I don't actually hate X-2.

RikkusLover7

I had no idea that so many people hated it so bad. I really really like it. I guess I could with ease that Im its biggest fan. Although I guess I have no room to talk since I only started my sicotity with 10. Although I do want to play 7 really really bad!

Memnoch

The problem with X-2 was that it was a follow up to X. X is the only RPG that is up there with VII. It had an amazing battle system, great and fun minigames, and a compelling, moving story line. These were the things that drew the masses to vii in the first place.

X-2 in comparison had absolutely no depth, either in the charecters or in the story. The dress-spheres took away a lot from the previous level of customisation offered in X. The music was horrible. I mean I can go on endlessly but I think the main problem is as I stated at the start. X was so frikking amazing that X-2 needed to be a special game in it's own right to compare, instead it was just a hollow attempt to cash in on it's predecessor, and like so many soulless hollywood sequels, this game was more Blade Trinity and Matrix Revolutions than Return of the king.

grimloch

Memnoch wrote:

The problem with X-2 was that it was a follow up to X. X is the only RPG that is up there with VII. It had an amazing battle system, great and fun minigames, and a compelling, moving story line. These were the things that drew the masses to vii in the first place.

That's just the thing, people look at it and expect a continuation of X and then get pissed off when they see something a bit quirkier than they were used to. X had a boring and sluggish battle system, X-2 is much more fast paced and with the exception of spell-casting, pretty well thought out.

Memnoch wrote:

X-2 in comparison had absolutely no depth, either in the charecters or in the story.

I'm going to repeat what I said earlier on but plenty of the missions give quite a bit of depth to the storyline. The same character depth that we saw in X wasn't achieved but to call it 'nothing' in comparison is a bit of exaggeration.

RikkusLover7

The only thing I can really say is that I disagree, I was completly fine with the story and charecter. I liked the battle system and I liked all the different things you could change into with the dressspheres. The mini-games were pretty fun however I did not like spherebreak.(Mainly because I suck and I cant beat Shinra:p ) Though the dresses were fun to expierment with some were not very useful and it takes almost the whole game to fully complete one. Well thats all I really have to say!

300lenouveau666

i agree. actually, it is a rather good game, the music at the beginning was sh*te, but "1000 words" i quite like and the FMV is a killer.

odhran

All I can say on the subject is meh. I had no really strong feelings for the game either way.

PAINLESS

the game had only a few proper fmv's in the whole thing,,
the intro, yuna jumping with guns, yunas dream, 1000 words, meeting shuyin on the farplane and the ending.?
have i left any out? this left me annoyed because i love it when the game switches from normal gameplay to an jaw dropping fmv.. so it lacked substance.

what made X cool was the sheer drama and how dark the storyline was the tragic life of a summoner the world living in fear of sin the annihilation of operation mihen the discrimination against the al bhed, the near extinction of the rhonso, the yevon conspiracy the albhed home being destroyed.. and they still threw in a half decent love story into the mix. X-2 had little or no drama in comparison. the youth league and new yevon thing was like watching the bleedin dail.. the shuyin lenne love story was interesting but empty.

the characters werent as interesting or as varied. No hard big "weapon" bosses like the dark aeons in X (i know the dark aeons were in X-2 and we had to fight them but come on most of us took weeks to take out the likes of dark anima whereas the dark aeons in x-2 were integrated into the story(as in you needed to beat them to continue not like the dark aeons in X where you had to look for them) and had to be beatable and relatively stress free) the only one that comes to mind was that guy in the desert angra mainyu. he put up a good fight but still paled in comparison.

I'll give it the battle system. i like fast paced and varied. via infinico was quite challenging aswell ( see how far you get w/o cat nip!). but overall the game lacked those essential qualities we look for in a final fantasy..

grimloch

PAINLESS wrote:

the game had only a few proper fmv's in the whole thing,,
the intro, yuna jumping with guns, yunas dream, 1000 words, meeting shuyin on the farplane and the ending.?
have i left any out? this left me annoyed because i love it when the game switches from normal gameplay to an jaw dropping fmv.. so it lacked substance.

By that logic VI had no substance whatsoever based purely on the fact that it contained no FMVs. IV aswell I suppose.

BeerWolf

I seriously hated FF X / X-2. To me it had to be the only BAD part of the whole FF series.

Dind't like the sphere system, and I most certainly didn't like the frilly ditzy Garment system in X-2...

Voices, Tidus sounded like someone was squeezing hits nuts, Yuna talked as if something having something up her ass, and Wakka's the equivalent of Jar Jar Binks in StarWars.

Only good thing was the graphics, nothing more.


Should FF XIII turn out like another X-2 I'm seriously breaking my fanship from the entire series for good!! :rolleyes:

PAINLESS

grimloch wrote:

By that logic VI had no substance whatsoever based purely on the fact that it contained no FMVs. IV aswell I suppose.

