Final Fantasy XIII-2 review - 'It repairs almost every problem'

starvinbull on 6 Jan '12 said:

Coming from the magazine that gave FFXIII 9/10 I think I'll wait for a credible review.

Clusks on 6 Jan '12 said:

I'm still not tempted by this after Final Fantasy XIII. I can remember playing it and constantly feeling like it was a chore to get through it rather than being something fun.

MrPirtniw on 6 Jan '12 said:

Coming from the magazine that gave FFXIII 9/10 I think I'll wait for a credible review.

Unfortunately- This.

allygray69 on 6 Jan '12 said:

Coming from the magazine that gave FFXIII 9/10 I think I'll wait for a credible review.

Unfortunately- This.

2nd that

Augustus_aka_AG on 6 Jan '12 said:

If that is what constitutes 'fixing' then I will definitely avoid this title. FFXIII had such a well balanced mixture of linearity, cheesy cut scenes, stereotypical characters and unchallenging combat, that it transcended all other examples of how to kill a successful franchise. I will forever remember FFXIII as the game that sucked the soul out of the Final Fantasy series

Silviat on 6 Jan '12 said:

Coming from the magazine that gave FFXIII 9/10 I think I'll wait for a credible review.

And what would it take to qualify as a "credible" source. FFXIII got almost universal 8.5/9.0s out of 10 from almost every major game magazine and site.

Seriously what does SE have to do please all of these supposed final fantasy fanboys.

MrPirtniw on 6 Jan '12 said:

Seriously what does SE have to do please all of these supposed final fantasy fanboys.

I'm guessing as I'm not a FF fanboy- try making a good game and not bribing reviewers?

ingy on 6 Jan '12 said:

Horses for courses, i guess!

I'm a little worried that the changes might ruin what was for me, a very enjoyable last outing.

ensabahnur on 6 Jan '12 said:

Seriously what does SE have to do please all of these supposed final fantasy fanboys.

Give them FF7:HD? That's all they seem to want, maybe they should just give it to them and end the series as nothing will ever be as good.

jdkoke on 6 Jan '12 said:

You can slate me all you want but I really enjoyed FFXIII and didna really think there was much problems to fix. One o my favourite FF's.
Oh and I suppose I would be classed as a FF fanboy if liking tha series makes you a fanboy

*Jus noticed your comment Ingy, dunno why I missed it but that wis exactly my thought fan I seen the headline

MakoChanX on 6 Jan '12 said:

You can slate me all you want but I really enjoyed FFXIII and didna really think there was much problems to fix. One o my favourite FF's.
Oh and I suppose I would be classed as a FF fanboy if liking tha series makes you a fanboy

*Jus noticed your comment Ingy, dunno why I missed it but that wis exactly my thought fan I seen the headline

People shouldn't slate you for liking anything. Everyone has different tastes.

I personally enjoyed XIII and XIII-2 and I will say this, XIII-2 is an improvement, especially the depth of the game.

Also anyone who has decided they aren't playing this because of XIII, they are VERY different. Unless you despised EVERYTHING about XIII and not just the gameplay, i would suggest you try it, but thats up too you.

Imaduck on 6 Jan '12 said:

Well said Mako.

Mmmmgrolsch on 6 Jan '12 said:

You can slate me all you want but I really enjoyed FFXIII and didna really think there was much problems to fix. One o my favourite FF's.
Oh and I suppose I would be classed as a FF fanboy if liking tha series makes you a fanboy

*Jus noticed your comment Ingy, dunno why I missed it but that wis exactly my thought fan I seen the headline

People shouldn't slate you for liking anything. Everyone has different tastes.

I personally enjoyed XIII and XIII-2 and I will say this, XIII-2 is an improvement, especially the depth of the game.

Also anyone who has decided they aren't playing this because of XIII, they are VERY different. Unless you despised EVERYTHING about XIII and not just the gameplay, i would suggest you try it, but thats up too you.

Problem for me is that I'm a huge fan of the series, seriously I think they are the best series ever existed then SE went mental and released some steaming turd called FF13! My problem is that I'm interested in FF13-2 if they've made it good again like PS1 and PS2 era (Which I very much doubt) I haven't be able to bring myself to complete FF13 as its such a chore to play.
So that being said is it still worth me getting 13-2 if I know f**k all about the meh story in FF13?

MakoChanX on 7 Jan '12 said:

Problem for me is that I'm a huge fan of the series, seriously I think they are the best series ever existed then SE went mental and released some steaming turd called FF13! My problem is that I'm interested in FF13-2 if they've made it good again like PS1 and PS2 era (Which I very much doubt) I haven't be able to bring myself to complete FF13 as its such a chore to play.
So that being said is it still worth me getting 13-2 if I know f**k all about the meh story in FF13?

I think you should try it. At the start of XIII-2 it recaps ALL of XIII's story, including the ending, so you could easily pick it up.

