Not Nearly Epic
Final Fantasy X-2 is a very interesting game. While for the most part I was pleased with the first direct Final Fantasy sequel, there were some portions of the game that truly made me want to throw my controller at the TV screen so I can kill one or more of the characters jabbering away trying to make stupid jokes. Final Fantasy X is one of my favorite games, mostly due to its epic and serious story. FFX-2 does not continue with this trend. Most of the sidequests, which are about 75% of the game, are absolutely ridiculous and have no real meaning at all. Sure, they're fun and all, but when they take up the vast majority of the game, they sometimes feel annoying. FFX-2 is a good game to be sure, but it simply doesn't have what other Final Fantasy games have.
If you remember at the end of FFX, Tidus had disappeared after Yuna and the gang had defeated Sin. With no real direction in life, since her being a summoner was now useless, Yuna and Rikku join the Gullwings, who search for spheres all over Spira. When Yuna finds a sphere with a man that looks like Tidus on it, she knows that a new adventure is about to begin. Joining them is the mysterious Paine, who completes the girly trio of YRP. Together, they travel all over Spira getting into zany adventures and occasionally advancing the story. This is my biggest complaint about this game, the fact that the story just isn't up to par with past Final Fantasy games. Sure, you can say that this game is just meant to be fun, which it is. But when it all comes down to it, I just don't feel like using that awesome battle system when I know I'll have to watch Rikku whine about something trivial in the next cutscene. I just can't believe that these are the same characters I saw in FFX. Why would a a hardened sky captain be sulking because he "got told" by a little girl? I rest my case.
The gameplay is a little different than in FFX, and that might be a good thing. The active time battle meter has been restored, which gives way for faster battles instead of drawn out, strategic ones. If you allow the three girls to let their meters fill all at once, you can strike an enemy with a succession of blows that increase in damage, basically, the girls attack all at once. If timed right, you can stop an enemy from striking one of your party members, or you can cripple a huge beast in one go. It's pretty cool to see all the girls attack and once, and it adds a flare of excitement that previous Final Fantasy games have been lacking. There are no summons in this game, due to the fact that Yuna killed all of them in the first game. Summons have been replaced with a job system that's only appears deep on the surface. Since there are only three girls, you must switch back and forth between different classes in able to take care of certain situations. As the game progresses, you pick up more and more jobs (called Dresspheres, so you can really pick your style of play. You can even change classes during battle, using something called the Garment Grid. By placing certain classes on different grids, you can get all sorts of different power-ups for the battle only. If you manage to change to all your classes on a given grid, you'll be able to use that certain character's ultimate Dressphere, which can lead to devastating attacks and huge power-ups. At first, these spheres are relatively simple classes, like Black Mage, but you'll across some really cool ones like Berserker and Gun Mage, which allows you to harness the special abilities of you enemies.
The only thing about the Dresspheres I don't like is the fact that it does away with weapons. If you're changing into a gunner, you'll automatically be given a gun, since it wouldn't make much sense to be carrying a sword. This takes out on of the best parts of any Final Fantasy, or any RPG for that matter, and that is making your own weapons. I didn't miss it too much, but there were a few times when I wish I could have created a sword or a shield like in FFX. Another problem is that though you may learn a ton of abilities through each dressphere, there really isn't much point of using them. Using these attacks drains MP, so a lot of the times they're pointless to have. Most bosses can be taken out with physical attacks only, as long as you have a single white mage in the party. That being said, this game is a little on the easy side. A few of the bosses may give you some trouble, but I find it hard to believe that the party will be killed more than once or twice throughout the game, especially since escaping from battle is so easy. Completing the main story only will take 15-20 hours, depending on how much leveling you do.
If you continue through the game without completing any of the sidequests, your characters will be very under-developed and you'll have missed about 60% of the story. The sidequests are fun, but they are often silly. One main benefit from them is having your characters level up a little more. You can go digging for treasure in the Bikanel desert, play Blitzball if you want, and the new game, called Sphere Break. Now, this is just me, but if want a fun and addicting mini-game, then you don't go and base it on math. I hate math in the worst way, no matter how simple it is, and grow easily frustrated when I can't figure it out. So after the few beginning challengers, I found myself losing left and right. Of course, you don't have to play this at all, and if you hate math as much as I do, I suggest you stay far away from it. Other quests, which are my favorite, involve fighting and lots of it. You can help out temples besieged with fiends and protect a chocobo-drawn wagon from a group of bandits. These quests are the best, for the simple reason that they improve your characters, and they aren't filled with silliness, like selling tickets for a poor director and such. They're fun, yes, but it definitely isn't epic.
The graphics are gorgeous in every way possible. In fact, they seemed to be improved on from FFX, if such a thing is possible. The battles are handled with a slick and stylish flair, bright flashes cover the screen when a hit is made. The animations for the Dressphere changes are beautiful, and really unique. There are a multitude of these spheres, and each one looks different on each girl. It's really fun to see what they all look like. The character models are great as well, even if Rikku and Yuna have been given a makeover. Yuna is doing her best to impersonate Ms. Croft, and Rikku, well Rikku is and always will be Rikku. As you run through the landscape of Spira, you'll see grass swaying, people walking here and there, streams bubbling and snow swirling. It's a world that is very much alive, and adds great atmosphere to all of those quests. The CG is about what you'd expect from a Square Enix game, and that is brilliant. It doesn't have the truly amazing action sequences that were found in FFX, but it still has some knock-outs. I'm still amazed at how far videogame graphics have come, and this game is a perfect example of this.
The voice actors from the original game have returned, which is a very good thing, for the sake of continuity and for the quality. Each character has a unique way of speaking, which adds a little depth to their personality. Kimahri is deep and serious, while Wakka is aloof yet thoughtful. Rikku just bubbles from everywhere, and Yuna has even changed a bit. She's a lot more lighthearted for someone who lost the love of their life, and just wants to have fun most of the time, glad she doesn't have the responsibilities of her past life. You may not even recognize her until the end of the game. The music is definitely not standard FF fare, and this I must take issue with. While there are a few serious themes played throughout the game, the music you will hear the most is annoying garbage ripped straight from cheesy '70's cop show. It can be really irritating when you aren't sure what to do, and it really breaks the tone of the game when going from a serious moment. It basically shatters any hope for attaining and epic story. I would have preferred to have a musical score similar to the one found in FFX, it was serious, while at the same time, imitated the beauty of the world it was in. The music in X-2 seems to mock it rather than respect it.
In it's favor, this game has a lot of replay value. Since you probably won't finish everything your first time through, you'll be able to go back and probably play half of the game you missed before. There is also the option to start a new game plus, which gives you all your dresspheres and learned abilities from the previous game. Sadly, your stats do not carry over. While I respect Square for trying something different, I would rather them focus on a serious story rather than this fan(boy) service. Please don't take this as a negative review, because this game is very fun, and has the best battle system in any Final Fantasy game that I've played. It's a fun game, but serious RPG gamers may only play through it once. Sooner or later, the weird storyline is going to get to you, and you're going to wonder why it had to be this way. I'll always have FFX though, and do not think this game negates the value of it. It's a fun and silly approach to the RPG genre, which could be something it needs. But personally, I play RPG's for the epic stories and compelling characters, not for endless sidequests and goofy characters. That said, if you want some fun, give this game a try, and you'll probably have it. To those who like their RPG's serious, you may want to just rent this one.