Well, a long while back, I actually did end up giving the game a shot with the help of a friend's copy. I posted my thoughts in another journal, and I thought I should repost them here now that Gamespot has its own journal system:
Originally posted on January 24th, 2004
I've played about three hours or so into FFX-2 so far. At this point, I can't say that my opinion of the game has been drastically altered. I don't think it's going to change, either. My thoughts at this point are a bit scattered, so I'll just write about the game as points come to mind.
First off, the way some of the FFX characters have been redone or treated in the sequel...it just feels wrong. Seeing the opening cut scene with "Yuna" in her priestess garb suddenly go into pop princess mode was not a good way to start things off.
As for the new character, Paine, well, from what I've seen, there's not much to say about her at this point. I've heard some people compare her to Squall, but at least we were privy to Squall's thoughts from the very beginning. As such, she's shown about as much personality as a brick wall, though it's a severely annoyed brick wall.
The battle system is just insane. I've played Square games with an Active Time Battle system before, but the battles in those past games were never this frantic, in my memory. I can't say I enjoy it too much because to me, the pacing just doesn't seem natural to the way the game should be. FFX had a brilliantly done turn-based system that led to a lot of depth. FFX-2's garment grid system has its share of depth as well, but what depth there is gets drowned out in the frantic pacing. There are times that I feel things are moving so fast that if I even try switching to the outfit I need a character to wear in order to take out a foe easily, I'll be hammered waiting for the transition.
That's not to say that the battle system isn't broken. It's workable, just really not to my liking. I would have probably appreciated it more had it been designed with a different game in mind because it just doesn't feel like a Final Fantasy battle system, or even a Chrono or SaGa battle system. Heck, if Square Enix had made a whole new game featuring the garment grid battle system, I would probably be enjoying this more.
However, what feels completely unnecessary is the jump/climb mechanic that was so hideously instituted into the game. All I have to do is hold down circle as I'm running along, and if there's something to jump over or climb, then Yuna will climb it automatically. There's no sense of skill or accomplishment. Just get your jumping puzzle out of my RPG.
The last thing I'll write about here is how badly I hate the silly Charlie's Angels-esque tone of the game. The dramatic impact of anything that could be taken even remotely seriously, such as trying to find Tidus, is marred by the...what should I call it? Unnecessary, out of place insanity? I think I accidentally skipped the monkey mating mission while I was in Zanarkand. I don't think I was missing anything.
If there was one, single solitary thing that I've purely enjoyed in this game, it's the opening credit sequence that plays after the game boots up. The piano music that plays over the credits is rather beautiful, but to think that the one part that I've enjoyed the most thus far is the credits, that's not really saying anything good about the game itself.
Originally posted on January 25th, 2004
I tried. I honestly tried to give this game a shot. I just can't do it. After logging about five hours on the game clock (not counting restarts from dying), I have taken FFX-2 out of my PS2, placed it back in its case, and barely have the willpower to keep myself from annihilating the damn game here and now. Ahna, you can expect the game to be returned to you tomorrow if you're on shift at AK.
Nothing in my previous entry has changed in terms of my opinion. There's just too much for me to dislike. Once again, the piano music during the credits is beautiful, but once I pass the title screen and load my game...
Yeah.
OK, I actually did find one other thing to like in the game. It's a dream sequence Yuna has towards the beginning of chapter 2. It's very dramatic, and very lovely to watch. It would even be tragic, if it weren't so obvious that it was a dream, but sadly, the dream was not the game that I was playing.
At one point, I had lost a battle, and as the Game Over music began, Yuna, the last to fall, asked, "Why?"
Why indeed, Square? Why, indeed?