Hello, and welcome back to the Silent Protagonist, my little bit of Ready Up space where I get excited about RPGs and generally gush about how awesome they are. As promised, I’m going to take a look at Final Fantasy X-2 this time, which is the first direct sequel Square made, not to mention the first game in this series that was published under the name of “Square Enix.”
It all started when I saw this sphere of you…
Before I start, I would like to say that I actually adore this game. I really enjoy it and have played it for a substantially longer period of time than its predecessor.
Final Fantasy X-2 is certainly the most light-hearted game in the series, especially in comparison to X, which opens with the total annihilation of the city of Zanarkand. X-2 on the other hand, begins with a pop concert, which generally sets the tone for the game. Don’t get me wrong, though, it’s not all fun and guns. There is a rather interesting story to it, but it introduces the series to a rather unique set of politics which, for the first time in the series, enables the player to make a decision which affects how they play the game somewhat. Moving on…
The story revolves around Yuna as she travels across Spira as a member of the Gullwings, a group of Sphere Hunters, delving into the history of Spira to find out about Tidus, who she sees in a Sphere. Among the Gullwings are Rikku, a friendly face who hasn’t changed much, and Paine, a frosty character who reminds me of Lulu when you first meet her. However, as the story progresses, the trio become close and share some very amusing scenes.
Instead of having the usual storyline, Final Fantasy X-2 is a mission based game. Right from the word go you have access to every destination in Spira. Although, the destinations vary in terms of enemy levels, which rank from one star representing the easiest battles, through to five stars. Upon completing a set number of missions, you eventually complete a chapter. There are five chapters in the game with only chapter four presenting a set linear structure. By this, I mean no side quests. At all. Pure story. And singing. With some dancing.
Whenever you save the game, you are given a percentage of the amount of the overall game that you have completed. By completing the main story you only achieve about fifty something percent, so get exploring.
This is also the first game in the series which features a REALLY bad ending which results in the total annihilation of the world, followed by the Game Overmusic; overdramatic, but pretty excellent at the same time. Despite this, there are many endings which you can see all depending on your completion percentage. The higher the percentage the better the ending. Although to get the best ending you need to bash “X” during certain scenes…
In Final Fantasy X-2, the job system effectively returns, but with a twist. Instead of changing classes outside of battle, you now have the ability to do so midbattle. So when swinging a sword isn’t good enough, a quick change to a songstress and… sing and dance the enemy to sleep. I’m being serious. It’s awesome. However, depending on which garment grid the girls have equipped, the number of classes available to each is limited. Switching from one class to another may require more than one outfit change.
During the course of the game, many recurring jobs appear, such as Black Mage, Berserker, White Mage, and Dark Knight, with some brand new jobs too, including Trainer and Lady Luck. Each Girl also possess a Special Dressphere, which is obtained by repeatedly talking to Tromell for Paine, and through the Main Story for Rikku and Yuna.
In the HD remaster, Final Fantasy X-2 is the International and Last Mission edition, which has never been released outside of Japan. It features three new Dresspheres, Festival-Goer, Psychic, as well as the Bare dressphere if the other garments break during the Last Mission. Although the International edition is confirmed for release, it has yet to be confirmed by Square Enix whether Last Mission will be in the HD bundle, or if it will remain a Japan PS2 exclusive.
Next time on the Silent Protagonist, I’ll be taking a look at one of my favourite Final Fantasies: Final Fantasy VIII. And to finish off, I’m leaving you the introductory video to Final Fantasy X-2.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oiXcL06P3ko[/youtube]
…To be continued…
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