games, figures, translations and reviews
Monday, January 30, 2012.
Final Fantasy XIII-2 review.
Final Fantasy XIII-2 is Motomu Toriyama's response to the public reception of Final Fantasy XIII.
Expansive in content and depth, Final Fantasy XIII-2's scope and linearity is in complete contrast to that of the previous title.
XIII-2's soundtrack pays homage to multiple prior titles including VI and VII; anything ranging from rock, progressive rock, melodic, symphonic and even opera. All non-playable characters are fully voiced and have multiple lines, offering help, insight into their own personal situation, or requesting help. Similar to Xillia, townsfolk will ask for enemies defeated, areas explored, items fetched, among other things.
XIII-2's story revolves around time travel, narrated by Lightning - XIII's protagonist. While she isn't playable at any point, she narrates throughout the entirety of the game, speaking past-tense implying she's explaining a story while knowing the outcome. Exploration is also very time travel based, travelling to parts of worlds--think of it as mending holes in the fabric of time.
Character personalities beyond generic NPCs are few in number to say the least, but those who make an entrance are well-crafted and especially detailed, such as Caius, the antagonist who continuously obstructs Serah and Noel's path. The anti-hero, while very powerful, comes off passive and vague in a manner which can only be described as rivalry. Keep your enemies close.
The only major flaw in the voice acting is the (previously mentioned) bombardment of information in the former half of the game, thankfully it eases up quickly as the game expands.
Being primarily based around time travel, the game takes place in a world map allowing you to "warp" to various zones (think Super Mario Bros). Each area must be visited to solve puzzles, collect fragments, among other things--after meeting certain requirements, new areas will become accessible from the world map, the "History Crux". XIII-2 also offers the ability to lock areas or retrace steps for specific items--this is very important drawing the conclusion of the game, where the true ending requires the correct history in order to be revealed. This leads to a lot of backtracking, re-visiting areas, and solving issues present in various worlds. The only problem with this, like so many pieces of material geared around time travel, is the lack of consequence and explanation as to what your actions have changed. From a logical point of view, changing events within time subsequentially equals different results - of which are unexplained here beyond pretty much just opening the true ending.
Exploration, freedom and variety are the centrepiece in XIII-2, the first title to take proper execution of jumping and adventuring within worlds, many with hidden secrets (in similar fashion to Xillia). Maps are fairly well designed, but the depth and consistency is all over the place. Thankfully you're allowed to visit areas as many times as you'd like.
Battles are basically the same as XIII, primarily using the Paradigm system to balance out healing, attacking and provocation. One major difference is to repeat the previously executed command, as well as engaging a third party member such as a Chocobo or Cait Sith in battle as a healer or otherwise. Most enemies can be captured and used within battle, complete with their own Paradigm Shifts, which is a really unique addition and adds a fair amount of customization to your party.
Each monster has a specific way of "evolving" their roles, ie. Healers evolve slowly but reach their ultimate level while Defenders evolve quickly but stop levelling entirely. So in addition to capturing and levelling monsters, the player needs to pay attention to the roles of the monsters as well. It's pretty much Pokemon - screw up, and it's up to you to capture another one and start over.
The difficulty of the game, much like its predecessor, remains high, especially within the final moments. Consequentially, being reckless with the Crystarium can result in a harder game in general, depending on which stats the player chooses while levelling. Crystarium is now far more linear and has single, differential roles that the player must choose and progress through. As a result, the player will be able to have everything eventually, but undeniably better results can be achieved in less time with more time spent in carefully planning where to distribute points.
The synthesis system is now merged with item creation, resembling something similar to the Bazaar of Final Fantasy XII, only more linear: the item is generally available for purchase depending on the world of the sellers, providing you have enough to shell out for it.
XIII-2 is extremely short in comparison to the previous games of the series - approximately 30-35 hours. It has no post-game, but allows the player to trek through previously explored areas (in turn, revealing more areas), even after seeing the credits.
Despite being relatively short, the game gambles itself entirely on replay value. Prominent aspect of replay value being in collecting "fragments"--three or four in every world--all of which are necessary in order to view the true ending. Endings are plentiful and require the player to backtrack through various cutscenes in specific sequence in order to change the outcome.
Another major factor of collecting fragments is in how to obtain them. It varies from side-quests to visiting specific points in time, to killing special enemies, and even in acquiring abilities.
Mog, the mascot accompanying the duo, besides acting as a tour guide will also be able to sniff out items, hidden areas and even people which would have otherwise gone unnoticed. Seemingly annoying, but ultimately useful.
XIII-2 is plentiful in content but fails miserably in the time travel aspect it sets itself up in. A lot of the situation isn't explained - it just happens. The "true ending" is still a bad ending, making the game feel half complete, as if to imply there will be a XIII-3 or possible "alternative story" through DLC.
Character interactions, facial expressions and NPC interactions have been wildly improved, but are inconsistent: facial expressions, lip syncing and voice acting are hit and miss. The first few hours of the game bombards you with tutorials, information and backstory, while still managing to fail in explaining precisely why this canonized scenario exists.
XIII-2 is a very confused game. It doesn't know whether it's coming or going. In one regard, it's a light-hearted, content-filled game with a story in there somewhere. On the other, there's very much a grimdark story that tries to take itself seriously.. amongst the death metal music, gigantic Chocobo capturing and half-Chocobo half-woman merchants. Unfortunately even having done so, the game itself still has flaws which are still making me question why this game exists, much like I was questioning when I was a few hours in. It's in complete contrast to XIII itself and a better game in depth, but throw all expectations you had of story out the window because it's just not there. This is more or less fanservice for those having played XIII but felt left wanting more.
