With this groundbreaking new title from Square Enix, it breaks the ultimate law of all Final Fantasy games and it is the fact of Final Fantasy X-2 being a sequel. It has never been done before. There has been Final Fantasy Tactics that has run in the same vein as its predecessor but now this time, the new title picks up where the last game left off.

Two years have passed since the great destruction caused by the monstrosity Sin. All of the fearless warriors have now departed for some reason or another---Tidus and Auron have returned to their people, Wakkaba and Lulu have also gone off together, Kimari has returned to his tribe, Rikku has joined with the Al Bhed whilst Yuna has gone back to her village. It is in Yuna’s village that it all begins once again. The young and spunky Rikku comes to her and shows her a sphere with an image inside of Tidus, which of course immediately grabs Yuna’s attention and with Rikku, she goes with her and the rest of the newly formed ‘Sphere Hunters’ in search of the truth and her one true love.

Yuna, Rikku and the new comer Paine, join forces to fight with guns, swords, magic and an array of flash and designer dresses.

The introduction to the game starts with blaring 70’s like music, coloured beams of light and then Yuna coming into view as she begins to sing along to the funky tune with all of the air in her little cute lungs. It is all a little bit confusing as to the reason why she is actually doing any of this, not to mention the fact that Rikku and Paine soon jump into view and start to fight against her during the middle of the concert. Many people have commented on the fact that they do not know if they are playing a Final Fantasy game or watching an episode of Charlie’s Angels as the trio of gorgeous girls fight against the bad guys with this techno music in the background.

Straight off, the player instantly recognises that this is not the normal type of Final Fantasy game that they were expecting to get and they would be exactly right. The story is set in the same world as FFX, with its people, monsters and places, the battle sequences and format is the same, apart from the tweaks with the dress spheres, and that is all the similarity you are going to get.

There is a lot of confusion about who this game was actually marketed for and aimed at. To begin with, as all Japanese RPGs are, it was created with the Asian market in mind and then changed a little to satisfy the western taste. As for gender, they have been very clever with how they have set out this game. At first impression, it seems as though the game was marketed along the theme of ‘Girl Power’ yet at the same time, by adding in the skimpy dresses and having cute girls fighting in the first place, this automatically appeals to the teenage male and up. This in fact actually goes against the obvious aim, and apart from the girls doing the fighting and the variety of pretty dresses you can collect, it actually insults the female gender. From the original FFX, Yuna was dressed modestly in her white robes but now she is sparsely clad, Rikku now is more of a stereotype dumb blond and Paine cannot wait to let a bitchy comment slip.

It might seem at first as though the core elements of the Final Fantasy name are slipping but there is hope yet.

One big disappointment is how you play the game compared to that of FFX. Instead of having a linear like story line that you have to follow without any choice, FFX-2 gives you a lot of freedom to travel the world in the Sphere Hunter’s Airship. Whilst this is good in first light, it becomes a major problem if you rush through the game and try to make it to the end. In doing this, you are more than likely going to miss out on a lot of the storyline or other side stories that could add to your experience of the game. Not only will you pass bits of the story but you could also overlook a lot of useful items and more importantly ‘Dress Spheres’ that could help you level and power up your girls to fight at their best. This also hinders on the length of play. There are three possible endings to get when you complete the game and it all depends on the percentage of how you have worked your way through the game. The perfect ending obviously requires 100%, which can be very hard to get and a lot of work needs to be put into it. After you have completed the game there is an option to carry on and play through the game again with all of the items, levels and dress spheres that you collected through the previous game but it is a great hassle having to go through the game again to get the different endings.

As always, there are boring parts to the game but isn’t there always. The world within the game is huge and extensive but most of it is covered by your flight in the Airship. However, when you are within the areas of the world, they are very widespread and it takes a long time to get through them, making it a very painful task, especially when you are watching nothing but Yuna and her stupid run. Some of the more lengthy areas stretch on for what seems to be an eternity. As if Square Enix realised this half way through the making of the game, they soon put in machines that would transport you from one placed to another so that you do not have to cover so much mileage on foot.

Because of the open exploration option to travel to any location in the world by the use of the airship it means that the story is no longer the main focus point that drives the game onward. At each new location there are missions to complete that will have you going through dungeons or different terrain areas that are ultimately only their to strengthen you and give you an experience building side to the game.

There are some mini games too to add to the length of the game play but not many of them are good enough to rave about apart from ‘Via Infinito’. This works like many of the other level games, such as the fighting arena in FFVII. Starting with all of your current status for the three girls, you fight your way down through monster-infested levels and at every twenty you fight a boss. It is a good way to get experience and items to help you along in the main game and is the only mode to boast about.

