So, with 112 fragments collected, I've finally toppled the vile trio of Bahamuts that made up the ridiculous final boss. Now I'm ready to talk about the game in whole.
FF XIII made enough people upset with it's story, gameplay, etc. etc. whiny etc. that Square Enix felt the need to make a sequel as fast as they could instead of wrapping up production on the longer-in-the-works XIII Versus. While this is a questionable business move, the product of this decision is one of the more interesting works from the Final Fantasy series in recent years. Open progression, a multitude of little things to do, and consistent rewards for playing the game (IE, crystarium points given for finished quests), are just a few of the things that make this a more enjoyable experience than the often weak XIII.
But the story is the most important factor in the JRPG's quality. XIII-2 has a decent plot, but some of the most interesting character choices that I've seen in a very long time. Caius Ballad, ridiculously named and awkwardly dressed villain of the game, is the center of one of the most tragic narratives in the series, and with a small cast, the story carries itself well to the end. However, two things mar what is an otherwise fantastic tale. The first is tone. Having Mog fly around and cutesy things up to an annoying level breaks the bleak outlook on things in half. The other is the language explaining the time travel aspect of the game. I'm not convinced that anyone on the staff ever looked up the word "paradox" in the dictionary, because what the characters are saying when they say "paradox" doesn't make any sense. Sure the word is nice sounding, but it doesn't fit "random object found in a different place in time/space". Artefacts, yes. Fragments, yes. Paradox, no.
Getting around that little thing, the only other issues are some of the same that hit FFXIII. Getting stronger weapons is a miserable process, and so is obtaining enough materials to strengthen up the monsters collected by the player throughout. Gambling in the casino would be a nice diversion, but using it as a requirement for collecting more fragments is short sighted given the difficulty of making money on the slot machines. It should noted that I haven't played around with the chocobo racing yet. I will when I'm dabbling with the post game content, but I didn't want to put that much time in while pursuing the end of the game.
While XIII had a great soundtrack, XIII-2 is a bit of a mixed bag. About half of it is good. A quarter of it is pretty good music, but bizarrely out of place. The other quarter is J-Pop nonsense with horrible lyrics. Seeing as I got the collector's edition, I've still got to listen to the soundtrack to make a clear decision on whether the composer was drunk or just drawing at straws. In addition to the orchestral stuff, there are some slick fusion pieces, a distracting heavy metal chocobo theme, and some light jazz numbers. It's a bit reminiscent of the Cowboy Bebop soundtrack, but not as memorable in the long term.
If you are looking for a recommendation on whether or not to play this game, I say go for it. For all of its faults, it's one of my favorite games in the series since the Playstation era. A strong core plot can be found beneath the silly top half, and one of the best endings I've seen in the series as a whole are waiting to be seen by players who give the time. Having played XIII isn't required to enjoy this game, but it will give some clarity, as well as a couple of bonuses.I've logged 40 hours, so it's not very long, but it's worth the price to play it.
9/10
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