Final Fantasy XIII-2
by
, 07-22-2013 at 08:06 AM (4520 Views)
I know, I'm quite behind the times. I've been playing this over the past week and have been pleasantly surprised. I remember being super confused by one of the mega trailers for it on PSN and that made me reluctant to try it. But when it went up on the store for just $20 well, who can resist.
I like the story. Sure it's not especially deep and as a given with time travel, the story suffers from some flaws and inconsistencies. But even with the flaws, I'm finding it enjoyable. It's entertainment, not a treatise on the human condition. It keeps me entertained and actively wanting to play it, and that's the important part.
I do like Noel a lot, surprisingly. He's not quite as over the top as some other characters, and I find him to be quite personable really. The fact that he's not super emo about his situation has a lot to do with it, I think, and makes him a good counterpoint to broody Caius. Speaking of, Caius himself is a relatable antagonist, which is pretty rare. The voice helps. He has a goal and for once it's not solely the destruction of the world for no reason. It's not a goal so much as it is a cause and while his actions are deplorable, it makes him heroic in his own way.
It's interesting how SE seems to be moving away from evil for evil's sake sort of villains and taking on some interesting questions about what defines good or evil. Sometimes it's a matter of perspective.
Anyway, I'm almost at the end of the story right now. I got my butt kicked repeatedly by Chaos Bahamut and I think a lot of the problem is that I haven't spent much time leveling up my monsters. Or catching good ones, for that matter. My Urdimmu has served me well for much of the game but it's time to upgrade. Right now I'm slowly hunting down a Green Chocobo, a Cloudburst and I haven't decided what to use for a sentinel mob yet. I might not even use the Cloudburst, I might go with whichever Chocobo is the ravager. The blue one? I also have a Behemoth to level. Just starting to get into really looking at infusing and how that all works. Probably should have done that sooner, but ah well. At least farming stuff is pretty easy at this level.