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Final Fantasy X-2 - Travesty Or Welcome Change?

Posted by simoniker on from the diehard-fanboys-still-weeping dept.

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."

5 of 57 comments (clear)

  1. Proven success by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Square has always changed things for each FF game. They've always created good games. Some stories are weaker than others, but the gameplay's been rock solid.

    One of the biggest complaints in FFX was how linear it was. It felt like watching a movie rather than playing a game. So in addition to the normal Square gameplay changes, they addressed this key complaint.

    It's about as non-linear as it could be. Almost like it's a collection of side quests. The changes in jobs/classes may seem strange but Square's done well in the past with those changes so I'd expect it not to hurt the gameplay. It's been pretty successful in Japan so I'll have to pick it up and try it when it comes out here.

    1. Re:Proven success by Ondo · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Square has always changed things for each FF game. They've always created good games. Some stories are weaker than others, but the gameplay's been rock solid.

      I disagree. I think the gameplay has been between bad and mediocre, but the stories are rock solid. However, they certaintly are a proven success.

  2. Re:Evolution of a franchise by incubusnb · · Score: 3, Insightful
    Thats whats missing in Modern Gaming Companies nowadays, no other company is willing to take a risk on anything to intruduce new and unique gameplay enhancements. even to their B titles, thats whay there are so many clones out there.

    for example, Rockstar took a risk and introduced a whole new gameplay enviroment to the world and it took off, now what are we seeing? GTA Clone upon GTA Clone. Why is this happening? Profit, thats all, take a great idea and run with it and you'll make money, even if the game sucks

    Companies like Square have always been inovators and i give them full props for going the extra mile.

    --
    /. is overrun by bed-wetting elitist nerds
    let it be known, for anything other than servers, a *nix OS sucks
  3. Re:Sadly... by sweetooth · · Score: 2, Insightful

    While I'm not a huge star trek fan by any stretch I have to admit the theme song for the new tv series was absolutely horrible. The show wasn't much better the couple of times I watched it, but I don't think the best theme song in the world would have changed that ;)

    Final Fantasy on the other hand is something I'm a pretty big fan of. The main concern I have with the most recent FF games is the feeling that they have added more cut scenes that cause the game to feel linear more like a movie than a game. Other than that changes couldn't hurt too much could they? I mean if this one is a flop you could always go back to the tried and true FF style.

  4. Good points by Vaevictis666 · · Score: 2, Insightful

    FFX already had the engine, models, structure, etc. ready on the same platform.

    For an FF7 (or 8 or 9) sequel on the PS2, in order to get up to snuff quality-wise, they'd need to practically rewrite the entire thing - all the models/texturing would need to be redone, music possibly rescored, graphics engine rewritten (maybe not too bad if they could gut the FFX engine, but still).