Feel like it's been a while since I posted a gaming update. I finished Final Fantasy 13-2 last week. Overall, I think I liked this game better than FF13. Right out of the gate, almost every issue I had with the first game has been fixed - More open, better camera controls, better explanations of things, better pre-emptive strike system, easier to run from enemies, etc.
Story gets a bit wonky, as you would expect for anything that deals with time travel, but I still liked it. Had I played this when it came out, I would have been devastated by the ending. It was also fun going back and experiencing the different paradox endings, which proved that the actual ending was probably the best outcome to this series of events.
Combat is essentially more of the same, but with a bit more customization. You can change between the two characters you play with here. You only get Noel and Serah, but they can utilize every fighting style. You also get a third member in the form of monsters that you capture during your travels. Each monster can be leveled, and many have unique abilities. Fully leveling characters was pretty easy, and I maxed out well before the end and postgame. You can also infuse monsters into each other to transfer some of those abilities to the ones you want to use. You can have 3 monsters on deck at any time, so you can make use of a mix of healing, attacking, and buffs/defense. There's one late game fight that is Serah and your monsters versus a stronger version of something you fought before. If you don't bring a strong Sentinel monster to this fight to draw the enemy to it, the enemy will basically stun lock Serah to death. Seeing as this is the paradigm I used the least, it was cool to see it have a moment of necessity and to show off how good it can be in the right situation. There was also another late game boss that was easiest to kill with the Sabateur paradigm, dealing poison and wound damage being way more effective than physical and magic attacks. My one complaint with combat is that it is markedly easier - achievement guides suggested using easy mode for everything except the one achievement requiring normal difficulty, but I did the whole game on normal until I went back for cleanup/alt timeline achievements, as easy mode makes things faster. Being easier, I found myself just pressing A through the fights much more often, 13 made me work a bit more for each fight by having to switch paradigms regularly.
Now I'm in the early hours of Lightning Returns, and it gives me massive anxiety. This one has a countdown clock, and the combat is some weird hybrid of the Paradigm system and the clothes/job system of FFX-2. Getting used to a semi-new fighting system, mixed with the fear of running out of time, is my nightmare. I come to RPGS for the simplicity and ability to take my time! On the other hand, it seems like the enemies are statically placed like in FF13, so I don't think I need to fear running out of time because I did too many random battles. I'll have more thoughts as I get through it.
.jpg)
