Well, here's a game that's been almost unanimously panned by all fans of the Final Fantasy franchise that I have met, which is to say all of my friends and quite a few strangers on the web. Why, you may ask? Well, maybe it had to do with the radical change from its predecessor's highly praised Sphere Grid system and overall game elements like battle system, plot development and overall story and feel of the game. Where FFX was a gloomy and doomy story, which is not to say it was a bad one, X-2 was more peppy and upbeat, which was to be expected since it takes place two years into the Eternal Calm, the period of great prosperity brought about by the defeat of the previous game's big bad boss. I think what irked people the most was that it was a fanservice game, through and through. I won't deny it, from the Sailor Moon-esque transformation sequences, to the outfits and other assorted shenanigans, it was a way to milk more money out of a very successful game. However, I think it was a good game in its own right, all fanservice-y crap aside. And seriously, Yuna in short shorts is a very amusing sight, at the least.
First, game mechanics. X-2 had chose to go back to the traditional ATB Gauge of old Final Fantasy games, but with a noticeably speedier feel to it, which helped during long grinding sessions. Along with the return to this series staple, the leveling was done traditionally. That is to say, with actual levels instead of a sphere grid. Frankly, I'm glad they didn't use the sphere grid, because I feel it wouldn't have worked for this game in particular. Then, we have the return of the ability to change job classes, this time mid-battle, even! I thought that was pretty cool of them, even if I did have to suffer through the transformation sequences, which got old very quickly. Along with the job classes, we had individual abilities for each class which you had to learn the old-fashioned way: by earning AP(ability points). And lastly, there was the introduction of chained attacks, which rewarded you for making quick decisions in your attacks and having all three girls hit consecutively. Also, there's enough side quests to keep you busy for days.
Second, technical details. As you may have noticed, Squeenix decided to rehash its old battle systems with a then current-gen game. The graphics were pretty, which helped the battles feel more fluid, the soundtrack was very peppy and upbeat, which fit Yuna's new attitude very well, and the few heavy duty cutscenes were very well made, if not as enthralling as the now iconic Macalania Woods scene from the previous game. Frankly, knowing what I do now, I could say that the game was like a test run for some mechanics that would later be implemented in FFXIII.
Third, and final point, the story. Well, the storytelling, at any rate. Naturally, saving the world is a tired old plot, but that's not really the main focus of the story. What kicks off the whole game, and stays as the main plot point, is Yuna finding a video sphere of someone who looks like Tidus while treasure hunting. This prompts her to search for him throughout the world, eventually leading to the whole 'saving the world again' thing. Along the way there's many other side stories and subplots which diversify the game quite nicely and give some depth to the new characters, but ultimately the focus is on Yuna. What I liked was the narration. Agreed, her voice actress still sounds a bit stilted, but she's definitely gotten better at putting a little more emotion into it. And really, the game is about Yuna's personal growth after saving the world and becoming a living legend. I liked it because they portrayed her rather realistically in the sense that she was no longer the emotionless doll we saw in FFX. Sure, sometimes she behaved like a ditz, but for the most part we saw her face her problems maturely and responsibly. Which brings me to my personal reason as to why I liked this game. Naturally, I mainly play RPGs for the story, since it's really hard to innovate battle systems nowadays and when they try, most wind up being terrible, so I'm not to picky on that aspect. Throughout the whole game, we're presented with the possibility of finding our beloved(or hated) hero from the previous game again. And the way they handle the eventual 'reunion' ranges from terrible, in my opinion, to very nice.
Most may not have known this, but the game actually had three different endings, and it was those endings that made this game for me. We have bad, good, and perfect endings. The perfect ending has Tidus revived by the Fayth(mystical beings who were the source of summons from the last game) and having a very calm, emotional reunion with Yuna at Zanarkand. Of the two good endings, I preferred this one because it was slightly more appropriate to Yuna's character and Tidus' maturity after the last game ended.
The 'good' ending sees Tidus revived at Besaid and him and Yuna reunited in front of the island's inhabitants, having a big celebration. I didn't like this one and to a lesser degree, the perfect one because they felt like wish fulfillment to me. The Fayth were gone, and with them Tidus. It made no sense to bring them back at the very end just for this. Which brings me to the bad ending, and the one I got the first time I played through, which made everything better for me.
In the bad and 'special' bad endings, we see Yuna at the Farplane(sort of afterlife-y place), hearing Tidus' whistle. If you do nothing at this point, nothing happens, and Yuna just sort of walks away, dealing with the fact that Tidus is gone and not coming back. If you did do something, we're treated to a brief cutscene with Tidus' specter reuniting with Yuna, and her coming to terms with his absence.
I found that unusually well done for a fantasy RPG. No wish fulfillment. Sure, you saved the world, but the dead are dead and there's no undoing that. Instead of disputing that, she just calmly accepts that fact and moves on with her life, keeping the memory of her friends with her, but moving on. So yeah, call me morbid, but I think that ending made most of the grating peppiness kinda worth it.
My final verdict: FFX-2 is, indeed a fanservice game, but if you can get past that fact and try not to take it seriously, it's actually quite fun and pretty well done.
My personal score: 8/10 Actual, 'fair' score: 6.8/10
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| Seriously, man. Short shorts. Well, more like hot pants, really. |
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