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Final Fantasy X-2 - Travesty Or Welcome Change?
Thanks to GameSpot for their hands-on preview of the English-language Final Fantasy X-2, ahead of the RPG's release on PS2 in early December. Early buzz on the title was mixed for fans of the normally staid Final Fantasy series, when "...rejoicing changed to bewilderment as more information and assets appeared - assets that had Yuna kickin' it in a pair of hot pants and packin' a pair of pistols." But the article suggests that mixing things up may be a good idea after all: "While we thought Final Fantasy X-2 would end up being viewed as an aberration in the Final Fantasy franchise, we're not so sure anymore. The localized story stays true to a lot of the classic themes the Final Fantasy games are known for, silliness notwithstanding."
"FF8 had the equipping of certain items to learn certain spells"
In FF8 you drew the spells out of the enemies you fought, you didn't gain them from items.
Actually, if Final Fantasy fans could make a (wise) choice in the matter we would have chosen that NONE of the games received a sequel. The majority of the time sequels are a tired way of recycling existing properties for profit. The only reason that Final Fantasy X received a sequel is because Square had already put so much production into the existing characters and groundwork that it was simple for them to lay down an extension of the pre-existing world. That is to say, it took the least amount of effort for this particular game.
Final Fantasy 7 may get a sequel in the future depending on how well Final Fantasy X does, but as soon as Square starts cranking out direct sequels then they will have truly lost their experimental edge. The Final Fantasy games have always been built on a single, self-structured story that begins and completes it's particular arc within the given title. Generally by the time you are complete with these games there should really be nothing left to see in it's universe, which is why it's so great that we continue to receive unique properties year-after-year in this series.
I agree that Final Fantasy X-2 is for the media-brainwashed masses who crave their pop-culture, but frankly I don't want to see a sequel to Final Fantasy 7 either because, as much as it brought to the genre in the first place, it change too much that was good about the series to begin with.
Go rent Kingdom Hearts, or pick up a used copy. It's not formulaic at all. The familiar settings and characters help the game and add charm to a game that would have worked if cut from whole cloth and released as FF XI. The Gummy ship works like the airship in FF X2, and you can customize them with stuff you find or buy. The TGCs all work very well in the story. The cheese level is amazingly low. It's a fairly straightforward "kid from nowhere saves the universe and the girl" story, but not offensively so. Given the intensity the themes of despair, doubt and loneliness are presented with this is not a "kid game".
Adventuring with Donald and Goofy was actually pretty cool. And useful in combat, they're very good about hitting you with potions and saving your butt. The other characters you run into, some of whom you can bring into your party, are interesting. Well, Merlin and the Fairy Godmother got old fast, but the main story characters worked well. The Beast played in very well. And he kicks ass.
The original material in this is very good. The Heartless make a great enemy, there's enough whimsy in the character design that they aren't creepy, just scary 'cause you know their tough. The environments at the end stages are fantastic, rivaling or exceeding anything in FF X. The big bad boss you fight several times at the end bears a striking resemblance to Seymour. The stages of his transformation into progressively more dangerous forms is, however, executed much better. The sense that FF X was the rough draft of the design for KH is never more present than in how much more polished the Big Baddie is in KH.
Gameplay is just like FF X, except except for, well everything. KH plays like a 3D platformer, and a good one. Plus it has an RPG side that's nearly as deep as FFX. Most of the simplification is in the experience system, and in the fact that you only have one PC. It's an outstanding blend of RPG and platformer, in no way did it feel as if one element was tacked-on to the other.
I played KH before FF X (gonna defeat Sin this weekend !) and the renowned FF X looked much less sophisticated at first. The interaction with the environment in FF X just wasn't that great. Just walking around could be frustrating because there are places in the scene that look like you can jump up on easily, and they just aren't available. In KH you're fully in the environment, just as much as in Ratchet & Clank or Sly Cooper.
Puzzles are more varied in KH, which balances the more repetitive enemy selection. Boss battles in KH rule. Pretty much all the bosses are tough, and fun to beat. The Wicked Witch has a dragon form that is simply gorgeous. I walked into that fight with an odd spell selection loaded ("Stop" I consider to be a specialized spell). She looked at me with one head, open her mouth to breath fire, and I said "Stop !" *wham*wham*wham*. Put her down fast, taking very little damage. Others were brutal killing matches against enemiesI know I can beat, but can't pull off the timing the firs (several) tries.
Best of all, KH has no situations whatsoever in which you view a cutscene, return to gameplay and walk forward two steps to the next cutscene. Number two on my list of reasons to try it if you liked FF X is the ability to save anywhere. Except in between a series of three tough boss fights about 90% of the way through. What a pisser that was. I *knew* I was on the final track and could taste the end, but I had to break off and finish the Hades Cup to level my party just a bit.
Veteran, Bermuda Triangle Expeditionary Force, 1992-1951