Final Fantasy X-2
Final Fantasy X-2 is a
role-playing video game developed and published by
Square Enix. Released in
2003 for the
Sony PlayStation 2, it is the
sequel to the best-selling
Final Fantasy X, and the first direct sequel to an installment in the
Final Fantasy series. The
English release of
Final Fantasy X-2 won the Seventh Annual
Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences award in 2004 for Outstanding Achievement in Character Performance for the character
Rikku,
and the game has sold over 5.14 million copies worldwide.
set several precedents in the
Final Fantasy series aside from being the first direct sequel.
It was the first game in the series to feature only three
playable characters, an all-female main cast, and early access to most of the game's
fictional locations.
Additionally, it featured a variation of the
character classes system — one of the series' classic gameplay concepts — and is one of the few games in the series to feature multiple endings.
Though a direct sequel to
Final Fantasy X,
Final Fantasy X-2 does not duplicate its predecessor's gameplay; instead, it innovates on traditional elements. As with pre-
Final Fantasy X installments, characters "level up" after a certain number of battles, by gaining pre-determined
stat bonuses. The
Conditional Turn-Based Battle system has been replaced by a faster-paced variation of the
Final Fantasy series' traditional
Active Time Battle format. Under this enhanced version, playable characters may interrupt an enemy while they are preparing to take action, in lieu of waiting for an enemy's turn to finish before attacking. Furthermore, it is possible for both characters and enemies to chain attacks together for greater damage.
Navigation and quests
Another departure from the gameplay of
Final Fantasy X is in its world navigation system: players can visit almost every location in
Spira from early in the game,
transported via the
airship Celsius. This is a deviation from the overall
Final Fantasy series, because the most efficient means of transportation is typically not obtained until late in the game.
|
An example of navigation on the field map |
These two changes allow players to choose a less linear storyline. Unlike
Final Fantasy X, in which a player's course through the game's world was largely straightforward,
Final Fantasy X-2 is almost entirely freeform. The game consists of five chapters, with each location featuring one scenario per chapter. Put together, the five scenarios in one locale form a subplot of the game, called an "Episode". Only a few scenarios per chapter are integral to the game's central plot, and are marked on the world navigation system as "Hotspots" ("Active Links" in the Japanese version).
By accessing only Hotspots, a player can quickly proceed through the game's story without participating in
side-quests.
The game keeps track of the player's completed percentage of the storyline, increased by viewing the scenarios comprising each Episode. If 100% of the game is completed, an additional ending will be unlocked. The game features a fork in its plot, allowing the player to make a choice that changes what scenes they see and the number of percentage points they acquire afterward. It is impossible to see all of the game's content on a single playthrough, due to the fork in its storyline, although it is possible to achieve 100% storyline completion in a single playthrough. When the game is completed for the first time, it unlocks a
New Game+ option that allows the player to restart the game with all of the items, Garment Grids, dresspheres and storyline completion percentage achieved previously.
The field-map navigation system is largely unchanged from
Final Fantasy X; it is still dominantly
three dimensional with mostly continuous locations. A few upgrades have been implemented, providing the player with extended interaction with the environment through jumping, climbing and rotating camera angles.
The game's sidequests include minor tasks and quests, optional
bosses and dungeons, and the most
minigames of any
Final Fantasy at the time of its release.
These minigames include Gunner's Gauntlet (a third-person
shooter game) and
Sphere Break (a
mathematical coin game involving
addition and
multiplication), as well as the fictional underwater sport
blitzball originally featured in
Final Fantasy X with a different control scheme. Director
Motomu Toriyama has explained that one of the concepts at issue during development was providing a large variety of minigames, such that "if you bought
Final Fantasy X-2 you wouldn't need any other game".
Dresspheres and the Garment Grid
|
A battle with an early boss, depicting the characters' default dresspheres |
Final Fantasy X-2 reintroduces the series' classic character class system (seen previously in
Final Fantasy III,
Final Fantasy V and
Final Fantasy Tactics) through the inclusion of dresspheres. Because the party never grows beyond three characters, switching during battle is unnecessary. Instead, the player can switch character classes, providing access to different abilities. The playable characters are allowed to equip one dressphere at a time, each providing different battle functions and abilities. Each character can access as many as six dresspheres at a time, depending on the specific properties of the Garment Grid they are wearing. The Garment Grid is a placard featuring a geometric shape connected by nodes. These nodes are slots that can be filled with dresspheres, allowing characters to change character classes during their turn in battle.