The trio of girls are the only playable characters available to play with and despite the fact that they can change into many different costumes and use different weapons to fight with whilst in battle mode, it does not do much to compensate for the lack of others. After a while their stereotype attitudes will become dull and irritating with no other characters to spark off from like there was in FFX. Young Yuna will be her usual bland self with her quiet talking and cute giggles. Spunky Rikku continues to carry on with the dumb blond theme and her out going attitude to do anything that comes your way. Paine on the other hand is completely the opposite and cannot wait to say some kind of moody or negative comment, either against their situation or directly at someone. Throughout the game there will be involvement from some other main characters that might help you along the way but at the end of the day it is just Yuna, Rikku and Paine who have to get the job done.

Using the different dress spheres is what helps you along the game in terms of abilities and attributes. The skill grid is no longer present. Each one will give the player the ability to use some techniques and have different strengths in certain areas. The abilities that you have, even when learnt by the use of AP, will not stay with the character if the certain dress sphere is removed, which makes it pretty much pointless to learn the different moves.

Other moves such as Yuna’s gunshot, work well with the funky and fast beat to the pace of the game. Bullets will pump to the techno music in the background, Rikku is still blast happy with her grenades and use of items that you have within your inventory and Paine in her gothic outfits is more than eager to leap at her enemies and cleave them in half with her power strike. The system of the battling is exactly the same of that in FFX but at a lot faster pace with a quick and more real-time feel to it.

With a sequel to FFX, most people would begin to expect a big change in the graphics but to be honest, FFX is in such good shape that there could not have been much more of an improvement to make. In fact, in some ways it looks as though FFX-2 is a little bit under the weather but for the most of the game it is in brilliant quality. The characters themselves are all greatly designed with the different outfits and the detailed facial expressions are masterpieces in themselves. During battles the models motions are fluent and striking, not to mention the actual battle animation itself with casting magic spells, the gunfire of Yuna’s bullets or the slicing of swords and other edged weapons. Even those who are not playable characters, the people who only interact with you on just a talking level have still been paid attention to.

The wonderful designs do not stop there; everything else is carried on in brilliance with the FFX theme. The places, the people, the locations are all magnificently done and the attention to detail is carried out right the way through. All of the many wonders of the world are captured so brilliantly and are very enjoyable to travel and fight through as you progress through the game.

The storyline, although not to grossly involved if you do not visit every area, coupled with the stunning cinematic clips that are always able to come off in style blow you away. Seeing many amazing wonders and thinking to yourself if there really is a world like this out there somewhere, because it seems so real, it all enhances the epic like experience you get sucked into when playing any one of the Final Fantasy titles.

As with many of the Final Fantasy titles, the soundtrack for all of them have always been splendidly done and created brilliantly to fit the theme and mood of the game. Each soundtrack that has come out has been better and better. FFX-2, like a lot of the rules, laws and traditions of the Final Fantasy name, has changed that. Nobuo Uematsu has not been able to bless us all with his composing brilliance in this title as it has taken on a more pop like soundtrack to fit in with its funky theme and rapid action. In many ways this can make the game seem very bland as you listen to one techno tune after another and before long you are wishing to hear one of the more peaceful of musical pieces from FFX.

Despite the amazing sound effects within or out of battle, the voices are also very well done and the accents to fit with the many characters that span all over the world are spot on. They are sharp, clear and full of emotion and expression. Many of the same voices actors have returned from making the original FFX and everything clicks together. From the sound of flowing water, people chatting and machines whirring, everything adds up to make the world seem as real as possible and make the experience of living through Yuna, Rikku and Paine enthralling and captivating.

The basic truth is that no one likes change and whenever change is mentioned, people begin to panic. This is one of three examples of late where the Final Fantasy name has dared to venture into the areas of unknown---Final Fantasy Tactics Advance being one and Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles being the other. It is also the first time that they have made a sequel to one of their titles. There are a lot of changes in this game; some work for the better whilst others make you want to stop playing right there and then. In some cases, when you watch the introduction especially, you wonder why on earth it was that you even decided to buy this game in the first place.

In many ways the game is merely a waste of Square Enix’s time and that the story was very shallow and worn out. They could have used their resources to concentrate on other singular games like FFCC, which was commented on for being a bit poor in the game play department, that would have benefited from some extra work.

In terms of it as a game, it has all of the elements that it needs and although some things could be better, it is still very playable. The original thrill and excitement of it being a Final Fantasy game keeps you hooked until you have gone through all of the new dress sphere abilities and characters that were not in FFX. To all hardcore Final Fantasy fans, this game will be a must have just because it is a game under the name but also if you were very much involved in the story of FFX, then FFX-2 fills in and carries on with that. With more playable characters and a structured story line, then the game could be another one to define its genre but in its present state, it is no surprise that many have not enjoyed it. TR