Game Review: Final Fantasy X-2 HD

It didn't take me long at all the clear through the second game in the HD collection I told you all about. Final Fantasy X-2 serves as the direct sequel to Final Fantasy X. The concept of sequels for Final Fantasy is vastly different then what normal people will expect hence the "-2". Anyways, the game's story picks up 2 years after Yuna brought the Eternal Calm with vanquishing Sin forever. She's now joined up with Rikku and new character Paine as a Sphere Hunter. All in hopes to find the one she loves (you'll have to play FFX to see what happened!). The look and feel of this game is vastly different than it's previous title. First off, X-2 returns to the classic Active Time Battle system that the franchise is known for instead of sticking with the turn based system. You control the 3 girls and only them throughout the game's story. If they all die, then it's Game Over.

All of them develop in the classic way of leveling up. The Job System introduced in the early FF games also makes a return in the form of dresspheres. These range from classic jobs like White Mage, Warrior, and Thief to the weird ones like Gunner, Psychic, Mascot and many more. These dresses can be arranged on what's known as Garment Grids. These can be very plain and give off no status effects or can allow the users to cast Black Magic, absorb magic into health and many more. Some will have colored nodes and if you pass through them to another job, that job will have the new effect such as +10 to Strength, or Triple HP.

A typical battle on the Highroad

This may seem like lots to take in but you'll get the hang of it as you keep playing. As you attack, you can time the other girls' moves right to create a chain and deal more damage. You can even interrupt enemies as they're in the process of attacking or casting spells. The jobs gain new abilities the longer you spend time wearing them. In all honesty, the story doesn't hold up to the first game. I get this extreme feeling of bubble gum/pop/girly fun times. There were some humorous moments in the game though don't get me wrong. Some of the new characters did bring lots of backstory that took place prior and during the events of FFX.

You can pretty much take my statements I made about X's graphics and apply them here. It's an HD Remaster so the look got an upgrade and the menus look smoother and cleaner. As do the locations and character models. Unfortunately the music is the original PS2 copy, not that it's anything special mind you. Though there were some tracks that easily make me tear up because it's so beautifully composed. All of the characters from X make a return here/cameo appearance and it's nice to catch up to see what they've been up to in the time that's passed. Besides the story, there are loads of side quests and missions (some of which are incredibly boring) that you would need to do in order to get a 100% Completion rating. Yup it's that kind of game as well, with multiple endings. In my play-through, I managed to get up to 92% with the Great Ending and overall I as happy with it.

Meet the Heroines!

There's really not that much left I can say about this game. Which can make you see how I feel about this game overall. It's nothing compared to Final Fantasy X and while my play-through here was better than the PS2 attempt, I didn't feel as accomplished. I applaud the developers for continuing this story but it doesn't ignite the excitement the first one did.

A look at the Dresspheres you can find!

Should you Play this Game?
It's a bit of a toss up, you could easily Wiki the story and find out what happens. Though if you get the HD Collection, you get both games so it's your call if you want to play through it. Give it a shot if you're up to it!

Other Notes about the Collection:

Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD Remaster comes with some other goodies and I'm gonna give a summary of each here.

Final Fantasy X: The Eternal Calm-All this is, is a cutscene that shows Yuna after the events of the first game and sets up the beginning of X-2. You do get a trophy for viewing it. 10-15min is the length.

Final Fantasy X-2: Last Mission-Taking place after X-2, this addon originally on the PAL/International editions, is basically you climbing a tower after being invited there by a mysterious letter. I'd look up what happens since it's a very strange combat system and I'm not bothering with it.

Bonus Audio + Credits-This is a brand new audio footage exclusively for the collection following 2 new characters as they travel to talk with Lady Yuna about a new disturbance going around. You can take a listen if you want as concept art from both games fall down as the short story progresses. It leaves on a very weird cliffhanger and it's kinda painful to listen to. Especially some forced parts. 10-20 min is the length.