Final Fantasy XIII-2 Review

It's hard to believe, but it's been almost 2 whole years since the release of Final Fantasy XIII. Although the game had a very definite ending without many loose ends, the game's database contained several levels of backstory about the fal'Cie, the War of Transgression, and hints about the gods who created the fal'Cie, enough that a sequel was a possibility. Square Enix publicly said that if FF13 sold enough copies, they would green light a sequel. 2 years later, the sequel has arrived, fixing many of the issues fans had with the original, but willfully ignoring old problems.


Full review after the break.

**


Final Fantasy XIII-2 is what I would like to call a "semi-linear" game. Although there is a story with a defined beginning and end, the road to the end splits in several directions, requiring re-visiting old areas and the ability to visit areas "out of order" fairly early in the game. Because of the time-traveling nature of this game, you can also completely re-do certain sections of the game in order to obtain Paradox Endings, something required to obtain the secret ending of the game.


I won't mention the battle system since I already covered it in my demo review, but it is much better compared to the original game. One thing I did learn is that while the last game disallowed level grinding by capping character development in every chapter (including the final chapter to a certain point of view), FF13-2 has no such restrictions and in some points, level grinding becomes a necessity if one has over-leveled certain roles or taken particular Crystarium bonuses. I felt this already, having chosen to get an extra ATB gauge over unlocking the Saboteur role for Serah, so now I need to grind a bit in order for her to learn Poison for a particular boss fight.


The visuals are identical to its predecessor. While great looking, they're no longer "OMG" impressive. If anything has improved graphically, it's the particle effects. While jumping through time, the particle effects are pretty mind-blowing and it really makes you question why Square Enix decided not to release the game in 3D, although that can fixed with a simple update.


Story-wise, FF13-2 continues the trend of Japanese games being as confusing as possible in the beginning. Despite no evidence of time travel in the first game, everyone is suddenly an expert in time travel upon meeting Noel Kreiss, knowing full well what space-time is and what time paradoxes are. Even so, FF13-2 makes sure to tell the player what the goal of the game is quickly, when FF13 literally took hours to explain what a l'Cie is, what a Focus is, why the main characters are screwed, and eventually what the hell the goal of the game is.


Overall, the music is pretty good. Masashu Hamauzu returns from FF13, accompanied by Naoshi Mizuta, the composer of Final Fantasy XI, probably the best composer at Square Enix since the departure of Nobuo Uematsu. Ambient music with lyrics return from FF13, sounding as unintelligible as ever, although the melodies are still nice and fit the areas they're played in. New to this game is changing music in different sections of areas and no zones outside of changing time periods. I have been disappointed in the boss battle music because it's ever changing and generally is not catchy at all. Thankfully, "Desperate Struggle" returns for boss fights against Cie'th.


Story: 7/10
Gameplay: 10/10
Presentation: 9/10
Replay Value: 8/10


Average Score: 8.5/10


Although Final Fantasy XIII-2 improves greatly with gameplay and overall replay value, the story takes a major hit because of the fact that the game ends on a cliffhanger and character development is close to non-existent for people who did not play the original game. Although I'm well aware of how certain characters are supposed to be, the rare person who chooses to play the sequel first for whatever reason will be totally confused, even with the Beginner's Primer located at the main menu.


Despite that, it's still a good game and well worth playing. Somewhat unrelated to the quality of the game, I was disappointed that Laura Bailey only voiced Serah Farron and was not given an opportunity to voice a female character with a deeper voice, a talent that she is very notable for. It's actually pretty incredible when you learn that the same woman who voices Serah and Kid Trunks from Dragonball Z is also the voice actress for the Cloud of Darkness from Dissidia and Lust from Full Metal Alchemist.