Why do people STILL bash FFX-2?

[Daedalus1942]

Because it's still a terrible game.

All final fantasies try to do something different.
they can't appease everyone, nor do i want them to. I love that square and now squenix doesn't give in to what people want, otherwise they would churn out boring repetitive identical rpg one after the other.
FFXIII tried something different, people didn't like it.
I don't care I quite like XIII. X-2 is no different.
Some people will like it, some won't.
I personally don't like the new one XIV, but alot of people do, so that's their opinion.

I've played the FF series since I was 6 years of age, my first game being VIII (which I still love despite all the bitching people do about it), it doesn't mean I'm right either.
X-2 terrible. you want a game that's "terrible"? Play mystic quest or Children of Mana *shudder*, then maybe you'll appreciate X-2 a little more.
-Tabs<3-

 

[Daedalus1942]

I played it and it sucks, plain and simple.
The plot is weak (trying to find you-know-who only to be let down...), the characters are ridiculous (Sailor Moon transformations?wtf?) and the music nearly made my ears bleed. I have to admit that the combat system is fun, but that´s about it.

If I try to comparee it to its predecessor(s), X-2 looks even worse.

Actually...
[spoiler\]If you complete the game 100%, they actually do find you know who, because the aeons dream him back into existence and in a new game plus, he can join your blitzball team[/spoiler]
The first 3 or 4 hours is all dedicated to "girl power go yeah".
The rest of the game is actually alot of fun, and the sidequests kept me entertained for hours.
It sucks I had to do 3 playthroughs before I finally got 100% but the plot involving that was well worth it.
I'm guessing you didn't even bother finishing the game, so you wouldn't know that, right?
-Tabs<3-

 

[MaxFF7]

Right,
However, despite this I Believe X-2 has the BEST ability system in an RPG.

Let me Explain:
--> You have total control on who learns what abilities
--> The Ability list isn't restricted by the Level Cap (Stares at KOTOR)
--> All characters can be specced to learn any ability combo
--> The Abilities were the most diverse I've ever used.

This gives TOTAL FREEDOM over how you want the characters to develop,
want to use guns? you can.
Want to use Blue Magic? Yep.
Want a healer? Of course.

Also the combat was an improvement on the series (pity that 12 fucked it up) and the sidequests added depth to the game.

So to summarize: Story was Shite, Gameplay was surprising.

I don't see how X-2 ability system was any better than FF7. Every single ability in the game, from black magic, white magic, blue magic, summoning, stealing, etc was all given to characters by equipping materia. I can't say for certain which one has more abilities available, but in terms of customization of character abilities, I like the way 7 does it better than X-2.

 

[Amethyst Wind]

Well for my part I was expecting a fun game, regardless of whatever links it shared with FFX. It wasn't. I played all of two hours before I got bored sick and returned it.

So I'll bash it because I thought it was a bad game. Anything else is secondary to that.

 

[Blemontea]

X-2 was the first final Fantasy i ever played... and I found it boring, repetitive, had a wierd costume changing thing that was WAY to complicated for my small mind to understand, and the whole game felt like foreplay with its sexualised game character, the whole costume thing that has been burned into my subconscious.

Thankfully though it was a weekend rent and i got to return it and get Prince of Persia again.

 

[Gindil]

Final Fantasy X told a few stories, but to me there were three main themes running through it: Tidus' Daddy Issues, Auron's quest for redemption and (in my eyes actual main story) Yuna's quest to grow up and save the world. She was still a teenager in FFX and had lived in Besaid almost all her life. FFX told of her quest to save a people she didn't really know and the inevitable sacrifice that would come with it.

It ended with Yuna losing both her one remaining Father Figure (in Auron) and her lover (in Tidus), as well as numerous friends in her Aeons who sacrificed themselves to bring an end to it all. Sacrifice is perhaps the driving idea behind Yuna's quest in FFX. At first she is resolved that she will die in summoning the Final Aeon to bring the Calm, an act which she finds out would also turn one of her guardians into the new Sin. An alternative appears, and instead she gets to keep her life but loses a bunch of other stuff instead. It's sacrifice of a different kind.

