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[Squire]

Sadly, most people misjudged the game based on the beginning parts. It's really great. Battle system aside, which I've written tons of words about already and is well-covered by other people as well, I also really like how the game tackles the subject of how people who have never known anything but constant fear from the threat of Sin will deal with their newfound freedom and comparatively carefree future. Some people complain that they don't like what happened to some of the areas from FF10, but it's pretty obvious that you're supposed to be uncomfortable that, for instance, Zanarkand is now a theme park. But it's fairly realistic -- given the opportunity, respected and revered sites are exploited.

I just think it's really cool, and not an angle you get to see in many games.

Piling on to this. X-2 is super awesome and fun in every way I think. It doesn't take itself too seriously as a story, but it still has some interesting (dare I say, genius) twists on the norm we still don't see repeated today. The bolded is driven home by the opportunity you're given at Zanarkand to confront Cid. The game doesn't get credit for stuff like this when it really should. Change is strange and often uncomfortable; that's what X-2 is all about.

I'm glad you went back to it, OP. I think it's gonna be excellent on PS4 in a few weeks.

 

[ShdwDrake]

This is what i always say.

 

[Kain]

I liked some of the story tidbits, but what I liked the most was the option to skip cut-scenes.

The game itself is a blast, but the cinematics, oh hell no.

 

[Hours Left]

It's a really great game. A total breath of fresh air for the series and incredibly fun to play.

 

[chrominance]

I think everyone else has mentioned all the interesting bits about X-2's combat system and storyline, so I'll just come in and say that the idol sequence at the beginning of the game is not only awesome, it's what sold me on the game. It's goofy as shit and the song is catchy. Final Fantasy had this reputation to me for being overly serious (no thanks to playing XIII as my intro to the series), and the idea of one of the mainline games using a Charlie's Angels-meets-Spice Girls intro to set the tone was exactly what I wanted out of the series at that point. Hell, Final Fantasy could use more X-2s.

 

[Dragner]

The pinnacle of the FF battle system. Battles in this game are amazing, better of the series BY FAR.

Everything else is terribly flawed sadly.

 

[MMarston]

I remember when the

Spoiler

hot springs scene

happened and I was all like

Yeah, the fanservice stuff definitely didn't do much favors in getting interest among non-fans.

 

[KiteGr]

FFX was incomplete (or at least it had lots of incomplete parts). It sadded me that instead of completing it in the western, international or HD editions, they only added more super bosses, and some of them screw your ability to backtrack.
FFX-2 was designed to sell strategy guides. (some requirements for the good ending are ridiculously impossible to guess)

Yet, while I liked the story of FFX much more than the one of FFX-2, the second had obviously the superior combat system.

 

[ss_lemonade]

I may be alone in not really liking the combat too much, but its possible I'm playing the game wrong. Once I reached the part where you have to jump down holes in the shrines, my characters started struggling. I also spent a lot of time trying to max out some jobs, thinking I would get something in return from doing so (kind of like FF V) but nope, nothing. I guess the battle system revolves around you switching jobs a lot and to really plan ahead, which is nice but I kept having problems where it felt like the atb was sluggish. Its almost like some of my commands would get delayed or something, because something else was happening at the same time (an enemy was attacking, someone was casting, etc).

I don't know, I thought it was FF X fatigue because I started playing it right after beating X (both vita versions) but I have been stuck now for months. I guess I have to sit down and learn the game more because I really want to beat it.

I really wish loading was better too after battles. What's up with that random load delays to tally up exp points? Is it a vita only problem?

 

[FlutterPuffs]

Sadly, most people misjudged the game based on the beginning parts. It's really great. Battle system aside, which I've written tons of words about already and is well-covered by other people as well, I also really like how the game tackles the subject of how people who have never known anything but constant fear from the threat of Sin will deal with their newfound freedom and comparatively carefree future. Some people complain that they don't like what happened to some of the areas from FF10, but it's pretty obvious that you're supposed to be uncomfortable that, for instance, Zanarkand is now a theme park. But it's fairly realistic -- given the opportunity, respected and revered sites are exploited.

I just think it's really cool, and not an angle you get to see in many games.

huh.

This sounds good. How does it play on the vita?

 

[MaverickHunterAsh]

Nice to see FF X-2 getting some much-deserved love. It's a great game with an excellent battle system, an interestingly realistic scenario, and one of the darkest, most sincerely troubling stories in the entire series, though you wouldn't know it at first thanks to the poppy/girl power/Sailor Moon-esque exterior and initial presentation.

I loved everything about it, though, even the much-maligned presentation. It was a fun, experimental breath of fresh air for a series that tends to be at its best when it experiments with genre conventions. I adored FF XIII-2 for many of the same reasons.

I'm still really hoping we get FF X-3 someday.