Fainaru fantajî X-2

Like Final Fantasy VIII, the focus of Final Fantasy X-2 isn't on the worldsaving-- though worldsaving does, of course, appear. Instead, it's on the characterizations of the protagonists and her allies, and it does an amazing job of it. I clocked in at 77 hours, gaining the Normal Ending; a replay is definitely in order and I'm glad they've included New Game Plus in order to make it easier to get the story again.

X-2 is a game where you definitely have to explore and poke around everywhere in order to squeeze every bit possible from the story; if you only follow the big clue hammer plot points, you will indeed only get the barest sketchings of a story and maybe even finish it in 15 hours. However, I feel that the Square-Enix team has used the previously created world of Spira very well, taking advantage of players' familiarity and interest in the world to weave engrossing stories about not just the protagonists but many of the characters encountered in the previous game.

It's not only a game where you have to explore in order to find more story, it's a game where you can't see and get everything on a single playthrough. It's also a game where you repeatedly run across signs that Yuna and company aren't the only adventurers and explorers in Spira.

I really enjoyed the development of the inhabitants of Spira-- what retired summoners do, the fact that the fiends of Spira encourage even grandmothers to be competent-- the game starts out extremely easy, although it does get harder later, and this is clearly meant to reflect not only Yuna's experience in Final Fantasy X but also the world's experience with wandering monsters.

Finally, the music and voice acting in FFX-2 is just fantastic. Yes, the music is peppy and jazzy. It's also quietly desolate in places, and some of the repeated themes are just beautiful. As for the voice acting-- Yuna, Rikku and Paine's voice actresses all deserve medals, as do several of the other more minor characters. They bring a richness, subtlety and depth to the story that older games could only reach for. Yuna's voice actress in particular once again does a stellar job, conveying a nervous, self-conscious, but determined Yuna who can't help wanting to save people but wants to learn to have fun, dammit. And who misses her boy a lot, underneath it all.

Final Fantasy X-2 had been a game Id been looking forward to for a long time- the end result was hardly what I had been expecting. After the magic of X, I expected some of that magic recreated in X-2. Although the music was beautiful ("Yuna's Ballad" and "Kimi He", which was featured in the Internation version, were amazing for me), the graphics fantastic, and the battle system made effective and efficient by allowing every one of the characters to be of use in battle, I was a bit (okay...REALLY) turned off by Yuna's and Rikku's clothes and most of the game dialog (although some of the lines were hilarious). Simply put, it didn't feel like a Final Fantasy game to me, more like a "Charles Angels" sequel set in Spira and staring Yuna, Rikku, and Paine. The English cover of "1000 Words", sung by Jade from Sweetbox, was a disappointment to me. I felt Jade really killed most, if not all, of the song, and would've preferred that the original Japanese version by Koda Kumi be used instead. On the whole, Final Fantasy X2 delivered good music, great graphics, an awesome battle system, and was actually a fun game to play- but all the while it just did not feel like a Final Fantasy game, and could've been much better.

I had never before even thought about playing a FF game in my life. That was until this one came out. It's not like the rest of them I'll assure you of that, well except X. There were parts in the dialog where I was like 'what the hell' and others i almost fell out of my chair laughing. That was mostly whenever Paine or Rikku said something funny(or stupid) I loved the characters, some though I wanted to find on the business end of Paine's rather large sword. But I liked the characterization of YRP, Yuna matured, Rikku...somewhat, but Paine I think 'grew' the most. There were, I'll admit,some questions in the story line that I would have liked to have answered. Some say there were too many side missions that had nothing to do with the plot when in fact: THEY DID! OK so the monkey thing...Stupid, boring, i could go on and on about that one. But other things led you deeper into the original thing.

So in short: Love the game, Love the plot (so sweet), and Love YRP.

And if you think this game is sexist ladies (or gents)...grow up! I'm a girl and I love it (just ignore the costumes like i do (Lady Luck dressphere must burn!)

10/10

Many people see the title as overly "loose"; the story, the gameplay, the girls.

Many people forget that aside from the fact that we have now crossed the border from interactive entertainment into artistic beauty, many gamers still have one integral requisite for any entry to their video game collection; FUN.

This game is light-hearted, following the events in a world torn apart by a 1000-year war, and the events of a very depressing game in said world.

The main character, once a girl-next-door type, full of excitement and curiosity has broken her shell of naivety and humility to broaden her horizons and look for a lost-love.

Alongside her spunky cousin and a not-so-familiar denizen of Spira, Yuna watches as a plot of love and betrayal unfolds amidst her journey across many familiar towns to reunite with many familiar faces.

The girls are three fun-loving, yet scantily clad - and with good reason - females who hunt for spheres containing video snippets of long-lost Spiraian history throughout the mostly-tropical world -hence the title of "Sphere Hunters", and hence the bikinis.

The game is a dramatic change of venue from the previous title, and not unreasonably so. Along with the removal of a plot-heavy story, yet still set in the same world, a complete reversal of mood is not an unwelcome change, as it is accompanied by myriads of non-pertinent games, missions, and enemies that await those who wish to explore, and a surprisingly cohesive plot awaits those who don't necessarily want to wait, but rush right to the end.

This game was made for everyone, and at the same time, nobody in particular. It is right in some senses to say that this game is hit-or-miss for various gaming audiences, but a strong sense of planning and effort went into this game in the graphics, the music ( be they the cheesy, 70's bucka-bucka-wow tracks, or the beautifully orchestrated tracks sung by a particular main character ), the story, the unbelievably fun and compelling battle system, or the dozens of optional quests that will keep you occupied for hours.

All in all, this is a great game, because that is exactly what it is; a game, and the only thing a game needs in order to be called such is one element; fun.

And trust me, this title is packed with it.

Firstly i consider myself a die hard fan of final fantasy and was a bit put of by the idea of a sequel and the pop prep image and trailer of Yuna however I WAS WRONG i borrowed my friends copy and i was immediately hocked. This game its truly game and for me has been the nearest game including ff9 to the mini games and multi adventures of ff7. To begin with it looks great with new effects that can create emotions even in non cg mode,however some times these can look annoying, the familiar settings of ff10 look stunning and the sound is powerful from the deeply moving 1000 words-i cried to the battle music. The story moves quiet quickly however it still has plenty of game play, and its compelling helping to answer the questions left after the end of ff10, but also with more humour than 10 even slight spoofs evolved-its a carefree, fun but still highly dramatic game. Worth a sport in everybody's collection. Also i must add some things that really made my day with this game- it features job mode were you can change the different characters costumes -each having different abilities -such as in ff4 only you can also do this during game play, also the game features real time game play and the costume changes look amazing just as summoning looked in the past, the game features many side quests and mission based game play which will win over plat formers to the RPG side and a big bonus which i think many fans have been waiting for different endings ....

A fresh and different game but still one every ff fanatic or gamer should have fun emotional and pure class *********

Emili Price