“Everything is connected.”
This is what Yuna, returning Final Fantasy X character and lead protagonist of this sequel, tells us throughout Final Fantasy X-2. FFX-2 sets up the theme of interconnectedness but it doesn’t become as overarching as the script suggests. The game is not shy about calling itself a sequel to FFX, but there is very little continuation between the two games mechanically or thematically. It even introduces a new character, whose past is shrouded in a promised mystery, but there’s no revelation.
When I review a game, I always look at it in context; I tend to judge it by how well it achieves what it set out to do. Reviewing Final Fantasy X-2 HD Remaster is difficult because by the standards the game lays out for itself, it fails. Whether it matters that it redeems itself in other, more interesting ways, is going to divide players.
All of this is equally true for the original Final Fantasy X-2 as it is for this HD remaster. Unlike the upcoming Western release of Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD, In Japan the HD remasters of FFX and FFX-2 can be purchased separately. So they’ve been reviewed here as such.
I was mostly pleased with Final Fantasy X HD Remaster; it was a generally solid HD conversion that gave me a renewed appreciation for the source material. I wanted to stay in the world of Spira after the ending credits rolled and Final Fantasy X-2 HD Remaster offered me the chance to do just that.
FFX-2 HD is, as the name suggests, a HD remaster of Final Fantasy X-2. But it is more than that; it comes packed with goodies, including an entire extra game that has never been seen outside of Japan. But the bulk of the content is the remastered version of FFX-2:
Set after the conclusion of Final Fantasy X, Yuna attempts to escape her new found celebrity by joining a rag-tag band of adventurers. She does so, hoping to be the central part of a story that reunites her with her love interest.
Instead she ends up being the back-up in someone else’s mission to save Spira. All the while she—and the player—are kept in the dark about what is happening, leaving them to play mini-games in blissful ignorance. Seriously, I’m not making this up.
A few hours into the game it becomes obvious that this isn’t the journey—character or physical—that it promised to be. FFX was a string of connected events making up a complete adventure but FFX-2 allows the player to jump between largely self-contained episodes at their whim.
Many of the episodes have multiple conclusions that effect optional content later on in the game. For example, at one point in the game you are given the choice to side with one of two factions. This choice changes NPC dialogue and even some of the areas you are allowed into, and events you can trigger.
Some events in the game are almost impossible to trigger the first time; replaying the game again in New Game +, seeing all the content you missed and clearing all the mini-games with a higher rating (netting better equipment) is what FFX-2 is really about when it is at its best.
There is that moment near the end of most JRPGs just before the final boss encounter. It is the part where the world stands still while you race Chocobos and play slot machines in some round-about way to become more powerful.
FFX-2 is what happens when someone makes an entire game out of JRPG end-game:
You spend a lot of your time in FFX-2 playing an assortment of mini-games—sometimes with only the thinnest veil of narrative justification—so you can get reap the rewards.
In one area, you match up monkeys of the opposite sex in hopes of overpopulating a temple. Pull it off and you get a text box notifying you of the accessory you received for your efforts. Where did the accessory magically materialize from?
Between the lack of much narrative justification for the side-content and the lax overarching narrative you’ll notice that FFX-2 feels distinctly game-y. That said, these mini-games are infinitely better (and more creative) than FFX’s frustrating selection.
The story is interesting when it ties how the returning characters related to the events of FFX, but the new stuff is a bust. But mechanically Final Fantasy X-2 is very interesting; broken, but interesting.
In a major departure from FFX, FFX-2 drops fully turn-based combat for a dynamic pseudo active-time battle system. With the exception of some of the bigger, flashier moves, most of the combat in FFX-2 takes place in real-time with actions occurring concurrently.
It is possible to time you attacks so party members strike in quick succession; creating a combo that adds a damage bonus to their attack chain. Or to grieve enemies in the preparation phases of an attack; forcing them to have to begin recasting over and over.
Battle is spiced up further by the ‘Dress Sphere’ system. Simply put, ‘Dresses’ are FFX-2’s versions of job classes. They can be changed mid-battle; changing your stats and skill set.
Play FFX-2 for 10 hours and you’ll find a way to use the Dress system so that you can run with through most of the game with almost no resistance. You are rarely in much danger in FFX-2; running from battle is quick and fail-proof. On top of that, Dresses that favor physical attacks are overpowered. Around 25 hours in I acquired the Assault ability which was like turning on ‘win-mode’; my party would tear through the enemies in a berserk/hasted-rage like piranhas in a feeding frenzy.
It’s a shame because there is more to the mechanics in FFX-2 than my modest explanation suggests. This version of FFX-2 has a monster capturing and training mechanic that brings even more customization to battle. There are even new Dresses that have never been seen in localized versions of the game; expanding customization options further. But unless you are intent on the end- and post-game content you won’t need to give these more than a cursory look; the game simply isn’t hard enough that you need to.
