Final Fantasy XIII-2

Final Fantasy XIII-2 follows right in the footsteps of one of the weirdest naming conventions in gaming thanks to Square Enix but they still manage to bring out a really good game that successfully capitalizes and improves upon many of the mechanics in the former game. If you are looking to continue the story from the first game, see where Lightning has gotten to and solve some time troubles, then this is the title for you. Let’s get right on into it.

Gameplay

The gameplay in this title picks up from the first but makes a lot of great upgrades. While the first felt very linear, this game allows players significantly more freedom both in the missions, side missions and through time itself. That’s right. There’s time travel in this game. Ignoring the immeasurable number of issues time travel always raises, there is still an interesting game at the core of all the running about. The time travel isn’t quite as spectacular as is it in Titanfall 2, but its still very good and allows you to see cause and effect throughout time. Something I always find to be really interesting. Combat in this title is a lot freer, providing a lot more movement than older titles in the Final Fantasy franchise. Combat feels little more like Star Wars: Knights Of The Old Republic than it does in Final Fantasy 7. You can move around, engage and disengage, choose enemies and do combo moves. There’s also a slot in your party for monsters that you’ve trained to tag in and assist in the fight. This is called the Paradigm system and its great.

Story

I’ll be the first to admit that the story loses a little of its focus from the first game, but that is somewhat to be expected in more open world games like this. The matter of the fact is, if you lose your way by getting distracted by all the shiny new side quests you can complete across time and completely forget about the main quest, you just need a little more discipline or it didn’t grab you enough. Ultimately, either is understandable, the quest of the game is to find Lightning, you probably aren’t going to find her at a shop in some random city in time but it doesn’t hurt to look.

Visuals

The visuals of this game come in two: you have the gameplay visuals and the high resolution pre rendered CG and both are really great. In the game, you explore some truly stunning places, be it in the harsh jungles or the cities full of towering skyscrapers and neon lights. There’s so much to see and it all looks fantastic.

In the CG cutscenes, this game, as with all Final Fantasy games, truly comes into its strengths. There is something so amazingly engaging about the final fantasy cutscenes as they really bring the story and the characters to life.

Pros:

• Great combat
• Amazing art design

Cons:

• Story can be hard to follow
• It’s not a great entry point into the franchise