Let's pretend this didn't happen.
The story starts where FFX left off. After defeating Sin, Yuna joins to a group called "Gullwings" A team that hunts spheres all over Spira. And one day they find a sphere that has the footage of a guy who looks a lot like Tidus, and he's locked down in a place, like a prison or something. So, Yuna decides to find Tidus wherever he is... By far, it sounds OK, but the game and characters are seriously dumbed down, the romance of FFX totally thrown out of the window, and what you get is a game just like a Charlie's Angels movie with FF characters. I played and played, hoping it would get better. But it didn't.
If you played FFX, then you know what kind of a character Yuna is. Well, after seeing her in this game, I can say Square hurt her image so bad. She is singing, dancing, she has guns, she fights and stuff. Yuna we know was a brave summoner, a generous and a kind girl who sacrifices her own life to give people a bit of happiness and relief. Now, that Yuna is a cheesy B-movie type of character who uses cheesy lines and does cheesy stuff. Same thing goes for Rikku too. I loved her new look, but...
Even tough the game uses the same graphics style (actually exact same backgrounds etc.) gameplay is quite different than FFX. ATB system (Active Time Battle) from previous titles is back. Although I liked the turn based mechanics in the FFX, I can't complain about this one. It works for the game and it's fun. Plus, it's even better, A LOT better than FFXII's fighting mechanics. And there's an interesting job system; Dresspheres. You put them on to be a Gunner, Healer etc. and you can change them during fighting. They also play a huge role in the storyline, which I'm not gonna spoil and take away the joy (!) of playing the game.
It's not so different than its predecessor graphics-wise, however you'll notice a huge difference in music and the general theme of the game. If you liked the music of FFX, you'll hate the music of FFX-2. Every song, everything you hear in the game is cheesy J-Pop and they're not even catchy or memorable. At least I would expect better songs if they'd make Yuna sing. Oh, well...
Now if this was a standalone title, my score would probably be a little higher since the gameplay, fighting mechanics etc. are actually a lot better than recent FF titles. But we're talking about a sequel to my favourite Final Fantasy. This wasn't what I was expecting, and I'm dissapointed. Big time!So all in all, if you loved FFX, take a look at this one too but keep your expactations quite low. It's lighthearted, cheesy, girly. It's like a fan service thing rather than a canonical sequel to a great game.
I'll keep playing FFX over and over again and I'll assume this sequel never existed, so I can remember Yuna as she was in FFX.