This is the continuation of a great classic JRPG, Final Fantasy X. This is kinda of an odd-ball game, because of its much brighter and fun story but it reveals a dark past about Spira and Zanarkand. Now, if you want to play this game, you may (or may not, your choice) throw away some stuff that you knew about the first game, because some things here have changed a bit or drastically.
STORY
Final Fantasy X-2's story is set 2 years after Tidus and the rest of the party defeated Sin in Final Fantasy X. Living and culture in the world of Spira has changed after the fall of Yevon and so is Yuna, the main character. She's now a Sphere Hunter. Sphere Hunters are group of "pirates" that look for Spheres (Spira's "Home Video" artifact) for profit. As Gullwing's Sphere Hunter, Yuna is accompanied by Rikku (returning character) and Paine (new character) in her hunt for Spheres that contains a footage with You-know-who, or his look-alike in it. The story of FFX-2 is divided into chapters. Completing Missions around Spira's hotspots progresses the game's story.
GAMPLAY
Like FFX there's no overworld to explore Spira, but you already have access to an airship, named Celsius. Meaning you can now fast travel to Spira's different locations. Of course you can still run on foot if you want to. Of course running around Spira will trigger random fiend battles.
The battle system is different from FFX. This time ATB is applied. Like FFIV, abilities and spells have casting time gauge. The battle animation and positioning of the main party members made battles look action oriented because after a character attacks she backs down a bit and she stays there, not like in FFX when after a character attacks, he/she returns to its starting position in-line with his/her party members.
A new mechanic is added to the battle system and it's called Dresspheres. It's Final Fantasy's Job System. You can change dresses mid battle by pressing L1 and selecting a Dressphere in the Garment Grid as long as it's your character's turn. Each Dressphere have different abilities which you can learn by defeating monsters and gaining AP.
Garment Grids resembles the Sphere Grid but smaller. You can equip different Garment Grids and insert Dresspheres in it. Some Garment Grids give active/passive/support abilities. To activate the abilities, you must change from your active Dressphere to another Dressphere that have an ability between them.
The Dressphere change mechanic alienated some manly gamers. Why you ask? It's because of the Dress Sphere Change animation. Have you watched Sailor Moon or something similar to that anime? If you do, then that's how Dressphere change is like. Thankfully, you can shorten these animations or turn it off in the config menu, it will save you some time in battles.
Another addition to the game is the Creature Creator. You can access this by talking to the Shinra kid in the airship. This is very addicting because it got that "gotta-catch-em-all" vibe. No need to go to the field and capture a creature, just talk to Shinra and go to the Set Traps menu, where you trap creatures depending on its size: Small (S), Medium (M) or Large (L). Each creature size will require traps that matches their size. Another kind of trap (Trap SP) is for special creatures like humanoid ones. There are lots to do in Creature Creator, like the Fiend Tales (captured creature's backstory), and Monster Arena, with battle simulator and tournament mode. In Creature Creator alone, you can level up your main party and/or captured creatures without going down to the field and do random battles.
BTW, you can assign creatures in your main party and bring them to battle. The creature takes party member slots depending on its size. Small creatures takes one slot, Medium ones takes two and the Large ones take the entire three party member slots.
You can do lots of stuff in FFX-2. You can play Blitzball or go to the Calm Lands and play mini games. There's also side-quests to eat your play time if you want to 100% this game. Just keep exploring, you might find something new to do.
GRAPHICS
This is a great remaster like FFX, well because almost everything is re-used in FFX-2. Good thing there are new areas to explore and some of the previous areas are completely different, like Kilika and Bikanel Island. Everything is vibrant and sharp. But also, like FFX, FFX-2 have those awkward animations and very flat-looking and creepy NPCs that have eyes that doesn't blink. Only the main and other important characters have better and improved look.
MUSIC/AUDIO
The soundtrack in FFX-2 is different and sometimes it doesn't fit in the world of Spira. But the soundtrack reflects the playful and colorful nature of the story and it grows on some people.
Voice acting remains the same. No changes or new dialogue. Voice acting quality is great. Some characters sound great, annoying or boring to capture the characters personality, like Brother.
REPLAY VALUE
The game itself will last for more than 40 hours if you just want to finish the game. If you want to get the secret ending, then aim for 100% completion. The mini games and Creature Creator will definitely eat your play time.
CLOSING REMARKS
If you want to continue FFX's story then play FFX-2. The story might not be as good as the previous one. It made me cringe in some scenes sometimes, but it's fun to just play the game. This is really a great game the story's pacing is good, the side-quests felt different in each location in Spira and there are lots to do here. This game is a fan service that caters to Final Fantasy fans and some creepy perverts that levels up a particular Dressphere's Scan ability. If you have a PS3, PS Vita or PS4 and want to play one of the best classic games out there. then pick the Final Fantasy X HD remaster.
No comments:
Post a Comment