VI and IV didnt have any because they COULD'NT have any.X-2 hardly has that excuse.

what little fmv's it had were still of pretty high quality. and we're comparing it to X mainly because theyre on the same generation console therefore it should've been on par with X at least in terms of graphics. VI and IV were snes games and worked within those boundaries..
thats like sayin VI's graphics were crap compared to X's.

look at the amount of fmv's in 7,8,9 and X and compare the no to X-2.
fmv's help break up the game and give more weight to the games overall beauty and substance. VI was a great game but you could hardly call it beautiful.

grimloch

While I don't particularly agree with you it's not really something worth arguing about. You like plenty of FMVs to break up the game, I wouldn't care if they were there or not.

Stoichkov

I thought X and X-2 have been the weakest in the series so far. Way to easy, unlikable characters and disappointing storylines. I cared about midgar, the gardens and alexandria, I wasn't really bothered with the fate of spira.

I feel the main reason some people like X and X-2 is because they were the first ffs they played.

In fairness to X it had a brilliant new battle system but X-2 had nothing new.
No story, no soul, no summons, nothing.

In respect to fmv, I'm not a graphics whore, if it's a good game, that's all that really matters, but in ff I love the fmv scenes. I think they're an integral part of the story telling. A slick fmv reallys sucks you in, just think of the amazing intro to ff8, Queen Brahne summoning Odin in ff9 or weapon attacking junon in ff7. I'd be very disappointed if they did away with fmv.

bohsman

Inspired by the OP I decided to play X-2 again having stopped after my house was broken into and my PS2+memory card stolen and never bothered playing it again. Think I lasted around 20 hours before not caring anymore, I still think X was a class game that I didnt put down for a week after buying it.

funky penguin

Stoichkov wrote:

I thought X and X-2 have been the weakest in the series so far. Way to easy, unlikable characters and disappointing storylines. I cared about midgar, the gardens and alexandria, I wasn't really bothered with the fate of spira.

I agree here with X. It never got me moving. I couldn't care less in Spira was destroyed, but my heart raced in that final battle against Sephiroth....(plus I had never seen Clouds final limit before, so imagine my surprise!)

However, X-2 got meh moving. I don't know why. It could be the piano solo piece on the title menu screen. Anyway, thats just my feeling on the matter.

GK¦ Ixion²

The game in itself wasnt too bad.
The new battle system was definately a progressive step IMO.
And the dress sphere thing wast bad either.
But the story never made me feel anything but ill. It was sooo cheesy and girly i wanted to vomit.
I couldnt help but miss the brilliant storylines and motivated characters from all the other FF's.
Gone are the imposing enemies such as sephiroth. Replaced by enemies that couldnt fight their way out of a paper bag and never ever made me feel threatened.

Let us now pray to Square that such a travesty shall never again emerge.

grimloch

Sephiroth was not an imposing bad guy. He was a whiny git who goes off the deep end over an identity crisis.

GK¦ Ixion²

Yes maybe, but he had a purpose. And he did more than his fair share of damage.
Whereas in X-2, the main enemy wasnt even slightly evil or malicious. Traits that i think should be a prerequisite for the "bad guy" in any given storyline.
X-2 didnt evoke any real emotion in me. I felt numb playing the game and slightly irritated TBH. The lack of drama and 3 unchangeable 1 dimensional characters destroyed what could have been a good game.

grimloch

So did Sin. Sin wrecked the gaff. Sephiroth didn't really achieve anything.

I don't think Sephiroth had even the slightest hint of menace about him. He was a wuss who had his mother fighting for him a good bit of the time.

I've managed to forget a good bit of this game but the statement about all three of the girls being one-dimensional is just flat out incorrect.

GK¦ Ixion²

Oh dont get me wrong i loved FFX. And i thought Sin was cool aswell.
But FFX-2 is another case altogether.
The characters were boring.Yuna was an exception to some degree.
Paine being the worst case. No real personality at all. Barely even a character to speak of.
And they made Rikku into a moron that just jumps up and down making girly chants(her character in a nutshell).nothing like her old self in X. As a game FFX-2 performed well. But it failed to live up to the dramatic storylines and interesting characters that most of the previous FF's adhered to.

poobum

i got 100% in x-2....yes dat means finishing 2 times!!! hassle! but realy it was just to easy....i remember u cud get some item dat let u do 9999 damage per hit.... equip it to yuna n use trigger happy....der ya go game over! it was rediculously easy like... the game seemed to be realy relying on side quests! i mean realy! and wasnt happy with ending...but i did like the game i have to admit dat! the battle system was ok...i liked the dress spheres...it was entertaining! as a solo game with no previous ties to final fantasy like diff name and company producing it or whateer...i dont think it would be considered so bad! i thinkits just what it was SUPPOSED TO LIVE UP TO!!! which it realy didnt!

Stoichkov

I think poobums' post is evidence enough of the dangers of playing X-2.

Children, you have been warned.

weemcd

Just thought I'd leave up my own thoughts on FF X-2 after playing a short bit of it.

Very few likable things about the game, I for one couldn’t plan sh!t with the battle system, while some people would like the added pace, there were no room for strategies imo. Enough has already been said about the 1 dimensional characters, but what about planting "brother" as the supposed captain of the airship? Complete bullsh!t idea to say the least. What a ballbag. As for the game elements, no amount of mini-games, dress changes, breeding chimps, whatever you want to mention will beat calling an Aeon like Bahamut or yojimbo (who I actually liked) into a battle to unleash some truly spectacular attacks. While I can understand why the story didn't allow the use of the Aeons because of the events of X, you can't substitute those Behemoth's with sphere hunting. The sense of the epic battles and the desire to defeat someone like Seymour weren't there for me.

