Final Fantasy 13-2: Fun, but not entirely necessary.
I've spent most of my gaming time over the past couple of months with a Final Fantasy of one sort or another. Since my last entry, I've backburnered FF3 in favor of FF11's new expansion, Seekers of Adoulin, and FF13-2. I managed to finish FF13-2 in less than three months, which is actually the fastest I've gone through an FF game in a while. Admittedly, it's shorter than most games in the series; I clocked in about 45 hours, and that was including most of the optional content. But if I'd managed to play, say, FF12 at that same rate, I would've finished in a bit over half a year, not... four. Even FF10-2, probably the game most comparable to 13-2 in length, took over a year because I was distracted by FF11.
Distracted by FF11, by the way, is the story for my slow game completion rate for the past nine years. ^^;
Anyhow, I had fun with FF13-2, more fun than I was expecting. I'd heard that people who liked FF13 generally didn't like FF13-2 as much, while people who didn't like FF13 generally liked FF13-2 a bit more. Since I'd enjoyed FF13, I went in thinking I wasn't going to feel the same way about 13-2. What happened is that I found things I enjoyed more about 13, and things I enjoyed more about 13-2, and I think that in the end, I might give the gameplay of 13-2 a slight edge.
I liked the ability to have all the Paradigm roles available on my two human party members. While I appreciated the challenge of having three primary roles per party member in FF13, there were a few combinations that I really wish I'd had easier access to, like SAB/SYN/SEN. In 13-2, I could do that easily. Similarly, SEN/SEN/SEN came in handy for a few of the harder fights. Getting a monster or two of the appropriate role to fill in the third slot was fairly easy, and the monster leveling system was fairly straightforward. I had to farm for materials a couple of times, but for the most part I had everything I needed on hand just from standard fights. Battles went more smoothly, too. Taking the delay out of the first Paradigm Shift of a fight encourages swapping to finish things up more easily.
I also liked the increased exploration. While I didn't mind that large parts of FF13 were basically on rails and there were a lot of non-revisitable areas, "didn't mind" is not necessarily the same as "like." The constant need to keep moving forward fit the theme of FF13 very well, but I liked being able to go back to places and I liked the variations among the different time periods.
Finally, the more standardized shop weapon and accessory system worked much more easily than the upgrade system in FF13. I was able to get along just fine with the new buyable weapons in each chapter, whereas in FF13 I'm not sure I ever bothered to upgrade any of the weapons and it probably handicapped me later in the game.
Not everything was a step forward in 13-2, though. Going back to what amounts to random battles is annoying. I lost count of how many times I was *just* about to open a treasure or click on a target and then was attacked, locking me out. I did a reasonably good job with preemptive strikes, but then after a battle I had to reorient myself because I'd run in an entirely different direction to get that preemptive strike.
I didn't like the new Crystarium system for my human characters as much, either. While I know some people enjoy having complete control over how to customize their characters, I like more structure. I ended up using a guide to level them because I was afraid of irrevocably messing something up. The guide didn't completely mesh with my playing style, but it worked well enough.
Finally, while I know people complain about the "30 hour tutorial" that is the early part of FF13, FF13-2 pretty much assumes that you've played FF13. It makes sense - I can't really imagine too many people would jump right in to the second game of a series that has very strong plot ties to the previous one - but a quick refresher might have been helpful if you aren't coming right from FF13. (That's a *quick* refresher, though, not something like Kingdom Hearts 2's five-hour tutorial. Yes, I *have* played the first game and even if it's been a while, it's not going to take me that long to remember.)
FF13-2 is not as tightly plotted as FF13. For example, the effects of time travel are inconsistent. Resolving a paradox within the same time period and location immediately changes that period and location, while going off to another time and location to resolve a paradox creates a new timeline altogether... except when it doesn't. (I'm looking at you, Sunleth Waterscape 300AF.) The nomenclature is inconsistent as well: Yachas Massif 100AF and 110AF follow Yachas Massif 10AF, not Yachas Massif 1XAF, as Fenrir is still there, but if Academia 500AF follows Academia 4XXAF, shouldn't it be Academia 5XXAF as it wouldn't have happened if the events of Academia 400AF occurred?
The characters aren't quite as interesting, either. It's good to see Serah be something other than the rescue object she was in FF13, and she does get some character development over the course of the game. Compare how she is in the New Bodhum Endless Dream to how the characters treat her; she's not the same as her beginning-game self. Noel is remarkably non-angsty for someone who's witnessed the literal end of the world; even the suggestion that he's potentially writing himself out of existence doesn't seem to faze him all that much. But both of them seem to be a bit more of the generic upbeat hero types than some of the more nuanced characters of FF13. (Snow's upbeat hero persona is fairly well deconstructed in FF13; it actually makes him come off as a colossal dumbass a good deal of the time.)
