That's more like it.
While the first game was an enjoyable travesty with some pretty good gameplay XIII-2 is more of a genuinely good game that doesn't remember that the first game was a bit naff. The zone-based time-traveling gameplay borrows liberally from Chrono Trigger in the best ways, and while the story isn't without it's flaws, and remains plagued by the same weird, fluffed-up and generally quite odd dialogue of the first, it's actually coherent to an enjoyable extent, and was much more genuinely enjoyable rather than laughably shite.
The gameplay changes are minimal, aside from one main addition. The new levelling up system is practically the same though presented in a less fancy way that threw me off for a bit. Weapons don't need the insane amount of effort put into them that they did in the first, which is great, because fuck that. And battles are actually random battles now, in a sense, with a much better and clearer way of getting an advantage by way of attacking enemies as they randomly pop-up in the field. The main addition though is the replacement of a third party member with a recruited monster, Pokémon style.
It's a system I really like, up to a point, that point being the end-game. While actually capturing the monsters isn't as engaging as throwing Pokéballs (you basically just grind the monster until it joins you, though you can increase the chance by using your existing monster's abilities), actually levelling up the monsters and using them in battle is quite nifty. You set 3 of them at once that together operate as a kind of third party member, each monster being a different class, so switching between paradigms will let you use pretty much all of them if you're fighting well against not-pissweak enemies. For a lot of the game the monsters you use will likely be able to level up with you and you can easily grow attached to them like you would Pokémon. I played through all the main story with a fish-bird-thing named Orville. He's great. Problems come when you reach the post-game, where the game presents you with some pretty intensely difficult challenges where the only way to beat them really is to swap out your loved and trained monster for THE BEST monsters. Pokémon never has that, as unless you're one of those odd people who play the game "competitively" and exclusively use the same BEST Pokémon over your favourites. You could always beat the Elite 4 and the post-game stuff with your favourites if you train them hard enough. That said, the post-game stuff isn't exactly mandatory, by it's very nature. So unless you're intent on finishing the game 100% AND doing the coliseum DLC then that shouldn't be a problem.
I gave up on the coliseum very quickly.
The music in this game was one of the surprises for me. It's predecessor basically had 2 music tracks, the excellent main battle theme and that lyrical piano track that played over every other cutscene. I remember there being some weird pop song over the ending that mentioned makeup though I doubt that was made for the game, so I'm not counting it. Beyond that I can't really remember any of the music. Meanwhile in 2, the variety of tracks is upped considerably, as well as having a lot of much better and more memorable tracks playing over the different areas. It still has a main theme that starts to get used a lot by the end when the lyrics will make some sense to players, and it's basic structure is reused for various tracks like the first game did with that piano piece about making wishes come true or something, but this time it's done much more subtly, to the point where it's as stylish as they probably intended it to be in the first game. And beyond those I was amused to hear a sort of techno-metal track, with some manly screaming vocals that wouldn't have been out of place in Devil May Cry, turn up as a recurring boss theme. Some tracks from the first game return too though, by which I mean some of the versions of aforementioned piano thing, and they're often quite jarring compared to the new stuff.
I did find it odd that the game is so determined to keep referencing back to the first game. Obviously with it being a direct sequel it was never going to completely leave it behind, but the way the game keeps directly referencing events previously so frequently is bit odd. Like it hasn't realised yet that nobody understood a fucking word of what went on in that game. I mentioned when I wrote about FFXIII, this game has bits of extra reading which continue to elaborate on and sometimes contradict the events of the previous game. You'd think it wouldn't be laid on this thick, but apparently not. Nonetheless though the actual story of XIII-2 isn't half bad, probably due to focusing on only the two protagonists rather than jumping between the first game's ensemble cast. Noel seems generic at first but I quickly grew to like him, and Serah does surprisingly well in the hero role. And Caius ballad is a brilliant villain, with a voice you may recognise from Darksiders, among other things. Liam O'Brian's sexy anime man voice is pretty excellent, especially on this edgelord Power Rangers expy. He chews the scenery excellently, and is a perfect example of a rather standard archetype pulled off as best it could be. Not to say that he isn't without his own original merits too, mind.
The fact that the story is so much better overall does throw into perspective the times when it isn't so great, like it's tendency to forget plot points at the drop of a hat. By the end of the game there's still no explanation for Serah suddenly getting new clothes in the intro sequence, and the build-up to something involving "The Thirteenth Ark" leads to it never being mentioned again beyond a certain point. And as I said, while much better, the dialogue does occasionally slip back into the sort of gibberish that made up FFXIII. The cutscenes often aren't as visually exciting as they were in the first game, as characters don't seem to physically interact with each other beyond a few specific important plot cutscenes. Lots of characters wandering or standing around talking to each other, without much beyond very simple gesticulation. Not really much of a problem, I mean they're more animated than a lot of RPG cutscenes are, but it was noticeable.
Overall, hooray, it's a better game. One that you can actually go "yeah, that was alright" and not feel too bad about yourself for doing so.
I'll get to Lightning Returns the week after next. Then the cycle will be complete. Next week though: Twilight Princess HD.
