This week's edition of Critical Reception examines online reaction to Square Enix's RPG sequel Final Fantasy XIII-2, which reviewers describe as "an encouraging step in the right direction." Final Fantasy XIII-2 currently earns a score of 81 out of 100 at Metacritic.com.
Heidi Kemps at Official Xbox Magazine scores Final Fantasy XIII-2 at 9 out of 10. "To say that the original Final Fantasy XIII was controversial would be something of an understatement," she notes. "The game’s incredibly rigid structure, while great at delivering a gorgeous cinematic experience, alienated longtime Final Fantasy fans who enjoy the thrill of experimentation and discovery."
Kemps continues: "Consequently, Final Fantasy XIII proved a massive disappointment to many, and those who felt burned by the game may feel inclined to automatically turn up their nose at Final Fantasy XIII-2. But doing so would be a huge mistake."
A new time-travel element makes gameplay feel more open-ended. "Though parts of the story are still linear, you’re given far more freedom to approach challenges in a way you personally enjoy," Kemps notes. "Don’t feel like advancing the main plot at this time? Boss fight giving you trouble? Just hop to a different time period to explore and build strength for a while until you’re content."
In addition: "You now have more control over character development, as you can choose to level up specific Paradigm roles on the Crystarium board (as in FF XIII) while also unlocking additional roles and bonus boosts (stat gains, accessory capacity) after reaching certain levels. Moreover, battles continue on even after the initial player-controlled party leader has fallen, giving you a chance to regroup and make a comeback."
"FFXIII-2 repairs almost every problem with Final Fantasy XIII, delivering an experience that feels like what that original game should have been," Kemps summarizes. "If your faith in Final Fantasy has been damaged by past disappointment, playing FFXIII-2 will restore your excitement for the franchise’s future."
1UP.com's Jeremy Parish gives Final Fantasy XIII-2a B grade, describing the franchise as "a series in the throes of awkward adolescence."
"With Final Fantasy XIII, it went from being the cool, cutting-edge RPG series that everyone in the world loved to a symbol of everything troubling the Japanese game development process in one fell swoop," he explains. "Final Fantasy XIII-2 is clearly that nerdy kid's naked attempt to be hip again. As so often happens -- and I speak from personal experience here -- it goes through all the right motions, but the charade isn't entirely convincing."
"You can see that the developers pored over reviews and forum discussions and made a checklist of complaints about FFXIII they intended to address with the sequel," Parish observes. "Too linear? FFXIII-2 is an open-ended tale of time-travel and alternate realities. Not enough choice in the player's party? Now you can recruit dozens of different monsters to fill the third slot. No towns? By god, now we have towns."
However: "The problem is that these changes also lay bare the problems FFXIII's heavily directed style was designed to hide. FFXIII-2 drops the fixed camera and rigid paths of its predecessor, but the graphics have taken a huge hit. Frame rates are rough, and the visual quality represents a step back from the splendor of FFXIII's. The plot adds a heavy element of non-linearity, but the story makes even less sense than FFXIII's."
The result is entertaining, if uneven. "In mimicking so many of the trends and styles of the current hot RPGs, FFXIII-2 frequently highlights how far it's removed from the cutting edge of the genre," Parish writes. "Still, it's an encouraging step in the right direction; if nothing else, it at least demonstrates that Square Enix is open to other studios being involved in the production of its tentpole franchise and realize they can't expect to sell on name alone."
Joystiq's Jason Schreier rates Final Fantasy XIII-2 at 3 out of 5 stars. "After the mediocre Final Fantasy XIII and the sheer disaster that was Final Fantasy XIV, many fans have lost faith in the RPG titan," he begins. "Final Fantasy XIII-2 is the publisher's attempt to mend this relationship. At times, it feels like the development team just went down a laundry list and added everything that fans believed Final Fantasy XIII lacked."
"All of these trappings help make Final Fantasy XIII-2 far more appealing than its predecessor, but they don't make it great," Schreier continues. "For every dazzling landscape or satisfying puzzle, there's a niggling flaw or baffling moment that will make you wonder why you're still playing."
Schreier cites the narrative as a particular weakness. "Soon enough, the plot takes a turn for the nonsensical, veering into the land of Weird Proper Nouns," he says. "Perhaps this might all be easier to swallow if the game had competent dialogue or voice acting that didn't sound like a hammy 80s sitcom set to quadruple speed for maximum squeakiness."
In addition: "Final Fantasy XIII-2's music is average at its best moments and abominable at its worst. One particular boss theme (a scream-packed metal ballad) was so infuriating that I got up and muted my television until it was over. No title, Final Fantasy or otherwise, has driven me to do that before."
"Ultimately, if Final Fantasy XIII took the series five steps back, Final Fantasy XIII-2 takes it one hesitant step forward," Schreier concludes. "Features like non-linear dungeons, optional side quests and NPC-populated towns are wonderful and all, but they were RPG staples twenty years ago. While Final Fantasy XIII-2 does quite a bit to fix the mistakes of its predecessor, it does very little to stand out on its own merits."
"In mimicking so many of the trends and styles of the current hot RPGs, FFXIII-2 frequently highlights how far it's removed from the cutting edge of the genre,"
Totally agree with this. From the Mass Effect conversation options, the weirdly implemented side quests, to the monster catching, to the quick time events, to the time traveling XIII-2 seems like a weird assortment of gaming gimmicks designed to make it look hip and modern.
