{"id":32372,"date":"2012-02-15T01:04:25","date_gmt":"2012-02-14T23:04:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mygaming.co.za\/news\/?p=32372"},"modified":"2012-02-15T01:47:38","modified_gmt":"2012-02-14T23:47:38","slug":"final-fantasy-xiii-2-review-xbox-360","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mygaming.co.za\/news\/xbox\/32372-final-fantasy-xiii-2-review-xbox-360","title":{"rendered":"Final Fantasy XIII-2 review (Xbox 360)"},"content":{"rendered":"

I consider myself to be a pretty big Final Fantasy fan. My journey into the world of Final Fantasy started with number 8 – strangely lambasted by much of the FF community as the worst of the series – and loved it so much I tried the rest.<\/p>\n

I loved them all.<\/p>\n

Even as the series evolved into more contemporary gameplay – disregarding ATB in X; going all Charlie’s Angels in X-2; and moving into seriously open-world revamped mechanics in XII – I was along for the ride, and continued to love the series.<\/p>\n

Then came Final Fantasy XIII. Despite its linearity and almost hands-off gameplay (not to mention its often brutal difficulty) – it told a cinematic masterpiece of a story – with characters you could really get behind, functioning in a world that made sense in the cohesive universe the game established.<\/p>\n

Though twisty and turny, and sometimes a bit confusing – by the end of things, you had a clear focus, and knew exactly what needed to be done; and everyone walked away smiling.<\/p>\n

Well, forget all that – because that’s what Final Fantasy XIII-2 expects you to do.<\/p>\n

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We're not in Kansas anymore<\/p><\/div>\n

Disregard that<\/h3>\n

Final Fantasy XIII kicks off 3 years after the fall of Cacoon (3AF) – despite what we remember, Lightning didn’t make it out of those events, and is presumed to have sacrificed herself along with Vanille and Fang in keeping Cacoon from smashing into Gran Pulse by forming the crystal pillar.<\/p>\n

Presumed, of course, by everyone except her sister Serah – who remembers events happening the way we do, and is having vivid dreams of Lightning fighting an oppressor in some strange location.<\/p>\n

Of course, that’s exactly what’s happening: Lightning is in Valhalla, the land beyond time and death – and the oppressor? XIII-2’s bad-guy, Caius Ballad.<\/p>\n

During their epic battle, Lightning manages to rescue a lost time-traveller, Noel Kreiss, whom she tasks with finding Serah and bringing her to Valhalla because she needs her help; and so begins a journey through time and space that makes very little sense. Ever.<\/p>\n

Noel finds Serah by arriving through a paradox (oh yes), convinces her to travel with him – which they accomplish by solving the paradox (still with us?) and subsequently hitting different eras to resolve the paradoxes that have opened up –\u00a0 so that they can restore the timeline and reach Lightning in Valhalla.<\/p>\n

And that’s the easy part of the plot to grasp.<\/p>\n