But don’t write FFX-2 off because it is broken. FFX-2 is fun because it’s broken. It’s made up of episodes that can be overcome with the right dose of ingenuity. Can’t beat a boss that keeps wiping you out with a massive spell? Steal all his MP; reducing him to an attack drone. Enemy attack waves overwhelming you? Put them all to sleep and turn them to ashes with magic. Minor alterations to the battle plan yield massive results. And FFX-2 makes you look good for making those alterations.
Speaking of looks, I found FFX-2’s HD remastering to be mixed. CG sequences are pocked with splotchy dark colors and battle-field load times haven’t seen much improvement over the Playstation 2 original. This was disappointing after seeing how FFX HD handled these areas.
FFX-2 HD does make up for it in other ways though: Character models are noticeably higher poly than those in FFX HD. And although there are still some framerate drops they are less frequent and minor compared to those in FFX HD.
Texture quality is also good, but inconsistent; areas that were also in FFX have reasonable textures but areas unique to FFX-2 display in glorious high resolution. FFX-2 HD mixes high and low poly characters in different scenes like FFX HD did, but unlike FFX HD the high and low poly models don’t look like completely different people, nor do they change jarringly mid-scene.
Sound is generally solid; stereo separation was good enough to make out seagulls passing overhead and I detected no crackling or other issues with sound playback. The only major problem was with the voice track being out of sync with the otherwise accurate lip-flapping. I’m not sure if this is a Vita problem or a side-effect from playing the game off slow proprietary memory cards. Consumers in the West are not getting the option of a physical copy so I hope that this is patched out soon if possible.
Special mention goes to the re-designed UI for being eminently handheld friendly. FFX-2 has a very busy battle screen but the balance between legibility of text and visibility of the battle field has been struck. The 2D elements in the UI also appear sharp and colorful; suggesting they have been carefully re-drawn from scratch.
The other major addition to this HD remaster is the inclusion of Last Mission; a rogue-like/dungeon crawler - a divisive addition to what is already a divisive game.
Last Mission is set after the end of FFX-2. The heroines of the FFX-2 are tasked with climbing a mysterious tower by an anonymous tipster. Intrigued and not even slightly suspicious of the identity or motives of their challenger, Yuna, Rikku and Paine decide to comply with the request…
…Yeah, anyway. Forget everything you know about FFX-2 as Last Mission is its own game.
You play as Yuna, Rikku or Paine, and scale the tower one floor at a time. Just as with FFX-2 you have Dresses that act as jobs but that is where the similarities between the two games end. Here your dresses also act like stackable armor with their own HP; of which you can wear 5 of at a time.
The Dress at the top of the list of five is the base dress; your current dress that allows you to use its dress specific auto-abilities (poison resistance, HP Regen etc). But gain enough experience and you will be able to use those auto-skills even when wearing the Dress as a secondary.
Each Dress also has its own stats so if you want to get stronger you will want to level the Dresses up. To do this you have to find (or create) another dress of the same type. So combine a Lv.1 Samurai Dress with a Lv.2 Samurai Dress and you have yourself new, more powerful, Lv.3 Samurai Dress to use.
Here is the catch though; if the HP of the dress you are wearing hits zero, it shatters; permanently disappearing and leaving you having to start a significant portion of the levelling process again; a kind of permadeath for your jobs.
In all likelihood you already know if you like this kind of game. And if you don’t Last Mission doesn’t offer much to change your mind.
In addition, it comes with a few issues that might put off many players who’ve never tried this kind of game before. The camera is double-reversed with no option to change. and the UI is a messy overlay of gaudy boxes.
The game also has a habit of reusing generic UI elements in a way that feels clunky; you’d think using the item to combine Dresses would bring up a brief list of the Dresses in your possession but instead you are asked to hunt through your entire inventory for them. Fiddling around in the menus is one of the areas where Last Mission fails to walk the line between imitative flattery of its retro inspirations, and just being outdated.
Still, even if you vehemently hate Last Mission with all your heart and soul it doesn’t detract from the value of the package in any way. And even if you only play through the core of FFX-2 once, you are still looking at around 38 hours of game time.
Final Fantasy X-2 HD Remaster is a hard game to sum up. It is has a variety of interesting mini-games but doesn’t deliver on where it promises. It surprises with a dynamic battle system that has a lot of customization and depth behind it, but isn’t hard enough that you need to really explore the details. And even its HD remastering is variably good or solid in some ways, but disappointing in others. But since Western gamers are going to be getting Final Fantasy X-2 HD along with Final Fantasy X HD, I guess you doesn’t matter how you feel about either way. Try it; you might like it, you might not.
Shehzaan Abdulla
Latest posts by Shehzaan Abdulla (see all)
- Legend Of Kay Anniversary Review - August 21, 2024
- Magnetic: Case Closed Review - June 1, 2024
- Path of Exile: Forsaken Masters expansion detailed - August 4, 2024
