Underrated entry into the FF canon (Final Fantasy X-2 (PS2))

Member Name: shaneo632

Product:	Final Fantasy X-2 (PS2)
Date:	05/09/09 (6 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Graphics and gameplay

Disadvantages: A bit too procedural, all female cast

Final Fantasy X-2 was met with a lot of fan derision upon its release, primarily because all of the lead characters were female, and when your fanbase consists of at least 90% males, this isn't a particularly smart move. Nevertheless, I feel that it's an improvement on Final Fantasy X, which I actually felt was a far more flawed game with its dodgy Sphere Grid system. Whilst the character changes aren't great, the plot keeps us sailing through, as a transmission is picked up from a figure that appears to resemble Tidus. Is he still alive? Thus, the grobe-trotting plot begins, as they travel all over the land to find clues to try and locate him, sending them on a rewarding and perilous journey of adventure and wonder.

The game has a few revamps that are in fact quite nice - there's a new class system in which you must assign a class to each player in your party, such as Black Mage, White Mage, Thief, Fighter etc. I tend to have at least one White Mage and one Fighter in my party, and also a Black Mage for kicks - they tend to be the best combination as far as staying alive and dealing lots of damage, I find.

Although it's alot more procedural than other FF games, in that there are actually missions to complete, it's still a finelt tuned game, although I do miss the spontoneity of the other games. However, from a technical level, it's difficult to fault the game - it doesn't really enhance anything from FFX, and it may feel a little as though they just lazily re-used the textures, but it's still a gorgeously rendered world whichever way you look at it.

It's not a high point for the FF series, but it doesn't deserve all the criticism it recieves either - this is still a winning RPG thanks to some great boss fights, fun missions, and an involving central mystery.

Summary: A tad alienating for FF fantatics but still impressive