I agree. I'm loving it so far. I can't believe the haters out there. You can't please everyone. I enjoyed FF13, it was FUN and that's what games are about to me. Looks like they made some GREAT additions/changes in FF13-2. Enjoy it, Anthony :)
I think it's a given that people will look for faults in this game since the issues in XIII were widely criticized. You are correct, though...fun is what matters.
Well I have more or less mastered the game, all trophies and the likes and I will say it is a great game which has been much improved since 13, graphics did take a shot but i can let that go for better gameplay and storyline. Another huge benefit to it will be the continuous dlc content released for and as far as I know the first storyline dlc for sazh has been released everywhere now.
Final Fantasy XIII-2 is a work in progress in my personal opinion for Square Enix. After a couple of bad MMO projects they need to find their passion again for the single player space and get back to being ahead of the curve.
I actually enjoyed FFXIII it was linear but it was still fun and so far I'm loving all the new improvements in FFXIII-2 don't know why there has to be so many haters, also to this point the metal song is actually my favorite I was hoping FF would have more boss music like that ever since the jecth boss fight in FFX.
I have no real intrest in playing FF these days but it will be intresting to see how well the game sells.
The game may or may not turn out be what the editors & reviewers want, but it is admirable that square is trying to deal with the requests from the ones who matter the most the fans.
I believe it is still far to early to really deem the game a worthy installment, or even something that everyone should give a chance and play. The series has really gone down over the years in terms of interesting story and character development as well as a few gameplay mechanics that have seen possibly the only real advancement. This article strikes me more as a push to make sales for the game, only the quoted parts of what they have to say. Either way I will most likely delve more deeply into the game as times continues.
Personally, I don't think FF games have so much gone downhill (with the notable exception of FF14 - but that's a rather special case) as much as they've stayed the same - but the standards for games have raised. The beloved FFX has a one-dimensional, simplistic protagonist, the story is linear and flawed, there are almost no sidequests or open options till near the end of the game, there's only one ending, the voice acting is almost entirely awful...
But people love it.
When the beloved FFX commits so many of the same flaws as later titles that are considered inferior - it makes me think that Final Fantasy's sins aren't so much that the series has gone downhill - but rather that it's stayed too much the same while gamers have come to expect more.
I think you are right about this. FF games have always had crazy off the wall stories and characters. There is nothing FF13/FF13-2 does better or worse in terms of story and characters in my opinion. It is exactly what I'm used to seeing.
Where the series goes wrong to me, is in the gameplay department. I'm tired of these automated combat systems that don't give you complete control of your party. Everything is streamlined to accommodate and pander to casual players and alienates people who would like to use their brain. Someone needs to get the hint and bring back some good ol' turn based FF. If SE wants to use the combat systems used in FF12/13, it should be as an extra easy mode, not the default. Let people who want full control turn based combat have it.
FFX & XIII both have excellent voice acting. However...
In FFXIII's case, even the best voice acting can't save a crummy script.
In FFX's case, they tried to match the delivery to the cutscenes which is problematic when the cutscenes were created for the Japanese script and not the English one. The voice acting in FFX-2 sounds much more natural despite using the same voices because they're not trying to match the cutscenes.
They lost me when their characters started dressing exclusively like clowns and went by names such as "Wakka", "Lulu" and "Rikku". Convoluted plots that poorly attempt metaphor didn't help. I will forever thing 6 was the sweet spot of the franchise.
I think FF XIII gets a bad rap. The linearity of the first half matches the strict, staid, controlled environment of Pulse. The freedom of the second half matches the chaos that is Cocoon. It's all a metaphor. (Whether or not you enjoy playing it, of course, is up to you.)
Totally agree with this. From the Mass Effect conversation options, the weirdly implemented side quests, to the monster catching, to the quick time events, to the time traveling XIII-2 seems like a weird assortment of gaming gimmicks designed to make it look hip and modern.
What matters is fun and it is that.
Final Fantasy XIII-2 is a work in progress in my personal opinion for Square Enix. After a couple of bad MMO projects they need to find their passion again for the single player space and get back to being ahead of the curve.
The game may or may not turn out be what the editors & reviewers want, but it is admirable that square is trying to deal with the requests from the ones who matter the most the fans.
But people love it.
When the beloved FFX commits so many of the same flaws as later titles that are considered inferior - it makes me think that Final Fantasy's sins aren't so much that the series has gone downhill - but rather that it's stayed too much the same while gamers have come to expect more.
Where the series goes wrong to me, is in the gameplay department. I'm tired of these automated combat systems that don't give you complete control of your party. Everything is streamlined to accommodate and pander to casual players and alienates people who would like to use their brain. Someone needs to get the hint and bring back some good ol' turn based FF. If SE wants to use the combat systems used in FF12/13, it should be as an extra easy mode, not the default. Let people who want full control turn based combat have it.
In FFXIII's case, even the best voice acting can't save a crummy script.
In FFX's case, they tried to match the delivery to the cutscenes which is problematic when the cutscenes were created for the Japanese script and not the English one. The voice acting in FFX-2 sounds much more natural despite using the same voices because they're not trying to match the cutscenes.