As with equipped items, Garment Grids often provide characters with a variety of enhancements and extra abilities. The game features diverse Garment Grids and dresspheres which can be discovered as the game progresses. While normal dresspheres can be used by all three playable characters, each character can acquire a dressphere that only they can use. These dresspheres can only be activated after a character has changed into all of the classes designated to his or her Garment Grid in a single battle. When a character activates one of these dresspheres, the other characters are replaced by two controllable support units.
Setting
Aesthetically, the world of Spira is essentially unchanged in the two years since
Final Fantasy X. Most areas from the original return (exceptions being the
Omega Ruins and
Baaj Temple), with few new locations. The only significant changes include the reconstruction of the village of
Kilika and the clearing of the mist atop Mount Gagazet, revealing forgotten ruins. Additionally,
the Palace of St. Bevelle is now accessible throughout the game, rather than only during mandatory storyline sequences. However, even with
Sin gone,
fiends are no less populous than before.
Despite cosmetic changes, there are major differences in the ideology of Spira's people. After Sin's defeat came the arrival of an era known as "the Eternal
Calm". The priests of the
Yevon religion chose to expose the truth about the order,
leaving the population to decide for themselves how to live in a world without religion and without Sin. Advanced technology and the
Al Bhed are now embraced by the population as a whole, and most have begun to pursue leisures such as attending musical
concerts and participating in the sport of
blitzball. Others have become hunters of ancient treasures, ranging from coins and machinery long buried under the sands on
Bikanel Island to
spheres in forgotten caves and ruins. Those who pursue the latter are known as "sphere hunters", of which many groups have formed.
|
The three faction leaders: Nooj (left), Gippal (front) and Baralai (back) |
Despite the absence of Sin and the corrupt
maesters of Yevon, Spira is not without conflict. Young people were especially quick to abandon Yevon and embrace machinery (called
"machina" in the game), eager to see Spira develop, while many of the older generation felt that cultural changes were happening too quickly. As new ideals and practices began to sweep Spira, several new political groups emerged. Most influential among them were the
Youth League, led by Mevyn Nooj, and the
New Yevon Party, led by a former priest named "Trema" until his disappearance, and later by Praetor Baralai. The Youth League consists mainly of young people, determined to see Spira completely abandon its past practices, while the New Yevon Party consists of members both old and young who felt that changes should be gradual, their motto being "One thing at a time".
Following their formation, both the Youth League and New Yevon sought High Summoner
Yuna's support in the hopes of bolstering their political presence. She chose to remain neutral, instead joining the
Gullwings, the sphere hunter group to which her cousins'
[Rikku: Hey, do I look like Yunie, you think? / Tidus: (Huh?) / Rikku: Well, my dad's sister is Yunie's mother, you get it? (Final Fantasy X) Tokyo: Square Enix, 2001] Brother and
Rikku belonged. She also began working with the excavation team of the
Machine Faction, a neutral group of Al Bhed researching more advanced machina technology, and led by a young man named "Gippal".
As time passed, tensions between the Youth League and New Yevon began to escalate towards violence. Meanwhile, Yuna sought spheres that she hoped would lead her to
Tidus, her lost love who vanished during the ending of
Final Fantasy X. After defeating Sin, Yuna initially retired to a quiet life on the island of
Besaid, arranging appointments daily with the citizens of Spira. However, Rikku brought Yuna a video sphere discovered on
Mt. Gagazet by her childhood guardian,
Kimahri, now the elder of the
Ronso Tribe. The sphere displayed a young man with a strong resemblance to Tidus, apparently locked inside a prison cell. Despite misgivings from
Wakka — now married to their childhood friend,
Lulu — Rikku convinced Yuna that she had fulfilled her duty to Spira and deserved to follow her heart.
