Square's formerly tragic heroine leads a merry chase through Spira, and despite some cheesy moments the result is a rema
The story of Final Fantasy X-2, understandably, leans heavily on the player's familiarity with its parent title, without which a player will shortly find himself very confused. The new tale picks up two years after the climactic battle in which Yuna and her team of guardians finally defeat the behemoth, Sin, which had been ravaging Spira for a thousand years. Since Sin's defeat, much has changed in Spira, but the “eternal calm” which was supposed to bring everlasting peace and prosperity has done anything but. Political tensions are high between competing factions which hope to fill the void left by the collapse of the religious organization Yevon. In addition to this, many of Spira's young people, now freed from the constraints of religion and fear, have formed rival gangs of sphere hunters and roam the land seeking wealth and adventure. Ostensibly these hunters are searching for spheres, a sort of magical recording device, to uncover information about Spira's past, though from the very beginning of the game this goal is sidetracked in favor of the search for more personal history. Inevitably, the storyline leads the world once again into grave danger, and once again it is Yuna who is called upon to be its savior.
Yuna herself has undergone major changes, her celebrity status has brought her unwanted attention, while she too is feeling the pull of freedom. With the destruction of Sin, her previous vocation of summoner has become irrelevant, and her disillusionment has awakened a rebellious spirit in the previously mild mannered maiden. When we first encounter Yuna, she appears scantily clad and singing lead vocals at a pop concert attended by thousands of screaming fans. From this jarring beginning we learn that Yuna has joined a band of sphere hunters, the Gullwings, of which she is the de facto leader, and is joined on her quest by her cousin and former guardian, Rikku, and a reticent newcomer, Paine.
The silly, lighthearted theme that begins with the concert scene continues throughout the game, with minigames including girl-on-girl massage, missions to steal uniforms from a rival gang's grunts, a comical chocobo chase sequence, and the “you scored” message you receive every time you obtain an item. The Gullwings often exhibit embarrassingly tasteless costumes, clearly made to cater to a male audience. Yuna's usual outfit consists of hot-pants, a half skirt, and a halter top, and she's toting dual pistols with which she's as proficient as any Wild West sheriff. Her companions suffer from the same startling lack of clothing, with Rikku's primary costume constituting less fabric than a standard sized hanky, and even the tomboy of the group, Paine, displaying a large amount of skin during much of the game. Despite the fact that the game sometimes fails to take itself seriously enough, as the plot progresses, the intrigue deepens and the real heart of the story is revealed. Final Fantasy X-2, like its predecessor, has a complex and rich story, combining elements of mystery, conspiracy, and a tragic love story.
Unfolding this story is not as easy as it sounds, in a drastic departure from the standard RPG format, FF X-2 is almost completely nonlinear. Divided into five chapters, each area of Spira has minigames, sidequests, scenes, and items specific to each chapter. The Gullwings can visit these areas in any order the player chooses, either stopping to pursue every lead, or rushing straight through the chapters doing only what is necessary to progress. Though possible to view the main storyline alone, this is hardly advisable, as much of the “optional” content is almost necessary to understand the subtleties of the underlying plot. Paine's history in particular, is fleshed out mainly over the course of several extra missions. The game's multiple endings provide another incentive to complete as much as possible, as there are bonus endings corresponding to certain levels of completion, with the holy grail being 100%. Though the wealth of destinations makes for a satisfying level of player control, it can cause the storyline to feel disjointed, as often sillier segments are interspersed with the serious ones, which can sometimes break the game's building sense of urgency.
