character for Saturday morning cartoons, returns as Rikku and gives another winning, if overly-hyper, performance. Gwendoline Yeo lends her voice to Paine, and does a very good job as the brooding, past-shrouded-in-mystery warrior woman. The supporting actors work out quite well too.
To put things plainly, FFX-2 is great fun, if you can get past the tweaks that are made to the typical feel of the franchise. It’s surprisingly deeper than what you would think, is packed full of action, and is not a game of “dress-up” and “pretty pretty princess” as others would have you believe. While it’s not perfect, it’s not the abomination that it’s been portrayed as either. If you’re a fan of Final Fantasy and RPG’s in general, give FFX-2 a try. You’ll be glad you did.

If you liked that, try...

1. Final Fantasy: Reflections #2
2. Final Fantasy XII - A Review
3. Final Fantasy: Reflections #1
4. Plenty for Twenty: .hack//INFECTION
5. Final Fantasy XIII Confirmed For XBox 360

1 Comment »

1. 
   Devin de Gruyl
   January 18, 2007 at 2:00 pm

   Glad to see someone else agrees with me that X-2 gets a bit of a bad rap. I actually enjoyed X-2 quite a bit more than FFX itself, maybe precisely because it didn’t deal with such deep issues as the earlier Spira game did. Or maybe because I found the Dressphere/Garment Grid system to be a pleasantly streamlined combination of the Sphere Grid and the traditional FF3/5 Job system, and much easier to manage than the Sphere Grid was.

   Then again, I also kinda liked the opening J-Pop musical number. So, what do I really know? ^^;;;

   [Reply]

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