[Rikku: Well, look, I really want Yuna to go. / Wakka: She can't do that. / Rikku: Why not? / Wakka: Because she's booked solid for three months, ya! And everybody wants to see her. / Rikku: Oh yeah? Well, what about what she wants? / Wakka: Well, yeah, but.. Okay, maybe once things calm down, y'know? / Rikku: And what if they don't, Wakka? What then, huh? I don't believe it. After everything Yuna did for us! Why can't she just do what she wants to do now? Why? You know, every time I visited here, I wondered... why is it, that when everyone's out making their dreams happen and everyone's getting their chance, Yuna's dreams are on hold? / Wakka: Gee, it's not like... / Rikku: What do you know anyway, tubby? Yuna? / Yuna: I want... (I want to journey again. But... if I leave, I'll be disappointing everyone else.) I want... I'll go. (Final Fantasy X: The Eternal Calm) Tokyo: Square Enix, 2002] Yuna then left Besaid to join the Gullwings and hunt for more clues about Tidus.
Whereas
Final Fantasy X drew heavily on ancient
Japanese culture and Asian settings,
incorporated a number of elements from modern Japanese
pop culture.
An exception, however, is the Trainer dressphere, featuring the game's main characters fighting alongside a dog, monkey and bird, the three animals befriended by the Japanese folk hero
Momotarō in a traditional story.
Characters
The playable characters in
Final Fantasy X-2 are
Yuna,
Rikku and
Paine, abbreviated in-game as "YRP" ("YuRiPa" in the Japanese version). Yuna and Rikku reprise their roles from
Final Fantasy X, and though their personalities are much the same as before, Square Co. decided that their appearances would be heavily altered to give a greater impression of activity. Furthermore, it was decided that the pervading cultural changes occurring in
Final Fantasy X's world as they and others began trying to live positively would be reflected in the new clothing of these two characters. The character of Paine is a new creation designed for inclusion in
Final Fantasy X-2, to accommodate the game's intended
action-adventure style revolving around a trio of female characters.
Her personality is far more cynical and emotionally distant than that of her teammates, and she keeps her past a secret from them for much of the game.
Several other major and supporting characters from
Final Fantasy X appear in the game. Additionally, other new characters are introduced in
Final Fantasy X-2, such as the
Leblanc Syndicate, a group of sphere hunters who serve as the Gullwings' rivals for much of the game. The game's primary antagonist is
Shuyin, another new character.
Story
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Shuyin and Lenne are unsent lovers that figure prominently into the plot of Final Fantasy X-2. Seen here standing before the machina weapon Vegnagun |
Final Fantasy X-2 begins as Yuna, Rikku and Paine recover Yuna's stolen Garment Grid from the Leblanc Syndicate in the first of several encounters in which they vie for spheres. The game is punctuated by a narration of Yuna addressing Tidus, as though she is recounting the events of the game to him as they occur in a style reminiscent of Tidus' own narration in
Final Fantasy X. Although Yuna's quest is to find clues that may lead her to Tidus, much of the storyline of the game follows the clash of the factions that have established themselves in the time since the coming of the Eternal Calm in
Final Fantasy X, and the uncovering of hidden legacies from Spira's ancient history. A significant portion of the game's events are unnecessary for the completion of the main storyline, but much of the depth of the story " including characterization and background details " are featured in the optional content,
which generally follows how each part of Spira is healing in the time since the passing of Sin.
As the game progresses, the hostilities between the Youth League and New Yevon build to a head. In the meantime, the Gullwings discover an ancient sphere containing images of an enormous machina weapon called "Vegnagun" that was secretly buried beneath the city of
Bevelle. The weapon has enough power to threaten all of Spira,
[Nooj: Some advice: That ... thing ... The colossus you saw is known as Vegnagun. It possesses overwhelming destructive power. It must not be touched! (Final Fantasy X-2) Tokyo: Square Enix, 2003][Baralai: I know why you've come. You're here to destroy the weapon that threatens all Spira: Vegnagun. (Final Fantasy X-2) Tokyo: Square Enix, 2003] and, moreover, it is revealed to the player that Vegnagun is unable to distinguish friend from foe once activated.
