NitReview: FFX-2.

SirNitram · Post by **SirNitram** » 2003-12-25 02:05am

Stand back folks. I just finished the game, and it's time to lay out the review.

Storyline: Assuming you have a sense of humour and don't fly into a rage at campy antics, you will enjoy this. It builds far more slowly than FFX did; the true threat and just how it ties in with Yuna's quest don't get revealed immediately. However, you are back into the save the world position.

Characters: Yuna's changed, having acheived the Calm and finding a new purpose and goal in life. Very good in all accounts. Rikku, sadly, is a little weak. With her overwhelming goal from X being complete, she seems little more than a hanger-on, someone helping her 'big sis' Yuna. This has been covered several times. Paine, easily, is the most fun. A good solid story behind her, and damned if she doesn't get the best lines.("Er.. Think it wants a password?" "How about.. Kick.. It's.. Ass.")

Combat System: Ouch! No! Not the ABT again! Gah, fuck. I loved FFX's battle system. We're back to the old tried and true filling meters and waiting, though.

Job System: Yay! It's back! Though gaining AP can be tricky, Jobs are back with a vengeance. Which you use will depend heavily on your play style, but all are useful in their places(Cat Nip + Gunner = PAIIIIIIN).

Return Of Levels: While I liked the Sphere Grid, I don't mind levels when worked in with Jobs.

New Game +: Yay! Nothing more need be said.

Difficulty: Good and solid. And if you're like me, the Via Infinito will hold you for a while.

Graphics: The only bad thing I could say is in some battles, you're too far from the camera.

Missions: By giving you your airship from the start, this makes the game alot less linear. Sure, certain tasks are needed to proceed, but many others are strictly optional, yet have an impact on the game. It will take me many playthroughs to see them all.

End Boss: Another multi-part battle with a goliath that threatens all life, another showdown with the mastermind. Wonderfully done. A little easy, if you've been powerlevelling as I have.

Overall: Great sequel. Square has balls the size of small rocks for the experiment this game was, and I personally think they came through beautifully.

Joe · Post by **Joe** » 2003-12-25 01:29pm

Good to see someone sharing my opinion. People who won't give this game a shot seriously need to get over themselves.

BlkbrryTheGreat · Post by **BlkbrryTheGreat** » 2003-12-25 11:57pm

Brother must die.

Slartibartfast · Post by **Slartibartfast** » 2003-12-26 12:18am

I won't give this game a shot, yet I don't need to get over myself

The Kernel · Post by **The Kernel** » 2003-12-26 02:59am

I agree with most of your points, although I have to say I LOVED the battle system. What was really great about it was that the enemies could attack at the same time as you and you could actually delay their attacks by hitting them repeatedly which gave it a nice Grandia-ish touch (and the combo stuff was cool too). I liked the dressphere system but I felt like certain classes were really neglected (Black Mages for example; where the hell was the Flare/Ultima/Merton/Meteor spells?) although I loved how the White Mage had the MP-free Pray command.

All in all a good game, although I still think the plot was rather weak. It's not that I needed a save-the-world from total destruction in every RPG I play, its just that the whole political struggle between the different factions made almost no sense at all (as well as the relationships between Baralai, Nooj and Gipple).

Post by **The Yosemite Bear** » 2003-12-30 09:53am

i am having a blast....

Sporkzen · Post by **Sporkzen** » 2003-12-30 03:55pm

I rented it and tried it over the weekend. still left me kinda meh... but i've been playing knights of the old republic lately so my standards are kinda off atm.. though the battle system is kinda nice.

Darth Garden Gnome · Post by **Darth Garden Gnome** » 2003-12-31 04:06am

Coulda used some more testosterone; the singing and dancing sequence at the beginning pained me. And Rikku has grated on my nerves, but Paine is a lot of fun. I like the dressphere system and the open ended gameplay. Plus the option to literally jump around the terrain opens up a lot of secrets. Since it's only a rental (I really thought it was gonna suck, mind you) I haven't really gotten to anything resembling a storyline yet.

Final analysis: Good, solid Final Fantasy game with disatrous, annoying dialogue but fun gameplay system. I plan on buying it as soon as I get money, and I'd recommend everyone else does too.