One other thing that annoyed me greatly was the way they dug up and defiled the corpse of X, I felt the way the game ended was perfect. Every time you entered a location you had previously been Yuna would spout some drivel about how her and the group had shared *something here*, really generic, touchy crap that wouldnt be out of place in a requiem of south park "i learned something here today..."comments that tainted my memories.

GK¦ Ixion²

weemcd wrote:

Just thought I'd leave up my own thoughts on FF X-2 after playing a short bit of it.

Very few likable things about the game, I for one couldn’t plan sh!t with the battle system, while some people would like the added pace, there were no room for strategies imo. Enough has already been said about the 1 dimensional characters, but what about planting "brother" as the supposed captain of the airship? Complete bullsh!t idea to say the least. What a ballbag. As for the game elements, no amount of mini-games, dress changes, breeding chimps, whatever you want to mention will beat calling an Aeon like Bahamut or yojimbo (who I actually liked) into a battle to unleash some truly spectacular attacks. While I can understand why the story didn't allow the use of the Aeons because of the events of X, you can't substitute those Behemoth's with sphere hunting. The sense of the epic battles and the desire to defeat someone like Seymour weren't there for me.

One other thing that annoyed me greatly was the way they dug up and defiled the corpse of X, I felt the way the game ended was perfect. Every time you entered a location you had previously been Yuna would spout some drivel about how her and the group had shared *something here*, really generic, touchy crap that wouldnt be out of place in a requiem of south park "i learned something here today..."comments that tainted my memories.

Couldnt have said it better myself. Nice rant there:D

Flex

I have a question about X-2.

Correct me if Im wrong but werent the Fayth all sent to the Farplane, or had their souls released from the statues they were in, at the end of X and therefore they stopped 'dreaming', which in turn caused Tidus to disappear? If this is correct, then how does Tidus come back at the end of X-2 in the perfect ending, since the Fayth are gone and, thus, cant 'dream' him back into existence?

Thanks

300lenouveau666

I think that, when compared with other final fantasies, it is weak, but i think a final fantasy with a storyline like 7/10, graphics like 10, the lvl up system of 9 mixed with the materia of 7, scintillating characters like Rinoa, Cloud, Aeris and Squall and the amazing FMVs like the ff8 intro, 1000 words from X2 and the majority of things out of ff7 would either kick ass or render any other game completely irrelevant. BTW I agree that the X2 characters were sh!te and whiny and american, but i hate the whiny female leads. i think they should have a female lead who is a bit stronger. a feminist, perhaps?

300lenouveau666

I want to know this why would yuna take him back? i'd like to see the ending where shes had his kids, then in X2 when he returns she could say, get the feck right out of here, where were you back then, eh?

PAINLESS

Another thing i hated about X2 were the special dress spheres. these in no way compared to limit breaks or overdrives or trances or whatever u wanna call them. turning into a flower??? come on....

grimloch

PAINLESS wrote:

Another thing i hated about X2 were the special dress spheres. these in no way compared to limit breaks or overdrives or trances or whatever u wanna call them. turning into a flower??? come on....

Ah that's what they are, I had no clue what the hell they were nor did I know how to activate them. In fact, I still don't.

I've a few little complaints myself actually. First off, the magic casting part of the battle system. Since I started using mages a bit more, I've really noticed the casting delays. For example, I decide to cast Fire. First I have to wait for a second ATB gauge to fill and then once it has filled, there's another further delay before the spell is actually cast. In this time, I could probably attack, physically, two times.

While it annoys me with the black magic, once I have the elements on my side, it does twice the damage of a physical attack, so I don't really mind it that much. It's not that big of a nuisance. Where it really annoys me is where I'm casting White magic. When a character's HP goes yellow, it's generally a good idea to set about healing them. Unfortunately, Cure and the like are subject to the same delays that Black magic is. Pretty often I'm ending up in situations where an injured character is finished off while I'm waiting for a curative spell to be cast. The only way around this is to try and start second guessing your enemies actions, which is not fun gameplay.

Items also have a time delay as do much of the abilities. So healing people can become a really frustrating experience. If there's a way around all this hassle, I certainly haven't found it.

While I still like the battle system, this puts me off it just a bit.

GK¦ Ixion²

grimloch wrote:

Ah that's what they are, I had no clue what the hell they were nor did I know how to activate them. In fact, I still don't.
.

You just move around your sphere grid completly in the same battle. Which is why there was one particularly usefull one with only two slots(cant remember the name). So you could activate the powers very quickly.

Prufrock

I just bought X-2 for less than 7 euro and I feel that I've been ripped off. It's just too different. Maybe it will get better when I get into it a bit more.

I just think even from the opening sequence it doesn't feel like a final fantasy game. I mean the concert and all just feels wrong. Also the music is terrible.