Final Fantasy X-2

"For the last time... This is not a soft-core anime porno!"

Aahhh… Where to begin? Final Fantasy X-2 is the much glorified and awaited role-playing game from the recently joined team of Square-Enix. It is the first Final Fantasy game to have a sequel attributed to it, and while many may argue: “This isn’t Final Fantasy!” I disagree and say, it’s a step in the evolutionary process that should hopefully please most hardcore fans. But the downside, I think, to the sequel attribute is that you really have to have played (and finished) the original Final Fantasy X. So, is Final Fantasy X-2 worth purchasing? … Read on and find out.

Final Fantasy X-2 is set a few years after the conclusion of the original. Your control of the main character has switched from Tidus to the now-famous Yuna. After defeating Sin and bringing the “Eternal Calm” to Spira, Yuna has been pronounced a hero among the townsfolk. You are instantly thrown into the action, with Yuna (now a pop-star princess) joining a sphere-hunting group after she sees a person that resembles Tidus in a video sphere. Although the story may seem brief compared to the previous game, it also introduces many new characters into the mix. While the new characters are original and stylish, unfortunately, only one of them is playable (Paine). Your party now consists of three characters: Yuna, Rikku and Paine (Yuripa!)

The story advancement is one of the brilliant improvements made by Square-Enix in an attempt to revive the steadily diminishing series. The player can now shape the legend to their liking, by determining the outcome of the story missions throughout the course of the game. In this Deus Ex-esque style of progression, the player can chose which missions they wish to undertake at anyone time. This eradicates, somewhat, the feeling of linear growth and adds a fresh breath to the story advancement systems that are shown in previously released role-playing games.

While the characters are situated in the same world as in the original, they aren’t in the same place at the same time. In a nutshell, Spira has had a makeover and with the eradication of Sin and its nemeses, Spira evolved into a bright, cheerful and sometimes sickeningly happy world. The game is more up beat and bright compared to the original, but still the townsfolk have an adoring and affectionate aura about them towards Yuna and her companions.

Just as the story advancement system has been overhauled, the gameplay has also been tweaked in a big way. The main difference in gameplay between Final Fantasy X-2 and the original is the battle system. As in all previous Final Fantasy games, the battles are Turn-based and this will keep the diehard fans happy, but they are no longer taken in the Controlled Time Battle system, but have been reverted back to the tried and true Active Time Battle system. This change could divide some fans of the original, because whenever the player is thrown into battle, they must act immediately to prevent being beaten, and the battles do go quickly! So quickly in fact, the player is able to finish off an enemy while they are halfway through their attack. There is nothing more satisfying than defeating a foe mere seconds before you are defeated. But the Active Time Battle system has kept the original “recovery” bar, where the character, depending on their level or class, must wait a certain amount of time to recover from the previous attack. This was used to an extent in the original Final Fantasy X, but was less noticeable because of the Controlled Time Battle system.

While the Controlled Time Battle system has been brought back, a few new additions to the battle system have been brought in. Characters now have a “critical” attack where, depending on your class or job, the character can perform a “critical” attack, which will give you a distinct advantage over the opposition. These special attacks should be taken as a pillar of salt, because while they may cause immense damage, the side effects are far reaching as well. In certain cases, the character will perform their overdrive-esque attack and in return will be allotted with a double recovery time. Thus the plusses and minuses balance themselves out, depending on when you decide to use them. For example, it is usually better to perform them towards the end of the battle, eradicating the effect of the double recovery time. The other main addition to the gameplay is the ability to choose when to attack the enemy. While your time bar finishes charging, you can wait for your comrades to get ready and then unleash a flurry off combo attacks against the enemy. All these additions were implemented well and all perform their required effect. But no-doubt they were put into service to accommodate the loss of summoning. To flow with the story, Yuna can no longer summon aeons. While this may seem a big loss to some, the new additions to the battle system should keep all their urges at bay.

The progression of your characters in no longer undertaken in the “sphere grid” but has been reverted back to the classic levelling-up style present in most of the old Final Fantasy games. While this seemed a little restricting at first, the inclusion of the “Dress spheres” soon brought forth a new feeling of strategy and involvement. These “Dress spheres” are akin to the classes seen in much earlier Final Fantasy games, most recent being Final Fantasy V. The main difference between them are that each “Dress sphere” can be levelled up accordingly. So if you wish to have a mighty gunslinger, you can set it that way. The characters also gain new abilities according to their “Dress sphere” and gaining Appearance Points. While many say the addition of “classes” had been rejected originally because it was restricting to the characters, the developers have made it possible to inter-change “Dress spheres” in battle. These in-battle Dress Change sequences are akin to the summoning sequences present in the original Final Fantasy X. But it is again possible for the player to select, in the menus, to turn off this feature.

