Final Fantasy XIII-2: Familiarity Is Not So Bad

If you were hoping for Square Enix to completely change direction for Final Fantasy XIII-2, I think you are going to be disappointed. As the "-2" suggests, this is a direct sequel to Final Fantasy XIII in more than just the name. The demo for the new game plays almost identically to a level of the original with only a few exceptions. It features a few familiar faces, but does show off an entirely new hero. As someone who enjoyed Final Fantasy XIII (Oh look. A link), I was pleased to at least discover a few small changes to the game when I tried out the demo at E3.

The entire party in the demo consists of characters which are newly playable in Final Fantasy XIII-2. If you saw the trailer and were disturbed by Lightning's new outfit or have grown bored of her character, you'll be pleased to find out that she is M.I.A for the entire demo and everyone apparently thinks she is dead. A new hero named Noel takes her place. Serah, Final Fantasy XIII's cutest non-combatant, appears to be XIII-2's leading female. A Flan also joins the combat team for some reason, and a Moogle provides advice to the heroes. Some of the supporting characters in Snow's gang appear in the theatrical trailer, but they do not join your party so far and Snow himself is noticeably absent. In fact none of the Final Fantasy XIII heroes appear in the demo.

Final Fantasy XIII-2 has a few new technical additions, which are built around largely identical gameplay. The effort to sneak around enemies in order to achieve a preemptive attack is visualized in the Moogle Clock. It functions more as a meter than a clock. It starts as yellow to indicate a normal battle and turns green if you are behind an enemy enough to get the jump on them. As in the previous game, this instantly staggers the monster and makes taking them down much easier. If the Moogle Timer runs out and turns red, the monsters get a back attack, and start the battle with the advantage. It is still possible to avoid monsters altogether, but I found it more difficult than in Final Fantasy XIII.

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The battle system in XIII-2 still mainly involves switching Paradigms and those shown in the demo are nothing new. They have added quick time event sequences, during which the hero Noel runs up and does a predetermined set of attacks against a boss monster which fail if the player misses queues to hit specific buttons. Other than that, combat still is a matter of using Ravagers to increase the Stagger Meter, a Commando to keep it from decreasing quickly, a Sentinel to guard against powerful monsters, and Medics whenever the party runs low on hit points. Whether or not you enjoyed this combat the first time around will largely determine how much fun this sequel will be for you.

The exploration in XIII-2 is slightly more robust than in the original. Considering that demos are generally very linear to begin with, it is very difficult to judge, but some backtracking and optional paths were included. It is a good sign. You encounter a set of puzzles at one point, which I believe fit into the McGuffin-like story element characters refer to as a Paradox. Puzzles involve finding a non-intersecting path through all of the spots with crystals as panels fall out from under you. The first one was so easy that I got overconfident and made a stupid mistake on the second puzzle. In general the puzzles featured in the demo are not rocket science, but I expect more to be found in the full release. Given Square-Enix's propensity for ridiculous end-game content, it seems likely that there will be some extremely large and difficult puzzles in the final product.

Final Fantasy XIII is well known for it's breathtaking cinematic visuals and fast paced, if simplistic, battle system. It's sequel adds little more than the trappings of some puzzles and slightly enhanced combat systems. If the linearity and long running time seemed tedious to you, then Final Fantasy XIII-2 is something you probably won't find too exciting. However, if you are a fan of the series, or find eye candy, long cut scenes, and amazing views irresistible, then more of the same will be gold to you.

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