They have improved alot of aspects from XIII, in terms of gameplay and story. The story is easy to follow, yet its not predictable (the ENDING) .It's alot easier to play due to the freedom they give you, your free to pretty much progress at your own pace. There are also alot of side quests and mini games (that are actually fun) that you can do if you want a break from the story, and you can do this from near enough the start. The enviroments are HUGE, seriously I was exploring for hours.

If you want my opinion, its really good, and alot better than XIII. It has that old Final Fantasy feel to it that XIII lacked Its a shame its not selling well as they really have done a good job at redeeming the XIII saga. XIII-2 should have been what XIII was in the first place.

I wont say anymore, I don't want to give anything away, but if you have any questions feel free. Demos out this tuesday if your not convinced

starvinbull on 8 Jan '12 said:

Coming from the magazine that gave FFXIII 9/10 I think I'll wait for a credible review.

And what would it take to qualify as a "credible" source. FFXIII got almost universal 8.5/9.0s out of 10 from almost every major game magazine and site.

Seriously what does SE have to do please all of these supposed final fantasy fanboys.

Yeh you're right... FFXIII was a roaring success

jfdelman on 8 Jan '12 said:

So you're telling me they fixed all this?
*brought back ATB
*characters super-deformed, not douche bag or emo teens, maybe even non-human members.
*a world map with at least 25 towns, oceans, caves, forests.
*went back to fixed camera views, above shots
*made summons that dont turn into f*cking motorcycles
*removed all voice acting
*went back to music that had no lyrics and fit the mood

shakeshead on 9 Jan '12 said:

So you're telling me they fixed all this?
*brought back ATB
*characters super-deformed, not douche bag or emo teens, maybe even non-human members.
*a world map with at least 25 towns, oceans, caves, forests.
*went back to fixed camera views, above shots
*made summons that dont turn into f*cking motorcycles
*removed all voice acting
*went back to music that had no lyrics and fit the mood

So a remake of FF7 is what you want. No one's stopping you from playing the original. But don't hold your breathe on the remake.

Sadly Chrono Cross got the same treatment when it came out, but those that gave it a chance and didn't act like butt hurt Chrono Trigger fan boys found that it was an excellent game.

I enjoyed FFXIII very much, and by no means am saying it's the best Final Fantasy ever, and I've played them all when they were released. But if you just played it for what it was you might actually enjoy it. I wish there was more towns and exploration too, but acting like it's the scourge of video games is asinine and closed minded.

jfdelman on 9 Jan '12 said:

I use to think I wanted a remake of 7 but then I saw how girl like cloud would look an realized that it would be a huge disaster. Actually I am replaying the final fantasy series, in no particular order, 4(2),7,6(3),9. I just want the series to return to what made the series great. Let westerners have their style of rpg and japan hve theirs. Final fantasy 13 in my opinion without the name attatched is garbage, the voice acting, the characters, summons, battle system, music. I haven't enjoyed a final fantasy since 9, so I'm not just against 13, 10 and 12 were just as bad for leading the series in this direction. I never bagged on someone for their opinion in my earlier post, so there was no need. I could easily say you come across as someone that just says it's good because it says final fantasy and square enix.

Mmmmgrolsch on 9 Jan '12 said:

Problem for me is that I'm a huge fan of the series, seriously I think they are the best series ever existed then SE went mental and released some steaming turd called FF13! My problem is that I'm interested in FF13-2 if they've made it good again like PS1 and PS2 era (Which I very much doubt) I haven't be able to bring myself to complete FF13 as its such a chore to play.
So that being said is it still worth me getting 13-2 if I know f**k all about the meh story in FF13?

I think you should try it. At the start of XIII-2 it recaps ALL of XIII's story, including the ending, so you could easily pick it up.

They have improved alot of aspects from XIII, in terms of gameplay and story. The story is easy to follow, yet its not predictable (the ENDING) .It's alot easier to play due to the freedom they give you, your free to pretty much progress at your own pace. There are also alot of side quests and mini games (that are actually fun) that you can do if you want a break from the story, and you can do this from near enough the start. The enviroments are HUGE, seriously I was exploring for hours.

If you want my opinion, its really good, and alot better than XIII. It has that old Final Fantasy feel to it that XIII lacked Its a shame its not selling well as they really have done a good job at redeeming the XIII saga. XIII-2 should have been what XIII was in the first place.

I wont say anymore, I don't want to give anything away, but if you have any questions feel free. Demos out this tuesday if your not convinced

Thanks a lot for the info So you think it'll be fine then to start FF13-2 without completing FF13? Do you think the recap does justice for someone to know the story about FF13? I just don't want to feel like I'm missing out that's all.

