Final Fantasy 13-2 Early Review

After a night of playing Final Fantasy 13-2, I’m on to the third world so far. I’ve spent some time early on leveling and trying to master the Crystarium System, so I probably could have gone further. I thought I’d throw out my early thoughts on the game for those seeming to be on the fence for this title or might be curious about it. Warning: Story segment will contain spoilers of the first 30 minutes of gameplay, nothing huge but if you don’t want to read it, skip on to “Graphics”.

Story: So far in the story, it’s established that Lightning is in the world of the dead, Valhalla. She’s defending a shrine of some sorts for the Goddess. After being attacked by a man named Caius who wants destruction of everything, Lightning sends a boy named Noel to bring her sister to her.

Noel seems to be a sole survivor of the human race that is died away in the future. Traveling back in time to the 3 years after FF13’s events, Noel meets Serah and embarks on a journey through time to get back to Lightning.

The story so far is great. While some may be put off by the time travel ark, it’s fitting and doesn’t take away from the amazing world that Squareenix built for FF13. The characters fit, the view of life after 13 is great, and the time travel will help accelerate that interesting playout of this interesting lore.

Graphics: Amazing, the worlds are beautiful. While not as scenic as FF13 just because it’s more open now. They scrapped a lot of the Pre-Renders to allow for more content, and that’s disappointing for me as I love their Pre-Renders, it’s fine and I love it still. Only upsets I really have is some goofy looking shadow effects, they just don’t look right sometimes. Which is really minor. The other is some rare moments of animations seeming not so fluid.

Music: Amazing as usual from the Final Fantasy series.  However some pieces of music doesn’t quite fit.  I’d say it’s not as great as most all the other FF soundtrack, but that doesn’t mean it’s not still amazing.

Problems I have is the off the wall moments of heavy metal in the midst of a calm chorus.  Now, I know they’ve done it before back in FFX, but it was borderline then.  I’m not sure if it’s a “westernize” thing, or what.  I just hope it’s not a habit.  People who have supported FF all these years loved it’s amazing orchestrated music.  Why move it to something that is so demographic and pigeon holed into a set group of people.  I’ll admit, I’m okay with some nice rock and techno, but just not a fan of someone burping and screaming in my speakers.

Gameplay: FF13-2 is pretty much picking up the gauntlet where it was left off.  the big changes are to the party, crystarium, maps, flow, and interaction to name the main ones.

Party-Instead of being given 6 playable characters, FF13-2 sticks you with Noel and Serah.  Now and then you’re given a cameo of a FF13 hero jumping in for a battle, but 99% of the time, it’s just Noel and Serah.  The third slot is normally taken now by a pet Monster.  Monsters are obtained by killing them on the field and capturing their Crystal.  Then you can assign these Monsters to the 3rd slot in your Paradigms.  Some Monsters are Commandos, others Medics, so on so forth.  I’m saddened by this change, it’s a huge step away from the epic character roster of so many FFs before it… and really if I wanted Pokemon I would have saved myself 40 bucks and gotten a DS game.

Crystarium-This changed for the better and the worst.  While this entitles you much more customization and a feel of taking control of your character’s building, it riddled with limits and unforgiving lock-ins.  First off, all classes can be maxed 99 as far as I know, the problem lies in which spheres you put which classes in will effect your ending STR, MAG, HP, etc.  And it’s all permanent.

While I don’t think it’s THAT detrimental to beating the game in the end, it’s still pigeon holing that I dislike.  It also in no way explains the system to you.  Check out my guide if you need help:  Crystarium Guide

Maps-The new map layouts are a lot more open.  While it’s still A-to-B, getting there gives a lot more to exploration and searching.  So far they seem interestingly designed.  Going through a tunnel of ruins or through a forest covered plains.  Through a beach area or on a cliff side.

Flow-The games flow has changed substantially.  In FF13 you were guided down a set path and the story moved from one point to the next in quick succession.  Now it’s open to doing many tasks like gaining shards, doing quests, exploring all while saying “hey, go here when you’re ready to move on.”

So far, it doesn’t leave you guessing where to go, so those that wish to just go from start to finish ASAP like in FF13 won’t feel overwhelmed.

Interaction-Many things have changed around the character from the original 13.  Many NPCs are available to talk to.  They give you more in-depth look at the story, characters, and personality.

Also new to 13-2 is the choice points where you are asked to respond to a situation and tell Serah (sometimes Noel) what to say.  This is a daunting thing and I got sick of it really quickly.  Like I stated elsewhere, it’s like Mass Effect spit up on my game.  Do I really need to tell her how to respond to such simple situations?  Oh well, maybe when I beat the game the first time it will be more humorous to go through and have her say the most outrageous things possible.

With this change also comes a choose-your-own-adventure style choices at certain points of the game.  Like choosing to weaken a boss before engaging or taking it head on.  These are okay in my book so far, but they do effect the games ending.  Which multiple endings in my book irritate me to no end so I won’t go into that now.

Overall I’m enjoying this game so far.  I hate how it’s been westernized but it’s still a worthwhile game.  If you’re a fan of FF13, grab it.  Didn’t like 13’s linearity, it’s gone, give 13-2 a shot.  Hate western RPGs?  Meh, hard to say there.