While the first game was an enjoyable travesty with some pretty good gameplay XIII-2 is more of a genuinely good game that doesn't remember that the first game was a bit naff. The zone-based time-traveling gameplay borrows liberally from Chrono Trigger in the best ways, and while the story isn't without it's flaws, and remains plagued by the same weird, fluffed-up and generally quite odd dialogue of the first, it's actually coherent to an enjoyable extent, and was much more genuinely enjoyable rather than laughably shite.
The gameplay changes are minimal, aside from one main addition. The new levelling up system is practically the same though presented in a less fancy way that threw me off for a bit. Weapons don't need the insane amount of effort put into them that they did in the first, which is great, because fuck that. And battles are actually random battles now, in a sense, with a much better and clearer way of getting an advantage by way of attacking enemies as they randomly pop-up in the field. The main addition though is the replacement of a third party member with a recruited monster, Pokémon style.
It's a system I really like, up to a point, that point being the end-game. While actually capturing the monsters isn't as engaging as throwing Pokéballs (you basically just grind the monster until it joins you, though you can increase the chance by using your existing monster's abilities), actually levelling up the monsters and using them in battle is quite nifty. You set 3 of them at once that together operate as a kind of third party member, each monster being a different class, so switching between paradigms will let you use pretty much all of them if you're fighting well against not-pissweak enemies. For a lot of the game the monsters you use will likely be able to level up with you and you can easily grow attached to them like you would Pokémon. I played through all the main story with a fish-bird-thing named Orville. He's great. Problems come when you reach the post-game, where the game presents you with some pretty intensely difficult challenges where the only way to beat them really is to swap out your loved and trained monster for THE BEST monsters. Pokémon never has that, as unless you're one of those odd people who play the game "competitively" and exclusively use the same BEST Pokémon over your favourites. You could always beat the Elite 4 and the post-game stuff with your favourites if you train them hard enough. That said, the post-game stuff isn't exactly mandatory, by it's very nature. So unless you're intent on finishing the game 100% AND doing the coliseum DLC then that shouldn't be a problem.
I gave up on the coliseum very quickly.
The music in this game was one of the surprises for me. It's predecessor basically had 2 music tracks, the excellent main battle theme and that lyrical piano track that played over every other cutscene. I remember there being some weird pop song over the ending that mentioned makeup though I doubt that was made for the game, so I'm not counting it. Beyond that I can't really remember any of the music. Meanwhile in 2, the variety of tracks is upped considerably, as well as having a lot of much better and more memorable tracks playing over the different areas. It still has a main theme that starts to get used a lot by the end when the lyrics will make some sense to players, and it's basic structure is reused for various tracks like the first game did with that piano piece about making wishes come true or something, but this time it's done much more subtly, to the point where it's as stylish as they probably intended it to be in the first game. And beyond those I was amused to hear a sort of techno-metal track, with some manly screaming vocals that wouldn't have been out of place in Devil May Cry, turn up as a recurring boss theme. Some tracks from the first game return too though, by which I mean some of the versions of aforementioned piano thing, and they're often quite jarring compared to the new stuff.
I did find it odd that the game is so determined to keep referencing back to the first game. Obviously with it being a direct sequel it was never going to completely leave it behind, but the way the game keeps directly referencing events previously so frequently is bit odd. Like it hasn't realised yet that nobody understood a fucking word of what went on in that game. I mentioned when I wrote about FFXIII, this game has bits of extra reading which continue to elaborate on and sometimes contradict the events of the previous game. You'd think it wouldn't be laid on this thick, but apparently not. Nonetheless though the actual story of XIII-2 isn't half bad, probably due to focusing on only the two protagonists rather than jumping between the first game's ensemble cast. Noel seems generic at first but I quickly grew to like him, and Serah does surprisingly well in the hero role. And Caius ballad is a brilliant villain, with a voice you may recognise from Darksiders, among other things. Liam O'Brian's sexy anime man voice is pretty excellent, especially on this edgelord Power Rangers expy. He chews the scenery excellently, and is a perfect example of a rather standard archetype pulled off as best it could be. Not to say that he isn't without his own original merits too, mind.
The fact that the story is so much better overall does throw into perspective the times when it isn't so great, like it's tendency to forget plot points at the drop of a hat. By the end of the game there's still no explanation for Serah suddenly getting new clothes in the intro sequence, and the build-up to something involving "The Thirteenth Ark" leads to it never being mentioned again beyond a certain point. And as I said, while much better, the dialogue does occasionally slip back into the sort of gibberish that made up FFXIII. The cutscenes often aren't as visually exciting as they were in the first game, as characters don't seem to physically interact with each other beyond a few specific important plot cutscenes. Lots of characters wandering or standing around talking to each other, without much beyond very simple gesticulation. Not really much of a problem, I mean they're more animated than a lot of RPG cutscenes are, but it was noticeable.
Overall, hooray, it's a better game. One that you can actually go "yeah, that was alright" and not feel too bad about yourself for doing so.
I'll get to Lightning Returns the week after next. Then the cycle will be complete. Next week though: Twilight Princess HD.
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