My missus is currently playing FF13 now, she's already attempted it once but got bored but she's 50 something hours into it this time and hoping to finish it before 13-2 as she's massively looking forwards to it. So I might give FF13 another go.

oShin on 9 Jan '12 said:

Problem for me is that I'm a huge fan of the series, seriously I think they are the best series ever existed then SE went mental and released some steaming turd called FF13! My problem is that I'm interested in FF13-2 if they've made it good again like PS1 and PS2 era (Which I very much doubt) I haven't be able to bring myself to complete FF13 as its such a chore to play.
So that being said is it still worth me getting 13-2 if I know f**k all about the meh story in FF13?

I think you should try it. At the start of XIII-2 it recaps ALL of XIII's story, including the ending, so you could easily pick it up.

They have improved alot of aspects from XIII, in terms of gameplay and story. The story is easy to follow, yet its not predictable (the ENDING) .It's alot easier to play due to the freedom they give you, your free to pretty much progress at your own pace. There are also alot of side quests and mini games (that are actually fun) that you can do if you want a break from the story, and you can do this from near enough the start. The enviroments are HUGE, seriously I was exploring for hours.

If you want my opinion, its really good, and alot better than XIII. It has that old Final Fantasy feel to it that XIII lacked Its a shame its not selling well as they really have done a good job at redeeming the XIII saga. XIII-2 should have been what XIII was in the first place.

I wont say anymore, I don't want to give anything away, but if you have any questions feel free. Demos out this tuesday if your not convinced

Does your save data transfer over from XIII to XIII-2? For example, items and levels.

MakoChanX on 10 Jan '12 said:

Thanks a lot for the info So you think it'll be fine then to start FF13-2 without completing FF13? Do you think the recap does justice for someone to know the story about FF13? I just don't want to feel like I'm missing out that's all.

My missus is currently playing FF13 now, she's already attempted it once but got bored but she's 50 something hours into it this time and hoping to finish it before 13-2 as she's massively looking forwards to it. So I might give FF13 another go.

The recap is very detailed, I think Square did this on purpose so that the people who didn't enjoy or even play XIII, can still play XIII-2 and be up to date.
Even if you don't finish XIII you'll still easily know whats going on.

The games are very different though, not just in terms of gameplay, but story also. It moves well away from XIII.

mateuspradosousa on 14 Jan '12 said:

FFXIII is amazing, and has a good score on Metacritic (8.3 Critic Score and 8.2 User Score). Haters are the minority, ALWAYS the minority. XIII is a different Final Fantasy? Yes, but a AWESOME FF in your own way. The game sold almost 7 million copies around the world, and its sequel, FFXIII-2, a game with much more exploration will hit the stores on January 31.

Very hard to find a true fan of the Final Fantasy series. What there are people who are/was fans of one or another episode, and all they know to do nowdays is follow the series news just to criticize and say that "it was the good on my time, now it is garbage". So pay no attention to haters, realize that each FF has something new and different to offer and has no obligation to please fans of previous episodes. So if you stopped being a FF fan, respect the thousands who currently enjoy the series, and go play and watch another game. If you think that the series has "died" why are you here commenting about it? Final Fantasy have their real fans and not needs those who once were, but today only know to criticize. You are a zero to the left.

jfdelman on 14 Jan '12 said:

Actually its the majority who didnt like Final Fantasy 13. The only reason its sold so many copies is that theres more people playing games now, it came out on two consoles that had sold over 100 million consoles combined, and people bought into the pretty graphics. Its a sorry excuse for a GAME, not just a Final Fantasy entry. It has the worst metcritic for any major entry in the franchise. And 83 isnt spectacular, and a far cry from other scores. Most of the points come from presentation(graphics) take that away and it would've easily dipped into the 70's. You think you would've enjoyed playing Final Fantasy 13 on Nintendo or SNES...didn't think so.

Currychips on 16 Jan '12 said:

Bought and played a lot of XIII but couldn't be bothered to finish it as it was just too much of a grind in parts and there was something missing with the combat.

I've downloaded and played the demo through to the end 3 times now and I can honestly say the combat is such an improvement on XIII's it's untrue. The Monster taming aspect of the game is a stroke of genius and adds a much needed shot in the arm to the combat system. I didn't even miss not having a summon in the demo cos the monsters build up and have a sort of 'limit-break' technique reminiscent of FFVII - which I loved. Even though the attacks were weak, it was right at the start with low level monsters, I can see them leveling up and being awesome!

So on the strength of the demo I've pre-ordered it - a very nice piece of marketing by SE as I wouldn't have bothered if it hadn't have been for the very generous slice of demo pie.

Very much looking forward to this, the demo helped me make up my own mind, no metacritic score or someone's negative opinion will sour that. Roll on February 3rd. (or 2nd as it's from GAME)...

xeis on 26 Jan '12 said:

Coming from the magazine that gave FFXIII 9/10 I think I'll wait for a credible review.

Just about to post the exact same thing here is their review of FFXIII

http://www.oxm.co.uk/17921/reviews/fina ... ew/?page=2