Also, while I know having the FF13 cast show up in 13-2 too often runs the risk of overshadowing the 13-2 cast, I resent that finding out most of their stories requires purchasing DLC. Colossal dumbass though he may be, I want to know what happened to Snow after he disappeared in the Sunleth Waterscape. I was delighted to see Sazh pop up at the end of the game, but how did he and Dajh time travel? Why is Lightning in crystal sleep again? I can find all these answers out... for an additional $4 to $5 apiece. I don't mind DLC for things like costumes and Coliseum battles, but I feel like the story should be told in the main game.
And this brings me to my next point... as much as I enjoyed FF13-2, it wasn't necessary, narrative-wise. FF13 had a satisfying ending that wrapped things up nicely. It wasn't like FF10 and FF10-2, where it made sense to check back after a couple years and see how the world had changed now that it wasn't under the constant threat of Sin. Nor was the fate of any of the major characters left ambiguous, like Tidus' was. Having a sequel to FF10 made sense to me, and while FF10-2 wasn't as strong of a game as FF10, it wrapped the storyline up in a very satisfying manner. FF13-2 is definitely the middle of a trilogy. Very little turns out to actually be resolved. (Okay, so I knew going in that there would be a third game, but that doesn't necessarily mean it tells me anything about how the second one ended.)
I'm sort of enh on the aspects of Lightning Returns that I've seen so far, although I'll reserve judgement for when the game actually is released. Right now it looks a bit too much like Assassin's Creed: Final Fantasy to me, and when I play an FF game, I want to play something that feels like an FF game, not another series entirely. (I guess Noel's Ezio costume DLC was foreshadowing something. ;p) But I'm invested in the story now, so I feel like I have to see it to the end.
I will admit that if I hadn't accidentally spoiled myself on the ending to FF13-2, it would've been one hell of a gut-punch. The happy vocal ending song starts playing, Serah and Noel return to the newly-launched Cocoon replacement... and then Serah gets a vision, and she's dead, and the happy vocal ending song is *still* playing. Nice subversion, there.
I have wondered, though, if FF10-2 and FF13-2 are meant to take the place of FF11 and FF14 for people who aren't going to be playing an MMO. That makes a certain amount of sense.
Anyhow, for all I'm rambling here, I really did have a good time playing FF13-2. There were a few frustrating spots - the final level does a lot of weird platform-shifting stuff - but overall it was fun. Still, as much as I liked FF10-2 back when I played it, I sometimes wish that it hadn't started the trend of each numbered non-MMO FF game becoming its own franchise instead of simply the series being the franchise. I'd like them to start working on FF15 now, not FF13 Versus Returns Zero This Is the Last One We Mean It This Time.
* Disclaimer: While I have FF4: The After Years and FF12: Revenant Wings, I haven't played much of the former or any of the latter, so I can't really comment on them. But I feel it's important to mention that yes, other FF sequels exist, even if I don't discuss them here.
* Disclaimer Disclaimer: The FF7-verse is Yet Another Matter and I'm definitely not going into that here. ;p
Distracted by FF11, by the way, is the story for my slow game completion rate for the past nine years. ^^;
Anyhow, I had fun with FF13-2, more fun than I was expecting. I'd heard that people who liked FF13 generally didn't like FF13-2 as much, while people who didn't like FF13 generally liked FF13-2 a bit more. Since I'd enjoyed FF13, I went in thinking I wasn't going to feel the same way about 13-2. What happened is that I found things I enjoyed more about 13, and things I enjoyed more about 13-2, and I think that in the end, I might give the gameplay of 13-2 a slight edge.
I liked the ability to have all the Paradigm roles available on my two human party members. While I appreciated the challenge of having three primary roles per party member in FF13, there were a few combinations that I really wish I'd had easier access to, like SAB/SYN/SEN. In 13-2, I could do that easily. Similarly, SEN/SEN/SEN came in handy for a few of the harder fights. Getting a monster or two of the appropriate role to fill in the third slot was fairly easy, and the monster leveling system was fairly straightforward. I had to farm for materials a couple of times, but for the most part I had everything I needed on hand just from standard fights. Battles went more smoothly, too. Taking the delay out of the first Paradigm Shift of a fight encourages swapping to finish things up more easily.
I also liked the increased exploration. While I didn't mind that large parts of FF13 were basically on rails and there were a lot of non-revisitable areas, "didn't mind" is not necessarily the same as "like." The constant need to keep moving forward fit the theme of FF13 very well, but I liked being able to go back to places and I liked the variations among the different time periods.
Finally, the more standardized shop weapon and accessory system worked much more easily than the upgrade system in FF13. I was able to get along just fine with the new buyable weapons in each chapter, whereas in FF13 I'm not sure I ever bothered to upgrade any of the weapons and it probably handicapped me later in the game.
Not everything was a step forward in 13-2, though. Going back to what amounts to random battles is annoying. I lost count of how many times I was *just* about to open a treasure or click on a target and then was attacked, locking me out. I did a reasonably good job with preemptive strikes, but then after a battle I had to reorient myself because I'd run in an entirely different direction to get that preemptive strike.