Final Fantasy X-2, in my eyes, should have been Yuna coming to terms that Tidus is gone and there isn't always a 'Happily Ever After' ending, that sometimes people die and they don't come back - even in Spira. It should have shown her continuous growth as an independent character. In Final Fantasy X we saw her as an emotionally strong willed character. A bit ditsy at times, a tad naive and in need of help getting along, but strong regardless. FFX-2 switches that around - she turns into Action Chick physically but the entire game is spent pining after Her Man, catching onto anything - even incredibly flimsy things - which might indicate she can get him back.

FFX-2 represents nothing less than the systematic character destruction of Yuna, and the complete invalidation of FFX's ending. How can anyone call that a satisfying sequel?

I didn't even play FFX-2 because of the reasons you mentioned. Thing is with Paine being Lulu's younger counter, Rikku being Rikku (I hate the Genki Girl stereotype [yes, I've been in Japan way too long]), and Yuna getting a life but getting a Disney ending I was pretty much like, "Yeah, F--- this."

I didn't even know that Blitzball was managed a different way but damned if it wouldn't have been a great mini-title for say... $20 bucks... as a standalone action sports title.

I don't even think Kimahri got better at being expressive and the idea of the world not ending but being that much brighter because Yuna is now a pop star?

*breathes deeply*

And Don't. Get me started. On Blitzball...

 

[Eponet]

Wait, you've played not only this, but II, III, V, and even X, and VIII is your least favorite? Quite frankly, what the fuck is wrong with you?

Well ever since I watched my wife of fourteen years get cut down in cold blood by a clone of Hitler, I've always been a little screwed up.

And yeah, VIII is way worse than X.

But you're only 19!

 

[PedroSteckecilo]

It has a fantastic battle system and I love the "on the fly class changing", hell it's not even a BAD game, it's just kinda light silly and fluffy, like cotton candy.

 

[findler]

The staff at EB games (read Canadian Gamestop) laughed when I traded in X-2. Why? I never removed it from the shrink wrap.

 

[jodko]

It's been said before it was fan service and didn't improve on ffx regarding plot, charecters or anything other then a different combat system. also i keep hearing/reading people say tidus bitched a lot but i dont actually recall him bitching all that much or at all, so at what ppoints did he *****?

 

[Amnestic]

Wait, you've played not only this, but II, III, V, and even X, and VIII is your least favorite? Quite frankly, what the fuck is wrong with you?

Well ever since I watched my wife of fourteen years get cut down in cold blood by a clone of Hitler, I've always been a little screwed up.

And yeah, VIII is way worse than X.

But you're only 19!

20, according to my profile. Don't judge me because I married young. We were meant to be!

 

[Xerek]

"Disasterific"

There you go.

This was the video game equivalent of Blues Brothers 2000. While it may or may not have been that bad, it unzips and relieves itself all over its predecessor. In one fell swoop, it destroys the characters and backstory of X. Yuna and company travel the world, face emotional hardships and loss, and save the world. Yet Payne (who?!?) is the "worldly one", while Yuna and Rikku act like 13-year old schoolgirls hopped up on sugar?

X had a serious story and atmosphere, and a general growing dread that you were not going to get that "perfect" ending. The revelation of what had to be done to stop Sin. Then breaking the cycle only to find out what price THAT would bring. And the final cinematic was heartwarming and breaking all at the same time. X-2 starts with a rock concert. Really? And the whole plot involves working to undo all of the consequences of X to get that happy ending...which only happens if you do everything exactly right.

Disasterific. I had fought nausea, but held strong. Until Yuna said "Disasterific". Yes, yes Yuna, it is.
-Xerek

PS: I loved Mystic Quest. But you had to know what it was. It sold for just $20, and the box stated it was an intro JRPG. I knew what I was getting into. In college it acted as the gateway drug for two friends who then immediately moved on to FF2 (FF IV). Now, many years later, my son asked for a "reading game". I tried to think of something simple for starting readers that he may still like...and Mystic Quest came to mind. He got sidetracked, but managed to finally beat it, loving every minute. It really is "baby's first JRPG", but it's a good one for that. Besides, it has one of the best soundtracks out there.

