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I am a long time FF fan, and have been playing since FF1 in the 80's. I was very disappointed with FF13 for several reasons, which have been repeated a thousand times, so this will not be "1001"-
FF13-2 is awesome. this is the game I thought I was buying when I ordered FF13. I love everything about the system, the cinematics, everything. The addition of the "God of War" style cinematic action is awesome, and not nearly as "throw your controller through the wall" frustrating as GoW(particularly the final sequence with Zeus in GoW2). Instead, the cinematic action adds to the game in a positive way. I would also note I am a fan of long hours of grinding to make the bosses that much easier and to crush the opposition with ease... This game not only makes the grinding enjoyable, I hardly noticed the grind at all even when walking around for random encounters for that specific purpose.
I cannot recommend this game highly enough. It is terrific. I only wish it had come out as FF13.
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Before I go into my review, I am making it known that I have yet to finish the game. As I continue playing, I will update this review so my opinion will be accurate.Opening the case: The first thing I noticed was that this game was contained on a single disc. This was interesting to me considering that the previous game was on three discs. As other reviews may have mentioned, this was because this game was made with the Xbox working smarter, not harder. I thought however that this might come at a price shorter sequences or shoddier quality. I'll discuss this more later on.
Storyline: Without going into too much detail,I believe the storyline in this game is much better than of XIII. XIII did not have a poor storyline but at times it felt as if I was being bogged down with inane details. In addition, I found myself wondering what was going on when I took extended breaks from the game. XIII-2 remedied this in two ways a storyline which (for the moment) is clear and coherent and with a quick recap when you load the game (this is pretty awesome. It pretty much sums up what has happened since you started in about 30 seconds which helps you get an idea of what has happened).
Gameplay: This has also been improved over XIII. While still a bit linear, the environment has been expanded to allow for some free roaming and interaction with NPC's. The battle system has also received some refinements, as you can now further tune your paradigms for efficiency (Ex: Having a commando paradigm in which all characters target a single enemy instead of a free for all). A big plus in combat is the fact that if you are downed, you take control of the next character in your party as opposed to getting game over which is nice. The QTE events and Live Action elements which have been introduced are a nice change and keep you on your toes.
Quality/Loading: The quality seems to be about the same as XIII but there are times where it seems a bit worse. Playing on an HD set, I can sometimes see areas which seem fuzzy/choppy. This might be a side-effect of putting the game on a single disc or not, I'm unsure. Also, during the recap events (when you load) the quality is significantly lower at least on my end. Loading times suck. Not going to sugar-coat that. I installed the game onto my Xbox hard drive in the hopes of lowering load times but I haven't noticed a difference in load times at all.
Overall, I am enjoying the game. As I progress (and eventually complete the game) I will update this review to reflect any changes in opinion I may have.
Edit: Just a small update on my initial review. One pro and one con.
Con: The Casino. This was a great idea and I like the fact that another game will be coming via DLC. The only problem I have is that there are only two games available (Chocobo Racing and Slots). It would have been nice to have more of a selection in addition to more games in the future via DLC.
Pro: The story in my opinion gets better as you progress. As I initially said, the story is quite interesting but as you progress, you encounter alternate timelines and...I won't say more since I don't want to spoil it. Overall, the story has swayed me in upping my original rating from 4 to 4.5.
Rating:
4/5 (originally)
4.5/5 (currently)
I will update again as I continue to progress. If the game continues the way it has been playing, I don't see why it couldn't be a 5 star game. More to come.
Best Deals for Final Fantasy XIII-2 - Xbox 360
FF XIII-2 continues three years after the first game left off. You assume the role of Serah, who now lives on a settlement on Gran Pulse. She's recently been having dreams where her big sister (and FF XIII main heroine) Lightning fights a mysterious foe in a place called Valhalla. She wakes up one night to discover that a meteorite has crashed down nearby, bringing with it a boy, Noel, who claims to be the last survivor of humanity from a far future. Noel has met with Lightning and was sent to Serah, he says, because the two of them must take a time-travelling adventure to unwind a paradox-filled history -and that's exactly what they do.The time-travel element may remind some players of Square classic Chrono Trigger, and the comparison isn't terribly far off. Serah and Noel hop around different eras and locations in the world's history, solving problems and opening portals to other eras and potential futures. Though parts of the story are still linear, you're given far more freedom to approach challenges in a way you personally enjoy. 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. Unlike the "series of tubes" that comprised most of FF XIII's structure up until later in the game, FF XIII-2 lets you progress at your own pace. With that freedom comes the sense of excitement and discovery that FF XIII sorely lacked, as finding hidden treasures and using clever strategy to topple monsters well above your strength level feels immensely satisfying. And if you ever feel like you might have missed something, you can rewind back to the beginning of certain event sequences to do things over while retaining your hard-earned rewards.
