Shadow Fire Posted February 9, 2012 Share Posted February 9, 2012 Director: Motomu ToriyamaProducers: Yoshinori KitaseMusic: Masashi Hamauzu, Mitsuko Suzuki, Naoshi MizutaStarring: Ali Hillis, Laura Bailey, Jason Marsden, Ariel Winter, Liam O'Brien, Amber HoodRating: PlotHigh in a tower, in the mysterious land known as Valhalla, Lightning looks out over the world below. Feathers suddenly fall around her, and she is called into battle. A young man has laid a lifeless girl to rest in the water, before summoning a heap of monsters. Lightning and this man engage in a bitter fight.Meanwhile, on the faraway Gran Pulse, it has been 3 years since Cocoon's fall was stopped by Fang and Vanille's sacrifice. In New Bodhum, Serah Farron, Lightning's sister is having strange dreams of her sister engaged in battle. Chaos erupts as monsters begin to attack, but a different young man steps in to help. He calls himself Noel Kreiss, and has been sent by Lightning to help Serah repair a broken timeline. With the help of Noel, and Mog, a moogle who has the power to see through paradoxes, Serah must journey far and wide if she is ever to see her sister again.ReviewUpon learning about Final Fantasy XIII-2, I knew I'd want to try it out. It was at last year's EB Games Expo on Australia's Gold Coast that I was able to see and try the demo that was released on Xbox Live much later. To put things simply, this game expands on Final Fantasy XIII, and in a way that makes one want to play it to full completion.Visually, this game is stunning. While not much has changed in the few short years since its predecessor, there have been some improvements, and these new locations look quite realistic. Again, the enemies were well designed. Most of them are re-used from FFXIII, but have been tweaked. The new enemies are quite a sight to see.What can I say about gameplay? Perfect, for me anyway. One complaint that many have about the predecessor is that it was much too linear. Square Enix have addressed this, and provided a much more expansive world to explore. Not only do you have a bigger map to travel, with more pathways, but you can also visit different areas, depending on what in-game year you visit. A location changes in the 100 years since past visits. Oh, and for a first time ever, you can jump on command! Music? Sex. Yes... the music is like sex to my ears. Many people have criticised the soundtrack of this game, but I don't understand why. The story is very dark, but much of the music is quite upbeat. This in itself is a paradox, which the game deals heavily in. There are many variations to a theme. An area's theme will become more "aggressive" when monsters spawn nearby, and the game even brings back much of the music from Final Fantasy XIII. The music team did a great job with this game.Battle transition has also received a total overhaul. Instead of monsters being permanently on the map, they will randomly spawn nearby, and a "clock" will show on screen and begin ticking down steadily. If you manage to strike the enemy with your weapon before it touches you, or the clock counts down, you will gain a pre-emptive strike, and gain a temporary Haste effect. If you come into contact with the enemy without attacking it, you'll have a standard battle with no status upgrades. However, if time runs out, a standard battle will begin in which you will not be able to select to retry.The combat itself is much like the previous game, which utilised my favourite system. Paradigms have made their return, but with a twist. With Serah and Noel as the only two characters, a third battler was needed, and so monsters are used. Whenever you defeat certain monsters, you may be able to tame them, and have them fight on your side. Each monster has a set class. The Crystarium has also returned to help you level up each class, but it has been expanded, so you have more freedom. Staggers, ratings and CP are still used, but now you can earn Gil at the end of each battle. Also new to battles is the Cinematic Action, which allows you to affect how you battle a boss. At a certain moment during a boss fight, a cutscene is played, and you must input the commands as they are shown on screen in a limited time. This can make all the difference between victory and defeat.OverallFinal Fantasy XIII-2 has easily taken over the title of my favourite JRPG. Anyone who enjoys Final Fantasy should give this a try. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zeth Ryder Posted February 9, 2012 Share Posted February 9, 2012 Well wouldn't this not count as a full review but a review of a demo since the full game has not been released yet? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Conker Posted February 9, 2012 Share Posted February 9, 2012 Huh? Lol, Zeth. The full game is out, and I see him playing it on XBox Live all the time. xD Nice review, Shadow. I may have to pick this game up, as it looks pretty fun. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shadow Fire Posted February 10, 2012 Author Share Posted February 10, 2012 Well wouldn't this not count as a full review but a review of a demo since the full game has not been released yet? The full game was released in NA on January 31, Australia on February 2, and Europe on February 3. So yeah. I've actually completed the game, and am now resolving post game paradoxes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zeth Ryder Posted February 10, 2012 Share Posted February 10, 2012 ah okies, it kind of sounded like you played a demo at the store then wrote a review on it. Nevermind xD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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