[Maechen: Although Vegnagun was constructed during the Machina War, there is no record of it ever being used. One could argue that the coming of Sin made war a secondary concern. But the real reason was that Vegnagun was nothing short of a titanic failure. You see, it was quick to respond to hostility, but lacked the ability to discern friend from foe. A weapon that slaughters indiscriminately would be far too dangerous for actual use in combat. Incidentally, this is why Vegnagun was never considered as a measure to combat Sin. Instead it was locked away under Bevelle. (Final Fantasy X-2) Tokyo: Square Enix, 2003] The Gullwings then join forces with the Leblanc Syndicate to investigate the underground areas of the city in an attempt to destroy the machine before it can be used by either side in the upcoming conflict. However, discovering a large tunnel recently dug into the floor of the weapon's chamber, they realize that Vegnagun has apparently been moved to the
Farplane, located at Spira's
core.
Disagreements between Spira's factions are soon punctuated further after the disappearance of Baralai, Nooj and Gippal — the leaders of New Yevon, the Youth League and the Machine Faction respectively. Returning to the underground areas of Bevelle, the Gullwings discover the missing faction leaders discussing Vegnaguna and learn that the machine's
artificial intelligence allows it to detect hostility and to respond by activating itself and fleeing.
[Baralai: The thing's more sensitive than its size would lead one to believe. It detects hostility, and in an instant, springs to life! Should one even think of harming it, it awakens like a frightened child. (Final Fantasy X-2) Tokyo: Square Enix, 2003] Additionally, it is revealed that Nooj had come to Bevelle with the intention of destroying Vegnagun previously, prompting it to flee to the Farplane.
[Baralai: I'm a little confused. You came to claim it for yourself, didn't you? But Vegnagun awoke. Why? Because deep down you hated it. Did you come here to use it or destroy it? Well? / Nooj: Both.(Final Fantasy X-2) Tokyo: Square Enix, 2003] The player then learns that Paine had once been friends with all three men, assigned to be their sphere recorder while they were candidates for the
Crimson Squad, an elite group intended to be assigned leadership of
Crusader chapters across Spira.
[Paine: They're old friends. The three of them were candidates for the Crimson Squad. And I was the recorder assigned to their team. Yevon created the Squad and started training members two years ago. It was supposed to be an elite fighting force. The best were to be assigned leadership of Crusader chapters across Spira... (Final Fantasy X-2) Tokyo: Square Enix, 2003]Two years earlier in a cave beneath
Mushroom Rock Road called "the Den of Woe", just before the failed Operation Mi'ihen, the squad's final exercise was conducted. Within the cave, the various squad candidates were swarmed by pyreflies and driven to kill one another. The only survivors were Paine, Baralai, Gippal and Nooj, who were themselves targeted by the Yevon order afterward when they revealed having seen images of Vegnagun while in the cave. Soon after, Nooj shot his surviving comrades and left them to die, severing the friendship the group had with one another. However, at this time, it is revealed that he wasn not acting of his own accord when he shot them. The feelings that drove the squad members to kill one another are revealed to have been the despair of the game's antagonist, Shuyin, who died 1000 years earlier.
[Paine: This is what destroyed the Squad. Despair strong enough to crush the minds of those it touches. What just happened to us happened to them, too. Here. They felt Shuyin's despair. They went mad, and they died. They killed each other! (Final Fantasy X-2) Tokyo: Square Enix, 2003] Before the four survivors could leave the cave, the spirit of Shuyin " requiring a host in order to interact with the world physically
" had possessed Nooj, and later forced him to shoot his comrades.
[Paine: It was Shuyin. Two years ago, the guys encountered Shuyin's memories and learned of Vegnagun. After we escaped, they said they would uncover the truth behind it. But then...Nooj shot us. We thought he'd betrayed us. But Nooj wasn't Nooj. I understand now: Shuyin was using him the whole time. (Final Fantasy X-2) Tokyo: Square Enix, 2003] In the time since, Shuyin had been subtly goading Nooj on a subconscious level, coercing him to approach Vegnagun so that he could use Nooj's body to control it.
|
A screenshot of Yuna's concert, which prompts the memories of Lenne to emerge from the Songstress dressphere |
Nooj's will was too strong for him to be completely controlled, and his desire to destroy the large machina prompted it to flee.
