June 19, 2012 9:12 AM EDT
If there is one thing guaranteed to tie my brain up in a squillion knots its time travel and the latest installment to the final fantasy series is full of it.
The Plot So Far
Set 3 years, after the events of FF13, with the near destruction of Cocoon in the last game (stopped only by Vanille and Fang turning into a giant pillar of crystal and cocooning Cocoon
, to prevent it from plummeting into Gran Pulse) most of the population moved to Gran pulse and started life anew rebuilding what they could.
The story follows Serah, Lightning’s sister (the girl trapped in the crystal for the whole of the last game) and a time traveling hunter named Noel (who fell from the sky with a meteorite) as they adventure around trying to find Lightning who disappeared after the fight with Orphan. But everything is not as it seems, following the crash of the meteor scary new monsters started appearing along with objects disappearing and new ones turning up where they shouldn’t. Time seems to be fractured and not surprising it’s up to you the main character to fix it. Following so far? If not the game offers a nifty little beginners primer, a basic chapter by chapter break down of the first game so you can get all caught up.
Combat
Those who’ve played FF13 are going to be old hats at the paradigm combat style. For those that haven’t you are in for a treat. Basically every character can be every role you just have to tell them which part they are playing, and hey if you find the combo isn’t working you can always try switching it up (most fights will actually require you to change your paradigm several times) the roles are
Commander – physical damage dealer, stagger stabilizer and the leader of the group what you attack everyone else will focus on
Sentinel – the defender, provokes all the enemy attention to shield your team mates and lessen damage taken
Ravager – the Magic wielders of the group, throwing everything from fire and ice to electricity and wind to quickly stagger your foes (but what goes up quickly comes back down just as quickly so try to have a commander on hand to help hold the stagger til you can cast again)
Medic – the healing class, keeping the everyone alive with everything from small heals to giant group heals
Synergist – the pure support character, will provide they allies with shields against physical and magical damage, resistances to elements and negate negative status effects
Saboteur - yin to the synergist’s yang the saboteur uses debilitating status effects on their enemies, from inflicting time delays to leeching their health with poisonings and curses.
There are plenty of paradigm combos to play around with and a perfect one to suit every fight.
Crystarium – is your skill set you gain Cp (crystal points) from each battle and you spend them here leveling your roles (adding abilities, skills and bonuses) this one is somewhat changed from FF13’s so everyone should have a look, for a more detailed idea of how the Crystarium works check this out.
Lions, Tigers and Bears, Oh My!
If there is one thing FF13 isn’t lacking, its special features. It really is like the game traveled through time and picked up all your favourite features from previous titles. Things like
Moogles– make a return in the form of Mog a lucky charm of sorts given to Noel in Valhalla by Lightning to give to Serah. Mog is Serah’s weapon as well as treasure finder and battle clock.
Serendipity- if anyone remembers the golden saucer from FF7 this place will take you back. Set somewhere out in space and time is serendipity, the amusement park that leaves time behind. Here you can play mini games like slot machines and bet on Chocobo races, and if you have a Chocobo you can even enter the race yourself.
Outfits – you can change your characters outfits, much like the dresspheres of FFX-2, though this time around it’s merely a cosmetic role.
There is plenty more out there to find and discovering it for yourself is half the fun.
One of the great things a final fantasy game has never disappointed in is the cinematic cut scenes. And once again you’ll find FF13-2 no different. But hold your horses. Unlike like previous titles, there is no time to sit back and munch your popcorn; you’ll be playing out these parts as much as any other part in the game. Calling forth action sequences and requiring you to react quickly to button prompts will sometimes change the outcome of your battle to come (like avoiding the fight all together).
For a game like Final Fantasy, there is simply too much to do, see and play to be experienced within two hours. No kidding by the end of my two hours I played for this I had only gotten through the prologue and the tutorial of the first town (including the first boss battle and mission)
So that’s my review, now Let’s Talk: Final Fantasy 13-2
And like always you can find all my game Talks and Reviews on the contents page here.