I didn't like the new Crystarium system for my human characters as much, either. While I know some people enjoy having complete control over how to customize their characters, I like more structure. I ended up using a guide to level them because I was afraid of irrevocably messing something up. The guide didn't completely mesh with my playing style, but it worked well enough.
Finally, while I know people complain about the "30 hour tutorial" that is the early part of FF13, FF13-2 pretty much assumes that you've played FF13. It makes sense - I can't really imagine too many people would jump right in to the second game of a series that has very strong plot ties to the previous one - but a quick refresher might have been helpful if you aren't coming right from FF13. (That's a *quick* refresher, though, not something like Kingdom Hearts 2's five-hour tutorial. Yes, I *have* played the first game and even if it's been a while, it's not going to take me that long to remember.)
FF13-2 is not as tightly plotted as FF13. For example, the effects of time travel are inconsistent. Resolving a paradox within the same time period and location immediately changes that period and location, while going off to another time and location to resolve a paradox creates a new timeline altogether... except when it doesn't. (I'm looking at you, Sunleth Waterscape 300AF.) The nomenclature is inconsistent as well: Yachas Massif 100AF and 110AF follow Yachas Massif 10AF, not Yachas Massif 1XAF, as Fenrir is still there, but if Academia 500AF follows Academia 4XXAF, shouldn't it be Academia 5XXAF as it wouldn't have happened if the events of Academia 400AF occurred?
The characters aren't quite as interesting, either. It's good to see Serah be something other than the rescue object she was in FF13, and she does get some character development over the course of the game. Compare how she is in the New Bodhum Endless Dream to how the characters treat her; she's not the same as her beginning-game self. Noel is remarkably non-angsty for someone who's witnessed the literal end of the world; even the suggestion that he's potentially writing himself out of existence doesn't seem to faze him all that much. But both of them seem to be a bit more of the generic upbeat hero types than some of the more nuanced characters of FF13. (Snow's upbeat hero persona is fairly well deconstructed in FF13; it actually makes him come off as a colossal dumbass a good deal of the time.)
Also, while I know having the FF13 cast show up in 13-2 too often runs the risk of overshadowing the 13-2 cast, I resent that finding out most of their stories requires purchasing DLC. Colossal dumbass though he may be, I want to know what happened to Snow after he disappeared in the Sunleth Waterscape. I was delighted to see Sazh pop up at the end of the game, but how did he and Dajh time travel? Why is Lightning in crystal sleep again? I can find all these answers out... for an additional $4 to $5 apiece. I don't mind DLC for things like costumes and Coliseum battles, but I feel like the story should be told in the main game.
And this brings me to my next point... as much as I enjoyed FF13-2, it wasn't necessary, narrative-wise. FF13 had a satisfying ending that wrapped things up nicely. It wasn't like FF10 and FF10-2, where it made sense to check back after a couple years and see how the world had changed now that it wasn't under the constant threat of Sin. Nor was the fate of any of the major characters left ambiguous, like Tidus' was. Having a sequel to FF10 made sense to me, and while FF10-2 wasn't as strong of a game as FF10, it wrapped the storyline up in a very satisfying manner. FF13-2 is definitely the middle of a trilogy. Very little turns out to actually be resolved. (Okay, so I knew going in that there would be a third game, but that doesn't necessarily mean it tells me anything about how the second one ended.)
I'm sort of enh on the aspects of Lightning Returns that I've seen so far, although I'll reserve judgement for when the game actually is released. Right now it looks a bit too much like Assassin's Creed: Final Fantasy to me, and when I play an FF game, I want to play something that feels like an FF game, not another series entirely. (I guess Noel's Ezio costume DLC was foreshadowing something. ;p) But I'm invested in the story now, so I feel like I have to see it to the end.
I will admit that if I hadn't accidentally spoiled myself on the ending to FF13-2, it would've been one hell of a gut-punch. The happy vocal ending song starts playing, Serah and Noel return to the newly-launched Cocoon replacement... and then Serah gets a vision, and she's dead, and the happy vocal ending song is *still* playing. Nice subversion, there.
I have wondered, though, if FF10-2 and FF13-2 are meant to take the place of FF11 and FF14 for people who aren't going to be playing an MMO. That makes a certain amount of sense.
Anyhow, for all I'm rambling here, I really did have a good time playing FF13-2. There were a few frustrating spots - the final level does a lot of weird platform-shifting stuff - but overall it was fun. Still, as much as I liked FF10-2 back when I played it, I sometimes wish that it hadn't started the trend of each numbered non-MMO FF game becoming its own franchise instead of simply the series being the franchise. I'd like them to start working on FF15 now, not FF13 Versus Returns Zero This Is the Last One We Mean It This Time.
* Disclaimer: While I have FF4: The After Years and FF12: Revenant Wings, I haven't played much of the former or any of the latter, so I can't really comment on them. But I feel it's important to mention that yes, other FF sequels exist, even if I don't discuss them here.
* Disclaimer Disclaimer: The FF7-verse is Yet Another Matter and I'm definitely not going into that here. ;p