Now desiring a new host, Shuyin leaves Nooj's body and possesses Baralai's, pursuing Vegnagun to the Farplane. Nooj and Gippal follow in pursuit, asking Yuna to keep things under control on the surface. In doing so, the player must fight and defeat each of Yuna's
aeons from
Final Fantasy X, their spirits now corrupted by Shuyin's despair on the Farplane.
[Fayth: Yuna. I'm sorry. We weren't strong enough to stop him. We wanted to at least warn someone...but instead, we were dragged into the darkness. We're no better than fiends. (Final Fantasy X-2) Tokyo: Square Enix, 2003] During this mission, Yuna falls into the Farplane and meets Shuyin, who mistakes her for a woman named "
Lenne". Feeling affection toward him that is not her own and finding herself unwilling to move away from him, she listens as Shuyin describes how he "awoke" after he had died, alone and unable to find Lenne. He then expresses anger that Spira's citizens have not yet come to understand the heartache that war can cause, and reveals that he has developed a plan to use the old but still operational Vegnagun to destroy all of Spira, ending the possibility of there ever again being a war. In so doing, he believes that he will be making the world a better place.
[Shuyin: Lenne. We disappeared together, but when I awoke, I was alone. I looked for you for so long. While I wandered, I realized something: Spira hasn't really changed at all. Everyone's still fighting over nothing. Still dying like they used to. A thousand years have passed, and they can't leave the hatred behind. I'm through waiting. I'll fix it. This world continues to fail us, and what's worse, I failed to protect you. Vegnagun will make that all go away. And we'll fade together again, together. Help me do it, Lenne. (Final Fantasy X-2) Tokyo: Square Enix, 2003]The player learns that 1000 years before the game, Shuyin was a famous
blitzball player in the high-tech metropolis of
Zanarkand, and the lover of a popular
songstress and
summoner — Lenne. The two lived during Zanarkand's war with the more powerful Bevelle, and during the course of the war, Zanarkand ordered all summoners to the front lines, separating the couple. Believing that Lenne would die in battle, Shuyin decided that the only way to save her was to infiltrate Bevelle, commandeer Vegnagun, and use it to destroy Zanarkand's enemies. However, Lenne perceived Shuyin's intentions, and — unwilling to allow him to take the lives of many others for her sake — followed him.
When she caught up to Shuyin in Bevelle, he had only just begun to operate Vegnagun's control panel, an organ integrated into its head. Before he could use the giant cannon located in its mouth to destroy the city, Lenne asked him to stop. Shuyin did as she asked, but a group of Bevelle soldiers arrived a moment later and shot the couple. Fatally injured, Lenne failed to tell Shuyin that she loved him before they died.
[Paine: "The man she loved, he struggled to save her. He fought till his very last breath for her. I think that Lenne's final words might have been happy ones: 'I love you.'" ... / Yuna: "But wait... Everything is all wrong. He never heard. The one person she wanted to tell ... He never heard her words." (Final Fantasy X-2) Tokyo: Square Enix, 2003]Over the course of the following 1000 years, Shuyin's despair and resentment over his failure to save Lenne bonded to
pyreflies and caused him to constantly experience the anguish of that moment.
[Shuyin: I wanted to rest forever, but the pyreflies make me relive that moment.... Again and again and again. (Final Fantasy X-2)] Over time, his despair became so powerful that it began acting on its own,
[Fayth: It may look like him, but the real Shuyin died long ago. Even after a thousand years, his hate and misery linger on. His feelings grew so strong, they began to act on their own... Eventually, they became a shadow - a shade that wants only to vanish, but cannot. (Final Fantasy X-2) Tokyo: Square Enix, 2003] and he came to believe that " in addition to helping the world " he would fade away with Lenne if he destroyed Spira.
Now with an understanding of Shuyin's hatred for war, Yuna manages to return to the surface and the Gullwings organize a concert to which everyone in Spira is invited, supporters of the Youth League and New Yevon alike. Additionally, the Songstress dressphere worn by Yuna is revealed to be comprised of Lenne's memories, resulting in a sphere screen projecting them to everyone in attendance during the concernt. Witnessing images of Shuyin and Lenne's last moments, Spira's citizens begin to understand the unproductive nature of their disagreements. The player then learns that it was because of Lenne's memories that Shuyin had mistaken Yuna for Lenne and she had felt affection toward him.
