Final Fantasy 13-2

[Darkobra]

Completely surprised by how much better this is than 13. So far, I've beaten the first boss. Got it yesterday!

Paradigm switching is actually vital at boss fights now rather than going through the entire game with the holy trinity. And not just at the start! I had to switch to sentinel quite a few times to just about scrape by!

There's some interactive cutscenes with choices. Not just quicktime events. At one point during the cutscene, an enemy was charging towards me. I had the choice betwen gunning him down or preparing to attack with my sword. They also seem to have made more choices during conversation. Now from what I have so far gathered, there are 2 choices that do nothing, one choice that is just funny and one choice that triggers an event of some sorts.

Also, based on what you do through the game, you can trigger different endings too.

Those of you that have played FF13? BE CAREFUL with the Crystarium! This has ALSO changed! It's more FF10 where the paths can cross. So if you end up thinking "I'll level commando with this character better designed for magic just in case!", you'll end up taking blank spheres which borrows power from the role that fills it. So I had to restart the game! Wasn't far in it. Just a precaution.

The music is astounding. And the story, I honestly can't help but feel they borrowed a little of something from every past Final Fantasy. Hell, even when I listened to one of the pieces of music, I couldn't help but think "Is that Final Fantasy 10?"

So for those of you who are like me? Said that 13 was the nail in the coffin, saw 13-2 in the store and went completely fanboy like an idiot for it? Go for it! I'm enjoying it!

[Dibria]

Have to disagree on the leveling system, select the class you want to level and spend crysta to gain levels in that area - I'm 36 hours in and have my Serah and Noel approaching level cap with no issues. The leveling system is actually my biggest complaint as I felt that was an area in which XIII was strong but this time around I have waltzed through virtually every battle in 'relentless assault' only changing to 'diversity' or 'equaled odds' when faced with boss creatures and tonberrys.

I love the side quests though, I currently have 134 of the fragments if memory serves and it is a great implementation for side quests. Being able to tell if you've missed a side quest in an area at a glance is fantastic but it would be nice if it told you when one wasn't accessable yet, I spent forever wandering around the Yasschis Masif trying to find the 1 side quest I missed before referring to the guide and finding it wasn't unlocked until later in the game.

Plot wise... well I won't spoil anything but it's a little thin, I mean XIII didn't have a stellar plot but... yeah... thin. That said their is some great extra information you unlock with each fragment and the world feels greatly explained and has a lot of depth behind it, it's just a shame that this only really serves to highlight the lack of depth in the characters.

I'll flag this as a spoiler but it isn't plot specific, just depends on how much you want to keep as a surprise:
Also - needs more Lighting, I know she wasn't actually all that popular but she is my favourite Final Fantasy lead character and I was somewhat disappointed that, despite appearing in all the promo material and being on the fucking cover of the game, she was relegated to a minor(ish) character, driving Serah's search but appearing rarely in game.

Overall I think the game is better than XIII, but that at 36 hours I am now at the point of running around side quests before what is strongly implied to be the last fight (though it may not be, let's face it Final Fantasy has pulled that shit before) worries me for how short the game may be if you play it plot mission to plot mission.


Oh, and 14 and 16 gamerscore achievements? Really? WHY?

[SilPho]

So for someone who did enjoy XIII but didn't consider it worth full price would you recommend XIII-2 after a mild price-drop?

[Darkobra]

I got mine for £30 so I think the price drops are already starting.

Speaking of money, they're REALLY milking us with DLC at the end of the month. New costumes and a new side-story for Sazh.

[Dibria]

I queued outside my local GAME and handed over £60 for a collectors edition so maybe I'm not the least biased source but I think it's worth full price, I certainly feel I'm getting my moneys worth out of it.

Are those new costumes part of a dlc pack or a separate piece of DLC? The collectors edition came with alternate costumes which I tried out briefly but stuck with the defaults for the most part, they look better and as much as I love the game I will never pay extra to change the outfits... same for any game for that matter.

