FF X-2 was a game with which i had great anticipation of playing because I found its predecessor phenomenal. However, upon playing through the entire game, i was left somewhat disappointed.
For starters, the transformation of Yuna from a shy, sheltered and reserved summoner, into a sphere hunter/ pop singer seems so spontaneous and in my opinion, makes little sense. It seems as if Yuna as become the Rikku from FFX and Rikku has become...who knows what. Although i thought the story of Paine with the Crimson Squad was a nice addition, she acted much like Lulu did in FFX, which left little variation in the 3 sole characters you are in control of for the entire game.
Also, the dialogue was very corny, repetitive, and childish to the point where I would just want to skip the entire cut scene. Phrases such as "Oh poopie", and consistently talking about the same thing, such as Yuna wasting 3 cut scenes to talk about telling Lenne how Shuyin felt, was just un-necessary. The dialogue was not the only irritating factor, for many missions and side-quests were very lame and tedious. For example, the main mission of Chapter 2 was to gather up clothes from Leblanc's Hench men to sneak into her hideout.Even the mini-games, such as blitz ball, were painful. In blitz ball, you are not even able to control the movement of the characters or the actions they can carry out, which ruins the whole point of the mini-game. Also, when it comes time to give back the "awesome sphere" the Gullwings nabbed in Kilika, whoever you do not give the sphere ends up hating your guts, which made absolutely no sense to me. A whole group of people is going to hate the high summoner who brought them the eternal calm for not giving them a lousy sphere? Give me a break.
The procession of the game's storyline was also a drawback. You could just go to all of the hot spots in each chapter and beat the game in less than 20 hours, but then you miss out on a lot of side-quests. The problem with the side-quests though was that it seemed impossible when certain side-quests were available or not.
Another new aspect the game offered was the "new game plus data". This allows the game players to play through the game again to learn abilities that weren't learned previously, obtain forgotten dress spheres, and attempt to gain more percentage completion. However, once you beat the game once or twice, playing X-2 is not even a challenge because you can just decimate every single enemy with previously gained/ learned abilities and superior accessories (i.e. the Key to Success accessory, which comes with the "double all" ability practically makes all enemies a piece of cake, even bosses).
The subtle aspects in the game that could completely change the ending of the game were also quite annoying. Like at the end of Chapter 3 when Yuna is in the farplane (after the cut scene with Shuyin, Nooj, and Gippal), and she utters "I'm all alone", if you don't press the X button a certain amount of times, then Yuna may not even be re-united with Tidus at the end of the game. How could something that subtle impact the game so greatly?
Don't get me wrong though, i did find the game somewhat entertaining. I liked the dress spheres and the garment grid system because it gave a lot to do with learning new abilities and planning strategies for certain encounters. Also, the graphics were phenomenal and the music was still good. Yet the drawbacks of the game are just too great to ignore.
Rating: 6/10.
For starters, the transformation of Yuna from a shy, sheltered and reserved summoner, into a sphere hunter/ pop singer seems so spontaneous and in my opinion, makes little sense. It seems as if Yuna as become the Rikku from FFX and Rikku has become...who knows what. Although i thought the story of Paine with the Crimson Squad was a nice addition, she acted much like Lulu did in FFX, which left little variation in the 3 sole characters you are in control of for the entire game.
Also, the dialogue was very corny, repetitive, and childish to the point where I would just want to skip the entire cut scene. Phrases such as "Oh poopie", and consistently talking about the same thing, such as Yuna wasting 3 cut scenes to talk about telling Lenne how Shuyin felt, was just un-necessary. The dialogue was not the only irritating factor, for many missions and side-quests were very lame and tedious. For example, the main mission of Chapter 2 was to gather up clothes from Leblanc's Hench men to sneak into her hideout.Even the mini-games, such as blitz ball, were painful. In blitz ball, you are not even able to control the movement of the characters or the actions they can carry out, which ruins the whole point of the mini-game. Also, when it comes time to give back the "awesome sphere" the Gullwings nabbed in Kilika, whoever you do not give the sphere ends up hating your guts, which made absolutely no sense to me. A whole group of people is going to hate the high summoner who brought them the eternal calm for not giving them a lousy sphere? Give me a break.
The procession of the game's storyline was also a drawback. You could just go to all of the hot spots in each chapter and beat the game in less than 20 hours, but then you miss out on a lot of side-quests. The problem with the side-quests though was that it seemed impossible when certain side-quests were available or not.
Another new aspect the game offered was the "new game plus data". This allows the game players to play through the game again to learn abilities that weren't learned previously, obtain forgotten dress spheres, and attempt to gain more percentage completion. However, once you beat the game once or twice, playing X-2 is not even a challenge because you can just decimate every single enemy with previously gained/ learned abilities and superior accessories (i.e. the Key to Success accessory, which comes with the "double all" ability practically makes all enemies a piece of cake, even bosses).
The subtle aspects in the game that could completely change the ending of the game were also quite annoying. Like at the end of Chapter 3 when Yuna is in the farplane (after the cut scene with Shuyin, Nooj, and Gippal), and she utters "I'm all alone", if you don't press the X button a certain amount of times, then Yuna may not even be re-united with Tidus at the end of the game. How could something that subtle impact the game so greatly?
Don't get me wrong though, i did find the game somewhat entertaining. I liked the dress spheres and the garment grid system because it gave a lot to do with learning new abilities and planning strategies for certain encounters. Also, the graphics were phenomenal and the music was still good. Yet the drawbacks of the game are just too great to ignore.
Rating: 6/10.