FINAL FANTASY X-2 | tuchanka
I am just going to get a couple of things out of the way now.
If you hate this game for any of the following reasons:
- it’s too feminine
- it’s girly and girly games are for ‘losers’
- x is/looks like a ‘slut’
Go away. Seriously, just go away because I don’t like you.
Final Fantasy X-2 is widely criticized because the storyline isn’t as deep and, well, miserable as Final Fantasy X. I love FFX, but there’s really no denying that the setting is pretty morbid. Spiral of death? People die and Yuna dances? The main character is just a dream of the fayth? DEATH DEATH DEATH DYING AND STUFF? Yeah, not a happy time. There is a lot of sacrifice in Final Fantasy X. If Final Fantasy X-2 was miserable, all of those sacrifices would have been for absolutely nothing. The whole point is to make Spira a more pleasant place to live and increase the life expectancy, and that is exactly what Final Fantasy X does. Final Fantasy X-2 is the aftermath. It’s supposed to be fun and relatively low pressure.
Not many new characters are introduced in FFX-2, but I enjoyed the ones that were and their role in the story. Leblanc and her goons are more or less fun fodder for the early part of the game until the main story comes in, and it’s awesome. Nooj, Baralai and Gippal lead the new ‘factions’ of Spira, leaving it relatively divided between the Youth League and New Yevon while the Machine Faction prefers to stay out of world events and encourage self-reliance. When all three of the world’s political powerhouse figures disappear to hunt down Vegnagun, it’s like a domino effect as all of the groups collapse one by one, the Machine Faction going down last, because in the first two cases they were taught to rely on their leader too much, and in the third, the leader isn’t aware of just how much he is needed. This leaves it all up to Yuna, who unites Spira through the power of song. Yeah, it’s cheesy, but extremely appropriate considering fighting got them where they are now.
The main characters that carry through, especially Yuna, have their fair share of development. In FFX, Yuna learns that everything she grew up believing in was a lie and her father’s sacrifice was essentially for nothing. She becomes hated by Spira at large and branded a traitor for murdering a man who’s eventual goal is to murder all of Spira, but does not falter and continues on her initial path that, up until she reaches what is to be the final destination, will end in self-sacrifice. She lives to tell the tale, but loses her first love in the process. Yuna’s will is incredible in the first game, although it likes to put her in damsel in distress situations and she grows up coddled by Lulu and Wakka to the point she has trouble deciding things for herself.
In X-2 she shoves that ‘damsel-in-distress’ bullcrap right out the door, wants to figure out what’s happening in Spira for herself, and has no tolerance for sacrifice in the name of victory. None. Without Yuna, everyone would not have got out of the final battle alive. Yuna is an incredible character and X-2 is pretty crucial to her development.
The battle system is interesting, although at times a bit impractical, because there are a few dresspheres that I have not yet been able to find a use for. You’re given something called a ‘garment grid’ that allows you to place dresspheres—sometimes on their own, sometimes with powerful bonuses in between or for completing the grid. The Songstress dressphere, for example, while it is a neat concept, often bestows status effects on enemies… but I’m pretty sure anyone who has ever played a FF game knows that outside of XIII, status effects are generally useless on most bosses, especially the really tough ones. While this particular dressphere does have some defensive capabilities, those are better assigned to either a White Mage (speaks for itself) or Alchemist (item mixer). Fortunately, you can acquire accessories that allow you to use the abilities of another dressphere, providing you’ve learned them.
The World Map in FFX-2 creates an experience that is left entirely up to you. You can go in order, or completely mix it up. Hotspots are missions necessary to advance the story, and you can clear the game simply doing them but it’s really not recommended since the sidequests really flesh out the setting and story of what happened to everyone after FFX. You have to complete everything to attain the “Perfect Ending”, so if you’re going that way then you have to do it all anyway. A lot of the missions, especially in the early part of the game, are pretty goofy, a lot of fun, and more focused on world building. Some of the sidequests are completely meticulous, and that can be frustrating as all get out if you’re shooting for perfection.
You can tell there was some serious developer laziness in FFX-2. Wakka, who Rikku teases by calling ‘tubby’, has absolutely no change from his game model in FFX. Neither does Lulu, who is supposed to be heavily pregnant. I understand that not all women show pregnancy equally, but since Wakka looks the exact same I’m more willing to pin this one on laziness.
The mini-games in X-2 are it’s weakest point to me. Blitzball, previously my favorite mini-game of all time, has been completely automated and is no fun at all anymore. The Gunner’s Gauntlet is unnecessarily difficult, and while I do love a good shooter, shooter games are not Square-Enix’s strong point. Sphere Break isn’t too bad until it comes time to deal with Shinra and become the champion for one of the most handy dresspheres in the game. I totally cheated on that with no remorse.
Final Fantasy X-2 isn’t without problems. All of the party members are ladies, which is awesome, but why are all of the world leaders men? If you’re going for the perfect ending it will take you a ridiculous amount of time to get all of the minute details in place. Fortunately, S-E realized it was going to be a nightmare and gave you the option of starting a New Game+ once you beat the game where you get to keep all of your equipment, dresspheres, and completion percentage. It is really, really easy to break the game and become completely unbeatable in the early stages of the game with this. You can stack accessories you only get one of in the main game. This is awesome. As much as I love a good challenge, being totally indestructible and slaying enemies with one hit that took you twenty minutes to beat beforehand has its own merits.
I don’t think this is a ‘bad game’, or anything close to it, but stop comparing it to Final Fantasy X. It’s not supposed to be anything like Final Fantasy X. Stop hating on the fact that you ‘change clothes’ and ‘control women’ and THAT’S GIRL STUFF while you’re at it. Oh, and stop comparing everything to Final Fantasy VII too. Seriously. The graphics are nice for its time. It isn’t the powerhouse that FFX is, but that doesn’t make it bad.
