

Square Enix, it seems, has also taken quite a bit of the XIII’s negative feedback to heart, producing a game that feels both streamlined and filled out at the same time.įF XIII-2 begins with Lightning staring out over the beautiful vista of Valhalla, before being attacked by a man named Caius wielding a sword roughly the same size as a tree because, well, that’s the sort of thing that happens at the beginning of a Final Fantasy game.ĭuring their battle, which wrecks large sections of Valhalla, a man named Noel Kreiss arrives. XIII-2 is every bit as eccentric as its predecessor and demands complete surrender from anyone hoping to appreciate its unique delights.

So there are a couple of conundrums: If you’re new to this genre or series, is Final Fantasy XIII-2 a good entry point? And if you’re a long-time fan of the series burned by XIII, should you give its sequel a wide berth?Īs is the way with Square Enix’s flagship JRPG series, the answers are rather complex. While the game has shifted well over 2 million copies, there’s been a vocal backlash against its linear structure, with many fans complaining that things didn’t really get going until the last few stages. It doesn’t help that FFXIII was divisive. Without having played its predecessor, diving into the plot of FFXIII-2 is like starting The Wire halfway through its third season – you won’t know what the hell is going on. Unlike other Final Fantasy games – whose worlds, stories and characters have no connection with their numerical forebears – Final Fantasy XIII-2 continues on from the storyline of Final Fantasy XIII, a game that took players the better part of 48 hours to finish and then rinse completely for extra content.

Final Fantasy XIII-2 is a name that prompts players to stack a laundry list of questions.

What’s in a name? In the case of Final Fantasy XIII-2, the answer is quite a lot, actually.
