confidentialmisanthropy

The following is a review I chalked up for Final Fantasy X-2 for GL back in November, but it never got posted, for whatever reason. Enjoy.

2001's Final Fantasy X was a masterpiece, the reason why I bought a PS2 to begin with. The battle system was deep and strategic, the visuals were revolutionary, the soundtrack - unforgettable. The story of Yuna, the young summoner, her guardians, and their pilgrimage to save a dying world was gripping the whole way through. But it all ended with one of the most moving and perfect conclusions ever and when I heard Square was doing a sequel, my initial fear was that they'd jeopardize that.

Then I saw Nomura's new Yuna. Instant change of heart.

X-2 comes to us two years after it's namesake and almost coincidenatally takes place two years after X. The calm that came after Sin was defeated changed the face of Spira. The collapse of the Yevon faith left everyone in disarray, leaving all kinds of tribes and factions vying for control of Spira, not to mention the fact that the Guado and Ronso are on the brink of war. The three main parties that everyone's gravitating to seem to be the Al Bhed's Machine faction lead by Gippal, The Youth League, who are comprised mostly of ex-Crusaders, led by a war hero by the name of Nooj, and lastly the "New" Yevon, led by their young praetor Baralai. With all three factions running neck and neck their looking to get an egde to pull away from the others and being endorsed by someone famous would hold some serious political weight. Who better to fill that billet that the high summoner who defeated Sin? Enter Yuna.

Evident by her new "liberating" makeover, Yuna's been through some changes while we've been away. (There was actually a video released in Japan that spawned the sequel called "Eternal Calm" that bridges the gap in between X & X-2.) Basically, Yuna wasn't up to much at home in Besaid. Actually she'd been practicing breathing underwater to improve her blitzball skills. Then Rikku shows up with a sphere Kimahri found on Mt. Gagazet. The sphere shows a recording of young man who looks suspiciously like a certain blitzball player near and dear to Yuna. Rikku scoops up Yuna in their airship and they form the sphere-hunting troupe dubbed the Gullwings by Rikku's brother named... Brother. Also along for the ride, an Al-Bhed airship pilot named Buddy, the Gullwings pint-sized intel expert on everything, Shinra, and the odd "man" out that forms one-third of the "YRP" trio, Paine. Paine is an enigmatic young woman with a shady past that she's not sharing with anyone. She's a perfect counter for Yuna's nievete and Rikku's overall ditziness, not to mention she's the muscle of the party. So the quest to find spheres is fueled by Yuna's desire to uncover the origins of the sphere Kimahri found, and ultimately, find Tidus, but in true Final Fantasy fashion, something much bigger is going on behind the scenes, which eventually catches up to our heroine, putting her in familiar territory.

So, other than being the first-direct sequel, X-2 does alot more things uncommon to the series making it come off more like a fan-service spin-off than a sequel. They use the same graphics engine with some improvments. Among them the most notable is the facial animation, which is truly remarkable. The original voice actors from X return and the lip-syncing is spot on and voice acting is still top-notch.

You have access to the Gullwings' souped-up arship Celsius from the outset and after the first introductionary missions can explore all of Spira. X-2 has a central hub mission based structure; the hub being the airship. It makes for a very non-linear experience in the truest sense of the term. Speaking to Buddy on the airship gives you access to a map of Spira where you can either bypass sidequests, non-mandatory story line and the like and basically FFWD the story by hitting the designated "hotspots" if you so choose but all those sidequests count towards your completion percentage. It's nigh impossible to net a 100% completion the first go around so there's a New Game plus option available after completion, which works like in the Chrono series, and allows you to keep skills and inventories that you beat the game with while starting the story over again. X-2 is the first FF with more than one ending so that in itself extends the replay value considerably.

Perhaps the biggest overhaul in the game is the battle system. I'm a big fan of X's CTB (Conditional time Battle) but old school ATB is back in X-2 with a vengeance. Coming from a seasoned FF player, this is the best iteration of ATB yet. It's lightning fast, so much so that some of the shorter battles are in the 5 - 10 sec range. If you've played Grandia II you'll have an idea of how it all works. Distance is a factor. Yuna, Rikku, and Paine and the ememies are all randomly placed on the battlefield at the start of the random battles. Everyone has an action meter and when the meter reaches it's end you're able to act. As fast as things move in X-2 though, you won't want to always act as soon as possible thanks to the new combo chain system. The system awards you with extra damage when you chain attacks, which is really easy with Yuna's "Trigger Happy" attack from the Gunner class and Rikku's speedy "Thief", who hits twice every attack. By attacking (or being attacked) an action will be delayed, which can really come in handy. If you play your cards right, you can actually go a few rounds without being hit at all.

There are thirteen dresspheres in X-2's girl-powered version of the job system. Most of the core FF classes are there with some new ones. You start with Yuna's Gunner, Rikku's Thief, and Paine's Warrior, collecting more spheres along the way. Some are aquired rather easily, like being awarded after boss fights or some just laying in your path. Others require a little digging, like the Dark Knight sphere well hidden in the depths of Bevelle. Art direction is an often understated aspect of game design but not with anything Nomura touches, and I think Final Fantasy X-2 is his best work yet. They just let him go nuts. Each dressphere (outside of the ultimate dresses which are unique to each girl) can be equipped by all three girls yet they look and animate dramatically different on each one. X-2's character models are animated better than anyother game I've seen this year. Only Soul Calibur II's are in the neighborhood. Equip Rikku with the Berserker sphere and watch her do her capioera routine if you think I'm exaggerating. Each time you swap dresspheres in battle there's a Sailor Moon-esque transformation sequence where the girls phase into a new costume, complete with pyro technics, cherry blossoms, and cheesy music. You have an option to turn them off but I can't fathom why you would unless you just don't like presentation. It's all draped in the same engine as FFX which still holds up admirably two years later.

After bashing X-2's soundtrack all summer I have to make a slight retraction. It's not that bad when you're actually playing the game, matter of fact, it really fits the light-hearted demeanor quite nicely, still no stand alone listening quality though. There's some good stuff there, like the piano-laden Besaid Island theme and the opening song but it never seems to reach the heights the series is accustomed to. The game was scored by Noriko Matsueda and Takahito Eguchi, whose musical credits include Tobal No. 1, Racing Lagoon and The Bouncer.

Overall, X-2 plays like a dream. The "platforming" aspects are really more of an afterthought, some of the missions are just plain silly, and whoever thought up Sphere Break should be shot, but it's a fresh, welcome spin on the FF formula. If you dug X, you owe it to yourself to spend some more time in Spira. If you can check your inhibitions at the door you might enjoy your stay.



Plays like: How Yuna Got Her Groove Back

Oh yeah, and I gave it a 9.5/10, if you're into that sort of thing...