[Buddy: Lenne, huh? / Shinra: Yeah, the girl from the Songstress dressphere. ... / Rikku: So, the reason Shuyin keeps calling Yuna "Lenne" is-- / Paine: Because of that dressphere? (Final Fantasy X-2) Tokyo: Square Enix, 2003]Although the factional fighting has ceased, Shuyin has nearly carried out his plan to use Vegnagun's cannon to destroy the planet from beneath its surface. Joining forces with the Leblanc Syndicate once again, the Gullwings make their way to the Farplane and find Gippal and Nooj already battling Vegnagun. Working together, they manage to disable the giant machina before its cannon can fire at Spira. Finally confronting Shuyin, Lenne's consciousness emerges from the Songstress dressphere and convinces him to abandon his mission and be at rest. Thanking Yuna, Lenne guides Shuyin's spirit to peace on the Farplane.
Subsequently, the
fayth once located in Bevelle appears before Yuna and thanks her as well. He then asks her if she would like to see "him" again. Should the player reply "Yes" " and a sufficient percentage of the game's optional storyline has been completed " the fayth locate Tidus' scattered pyreflies and send them to Besaid, where they reform. Thus, when Yuna returns home, she is reunited with Tidus.
Developed from early 2002 to 2003,
Final Fantasy X-2's development began in response to the success of
Final Fantasy X, particularly fan reaction to the
Eternal Calm video included in the Japanese version of
Final Fantasy X International.
Producer
Yoshinori Kitase and director Motomu Toriyama have explained that the objective in mind when designing
Final Fantasy X-2 was to embrace the concept of change as the game's theme and establish a more upbeat atmosphere than its predecessor.
Because of the emphasis on a more optimistic setting, the game's dressphere system (inspired by the
magical girl sub-genre of
anime and
manga) was implemented, and the atmosphere of
J-pop introduced right from the game's opening sequence. Additional allusions to
popular culture in general were featured, such as the style of the
Charlie's Angels films.
In designing the game, a significant number of character models, enemies and location designs from
Final Fantasy X were reused. Character designer
Tetsuya Nomura has explained that this allowed the game to be developed in one year and at half the normal scope
Final Fantasy titles are normally produced.
For
Final Fantasy X-2, regular series composer
Nobuo Uematsu was replaced by
Noriko Matsueda and
Takahito Eguchi, composers who penned the music for
The Bouncer. Among the game's more notable tracks are two vocalized songs: the J-pop-style "
Real Emotion" and a more slowly-paced ballad, . The Japanese versions of the songs are sung by
Kumi Koda, a Japanese music artist who also performed motion capture for the "Real Emotion" opening
full motion video and provided the voice of Lenne in the Japanese version of the game. The English versions of the songs are sung by
Jade of
Sweetbox. Koda also released her own English versions of the songs on her CD single
Come with Me. While similar, the lyrics of Kumi's versions differ from those sung by Jade. Additionally, Koda's single for "1000 Words" spent twenty-eight weeks on
Oricon's top 200 charts in Japan, with a highest rank of third place.
|
Some critics claim that the outfits featured in the game are too revealing |
Within nine months of its Japanese release,
Final Fantasy X-2 sold a million copies in North America, and nearly four million copies worldwide.
It has sold more than 5.14 million copies the world over as of May
2006 — placing it as the fifth best-selling
Final Fantasy title — and was voted as the thirty-second best game of all time by readers of Japanese
magazine Famitsu.
Multimedia website
IGN felt that the game's shift in tone is "Part of what makes [it] so intriguing", labeling the storyline "A deep political drama at ... heart" that "always manages to keep from taking things too seriously".
They also commented that the game "treats its history with intelligence"
and "its returning characters ... just as clever".
Further positive reaction came from
RPGamer, with one staff reviewer summarizing
X-2 as "a light-hearted fun game" that "may ... be the most enjoyable thing to come from the series in several years",
while another regarded its battle system as innovative and "very simple to navigate".