The locations that can be visited are almost entirely recycled from Final Fantasy X, so the graphics of the game are familiar territory for anyone who's played the original. The very few new locations are primarily underground dungeons, caves, and ruins consisting of identical stone or brick passageways with little light or detail. The sole exception to this is a floating temple above Mount Gagazet, which has some truly breathtaking scenery. The CGI cutscenes in the game, however, do show the advances in the two years since FFX's release. These scenes are absolutely stunning and among the most beautiful animation on the PS2. Unfortunately, many of these cutscenes seem to come at the worst moments in the game, with Yuna leaping through the air like a kung fu action hero, or fighting for world peace by singing and dancing. Jaw-dropping visuals ought to highlight the moments in the game the player cares most about, not those moments where the plot falters so badly as to nearly fall apart altogether.
Like the visuals, the game's score is a somewhat uneven mix of old and new. With the absence of veteran composer Nobuo Uematsu's work, the soundtrack feels a little light, and not as heavily emotional as has been the norm with previous Final Fantasy titles. In keeping with the lighthearted tone of the game, the tracks are more upbeat and many have a distinctive pop flair. While the music generally suits the mood, it is disappointing to hear only the barest hints of familiar themes from FFX, especially as visual “flashbacks” to the original game are everywhere. The voice acting for the major characters, though, is simply flawless. Hedy Burress, who voices Yuna, does a fabulous job catching her shift in personality, while Gwendolyn Yeo personifies Paine's sarcasm to a tee. One combat ending line in which Yuna and Rikku shout “Give me a Y!” “Give me an R!” and Paine replies dryly, “Give me a break.” is delivered with such witty perfection that even after a dozen repetitions the humor still sparkles.
The one factor in the mix that is unequivocally outstanding is Final Fantasy X-2's battle system. Whereas FFX was strictly turn-based, in its sequel a fast-paced active time battle system is used. Like in previous Final Fantasies, a timer fills completely before each character has her turn, and then her selected actions take different amounts of time to execute. A simple attack might occur immediately, where a high-level spell may take several seconds to prepare. Even a short delay can become crucial, as in these encounters there is very little waiting around to be done. The enemies follow timed attack patterns of their own, and even if the player hesitates they will continue to act. As a result, the battles move at a brisk, even frantic, speed, and while the rhythm of combat is easy to pick up, its subtleties will take hours to master. The combat is frenzied, strategic, and downright addictive. There are very few games which have the battle system so finely tuned as to make random encounters a consistently engaging experience, but X-2 is among the best of these few.
As each girl gains experience she'll level up, increasing her base stats, and gain ability points toward unlocking new skills. Again unlike earlier games in the franchise, there is little pre-determined character specialization in FFX-2. All three girls have access to the same skills through the dressphere system. Dresspheres function much like character classes with standards such as black mage, healer, warrior and thief, as well as quirky new jobs like lady luck (a gambler who attacks with dice and reels) or trainer (a class which uses a pet to attack for her). The players begin with four basic classes, but there are a total of thirteen other dresspheres to discover. Experience earned while in a particular dressphere unlocks abilities particular to that sphere, and the classes can be swapped any time, in or out of battle, just like the fancy costumes they are. Learning a new dressphere is often like leveling up an entirely different character. Which sphere, or spheres, each character masters is entirely up to the player.
With loads of extra content, including optional bosses, hidden dungeons, special dresspheres, and the ever elusive one-hundred percent goal, there's plenty here to keep the player engaged for a good long time. In addition to this standard Final Fantasy fare, there's also New Game Plus, an option in which one can restart the storyline keeping most of the spoils of a previous playthrough, which offers an easy way to pick up scenes or items overlooked on a first play.
At first glance, it is difficult to connect the confident and playful heroine of FFX-2 with the wide-eyed innocent who defeated Sin, or to realize that this bustling urbane world is the same Spira that so recently stagnated in fear and oppression, but ultimately X-2 succeeds as a sequel because it carries the story to a new place, it doesn't imitate the old, but instead sees the same beloved places through new eyes. Yes, there are some undeniably cheesy moments along the way, but with its fantastic battle system and underlying story that's rich with intrigue and dark history, Final Fantasy X-2 manages to overcome the girly fluff and provides a unique and satisfying experience.