Why Final Fantasy X-2 Is A Great Game and Why Spin Offs Should Be More Like It

With Square Enix doing their annual spin-offs and the recent rumor of there being ANOTHER addition to Final Fantasy XIII, in Final Fantasy XIII-3, I think it’s time to defend a forgotten game.

This game is by no means amazing, but it has received so much hate in it’s life. This game is Final Fantasy X-2. While it isn’t an amazing game, it is still a game that is worth playing and is also a very great title. Here are 5 reasons why Final Fantasy X-2 is a great game.

[iamtehpwn]

X-2 had some excellent gameplay overshadowed by a horribly unentertaining story and theme and few playable characters. It's open-ness and combat system were superb if it wasn't for all corny the moments and poorly written story elements, and the bizzare Toriyama'd idea of having a party made up of one gender...

[sinncross]

The story was just downright horrid.

Hurts the excellent story of FF10 inmho.

[sidar]

I don't get why people say FF10 had an excellent story.

The story did not pick itself up until near the end. The characters were bland and they were just there. They were just there for the sake of it. Their whole existence was just to drag a long. Wakka seems so unrealistic with his "HEY LETS BE FRIENDS EVEN THOUGH I JUST MET YOU HEY LET ME GIVE YOU A HEAD SCRATCH CAUSE I MET YOU 2 MINUTES AGO" That guy is socially impossible.

Tidus was horrible, whiny and pathetic.

The only thing I like from the story is the take on religion. Even though it's subtle.

O and Seymour ....O lord Seymour...He was just silly.

[Reibooi]

I think half the story was terrible and half of it should have been the entire focus. The game spends a good half or more of the game with the charlies angels like escapades of the girls when the story of Lenne and Shuyin should have taken center stage the entire time and once it starts to focus on said story the game gets much better but at that point it's kinda too little to late.

I also didn't like the drastic change in Yuna's character. I realize they had to bring her out of her shell somewhat because she was becoming the main focus but the drastic style change both from combat and attitude made no sense. I mean she went from withdrawn somewhat in FFX to badass at the very opening of X they should have grown her into taht instead of just making such a jarring change to her character.

However from a game play perspective it was a very good game it was very open and the battle system was awesome.

[wishingW3L]

I'm with you Sidar, FFX story wasn't great and the characters weren't that good either but compared to FFX-2 it's an Oscar winner.

[Ranma1]

Does a dis service to FF10.

But FF10-2 os still better than FF13

[iamtehpwn]

In manys XIII is an evolved and streamline version of X-2. These like Paradigm shifting is a streamline version of Dress Spheres and such, and both shared a very similar development team with Toriyama at helm.

[poolsharky27]

@iamtehpwn

If Paradigm Shifting changed everyones outfits, I probably would have enjoyed it more.

Or even if it simply changed their attack stance/footing, or really changed... anything.

Paradigm Shifting pretty much just gave you access to different skills. It didnt have the same feel that you were actually changing anything.

Dress spheres were more reminiscent of classic jobs, while Paradigm Shifting felt like a boring bland way of restricting skills(since shifting doesnt actually change anything physically).

[Pozzle]

The party made up of one gender didn't bother me...but did Square have to make them so girly? Hell, I'm a girl and even I found them embarrassingly girly. Dress spheres, singing minigames, massage minigames, Yuna and Rikku saying things like "poopie" and "oopsie", etc. I even remember shutting my bedroom door during some scenes because I was worried someone would walk in and see me playing it. I'm not even joking. :(

I get that the game was trying to show Spira as more calm and care-free since Sin was gone, but so many things just came off as weird or downright childish. Did Square REALLY think this was the best way to expand FFX's plot and show us what a Sin-less Spira looks like?

[Optical_Matrix]

The battle system was a stroke of genius. Shame about the rest of the game.

[Them_Bones]

This game turned me gay.

[Azazel]

You are a troll....every comment!

Why? Just WHY?

[bwazy]

Why is Big Brother inside you Azazel? Why?!

[Reverent]

Azazal, you yellow-eyed bastard, why must you be right all the time?

Some of the things Them_Bones says are funny, but I always see his comments getting marked down for "Immature" or "Off Topic" lol.