Not everything here is new, however. You'll see a lot of familiar locales, tunes, and designs from FF XIII peppered in-between all-new content. The recycling of some assets can be easily forgiven, however, when what's being reused was beautiful and well-made to begin with. Also returning is FF XIII's superb, fast-paced combat engine and the accompanying Crystarium leveling system, albeit with some significant overhauls. 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.
It's easy to see how Square Enix took the feedback from FF XIII and used it to make a better product, but this follow-up still has some lingering issues. Every so often you'll encounter an obnoxious gimmick sequence, such as a giant time-jumping fetch quest, a series of out-of-place logic puzzles, or constantly regenerating and unavoidable Cie'th enemy hordes chasing you throughout a massive maze. Plus, the story falters at times, falling victim to leaps of logic and silliness, and dialogue exchanges often feel like characters are simply talking at each other rather than truly interacting. The trademark Square Enix CG is sparse, with most story sequences rendered in-engine. But perhaps most annoying are the technical issues: framerates drop precipitously when a lot is happening onscreen, and this sequel's few movie sequences frequently suffer from hideously artifacted compression.
Maybe the best way to sum up Final Fantasy XIII-2 is with an oft-repeated line of dialogue from the game itself: "Change the future to change the past." It's not just a paradoxical plot point: FFXIII-2 repairs almost every problem with Final Fantasy XIII, delivering an experience that feels like what that original game should have been. If your faith in Final Fantasy has been damaged by past disappointment, playing FFXIII-2 will restore your excitement for the franchise's future.
Honest reviews on Final Fantasy XIII-2 - Xbox 360
Just finished this three days ago and I got to say that I loved it! I enjoyed it so much that I actually want to try and get all of the achievements, which is going to take me forever. The battles are so much fun. You only have to characters to fight with through the whole game, Serah and Noel. Serah has the ability to summon monsters that she kills so that will give you another party member to fight with. Ciaus is one of the best villains I've seen in a video game in a long time (behind Sephiroth and the Joker of course). He's one of very few villains that I truly felt sorry for. I loved learning about his past and how he became what he is now.The main theme of Final Fantasy XIII-2 is Time Travel. This was at little over my head at first because I'm not use to playing games with it. "If you change the future, you change the past" is said quite a bit in this game. The ending also ends with a very big cliffhanger saying "to be continued..." at the end. Not sure if this is hinting at another game or if the ending will be extended with DLC. Not really sure yet. There are several more endings called paradox endings that you can get after you bet the game but they don't really answer your questions you may have, they just and more.
Final Fantasy XIII-2 retains the Synergy Battle and Paradigm Shift systems from it's predecessor and the battle system is a more evolved form of Final Fantasy XIII's battle system. One new gameplay element, called the Mog Clock, has been added, where the player must attack monsters on the field before the time is up to get the upper hand in the battle.
Another new feature is the Paradigm Tune, which enables you to customize how the AI-controlled party members use their abilities in battle. You have control of the Party Leader in battle, which can be switched to the other human player at anytime. When the Party Leader dies, the other human player will become the new Party Leader. If both die then you get a Game Over. This is a great improvement over Final Fantasy XIII. If your Party Leader died in that game you automatically got a Game Over no matter how many characters you still had alive.
Characters grow via a revamped Crystarium System, and they have levels unlike the previous game. There is no cap for how many levels a character can gain at any given time. Final Fantasy XIII-2 also has difficulty levels, Normal and Easy, that can be changed at anytime.
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i personally did not have a problem with final fantasy XIII. although the story was all over the place and only starts to make sense in the sequel, the hours i played on gran pulse outweighed that. the combat system was good but flawed, however not enough for me to just hate the game. onto the sequel.. when i first heard of its development i was thinking "what about versus and type 0" and "how did they make it so fast they must have rushed it". I was excited although a little skeptical, i did like final fantasy XIII and a sequel did sound interesting..this game is 10x better than the first one and a very great game at that. its really a shame people cant seem to get past the flaws of the first game and the difference it has with final fantasy games but they are really missing out. the game play is more polished in the sense that when you switch paradigms the screen doesn't pan the characters while you get beat up, you can change party members in the middle of a battle, and the addition of monsters. the monsters are a great way to substitute a third character that breaks up the dry two player experience.the story can be a little tough to follow but is easier to grasp than the first one. it is a little complicated but nothing that would make you loathe the game for. basically i had a great experience with this game (except there are no summons)and would recommend to anyone who would be interested
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