A great RPG in its own right, but is it really Final Fantasy?
Final Fantasy 13-2 certainly is an odd step for the series. It continues the story of characters like Lightning and Serah, along with a couple new characters such as Noel, a young man from a distant future who hopes to change things for the better. Noel proves to be a strong hero for the game and one of the better heros of the franchise, however if you weren't satisfied with the characters and personalities of 13, then 13-2's characters are not likely to change your opinion. The story is also a bit odd as it uses a time travel system in which you choose different areas as well as times to progress through the game. While this gimmick does do its best to limit the linearity of the game, it brings to the table a couple new problems. First, there is a lot of 'fluff', meaning areas in the game with little to no importance, and second, this decreases a lot of the momentum and focus of the story, so it struggles to keep the player immersed like final fantasy has always been known for.
Thankfully, where the battle system is concerned, 13-2 offers a very similar but refined version of the system introduced in 13. This is still the ATB system, however it all happens in real time, and you only have direct control over either Serah or Noel at any given time. The default command here is auto-battle, which seems a bit strange but ultimately works well as it chooses the optimum attacks depending on the situation, and so allows you to switch jobs or paradigms, between characters so that you can better control the overall strategy. You can go all out with an offensive paradigm, and if you need a healer you can switch to a paradigm with a medic in it. There are a total of 6 roles for both Serah and Noel, and unfortunately they are the only two steady characters in your party. The 3rd slot is reserved for monsters that can be randomly tamed by battling them. The monster system is unique and adds a bit of a pokemon 'catch em all' touch to the game, but it would have been nice to have at least one more character to round out the party and make it feel like a true Final Fantasy.
The game's story is a fair bit shorter than past Final Fantasies even with more extra stuff to do than 13. The main story will take you about 20-30 hours to complete, and you can complete most everything within 60-70 hours total. Like all Final Fantasy games before it, 13-2 has its many strengths and weaknesses. The Final Fantasy series does not seem to focus on refinement unlike other sequels in a series, but instead each game brings its own soul and feel to the series. 13-2 does boast a very believable villain, which makes him much more interesting than the usual maniac. He is of course very powerful, however he is human and his motives are believable, so it is easy to take him very seriously. Noel and Serah on the other hand do not have many difficult trials, they get along the entire game and the only drama to be seen is the lackluster japanese melodrama, which is caked on much more heavily in 13 as well as 13-2 than is needed. 13-2 also has many pieces of DLC to go with it for those willing to pay the price, and so it does have a lot of content when it is all added up. The battle system is very fun and the characters are for the most part good, however it is very difficult to compare the 13 series to other final fantasy games. Ultimately 13 and 13-2 still have a lot of proving to do, but don't lose hope. Final Fantasy 13-2 may not be the final fantasy game you wanted, but it still shows a lot of promise for the future of this beautiful franchise.