So as the world was waiting for XII and the vast majority of the world still waiting to be able to get online with XI, Square decided to buck their trend and release the first direct sequel to a Final Fantasy title. Unfortunately the dream of a sequel to VII wasn’t delivered (that comes in the form of DVD/PSP-movie Advent Children, folks) and Square decided to opt for a game a bit more fresh in people’s minds, which gives us Final Fantasy X-2. If we were a cynical lot we would accuse Square of making a quick buck and, lets face it, money would be involved. However as Square say, they are tired of creating a new game universe with the characters, story and graphical system only to scrap it after one game and many years of work.

Camp. That is one word that forms in your mind when you start to play this game. The poppy musical intro, being introduced to three young women with their names flashing up in bright, bold fonts and dresses and skirts revealing a lot of computer-generated flesh. Yep this game can be camp but the political war of the two fractions also brings a serious side to it as well so it’s not all fun and games. That said this is a very fun, tongue in cheek kind of game that may or may not please people who expect another deep and involving RPG.

There is a whole new battle system to the game to make things a bit different this time round. The Active Battle System is a lot speedier than the turn-based mechanics of the previous instalment. In the battle a metre will show up on screen both for the enemies and the girls which means that you will need to select your moves quicker than before or else your enemies could be taking chunks out of you before you even law a blow to them. Your bar will also show your attacking ‘charging’ with some attacks being speedier than others its important to choose wisely in case you are left charging an attack too long and an enemy is able to get at you. Other tactics come into play where you can chain attacks so they inflict greater damage and even stop an enemy from making a move when hit at the right time. At first it can be daunting when you need to select your moves quickly but soon it becomes as easy as anything else to pick up in the game.

Pictures of Final Fantasy X (PS2)

Meet Paine....she's very chirpy

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Game length depends on how you play. You can quite easily complete the main quest by only going to the Hot Spot points and be done with the game in around 15 hours, a small amount compared to other titles in the series. However by doing this you will miss out on a vast amount of the game. When you take into account all the other missions you can do as well as hunting around for dresspheres and completing other min-games then you can quite easily double that and whack on another 10 or so hours for a full completion. Speaking of completion the game will keep a tally of the percentage of the game you complete. A bigger percentage will normally yield a better ending and coming back to the point of the just sticking to the main quest you will only have a 45% or so completion rate so you can tell how much other content is in the game. For you completists out there who wont be able to rest properly until you get that elusive 100% rating then you will need a strategy guide of some kind. There are so many little things that add to your percentage that can be overlooked that it is nigh on impossible to know everything you should do.

For the first direct sequel to the series of games X-2 is a commendable effort. People may have wanted more change and some will not be best pleased with the ‘girly’ storyline and action but it does well to mix in enough new stuff with the old to make it an enjoyable game. It may not be as epic as Final Fantasy X or indeed any other Final Fantasy out there and the importance of side quests is even more apparent than before but X-2 remains addictive, fun and a good way to pass many hours of your gaming life.