Two days ago the much-awaited sequel to the critically mixed Final Fantasy XIII released. No, it's not Final Fantasy XIV. That game already released last year, and was apparently awful. No, I'm talking about Final Fantasy XIII-2. That's thirteen-two, in pronunciation.
To start, I'll give a quick summary of my impressions of its predecessor, XIII. I'm not what you'd call a Final Fantasy fan. Of the main series I've played only X and XIII, and I've dabbled in some Tactics Advance and Crystal Chronicles on the side. Whether or not you know what those games are isn't relevant. Just know that out of the multitude of Final Fantasy games available, I've played few. So when playing XIII for the first time almost two years ago, it was from the position of someone who was relatively new to the series. I had few expectations, and I was pleasantly surprised by the absorbing plot and entertaining gameplay.
Not everyone agreed with my innocent perspective. There were criticisms and disagreements abound, proclaiming that the game was too linear, that the battle system didn't fully open up for the first 20 hours of the game, or that the plot was boring with unlikable characters. With partial exception to the last point, I can recognize where these complaints are coming from, but I disagree that they made the game bad. Then, I'm an outside observer, generally a fan of JRPGs but uninitiated in the matters of Final Fantasy. The Final Fantasy name carries a lot of weight with it. With immense popularity comes fan expectations. And that was Final Fantasy XIII's problem. It wasn't a bad game at all; in fact, compared to other JRPG offerings at the time, it was quite good. Where it lost is in comparison to Final Fantasy games past. It simply did not meet the high expectations of prior installments. Or so they say.
So in comes Final Fantasy XIII-2, which probably began development right on the heels of the prequel's release. This is a game that, at first glance, aims to mend relationships. If you took a list of all the things fans disliked in Final Fantasy XIII, XIII-2 seems to systematically fix these problems, and then some. Non-linear areas, more freedom when developing characters, more influence over the direction of the story, fully accessible battle system within a few hours of gameplay, and sidequests are some of the additions. I was a bit concerned that all the changes would make me enjoy the game less, since, as I mentioned earlier, I quite enjoyed XIII. So far, however, those worries have been unfounded.
This game had one big thing going for it. One of the main reasons I picked it up on release was the major plot element of time travel. Having played Chrono Trigger, this was a big one. This is just me, but the presence of time travel in a plot increases the awesome factor by several degrees. And so far it's not disappointing.
So yes, generally speaking, this game feels like an apology for Final Fantasy XIII. I personally didn't want an apology, but I appreciate the game. It's very fun so far. Here's what I like and dislike about it so far:
LIKE The Story: The groundwork for the story is slowly being laid down, and I don't know much about it yet, but the concept and the way it's delivered is very interesting. The overall concept is that space-time paradoxes are occurring all over the timeline, and you have to find gates that allow you to travel to different times and resolve the anomalies. The overall plot and lore of the game is delivered in bite-size chunks at different points of time, to give you the impression of the overall history of the game, starting three years after the end of XIII, and ending 700 years later at the end of days. Serah, Lightning's sister who was crystallized for most of the first game, teams up with the last human to have lived, a man who traveled back in time to save the world from destruction. There's a significant Chrono Trigger vibe to be had in that, and I like it. Can't wait to see how it develops.
LIKE The Battle System: Those who played Final Fantasy XIII will be able to pick up the battle system very quickly, as it's mostly unchanged. The battle system, while simplistic at a first glance, is quite strategic, and already being proficient at it meant I could jump right in and have fun. I haven't unlocked all of the different roles yet, but I look forward to it.
LIKE Sidequests: So far most of what I've encountered is quite simple, but in your quest to resolve all of the paradoxes, you meet NPCs who have lost something, or have encountered an unknown monster, or something like that. Minor problems, as a result of some time paradox, that you can agree to fix. Doing so grants you one of 160 of the game's fragments, so completionists (like myself) will be seeking out them all. The presence of such distractions from the main plot is important, as the plot of this game is far less urgent than its predecessor. And so far, the sidequests are doing a good job of that, affording me the pleasure of exploring every nook and cranny of an area for tucked away secrets.
LIKE Chocobos: Again, I'm not a Final Fantasy fan, so the mere presence of Chocobos is not enough to rejoice. But typically after reaching the end of an area, you unlock the ability to ride a Chocobo through that area, which affords you a greater movement speed, and allows you to avoid battles. Great for exploring!
LIKE Nothing is Missable: Because the game is structured into different timelines and preset events, there's nothing that can be missed. There are even key items you can find that allow you to close time gates and reset everything there to how it was before you showed up, allowing you to (theoretically, I haven't tried it yet) reexperience the events that transpired there.
UNDECIDED Monster Taming: Taking a cue from Pokemon, XIII-2 introduces the ability to tame enemy monsters and fight alongside them. Generally I'm enjoying this feature, as it allows me to have the third party member the game lacks. (XIII had six in rotation, but XIII-2 only has two), but the ambiguity has me wondering. I'm not sure if it's worthwhile to invest too heavily in a creature at this early stage. I don't want to spend a lot of money to upgrade one monster, only to find it sucking later in the game.
UNDECIDED Cinematic Actions & Live Triggers: XIII-2 has also introduced more interactive cutscenes. One such interaction is cinematic actions, which requires you to press certain button combinations during a cinema. Quick-time events, basically. While I don't hate it, it seems a bit tacky. Another addition is live triggers, which are conversation branches where you're allowed to choose which response to take. Supposedly your answer can affect the outcome in a timeline, but I haven't yet seen this happen.
UNDECIDED Crystarium Changes: Along with the ambiguity of monster development comes the general ambiguity of the crystarium. At the start you can level up any of the roles that your characters have access to, in any order you want. You could take one role all the way to max, or split levels between a few different roles. Ultimately it's possible to max out every role, but since you can't do it right away, it's important to level up prudently. So while there's no worry of messing anything up permanently, leveling up poorly can lead to a dampened experience.
DISLIKE Random Battles: One of the things I liked about XIII was that all the enemies were visible on the map. XIII-2 has switched this around somewhat, making it that enemies randomly appear on the field. The battle doesn't start right away, so you can get a preemptive strike or run away if you choose, but you can never see the enemy from afar, making sneaking around difficult. This is one thing I miss from XIII.
DISLIKE Chocolina: Chocolina is the shopkeeper of the game. She follows you around everywhere. And she's really annoying. Whenever she talks. Not the things she says, just the way she talks. She's loud, and overexcited. It's...just let me buy some stuff and leave.
Those are my general impressions so far. I may post more about XIII-2 in the future as I play more of it, but for now I'll leave you with that. If you have any thoughts of your own, or have any questions about things that weren't clear, let me know in the comments!
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