marcellX
Since: Feb, 2011
02/05/2012 00:00:00
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A welcome improvement
The story of Final Fantasy XIII-2 is interesting, but also somewhat silly and convoluted, as is expected when dealing with time-travel. Around halfway through the game, however, it starts to get pretty good. It's not the best in the series, the writing is bad and they rely too heavily on the "time paradox" plot device, but it's not as bad as people make it out to be. Noel is a rather bland protagonist, though once the details of his past come into view he does get a few sympathy votes. Serah too, starts off uninteresting, but in the end she winds up becoming my favorite out of the primary cast. Seeing her go from a weak-willed girl who can barely do anything on her own to an altruistic and, quite frankly, bad-ass heroine helped me to look past her origins as a walking JRPG stereotype. Serah, I feel, is probably a better protagonist than her sister. Caius is an okay villain, though like everything else about the story it's only around the halfway mark where he becomes interesting and even sympathetic.
The gameplay is where XIII-2 truly shines over its predecessor. The game is not truly non-linear, but most Final Fantasies aren't. The game does place a high value on exploration, discovery, and player interaction, which is a welcome change from XIII's claustrophobic tubes. There are some questionable inclusions, such as a very obnoxious platforming segment toward the end of the game, but overall the different gameplay features blend well together. Quests are not terribly exciting; a bit more creativity could have gone a long way here. The monster component works well, and the character growth system is the second-best in the series (just behind the Sphere Grid). The game is a bit short: it took me about 35 hours to beat the story with 110/160 fragments, and it will likely take just as long to 100% complete it.
The music was one thing I thought would work against the game, but the OST actually works well with it. Even Crazy Chocobo manages to work, and I have found myself on more than one occasion humming some tunes from the game, which is something I haven't done in a while with the series.
It's too bad I'm limited to 400 words, because I have so much more to say! It's a great game, though not GOTY material or anything. It might not make believers out of people who hated XIII, but XIII-2 is a step in the right direction.