 

[Chibz]

Because it's still a terrible game.

All final fantasies try to do something different.
they can't appease everyone, nor do i want them to. I love that square and now squenix doesn't give in to what people want, otherwise they would churn out boring repetitive identical rpg one after the other.
FFXIII tried something different, people didn't like it.
I don't care I quite like XIII. X-2 is no different.
Some people will like it, some won't.
I personally don't like the new one XIV, but alot of people do, so that's their opinion.

I've played the FF series since I was 6 years of age, my first game being VIII (which I still love despite all the bitching people do about it), it doesn't mean I'm right either.
X-2 terrible. you want a game that's "terrible"? Play mystic quest or Children of Mana *shudder*, then maybe you'll appreciate X-2 a little more.
-Tabs<3-

Actually, strictly speaking Mystic Quest is superior. Mostly because the game went the duration OF the game without thoroughly pissing me off. Pretty much every game after 6 managed to annoy me, 'cause that's when the series got constantly more insipid & similar.

 

[Gindil]

It's been said before it was fan service and didn't improve on ffx regarding plot, charecters or anything other then a different combat system. also i keep hearing/reading people say tidus bitched a lot but i dont actually recall him bitching all that much or at all, so at what ppoints did he *****?

In the first game?

He was truly a whiny bastard. For the most part his entire "this is MY story" bit just came off grating and it didn't help that his voice actor got that part right.

Mainly, Tidus as a main character was an emotional wreck that we never got to know before his trip to Spira. If we had gotten to play around in Zanarkand, maybe I would have cut hims some slack, but as it stands... >_<

His character development took a while to get going, but I was kinda glad to see Yuna earn a happy ending for all with great sacrifice. It's kinda telling when I liked Auron and [that guy in red who Tidus knows] more than Tidus himself.

 

[Esvees]

FFX was where I really started loosing interest in the series; the story was still pretty good and it played ok, but I just hated the way the character designs just went completely overboard on the japanese teenage schoolgirl pop idol look. It just wasn't possible to take any of the drama seriously coming out of the mouth of a manga-haired weirdo with a pachinko parlor for pants.

FF X-2 basically just made that worse by specifically catering to that crowd, who seem to have hijacked the series ever since. I mean, really, have you seen the outfits and hairdo's they gave some of the supposedly "serious" characters? I actually forced myself to finish it and well, as others have pointed out it was rubbish and unnecessary in pretty much every other area too.

 

[Strain42]

"I got banned from games just because I yell "you suck" at the players"

"According to the complaint, you yelled it at 5 year old girls..."

"WHO SUCK! Why is this so hard to understand!?"

 

[Amnestic]

[For the most part his entire "this is MY story" bit just came off grating and it didn't help that his voice actor got that part right.

It was particularly annoying since, for the most part, FFX wasn't his story. It was Yuna's.

 

[pharaoh malik]

Haven't actually gotten around to playing it yet, though I kind of want to now -- what with all this talk about it. >w> I've played X and holy shit it's amazing. The only reason I have YET to pick up X-2 is because of the addition of that one new character (dunno her name but the one with the white hair who had NOTHING TO DO WITH THE FIRST GAME!) That is what bugs me! I get the feeling she's like supposed to be a replacement Lulu, and hell I didn't really like Lulu all that much but why the hell did you have to bring in some random chick that is obviously trying to replace her or counter act the spunkiness of Yuna and Rikku. It just seems too forced. I mean, seriously. :|

THAT's why I haven't played it yet. -dies- Kind of a lame reason but if it was really just Yuna and Rikku running around changing costumes I'd probably be more accepting of the idea.

 

[SinisterDeath]

Compared to most games that came out that year, who gived a shit about the stories? I tuned out the story and just enjoyed the Gameplay and the Fan Service.


