A few issues aside, FFXIII-2 is a surprisingly addictive time traveling monster taming adventure.
Now I know I'm generalizing, and that some of them are excellent. Final Fantasy XIII wasn't one of them, and sadly neither is it's sequel XIII-2. There are cutscenes and moments where the dialogue just seems to pointlessly waffle on with needless information or forced emotion like it's just filling space. Lost in Translation.
This is a real shame as otherwise Final Fantasy XIII-2 is an excellent game with fairly likeable characters. The game centers around Serah who spent most of her time as a crystal in XIII. She distinctly remembers Lightning being there when she was freed though everyone else seems to have forgotten about her existence. Enter Noel, a time traveler from the future where he is the last human being alive sent by Lightning to find Serah. Before long the pair of them are traveling back and forth through time and history using time gates.
XIII-2's battle system is pretty much identical to it's predecessor. there are half a dozen battle formations available for customization before battle called Paradigims in which a variety of classes can be set such as a medic for healing or Commando for attacking etc. These can be constantly adjusted as you see fit before certain fights and can be swapped on the fly in the middle of fights to adjust tactics. There has been one minor tweak where the animations of changing Paradigims has been removed making battles generally smoother and quicker.
This system is designed for three characters though. Fortunately this game has an ace up it's sleeve, taking note from the Dragon Quest games in monster recruiting to fill up that third slot. After each battle certain tameable monsters have a chance of dropping their crystal allowing you to tame them and use them in battle. They come in completely varying sizes and stats but are locked into a set class.
Like your main characters these monsters can be leveled up though they use specific items dropped from battle of found in chests. They all level up to varying maximum levels, different levels of growth and skills so a bit of experimentation in trying them out will get the best result. It gives a great amount of variety and versatility in your chosen party, I rather like it.
One of the main complaints about XIII-2's predecessor was how very linear it was. SquareEnix have listened rather well to fans feedback and outside of some points following the main plot there is a ton of things to do and explore, be it collecting fragments to progress and open up new areas, side quests, as well as the Serendipity allowing for gambling or entering your own Chocobo into races with prizes. It's not all brilliant though as a lot of the side quests are all kind of the same but it's an improvement.
There are two things about XIII-2 that were entirely unnecessary or terrible. Firstly is the use of "cinematic action" scenes also known as quick time events during boss fights. These were never great when they first appeared, never mind now where they feel really outdated. The second thing is that this game has a variety of endings, the main plot ending and several Paradox endings available thanks to the time travel mechanic. Most of them are pretty hard to get though and every single one is awful. Either full of pretentious rubbish or in the case of the main plot ending a terrible cliff hanger resolving almost nothing. Utterly disappointing.
Much like other games in the series this game does not disappoint in the visuals department. Quite the opposite in fact, XIII-2 is utterly stunning in every way. Its artistically brilliant, full of colour and variety and a technical masterpiece never losing a frame, no glitches or issues all the while being packed full of detail. After playing several titles full of glitches recently seeing Final Fantasy XIII-2's quality was really refreshing.
Sound is of the same high standard with soft relaxing melodies when walking though beautiful scenery, sorrowful tracks when in a ruin and often guitar heavy action for the boss fights. Voice acting is also of pretty high quality, I actually quite enjoyed listening to the characters.
So all in all, steps forward and back, beautiful visuals, more to do and explore with better characters and an excellent monster taming system yet terrible dialogue, pointless quick time events and disappointing endings no matter what you do. Overall a good game, if you like XIII you will most likely like it's sequel but it's still not up to the standard Square set many years ago.
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+ Great battle system.
+ Artistically and technically stunning.
+ Monster taming gives lots of options.
+ Lots to do and see.
- Terrible dialogue.
- Pointless quick time events.
- Many endings available, every one abysmal.