Aahhh… The most controversial, yet strangely appealing, selling point of the game (especially for the guys) is in most cases: the women. What guy in their rightful mind refuses the opportunity to gawk at scantly clad women? Well, unfortunately for these individuals, this is not a soft-core anime porno! I mean, for Christ sake… If you bought this game for it’s chicks, get a life, or better yet buy a real porno movie!

No, seriously… The graphics are literally unmatched in any other game that I’ve seen to date. After the merge of Square-Enix, their games have been advancing in many ways, shapes and forms. After the beautiful Final Fantasy X, I thought that any graphical advancement would be simply aesthetic. How wrong I could be, the environments of the game are pure eye-candy and while they may seem a little unoriginal, I was still amazed the first time I saw them. And the cut-scenes throughout the game are no less than what we’ve come to expect from Square. A plethora of expressions are now shown throughout the FMVs and I can see no way that Final Fantasy XII can improve on these scenes. Please prove me wrong Square and surprise me (again).

One of the downfalls in the original’s graphical department (especially the PAL version) was the Lip-synching. After waiting over six months more than NA version for a release, we were treated with shoddy and sometimes lifeless, *cough* Yuna *cough*, lip-synching. This was thankfully improved a great deal for the JIP version of Final Fantasy X-2. The characters can now be fully understood and this helps a great deal when you’re trying to comprehend what the characters are feeling and saying.

Once again, Square-Enix has taken an evolutionary step in making the “perfect” role-playing game. The music has also been given a makeover, which is probably due to the introduction of new composers. The music of Final Fantasy X was simply put: dull. The long, monotonic tunes had the same effect as Enya had on her latest sleep-inducing record. Thankfully, the new composers have added a bubbly and somewhat mischievous air to the surroundings. The Final Fantasy X-2 theme music is very “pop”ular, pun intended, and while this may not be to everyone’s taste, it seems to suite the type of game Square-Enix were trying to create. And yes, Yuna does sing… Don’t leave just yet though (you can leave the room if you so wish to) but hey, you may even enjoy it, to an extent!

And while the music has pushed off in a dramatic new direction, the voice acting has stayed solid. There were few changes in the voice-acting department from the original, with the exception of a few new inclusions, namely Paine. Nearly every single character you come across speaks to you, not only in the subtitles, but verbally as well! This is a vast improvement on the original, but there are still a few characters that were left mute. While this doesn’t dampen the experience, it does leave the door open for opportunity for Square-Enix to improve in future releases. The quality in the voice acting is far supreme to the original. Whether it was because in the PAL version of Final Fantasy X, Yuna was as lively and emotional as a stick. Or because the Final Fantasy series is a Japanese franchise and thus the characters are suited to a tea by the Japanese voices given to them. I’d say it’s an accrual of both these factors.

After the plethora of side quests in the original Final Fantasy X, I would be surprised not to see as much time and effort put into the sequel. The missions will take a bit of time to complete and are made more time-consuming by the “story level” feature. This basically means, you’ll have to complete a certain amount of story missions to gain a story level and thus move onto future, more difficult missions. Completing these story missions will net the characters Gil, AP and in certain cases rare items. While the random battles also surrender these little extras, they become less important and necessary with the rewards of the story missions. Depending on how well you complete the story missions, also influences the final result of the game. There are different endings, again much like Deus Ex, that are determined by how well you play the game.

The life span is also lengthened by the above-mentioned new inclusions, especially the battle system. It takes a while to come to grips with the new set-ups and menus, but once you’ve grasped the basics, you should be able to breeze through the main story. The battle system is undoubtedly the most difficult addition to come to terms with. Because it’s in active time, one tiny lapse in concentration will prove costly. To facilitate this obstacle, I’d suggest either taking in lots of caffeine, or gluing your eyes open… Though the first option is much more appealing.

In conclusion, Final Fantasy X-2 will not be to everyone’s liking. But with the numerous additions to the format, it will undoubtedly have something for all the fans to enjoy. Though a bit of it will be unto their liking… (Remember: you can leave the room if you so wish to). Just remember this is a Japanese franchise and thus is geared towards Japanese gamers, especially females in this case. This is not a bad point, but more of a step in a different direction. It has a very different theme to Final Fantasy X and is more of a modern game if anything else.

While it won’t be coming out for another few months in the PAL region, all who are in possession of a Japanese NTSC Playstation 2, should order their own copy of an arguably brilliant sequel.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 10/01/03, Updated 10/09/03