Synopsis
Despite its status as a direct sequel to Final Fantasy X, Final Fantasy X-2 offers several changes and deviations. The Conditional Turn-Based battle system has been dropped in favor of a fast-paced variation of the traditional Active Time Battle system. Instead of waiting for enemies to attack, it is possible to interrupt an enemy while they are preparing their attack, or chain the playable characters' attacks together for bonus damage. However, the same strategy can be used against the player's party.
Because the party never grows beyond three characters, the ability to switch out characters in battle is unnecessary; instead, the induction of Garment Grids and dresspheres are utilized. A Garment Grid is a geometric shape with nodes on it; the nodes are slots that can be filled with dresspheres, character classes (a.k.a. "job classes") similar to those seen in previous Final Fantasy titles such as Final Fantasy V. The Grid-sphere system allows characters to change from one character class to another during battle, and allows the player to decide which job class each character will have at any given time. Each dressphere has a smaller list of abilities than the characters and classes of most role-playing games, meaning that job-switching is often advantageous or necessary in some battles. Furthermore, each Garment Grid adds various bonuses, such as new magical abilities, increased stats, or other forms of combat assistance. Finally, each character has a unique dressphere, which can only be used if she changes between all her allocated jobs during the course of the same battle.
The field-map system has also been upgraded, providing the player with extended interaction with the environment through jumping, climbing and rotating camera angles. Moreover, the field-map is still dominantly three-dimensional.
Players are able to visit almost every location in Spira from early in the game, via an airship—another major departure from normal Final Fantasy fare, in which the most efficient means of transportation is not obtained until late in the game. These two changes provide players the option of choosing a less linear storyline. Unlike Final Fantasy X, in which the player's course through the game's world was largely linear, Final Fantasy X-2 is almost entirely freeform. The game consists of five chapters, with each location featuring one "event" per chapter. Put together, the five "events" in one locale form a subplot of the game, called an "Episode". Only a few "events" per chapter are integral to the game's central plot, which are marked on the world map as "Hotspots" ("Active Links" in the Japanese version). By accessing Hotspots only, the player can quickly proceed through the game's story without indulging in sidequests. However, the game also keeps track of the player's completed percentage of the storyline, which is increased by finishing "events" and "Episodes". The completion percentage determines a significant portion of the game's ending; a higher percentage yields a more complete ending. Additionally, the game also features a fork in the plot, allowing the player to make choices that change what scenes they see and percentage points they acquire. It is not actually possible to see all of the game's content on a single playthrough, though it is possible to achieve 100% storyline completion in a single playthrough. When the game is completed for the first time, it unlocks a New Game+ option that allows the player to start the game over with all of the items, Garment Grids, dresspheres and storyline completion percentage achieved previously.
Source: Wikipedia - Final Fantasy X-2
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Information
Developer:
Square Enix
Publishers:
 Square Co., Ltd.
 Square Enix
Platform:
Sony PlayStation 2
Medium:
1 DVD
Release Dates
March, 13, 2003
November 18, 2003
 February 20, 2004
Box Art
- US -
- Japan -
- International -
- Europe -
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