You may not have known this, but in japan, FAN SERVICE IS HUGE.
There was a game for the ps3 released awhile back, That was 100% fan service.
It goes by the name of bayonetta.

Dress up?
So what?

Who here has played
WoW?
Sims?
Dragonage
Oblivion
Fallout 3

Guess what.
Everytime you equip an item in those games, purely for 'looks', your doing nothing more than 'dress up'.
Sims being the ultimate 'Doll house game' when you actually step back and go' WTF I've been playing dolls! GAH!! **POKES EYES OUT***

When it comes to FFX-2, I actually LOVED the combat system.
It was faster paced, 'real-time-ATB' It worked.

The 'dress-up' was nthing more than an appeal to the japanese Girl Audiance, as well as the ever popular.
JOB SYSTEM.
That one thats so very popular in FFXI, and uhh.. FFV? (I think its 5, its been awhile) and Tactics.
Job system has always been fun, Harkins back to D&D and there 'class' system, Who doesn't want to be a lvl 100 Blue Mage lvl 100 Dragoon?

They integraed there 'dress sphere' with 'summons' in such away it added a new strategy to the entire game.

And the most powerful outfit. For the First Time in FANTASY Was NOT the most revealing outfit, but a Full Body ANIMAL costume.

Story? Getting tidus back is more of a 'happy ending' to the 'bad ending' of FFX. (Bad ending doesn't mean it Sucked, just that it ended in tragedy. May not know this, But every game/movie that has a 'tradegy' ending post titanic, fail box-office wise.

Just look back at how many games/movies this decade that have a 'bad ending' (in that its a tradegy) fail in sales.

X-2 was a 'heres your happy ending fan service, now stfu'.

Oh, and unlike FFX, X-2 had something akin to a 100 level dungeons of "OWE STOP RAPING ME IN THE ASS" as you got further down, I've been told its harder/longer than the equivolent in FFX. The game had more total 'play-time' than FFX did. And honestly, if your going to play a game, to 100% completion. the gameplay has to be GOOD.
Story? That don't matter. IF I replay a game, more than once, the story doesn't matter. the GAMEPLAY DOES. Because I only 'need' to see/read/watch/listen to the story once to know what happens. I don't have a 2 minute memory and 'forget' everything that happened after Ibeat the game. Thus If I complete a game more than once, and to 100% completion, It best have good gameplay, and X-2 Did as far as I'm concerned. Beat FFX's for sure.

As for FF games of the ones I've played top = best, bottom = worst.

FFVI
FFVII
FFVIII
FFIII
FFI
FFII
FFXIII
FFX-2
FFX
FFIX
FFXI
FFXII

those that suck at roman numerals that goes
6
7
8
3
1
2
13
10-2
10
9
11
12

I haven't played 14, but from what I heard, it might get placed between 9 and 12.

 

[ComicsAreWeird]

[spoiler\]If you complete the game 100%, they actually do find you know who, because the aeons dream him back into existence and in a new game plus, he can join your blitzball team[/spoiler]The first 3 or 4 hours is all dedicated to "girl power go yeah".
The rest of the game is actually alot of fun, and the sidequests kept me entertained for hours.
It sucks I had to do 3 playthroughs before I finally got 100% but the plot involving that was well worth it.
I'm guessing you didn't even bother finishing the game, so you wouldn't know that, right?
-Tabs<3-

I played the game for way more than just 3 or 4 hours. I gave the game a chance just because it was a sequel to a game i enjoyed. I´ll admit i liked the Youth League versus New Yevon conflict and the way it would affect the game, but the whole Shuyin and Lenne plot wasnt very compelling IMHO. I disliked the mission structure, the plot wasnt getting my attention and the fact that i had to play with the tv set on "mute" really drove me away from the game.

As for the whole 100% thing you mentioned...i was unaware of this. But i wont be playing a game i dont like just so i can potentially enjoy the ending. I´m not against "girl power go yeah" games. But i do have something against changing a complex character like Yuna to a point where all that made her character interesting (the sense of honor and sacrifice that comes with the summoner role is an amazing character arc) is erased.

Just my 2 cents. Cheers