[Myrph]

I started playing over the weekend and I'm really enjoying it so far. It could just be how I'm playing it and failing to update my paradigms, but I'm definitely getting my money's worth out of the switching mechanic this time.

I also really like the tv style recap when you load your game. It took me by surprise the first time it happened, but as my PS3 is sitting in my parents house not at uni with me, it will probably come in really handy as I don't go home that often and sometimes forget what's been happening.

It definitely feels like its hooked me faster than 13 did, but whether that's because I was already invested following 13 or because it feels like a better game, I'm not sure.

[Darkobra]

Seems to be individual and at £1.60 each. Maybe they'll surprise us. Or maybe they'll milk us dry. TOTALLY buying Bikini Serah.

I also really like the tv style recap when you load your game. It took me by surprise the first time it happened, but as my PS3 is sitting in my parents house not at uni with me, it will probably come in really handy as I don't go home that often and sometimes forget what's been happening.

Also, that! Absolute truth! I LOVE it!

[psychopez]

I'm going on record and saying this is the best ending of the modern (PS2+) era of FF games.

Non-spoiler spoiler
>>Did not see...any of that coming in the ending...pleasantly surprised though.<<

Oh, and 14 and 16 gamerscore achievements? Really? WHY?

I loved that. Between that and the 37 and 73 gamerscore achievements in You Don't Know Jack, I love having a non-evenly-divisible-by-5 GamerScore. Entropy is fun.

[SilPho]

Ok, Squenix, you win. I'll give it a shot once I get some free time.

[Dibria]

Wow, just decided to finish it off and go back for the remaining fragments and, well...

SPOILER, I MEAN SERIOUS SPOILERS, DO NOT READ UNLESS YOU HAVE FINISHED THE GAME


SERIOUSLY.

Ok so I'm not sure how much variation comes from individual ending but I'm assuming the 'to be continued' is the same for everyone and therefore that whole pre-rendered cutscene is as well.

I did not see Serah dying coming, I mean it had crossed my mind as soon as it was mentioned that the eyes of Etro ate away at her life but past experience with Final Fantasy has always been they like to stick with an overall happy ending.

I had assumed that the destruction of Etro's heart was a plot hole as it had been mentioned previously that Noel would need to take on the heart himself, I had actually assumed that after defeating Ciaus in his many forms the final boss would be to decide the fate of Etro's heart within Noel - but maybe I spent too long reading the datalog and over thought it.

As for the final moments? I had thought from early on the possibility that it would turn out that Lighting herself had either become Etro or was from the start due to the timeless nature of Valhalla. I can't help but feel the final shot of her sat upon Etro's throne coupled with Ciaus calling her 'the Warrior Goddess' very earl on (maybe even the opening cutscene, would need to go check). Anyone else have thoughts on this? It makes sense from a lore perspective with Etro helping them at the end of XIII, the only issue is that Lighting says she felt Etro's will when she approached the throne, unless it was more a case of her feeling within herself 'what must be done' as it were.

Perhaps I'm rambling as I finished it not two minutes ago, I really enjoyed the game, as much as I enjoyed XIII XIII-2 is objectively better, and I actually want to go back and collect everything (though I'll likely give up before filling every bestiary entry, I do not see the appeal in that kind of quest).

[Darkobra]

DAMN IT! Not read spoilers but seeing that HUGE blue space means it made a lasting impression! But I just got my computer back so I need to fix everything!

[Dibria]

DAMN IT! Not read spoilers but seeing that HUGE blue space means it made a lasting impression! But I just got my computer back so I need to fix everything!

Hahahaha, Yeah, the no spoiler spoiler is the worst kind 'I don't know what it is but you told me SOMETHING is going to happen and now I can't stop thinking about it'.

The Sheldon Cooper style of spoiler 'the latest issue of Flash will blow your mind' - 'Spoilers! Now I'm going to go into it with my mind pre-blown!'

[Darkobra]

Exactly! And fantastic reference! And one of the few times I actually agreed with Sheldon! "This latest episode is AMAZING!" "... Why would you tell me that?!"

