Final Fantasy X-2: first Impressions

DiscoStu

_cringe_

yes, its charlies angles final fantasy style. woeful dialogue, totally camp and really really girly but there seems to be a very good game under there. i cant really comment on the story yet as im only an hour into it.

the new battle system is very good though. its the old atb but with a few major twists. first off is the combo system. timing your attacks can lead to some big damage to enemies as they are his in rapid sucession, with careful use of the atb guage and holding off is essential to this. secondly there are more powerful move available that either add an extra portion to the atb guage that has to be filled before it strikes or others replace the atb with a larger guage that counts down. this happens, for example when staus magic is cast. the status effect like blind will last as long as the guage does plus a small bit of time after. the dress sphere system also opens up many different possibilites and strategies in battle. just as each of the characters in ff x were very specialised as to are the different jobs in ff x-2. gunner let you attack distant and airborne enemies, thief give very large boosts to agility and luck but attack power and defense suffer. the songstress class allows for the use of different status effects to be cast on enemy or ally. to top this off its very very fast and thinking just as fast is essential, the total opposite of ff x's slower more calculated system. it is quite an overwhelming system at first and battles can swing dramatically in each direction very fast but its never boring.

the graphics are very nice with the character models and movie sections showing vast improvments over ff x. the backgrounds are still the same but just as stunning as they were 18months ago.

the music is just as bubbley and upbeat as yuna and rikku and is very j-pop and synthy. nothing like the fantastic soundtrack of the pervious title(think of the of uppety music where you first meet tidus in ff x for a feel of what this one entails). the title screen music is on the other hand amazing. a minimalist piano peice with just a hint of synthy pipes for mood. beautiful stuff imho.

plus its all that wraped up in the usual stellar production values of square enix. it has everything going for it, i just hope rikku dosent annoy the hell out of me and yuna goes back to her usual dour self.

[edit]one thing i forgot to mention is borders, yes we all loved them in our pal ff x and there back in ntsc form. yes there are big, ugly, black, borders on this one to and its ntsc. so god help the pal version next year[/edit]

Woden

cool, where did you pick it up from?

DiscoStu

got it off lik-sang.com it was onyl €50 and had free shipping to. took about the same as an order from cd wow to arrive.

Woden

Do you have a modded ps2 then that can play an american version is it? as the european version does not seem to ship till feb?

Retr0gamer

After hearing about the border problem on the NTSC version I'm definitely not waiting for the PAL release. The problem is getting my parents credit card.

I find the female theme very interesting. The female characters of the final fantasy games have been the best and strongest characters (forgetting the annoying b*tches rikku and the 'shallow as a paddling pool' and suicide inducing female cast of FFVIII).

Swifty

Borders on the NTSC version? Weird. I don't like the sound of this one at all, doubt I'll be picking it up in Feb 'cause of the LC anyway.

I find the female theme very interesting.

Yeah I'm sure you do. /me pictures retr0gamer **** furiously to dodgy Rikku hentai

Retr0gamer

I was expecting a reply like that.

Anyway I'm more of a Lulu man myself

Woden

whats this boarder thing you's are referring to?

i_am_dogboy

Originally posted by DiscoStu

the music is just as bubbley and upbeat as yuna and rikku and is very j-pop and synthy. nothing like the fantastic soundtrack of the pervious title(think of the of uppety music where you first meet tidus in ff x for a feel of what this one entails). the title screen music is on the other hand amazing. a minimalist piano peice with just a hint of synthy pipes for mood. beautiful stuff imho.

They got someone new to work on this soundtrack didn't they? A slightly stupid decision after what hearing what ffX had to offer

Retr0gamer

whats this boarder thing you's are referring to?

Do you have the PAL European versions Devil May Cry, FFX or any PS1 Japanese RPGs. Load one of them up and notice the big dirty black borders on the top and bottom of the screen.

The borders are there since the european PAL TVs run at a higher resolution than the American and Japanese NTSC TVs. So if your a lazy developer like Square Enix to keep the framerate constant you add black borders to the European games.

Having black borders on an NTSC game is very dodgy. It could mean that the borders on the PAL version will be even bigger than what we usually get from some lazy developers. And from Squares past reputation it will be almost a year before FFX-2 gets released and they'll slap on dirty great borders anyway.

Retr0gamer

The FFX soundtrack was by 3 different composers. However it is a bit strange that Nobuo Uematsu isn't working on the soundtrack since he has done the main series FF soundtracks since the very first one. I think he isn't doing FFXII either.