Post by **Steve** » 2003-12-31 07:28pm

The dialogue has highs and lows. Sometimes it's really low, sometimes humorous, and sometimes.... I recorded an entire monologue of Yuna near the end simply because I enjoyed the emotion that Hedy Burress conveyed in Yuna, the pain and regret.

Like I said, highs and lows.

Plus, IMHO, FFX-2's Good Ending is probably the best FF has ever had when you consider music, look, characterization, and closure. Of course, I'm a sucker for happy endings.

mauldooku · Post by **mauldooku** » 2003-12-31 08:17pm

Here's my friend's review, for a bit of a contrast:

http://www.gamefaqs.com/console/ps2/review/R66208.html

Post by **Steve** » 2003-12-31 08:38pm

Badme wrote:Here's my friend's review, for a bit of a contrast:

http://www.gamefaqs.com/console/ps2/review/R66208.html

Apparently this person wasn't paying attention to the game, if he can claim the plot is only about collecting spheres.

I disagree with this. Vehemently. That's all I'm going to say now.

Post by **LadyTevar** » 2004-01-01 10:06pm

Steve wrote:
Badme wrote:Here's my friend's review, for a bit of a contrast:

http://www.gamefaqs.com/console/ps2/review/R66208.html
Apparently this person wasn't paying attention to the game, if he can claim the plot is only about collecting spheres.

I disagree with this. Vehemently. That's all I'm going to say now.

I also disagree with this person's review... and refuse to say any more.

mauldooku · Post by **mauldooku** » 2004-01-02 12:31am

LadyTevar wrote:
Steve wrote:
Badme wrote:Here's my friend's review, for a bit of a contrast:

http://www.gamefaqs.com/console/ps2/review/R66208.html
Apparently this person wasn't paying attention to the game, if he can claim the plot is only about collecting spheres.

I disagree with this. Vehemently. That's all I'm going to say now.
I also disagree with this person's review... and refuse to say any more.

My friend's interested in your opinions. He uses a free email, so he can't register at sd.net, but he wants the feedback/opinions you guys have. He hasn't gotten much more than agreeing emails, so he'd be very happy if you'd respond. I quote him:

Mattzarella wrote: "I wish you'd say more about the subject because I'd like to hear what you have to say. Or email me at selfpity@techie.com. Feel free, please."

Post by **LadyTevar** » 2004-01-02 02:13pm

Email him what Nitram said, for starters.

mauldooku · Post by **mauldooku** » 2004-01-02 04:54pm

LadyTevar wrote:Email him what Nitram said, for starters.

I showed him this page. He can read the forums, he just can't register an account.

SirNitram · Post by **SirNitram** » 2004-01-02 05:07pm

Well, beyond what I said, I suppose I can only try asking simple questions.

Do you hate campy humour? Don't get it.

Do you dislike sidequests? Don't get it.

Did you make a little shrine to FFX's battle system? You'll be vexed at the return of ATB.

mauldooku · Post by **mauldooku** » 2004-01-02 06:44pm

SirNitram wrote:Well, beyond what I said, I suppose I can only try asking simple questions.

Do you hate campy humour? Don't get it.

Do you dislike sidequests? Don't get it.

Did you make a little shrine to FFX's battle system? You'll be vexed at the return of ATB.

Nitram, could you please email my friend? I'm acting as his mouthpiece, he can't post here, and is very interested in a good discussion.

Post by **Steve** » 2004-01-04 02:12pm

Bah. Real men play ATB and like it.

Real men with balls of titanium play ATB with Wait Mode turned off.

Post by **LadyTevar** » 2004-01-04 09:07pm

Steve wrote:Bah. Real men play ATB and like it.

Real men with balls of titanium play ATB with Wait Mode turned off.

Good thing I'm not a man.....

I'm loving the NewGame Plus... the beginning bosses are so much easier when you already have the -ga Black Magic and the Alchemist's Stash:MegaPotion.

I can concentrate less on the need to level, and more on the sidequests that Nitram didn't get around to and complete the episodes he didn't. I'm going for the Perfect Ending, dammit! (and the Mascot Dresssphere)

Isil`Zha · Post by **Isil`Zha** » 2004-01-06 01:55am

SirNitram wrote:Well, beyond what I said, I suppose I can only try asking simple questions.