Similar comments were offered by
GamePro,
,
,
and
Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine.
The game's stylistic changes from past
Final Fantasy titles sparked negative comments, with some perceiving it as a change in the spirit of the franchise. Among these were the game's status as
Final Fantasy's first direct sequel and the change from a tragic atmosphere in
Final Fantasy X to a dominantly lighthearted tone in
Final Fantasy X-2.
In the words of one reviewer,
"Final Fantasy X opens with the destruction of an entire city, whereas
Final Fantasy X-2 begins with ... a pop concert".
In their review, gaming website
GameSpot commented that "Some of the missions ... come off as downright silly and a bit tacked on". Additionally, they felt that the game's non-linear style makes it "[lack] the singular narrative thrust of
FFX or other typical RPGs, and the storyline can feel a little nebulous and disjointed as a result". Moreover, GameSpot commented that "trivial minigames have been creeping into the Final Fantasy games at an alarming rate over the last few years, and in this regard,
X-2 is definitely the most egregious offender in the series". Despite these comments, they praised the battle system as a "welcome addition", while regarding its voice-overs and localization as "oustanding".
Another aspect of the game that has attracted criticism is the reuse of graphical designs from
Final Fantasy X.
One reviewer at RPGamer commented that "There is little question that the graphics in
FFX-2 could rival just about any other RPG on the market ... [but] one does
not get ... [the impression] that the graphics have been improved in any significant way since
FFX",
while GameSpot said
"X-2 doesn't look that much better than
X did two years ago".
regarded this reuse of
code as "[tripping up] in the one area where
FF titles usually shine".
The game's soundtrack was met with mixed feelings, because
Final Fantasy X-2's score was the first in the series without input from
Nobuo Uematsu,
composer of all previous games in the main series, and because of the change to a distinct J-pop atmosphere.
While IGN commented that the music provied an "appropriately fitting backdrop"
and 1UP.com suggested that it "certainly is in keeping with the new flavor",
others, such as
Electronic Gaming Monthly, regarded it as "too bubbly".
One staff member at RPGamer suggested that "the absence of Uematsu proves deafening" and "the soundtrack that accompanies this nonsensical adventure manages to encapsulate the shallow nature of the game perfectly".
Moreover, some reviewers felt that the outfits worn by the main characters are too revealing and aimed at making the game more appealing to
Final Fantasy's largely male audience.
Despite its negative comments,
Final Fantasy X-2's critical reception has been largely positive, with IGN summarizing it as "a brilliant and addictive romp through Spira that we're certainly glad to experience",
and GameSpot commenting that it is "every bit as poignant, endearing, and engrossing as its forebears", with strengths that "ultimately make ...
X-2's minor flaws forgivable".
The game maintains an 86% approval rating on
Game Rankings and an 85% rating on
Metacritic.
As with
Final Fantasy X, an expanded
international version was produced for
Final Fantasy X-2. The
International version of the game introduces two new dresspheres, an additional mission at a location called "Yadonaki Tower", and the option of using Tidus,
Auron and
Seymour from
Final Fantasy X " as well as several supporting characters from both games " during battle.
This version was never released outside of Japan.
Several action figures, books and soundtracks were released by Square Enix. Among the books that were published were three
Ultimania guidebooks, a series of
artbooks/
strategy guides published by Square Enix in Japan. They feature original artwork from
Final Fantasy X-2, offer gameplay walkthroughs, expand upon many aspects of the game's storyline and feature several interviews with the game's designers. There are three books in the series:
Final Fantasy X-2 Ultimania,
Final Fantasy X-2 Ultimania Ω and
Final Fantasy X-2: International+Last Mission Ultimania. A similar three-book series was produced for
Final Fantasy X.
Official sites
*Final Fantasy X-2 official site
*Final Fantasy X-2 official site (U.S.)
*Final Fantasy X-2 official site (Europe)
;General resources
*Translations from the Final Fantasy X-2 Ultimanias
*Final Fantasy X-2: International+Last Mission English translation
*Final Fantasy X-2 wiki guide at StrategyWiki
Final Fantasy X and Final Fantasy X-2 at Wikia