Doesn't make much difference since Square Enix have a plethora of fantastic composers to call upon.

DiscoStu

essentially pal has more on screen real estate to work with that ntsc(525 scan lines to pals 625). the big black borders are the unused extra space that pal is capable of filling.

Retr0gamer

I've been playing this myself recently and after the cringeworthy, camp as graham norton in a pink cowboy outfit intro I'm beginning to enjoy this game quite a bit. the battle system is very interesing and because it's real time you have to make decisions quite quickly. Meeting up with the characters from the first game is great and gives a feeling of nostalgia that i haven't felt since playing Suikoden 2.

However there are some problems. There are 'micro' PAL lines in the american version is bad news for anyone waiting for the european version. The story doesn't seem as dark as the first game. Also Rikku is just as annoying as ever and provides some of the games most 'disasteriffic' dire-logue. It also crashed twice on me which is weird for a PS2 game.

Other than a few minor niggles this is a great game that everyone who has finished FFX should get and is an excellent excuse to play FFX for anyone who hasn't played this great game.

On a final note there are monkeys in it and any game that has had monkeys has never been bad.

Gummy Panda

It seems very camp from this trailer alone. How is the story/plot of the game?

Retr0gamer

The story at the moment isn't all that great. It's a lot less dark at the moment. I'm hoping it picks up latter (I'm only 6 hours in and just past chapter 1). However the setting and meeting up with old characters is making up for it. There are some really clever touches like the way the significant areas from FFX have been turned into tourist attractions (which they would be turned into in real life).

Another complaint I have is that the music is nowhere near as good as the music in FFX. Its not bad but the its all very happy and cheery and there isn't much emotion in it. The opening credit music, memories of light and wave, is fantastic. Bring back Nobuo Uematsu!

Gummy Panda

Any more new info lads?

Woden

anyone got the release date, i'm too lazy to look. i do have a €50 credit note for gamestop also after bringing back neverwinter nights which is burning a whole in my pocket.

Gummy Panda

February the 13th, data.

Woden

thanking you

fixXxer

I remember reading about the changing clothes in battle system and thinking it sounded very confusing, but perhaps it was just the way it was described? I take it its fairly easy to get the hang of when ur actually playing the game? I think im gonna have to buy this when it comes out. FF10 was one of my fav games on ps2 and anything that continues it on has to be worth a look at least.

Retr0gamer

The changing clothes is like the job class changing of FF5 or FFT but you can change jobs in the middle of a battle. I works really well and makes and suits the fast speed of the battles (when you eventually turn the animations off).

Not much more info clownboy. Exams in a week :-( so I'm not playing it as much.

Gummy Panda

I'm off next week and my sister ordered FFXI from dvdboxoffice with courier as shipping for my birthday so hopefully i'll have it next week.

Game looks great and gamespot says it breaks the mould that everquest set.

Woden

with courier nice i got my FF XI guide book from them today, good enough service i think considering its coming across the atlantic and that wasn't with a courier

fixXxer

Originally posted by Retr0gamer
The changing clothes is like the job class changing of FF5 or FFT but you can change jobs in the middle of a battle.]

Ah now see i aint played these games. I didnt think tactics was released on ps2 or pc was it? only way im gonna get to play it.

Gummy Panda

Data,

I only ordered courier because when i was going through the delivery process, i thought the only delivery option for ireland was DHL. Wasn't until i finished that i realised that it was free delivery and that courier was optional. Doesn't bother me as i'm not paying . if i was i would've cancelled and re-ordered.

Hopefully DHL will get it to me by next week.

Gummy Panda

Originally posted by fixxxer
Ah now see i aint played these games. I didnt think tactics was released on ps2 or pc was it? only way im gonna get to play it.

Final fantasy tatics is on the GBA now. I'm considering picking one up later on during the year for it and golden sun.

Woden

is tactics work getting? my brother has a gba

Gummy Panda

Well gamespot gave it 8.2 and ign gave it 9 so i guess its pretty good. Everyone that i heard play it says that its good.

the graphics look sweet

Woden

damn they are nice for the gba and the mage looks cool in the first pic.

Gummy Panda

Perfect for a boring lecture or when you're killing time on the bus.

Retr0gamer

Final Fantasy Tactics on the PS1 was far better and one of the hardest games I've ever played. Final Fantasy Tactics on the GBA is definitely worth getting although I much prefer Fire Emblem.

Clownboy, tell us what you think of FFXI when you have played enough of it.