Opening Comments
It's been awhile since I played a Final Fantasy game. So I figured I pick up the first true sequal to a Final Fantasy game. Little did I know how much different it was compared to Final Fantasy X...I also recommend playing Final Fantasy X BEFORE this, otherwise you'll probably get lost.
Prepare yourself for the FFX's Charlie's Angels.
Story: 8/10
It was a good story, had it's high points, had it's low. More or less 2 years after Sin was finally destroyed, thanks to Yuna and her band of guardians. One day, Yuna is brought a sphere, showing a person, who greatly resembles Tidus, but you can't quite make it out. Yuna joins the "Gullwings", a group dedicated to sphere hunting. Headed by Brother, an Al Bhed Air Ship pilot who has about as much experience speaking english as I do speaking Al Bhed. Rikku also is back too. More or less the game's central focus after that is shifted towards something that's existed before Sin.
Graphics: 10/10
FFX's graphics were some of the most realistic ones out there, and were wonderfully detailed. FFX-2 is sporting the same graphics. In fact, most of the maps came STRAIGHT out of FFX. Animation is nicely done, the effects in the game are nothing short of spectacular. The FMVs are the best you can get in my opinion.
Music & Sound: 9/10
When you start up a new game, you're instantly blown away by one of the few songs in the game. All the songs in the game are great. It's better than that stuff you hear on the radio, I can tell you that much! There's feeling put into the songs. Then some of the music. Most of the time, you're listening to the same thing over and over again, which is the only flaw with this category. Sounds are dead on. When someone's talking, the mouth is moving. Some times the voices feel a bit hurried, such as some of the scenes at the start. Other than that, it's gold.
Gameplay: 9/10
The battle system has taken a new twist in X-2. In order to use special attacks, you must still have a certain amount of MP, but now there's a waiting time AFTER. Say for Paine's Excaliber attack, you have to wait until the guage reaches blue, then she'll use the attack, which is around maybe 15 seconds, an advantage is you can attack again right after.
The Garment Grid is a new system introduced in X-2. Instead of having several party members with different jobs (Black Mage, Theif, etc), your characters can equip Garment Spheres into a Garment Grid, and in the middle of battle, you could change your character's class from Gunner to Black Mage. Also, these jobs also have a different wait time before they can attack, Theif takes the least amount of time, and Warrior takes the most. This also means you won't be able to gain new party members throughout the game.
Replay Value: 10/10
Over HALF the game is side quests. You can finish the first run through the game with about 47%. So you're going to be running around finding those side quests in every chapter until you reach 100% (Which earns you a new ending).
Also, there are several Treasure Spheres to collect outside of the story's. Plus, you can play some mini games in the Calm Lands. Also, you can try to fill out the character profiles and Fiend information.
Overall: 9/10
GREAT GAME. I'd recommend it to anyone who's been into the Final Fantasy series. If you've played FFX, you should definitly play this.
It's been awhile since I played a Final Fantasy game. So I figured I pick up the first true sequal to a Final Fantasy game. Little did I know how much different it was compared to Final Fantasy X...I also recommend playing Final Fantasy X BEFORE this, otherwise you'll probably get lost.
Prepare yourself for the FFX's Charlie's Angels.
Story: 8/10
It was a good story, had it's high points, had it's low. More or less 2 years after Sin was finally destroyed, thanks to Yuna and her band of guardians. One day, Yuna is brought a sphere, showing a person, who greatly resembles Tidus, but you can't quite make it out. Yuna joins the "Gullwings", a group dedicated to sphere hunting. Headed by Brother, an Al Bhed Air Ship pilot who has about as much experience speaking english as I do speaking Al Bhed. Rikku also is back too. More or less the game's central focus after that is shifted towards something that's existed before Sin.
Graphics: 10/10
FFX's graphics were some of the most realistic ones out there, and were wonderfully detailed. FFX-2 is sporting the same graphics. In fact, most of the maps came STRAIGHT out of FFX. Animation is nicely done, the effects in the game are nothing short of spectacular. The FMVs are the best you can get in my opinion.
Music & Sound: 9/10
When you start up a new game, you're instantly blown away by one of the few songs in the game. All the songs in the game are great. It's better than that stuff you hear on the radio, I can tell you that much! There's feeling put into the songs. Then some of the music. Most of the time, you're listening to the same thing over and over again, which is the only flaw with this category. Sounds are dead on. When someone's talking, the mouth is moving. Some times the voices feel a bit hurried, such as some of the scenes at the start. Other than that, it's gold.
Gameplay: 9/10
The battle system has taken a new twist in X-2. In order to use special attacks, you must still have a certain amount of MP, but now there's a waiting time AFTER. Say for Paine's Excaliber attack, you have to wait until the guage reaches blue, then she'll use the attack, which is around maybe 15 seconds, an advantage is you can attack again right after.
The Garment Grid is a new system introduced in X-2. Instead of having several party members with different jobs (Black Mage, Theif, etc), your characters can equip Garment Spheres into a Garment Grid, and in the middle of battle, you could change your character's class from Gunner to Black Mage. Also, these jobs also have a different wait time before they can attack, Theif takes the least amount of time, and Warrior takes the most. This also means you won't be able to gain new party members throughout the game.
Replay Value: 10/10
Over HALF the game is side quests. You can finish the first run through the game with about 47%. So you're going to be running around finding those side quests in every chapter until you reach 100% (Which earns you a new ending).
Also, there are several Treasure Spheres to collect outside of the story's. Plus, you can play some mini games in the Calm Lands. Also, you can try to fill out the character profiles and Fiend information.
Overall: 9/10
GREAT GAME. I'd recommend it to anyone who's been into the Final Fantasy series. If you've played FFX, you should definitly play this.