[HarvesterOSarow]

No offense to anyone, but that comment was funny as hell. As I watched some of the cutscenes in X-2 I got that awkward feeling, like "there's no way I want people to see me playing this game."

[HarvesterOSarow]

Incorrect. Everything in this game but the battle system was terrible.

[Skateboard]

Yuna using handguns ..... wtf ? I'm firm in my belief Toriyama is a one hit wonder.

[guitarded77]

NO!!! NEVER!!! BLASPHEMY!!!

[Tuxedo_Mask]

I appreciate the amount of heart that was put into this article, even if I do disagree with some of it.

I too think that X-2 was rejected as a "girl game" due to the all female cast, but it is a good game. I also liked Dirge of Cerberus because I took it for what it was, a 3rd person shooter with Vincent Valentine as the protagonist.

I had fun with it, and when it comes to the definition of a "great game" isn't that what really matters?

[wishingW3L]

I'm starting to see a trend here. You like way too many crap games....

[Tuxedo_Mask]

Opinions vary. One man's trash is another man's treasure.

[belac09]

i loved this game, but that's just me.

[Godmars290]

This article is why Square can get away with FFXIII, is the reason FFXIII-3 will likely happen, and any other instance of game company thinking they can make and offer literal crap.

Nevermind the whole freaking Dreamcast 2 argument...

[tiffac008]

Not sure if it was a great game but I found it to be entertaining though. Not story wise but silly wise ^^

[blahblah346]

agree.

[Kratoscar2008]

X-2 is a great game, the game world is still beautiful and it has along FF5 the best job system ever.

[iamlegend9999]

I believe that all the final fantasy's are great. I've played all of them. Never been disappointed.

[Chrono]

The gameplay was really good. Probably my fav battle system in the series.

[izumo_lee]

I believe that when Final Fantasy X-2 came out it was such a vastly different approach to a Final Fantasy game that it left many of us confused or flabbergasted.

Every Final Fantasy game that came out before it were pretty deep & serious games in nature. People were just not expecting a Final Fantasy game to be so 'campy & cheesy' in its approach to story & gameplay.

In my experience of the game i tried to block out all the cheese & enjoy the game for what it was a side story of a main Final Fantasy game. A game not to be taken seriously, a game trying to be different, a game that it less intense & dramatic like previous Final Fantasy games. When i did that i found the game to be pretty fun & a good game overall. The battle system was great, the music for the most part was excellent (that piano theme at the title screen is so so good), and the ending was a happy one.

Remembering back i found the game to be funner than Final Fantasy 13 cause FF 13 took itself too seriously & it became more of a chore to finish than being fun. FF 13-2 fixed the chore part of FF 13 but it still to me was missing something for me personally.

[Hicken]

I liked X-2 because up until that point, I had never played a game where you REALLY got to see what happened to the world after it was saved. To me, that idea- and the fact that Spira had to change from the core outward- was too appealing to dislike.

To me, everything about X-2 reflected that idea. Yuna's drastic changes, New Yevon, it all echoed Spira's attempts to find something to believe in, some way to keep on living. All the summoners, whose job it was to die for the world, had NOTHING to go on; how would they cope?

I loved it.

Wasn't the greatest FF or RPG ever(hated how they massacred blitzball, especially), but it was a breath of fresh air in the genre. Having a healthy dose of Rikku didn't hurt, either.

XIII is XIII. I loved the characters and how their growth was molded by the story. The story itself was really a lot better than most people gave it credit for, though I admit it could have been told better. XIII-2 might have improved on mechanics for some people, but the story was flat to me; I still haven't finished it.

[carlocgc]

i enjoyed leveling the super attack monster things. story and themes sucked a little not enough to ruin the game
X-2 > X
X > X-III

[MRMagoo123]

I love ff10 and part 2 , i hated ff 13 and was glad when i finished it.

[no_more_heroes]

My little sis got this for her ps2 when it was new, so of course I had to help her with it at times because I was seen as some gaming guru because I beat all my games so quick. It was the first FF game I'd ever played. Didn't really care for it because (1) I'd lost interest in turn based RPGs by then so the gameplay seemed boring (can't explain why, loved Legend of the Dragoon even though I played that with friends) and (2) I was one of those people who was conditioned to not like FF so I went into it with a negative bias (I was quite impressionable back then). At least I know better now.