FFXIII-2

[Reverend Del]

It's no secret just how much Final Fantasy fans hated XIII, it was badly paced, linear and the combat system was a mess. A narrow succession of corridors that didn't make you really feel at all engaged in the story. So what's changed in the direct sequel?

A lot. Gone is the linear nature and back to a more open style of play reminiscent of earlier FF titles, the story is shorter and better paced and although the combat is just a refined version of it's predecessor that doesn't detract from the overall appeal of the game. So some specifics then, I guess.

Final Fantasy XIII-2 starts 3 years after the end of FFXIII, opening with a very impressive cutscene, but then Square Enix should have these things down by now, we're introduced to the main bad guy and re-introduced to Lightning. We also meet one of our two heroes of the adventure in Noel Kreiss, I shan't ruin the story by explaining who he is or exactly why he's here, but suffice to say the story line is engaging enough that you'll actually want to find out. The game begins in New Bodhum on Gran Pulse with NORA trying to make a home after Cocoon nearly fell. You control Serah, Lightning's Sister and with Noel set out on a journey to fix time and bring your sister back from whatever dimension she got lost in not five minutes after saving the world. Serah is the only one who can remember that Lightning did not sacrifice herself and thusly is determined to do something about it. The journey travels and weaves it's way through time as you solve problems and set history back on it's proper course. Watching and occasionally dropping out the skies to send nasties and boss fights is the game's antagonist Caius Ballad.

The story is shorter than the length of time it took for FFXIII to really get going, weighing in at something like 25 hours, however you probably won't get a completion time anywhere close to that, not unless you're trying for a speed run, each area has multiple little side quests and most have optional time zones you can open up, allowing for some interesting running about between alternate realities fulfilling side quests that can only be done by retrieving something for one and taking it to the other. Though most of the areas aren't huge, there's still plenty to do and collect. It will divert you, that's pretty much guaranteed.

You control only Serah and Noel during the game and fights, though you are accompanied by a Moogle named Mog and you can catch the monsters you fight, or at least some of them, these monsters have only one role and can be added to a three monster paradigm deck to allow you to make up three person paradigms. This gives you the tactical flexibility of FFXIII, however so long as your get yourself a good Ravager and Sentinel, you'll breeze through most of the low-level combat with relative ease. It's only as you make your way toward the end-game where catching some big nasties and putting them to service is actually worth it.

The combat is disappointing however, gone are the monsters on screen, now they teleport in and you're given a little on screen timer that tells you how close they are to catching you. Get away and you won't have to fight, fail and you've got one chance to beat them, no retry option. However I can't help but feel that's a step backward, FFXII still has the best mechanic for encounters I've seen yet and I really wish Square Enix had stuck with it. As for combat itself, well...auto-battle is not so omniscient this time, it often can save you time and be a sight more efficient if you actually select which abilities you want to use during tough fights, however during the normal grinds, spamming X until the enemy is dead is once again the default tactic. You can switch your leader during combat and will do so by force if your current leader should happen to be reduced to zero HP, should both humans fall it's game over.

In short, FFXIII-2 is good, possibly even great, the story line is engaging, the side quests fun and it even has a gambling section akin to the Gold Saucer, though not quite as much fun. Even if it does have Chocobo racing. The battle system really is a let down though, but it shouldn't stop you from enjoying what is a damn fine FF game, and truly what FFXIII should have been.

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Saint Del is considered a holy healer of diseases of children, but also as a protector of cattle.