Do you hate campy humour? Don't get it.

Do you dislike sidequests? Don't get it.

Did you make a little shrine to FFX's battle system? You'll be vexed at the return of ATB.

hmm.. should've saw this thread before.. anyway...

I did like FFXs battle system, but X-2s system is damn fun as well. It's not the same as previous FF with the active system by almost all counts. For one - people/fiends moving in battle does have great effect - fiend tactics such as flame breathe and such won't hit characters that either end up or start on the other side of them. With melee fighters, the greater distance from them means they have to take more time to get to them to hit them - leaving time for you other characters to cut them down before they even finish executing their attack. Also the combo system works good.

And yes, catnip + trigger happy = gooooooooooooood. muhahahahaha

Now, don't take this all the wrong way, cause I did really enjoy FFX's battle system, more time to think and strategize on what you were going to do with your turn(s), as you almost always knew who's turn was next. Also, FFX was more.. relaxing to play, you didn't have to keep up with it to get your actions in as soon as you could.

FFX-2s story was a bit weak, but what do you expect with Sin already gone, but it was nice to continue the story - and as Steve said, with the good ending you get one of the best endings ever to a FF, and closure to the FFX story (espeically considering it comes *straight* off of the CG in the end of FFX with no break....) It was definatly very lighthearted - FFXs story was 1000x better.

Another thing about FFX-2 is rather odd - the HP damage incurred/enemy HP/character HPs are all below what would be considered FF par.... it's really odd considering FFX raised that bar to extreme levels. For most FFs, around level 60 your fighting characters usually do 3000-5000HP damage... in X-2, they do 700-1200. Enemy HPs are a lot lower too of course.

Oh, and the mages were *not* skimped on. Holy and Auto-Life are obtained through a garment grid(s)... as are Flare and Ultima. Also, Flare and Ultima in this one are actually quite a bit more powerful than the other spells than compared to how they were in FFX - they're not just slightly more powerful. How I mentioned above about HPs being below the FF par - as in before I obtained things like catnip and such I had never seen damage over 3000: The first time I cast flare it did 9999... to the strong fiends in the last area of the game. It mostly did between 8000 and 9999 - so in this FF they are significanly more powerful compared to the 'ga' spells - a lot more useful in otherwords.. and thus they reasonably have to be obtained through GGs. The one with Ultima/flare is easy - just go down *all* the holes at the end up to the flowery farplane abyss (including Yojimbo's, who you had to smoke in Ch.3 in order to have open) and you'll obtain it.

There is one thing I reallllllly despise about this FF though.... where the fuck was Nobuo Uematsu do the music!?!?!?!? Almost all the music sucked ass! Save for real Emotion and 1000 words. In FFX, a lot of the music was great and memerable: One example for instance is the Zanarkand music really gave a feeling of closure coming soon - the music in this though.. is just.. UGH.

Now, I just got the good ending today just to see it, now I'm on to finishing getting the perfect ending - I'm currently at 97% completion, so I don't have much more to do.

Overall I do really like the game, new game+ is cool - even after I get the perfect ending I'm going back for a 3rd round, as there are things you have to sacrifice any chance of getting a % for an event, that you can't redo. For instance to get gippal's sphere and the FFVII connection, you have to get Rin himself blamed for the Mi'hen highroad incident, however doing so you cannot get the % - and this time through I'm going for 100% to get the perfect ending.

Anyway, just for info has anyone here gotten the perfect ending? If so, all I want to know is 2 things: 1) Is it CG? and 2) Is it worth it?

Isil`Zha · Post by **Isil`Zha** » 2004-01-06 01:59am

Steve wrote:Bah. Real men play ATB and like it.

Real men with balls of titanium play ATB with Wait Mode turned off.

bah, screw active mode - just because we're limited to physically having to find a spell or item in a list doesn't mean you should be penalized by getting smacked by an enemy while you do it.

Post by **Steve** » 2004-01-07 05:44pm

LadyTevar wrote:
Good thing I'm not a man.....

I hope you understand I was joking.