[Darkobra]

So I picked it up again recently. Never touched it in fear of getting sucked in. Well I'm sucked in! Just learned to control monsters as allies. I was totally right. Shin Megami Tensei meets Final Fantasy. FAR from a bad thing! I'm loving it! I mean my Cait Sith has a hat!

[Lemegeton]

13 was a real let down for me so im still not sure if ill get this. prob pick it up second hand at some stage

[Darkobra]

So I beat the game. Final Fantasy is back in its former glory. That ending stabbed me in the heart on SO many levels.

And the worst part is, despite beating the main story, I've FAR from unlocked all its secrets. Sazh's chapter came out today which I bought and I also bought the Colosseum pack. Never got the crystals, couldn't find the extra casino games and left Sazh's story (thankfully) until I beat the game.

[Cosmosrules]

The ending made me angry, but in a good way.

SPOILERS
I actually cared somewhat about the characters, so having Serah die, finding out Caius won, and ending on a To Be Continued? It makes me angry because I want to play more dammit! I Platinumed the game, so all I have left to do is capture monsters and level them. I wants more now!

In conclusion, Square, please take my money once more. You have restored a bit of my faith in you.

[Geoff_B]

I really don't like "To be continued" on games. Nowadays it's like:

To be continued

Three months later: We're not making any more sequels.

Me: NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!

[psychopez]

-snip a bunch of awesome comments by cosmosrules-

I didn't expect to like the characters, Serah seemed as interesting as a plank of wood in FF13 Prime. But I also cared about her, and empathized with Noel well before the end of the game. Which made the ending as good as it was. Even the very last paradox ending...

Interesting in that this really was the smallest cast in a FF game (FFX-2 had 3, this only had 2...) Combine a small primary cast with a world that you've already established in 13-Prime, and narrative wise your main focus is these characters and their relation to each other.

Spoiler:
Hell, they even made Hope interesting, though he seems to have passed his whiny to his underlings...
End Spoiler

[wartjr2373]

I'm slightly biased because I enjoyed XIII, but XIII-2 is awesome.

Anyone else enjoy both XIII and XIII-2?

[psychopez]

I enjoyed the story XIII wanted to tell, not the one they did tell. And I really liked the Paradigm system in XIII.

[Darkobra]

I beat Sazh's chapter. Not so much a chapter as it is "Gamble until you win enough fortune coins." Chocobind is incredibly fun and it is the best coin farmer to date. I made 50,000 coins in one game! AND when you beat the chapter? You get: SAZH'S CRYSTAL! He's a Synergist who I just got so no idea what his final stats are. But he at least starts off with Bravery/Faith so already better than Noel.

[Darkobra]

Fucking hunting all the fragments without a guide. Pain in the arse. I decided to start by opening as many gates as possible!

[Darkobra]

New DLC came out. Pretty much all the pre-order weapons, (which are awesome for people just getting into the game but kinda weak compared to what I have now) Omega Weapon enemy in coliseum (The same one as in early Final Fantasies!) and a few new costumes.

And it is a bastard to get the arena monsters tamed. Still not got Amodar or Lightning!

[Darkobra]

So just got 100% of the game completed, right down to the secret ending.

Caius goes on a monologue about how Serah and Noel played right into his hands and killed the goddess for him. So now he and Yeul are free from their eternal curse and Caius wants to create a new world just for them. So it pretty much sets up the next game! Final Fantasy 13-3? Here we go!

I wish I could say I could get further enjoyment from the DLC but the Sazh one wasn't that great. It was a VERY good source for money so I could get Omega up to 99 as well as one character I won't mention here. Even in spoiler text. But let's just say I made over 5 million gambling before I realised that Raspiti or something was WAY better money and more consistent.

The Colosseum DLC? There isn't much challenge by the time you're even halfway through the game and the chance of getting the crystals related to them are very small. I'll be expecting miracles with the next Lightning-based DLC but we pretty much already know how that pans out and one of the paradox endings goes into a little more detail about it.

So yeah! I've beaten the game, thoroughly enjoyed it and their attempts to milk me for cash from DLC will fail horribly!