Final Fantasy XIII-2 Second Opinions

Last month, IGN's Ryan Clements reviewed Final Fantasy XIII-2 and awarded it an 8.0. Editors at IGN and 1UP have had the opportunity to spend some time with the game since then and have a wide range of opinions. Here are their thoughts on Final Fantasy XIII-2's positives, negatives and everything in between.

Final Fantasy XIII-2 is easily among the shortest numbered Final Fantasy games, and the story is definitely lacking any kind of cohesive vision. There are some great story beats, but the game is all over the map; I often lost sight of exactly what my ultimate goal was, and felt very "meh" about the lack of closure in the end.

XIII-2 is far more accessible than XIII was, and I've enjoyed all of my time with it. Still, it's frustrating that it could have been so much more.

Yet for all these improvements, the game still has major issues. Namely, the script. It's bad. Not laughably bad, just bad. It's a real testament to voice actors Laura Bailey and Jason Marsden that they managed to turn what would have been CRINGINGLY bad dialogue into something likable.

So do I hate Final Fantasy XIII-2? No, in fact I'm quite enjoying it. It's much better than XIII or X-2. It's just a shame that character development (of which there is almost none) and a sensible storyline got shoved out of the way in favor of QTEs and a weirdly convoluted attempt to avoid linearity.

Sadly, the thread begins to unravel the moment you leave the battlefield. The open-ended time travel conceit that the game is built upon presents itself with the promise of freedom, and yet too often treats the player as a pawn, forcing you to travel down the linear path that the game wants you to. Had FFXIII-2 treated the grandiose concept of time as the player's personal toy, the game may have been something truly special. So when the curtain raised after the much discussed cliffhanger ending, I was left feeling nothing. The story I had just experienced was told with a lack of confidence that just never quite allowed me to engage with the world beyond a superficial level.

What I found most enjoyable about XIII-2 is that, like the similarly minded X-2, it approaches series gameplay conventions with a sense of experimentation and whimsy. The Hystoria Crux interface provides a fun twist on traditional exploration with seamless jumps into the timeline and the ability to rewind time. Additions like monster raising, coliseum battles, and a variety of uses for your moogle provide plenty of content for those wishing to really dig in. Also, the CG cutscenes are still absolutely stunning. This is top class animation, whether talking movies or games. It's a shame, then, that Final Fantasy XIII-2 never really comes together as a sum of these parts.

If you enjoyed Final Fantasy XIII even somewhat, you deserve to give XIII-2 a go. For those who left XIII with a bitter taste in their mouths, this could still be that much needed palate cleanser. However, for many like me who grew up with Final Fantasy in our blood, this will likely be another reminder that the series isn't really geared towards us anymore. However, if it means that a new audience gets to discover the gameplay and fantasy that hooked us years ago, then maybe that's okay.

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Final Fantasy XIII-2 Second Opinions