"Final Fantasy XIII-2": Initial Impressions

I should get one thing off my chest, before we get into this: I hate JRPGs, so, by extension, I hate “Final Fantasy”. There’s never been a game in the series I’ve tried that hasn’t made me want to dynamite Square’s offices. After snagging a copy of this game and playing it for a few hours, though, I can state one thing with certainty: this game will probably eat your life. It just won’t be for the reasons the developers intended.

First, to address complaints commenters have brought up: no, this isn’t just one long, winding corridor. Right from the start, the game encourages exploration, and there are lots of side quests, games within games, and so on. I haven’t fully unlocked the game’s key conceit yet, namely that you can hop around between different eras at any point in the game, but there’s a lot to explore and a lot to do.

Which is good, since the main quest is, if anything, even less compelling and more forgettable than “Skyrim”‘s. Who the hell is “Lightning”, and why should I care about her? I’m having a hard time caring about humanity, with this game. Also, haven’t we, as a society, grown past crap like Moogles? Seriously. They’re not cute.

Also, menu-based combat has not gotten any less annoying, although so far, the combat does at least require a lot of strategy.

We’ll have a full review on Friday, but, as of right now, if you like JRPGs, meet your new drug.

image courtesy Square Enix