Final Fantasy XIII-2
I like Final Fantasy XIII because it was a significant change from previous Final Fantasy installments and to be honest I enjoyed every aspect of it. Possibly what I liked the most about it was how the game ended, it was bittersweet in that some people are returned to you and some are dead-ish. Sacrifices must be made and they weren't totally F'ing stupid deaths (imo) either.
Cue FFXIII-2 intro, 'oh hey you know all that stuff from the end of XIII HAHA GOTCHA!", talk about a way to piss off the players who actually LIKED XIII. Ok so yeah they hit the retcon (imo) button and rebooted the world like a Tenchi anime, Fine I'll play because well why not. Combat was similar enough that I had no qualms with it, although having the pets did limit your options for paradigms since your third slot you could only have three available at a given time you just had to change some of your tactics and roll with it. Then there is the meat of the story, Goddamnit Hope is the biggest baddass in the freakin game WTF. Then there is Noel, F that guy, seriously.
You finally get through the game and get to the end and it is just goddamn terrible. It ends up being the middle book in a trilogy that is strictly a bridge between the first and last books which each had distinctive endings. It gives you NO resolution, leaves you with a retarded number of questions, and everything is just seriously fracked. Oh but there are multiple endings you say, touted by Square as being awesome? Let us check these out, they are approximately equivalent to abortion versions of Chrono Trigger endings. Just let that sink in a bit. I would describe their stupidity in detail but I wouldn't want to spoil it for anyone. Just know they are all worse than the main ending (and this is saying something).
Ok, so we have a game that ruins the ending from its predecessor, and then has a terrible main ending, and multiple terrible 'side' endings. Lets add an extra ending through DLC YAY! Ok I'll bite I want to know what has been happening to my characters from the first game that have by and large disappeared off the face of the multiverse. Sazh is looking for his son, and his DL is a single extra game at the casino. It forces you to play casino games to finish his section which just ends up being dumb. Snow's DLC is just arena matches which at least is ok and his story is equally as pointless. Then there is Lightning's DLC which was supposed to be the important one, I have no words to describe this particular mini-game but the 'extra' ending goes as follows. You were screwed before you even started trying so haha I got what i wanted and you all fought for nothing. I was hoping for something of import, something real, something that would explain that everything (including buying the game and DLC) wasn't just a waste of my goddamned time.
LOLNOPE!
So you have a game that is fun to play, with some sidequests and monster collecting which FFXIII lacked pretty much any sidequests, that just ends up being a complete waste of time. But then you can buy DLC that sounds like it adds to the story but really all it truly is, is some mini-games with no meaningful addition to the storyline itself. I hate this game FAR more than any other game I have ever played, EVER, period. I cannot think of any other game that has infuriated me quite so much (while still being fairly enjoyable to play) than this.
I forgot to mention that this game has seriously made me think about not buying another final fantasy game ever? Even though XIII-3 is shaping up to potentially be an interesting Kingdom Hearts/Crisis Core type game I just don't want to give square more money after the travesty that XIII-2 was. I think if FFXIII-3 gets 90% or higher ratings I will consider buying it, mostly to see if they do anything good with the story but past that... I don't even know if I will buy FF XV whenever it comes out. XIII-2 hurt my Final Fantasy soul and its mark will forever scar my heart that has loved Final Fantasy in its many itterations over these many years.
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