Why Final Fantasy X-2 May Be the First Final Fantasy I Don't Buy

by Howard Kleinman

As a long time fan of the Final Fantasy series I've put up with "change" on numerous occasions. I continued playing the games past the infamous bridge from Final Fantasy VI to Final Fantasy VII and still loved both games. I even loved the ever-controversial Final Fantasy VIII, despite extreme initial trepidation. I thought both Final Fantasy IX and Final Fantasy X were excellent games. Square has rarely let me down with the Final Fantasy titles, yet this one bothers me to no end. Why? Quite simply because Final Fantasy X-2 seems to be a game precisely engineered to run counter to everything I've loved about the series to date.

To date every Final Fantasy has been an original story. Final Fantasy X-2 steps on that tradition in every manner possible. But the bigger question is why not a Final Fantasy with more room for a sequel? Final Fantasy X ended with the major threat to the world utterly destroyed, with Tidus's existence seemingly extinguished with Shiva's Fayth promising him a "new sea in which to swim," presumably in the Farplane, and with the false religion of Yevon destroyed. Where's the room for the sequel? Take Final Fantasy VIII. At the end of that game Ultimecia's world would still come to pass. Her reign of terror would inevitably arrive. Making a sequel to Final Fantasy VIII would be much more successful as a story. Firstly, those who complained about lack of motivation for Ultimecia would certainly get a chance to find out more about her. Secondly, there is plenty of mythology in FFVIII that barely gets touched on like the lunar cries and the Great Hyne. There would be plenty of room to expand on these ideas. Final Fantasy X doesn't really have so many unanswered questions with its streamlined plot. How about a sequel to Final Fantasy VII. What DID happen to humanity after the meteor fell? Wouldn't it be nice to have a definitive answer to put the debates to rest?

Square chose instead to rehash the world of Final Fantasy X. Why? Because the world was already largely created and it would take far less work to create a sequel. While I understand how difficult it is to craft a game in 3-D, Final Fantasy games require no complex physics engines. There is very little that occurs in real-time in an RPG other than character movements. There's no need to determine how much damage an Aeon could do to a random rock wall since you can't summon an Aeon out of battle. Most of the in-game screenshots of the game seem to be images straight out of the original game. In Lunar 2, this was a wonderful way of creating a sense of nostalgia for the first game. But in Final Fantasy X-2, which only takes place two years later, it merely seems lazy.

Then there's the issue of the game's style. I downloaded the opening movie and I have to say that I've never been so stunned by such a silly display of CGI in my life. Yes, the artistry is amazing. (I wonder how many FMV's are in X-2. There seems to have been a decent amount of work put into them, as opposed to the seemingly rehashed environments.) But the idea of Yuna suddenly turning into a pop-singer is absolutely ludicrous. In first game Yuna was the sort of person who would think before she acted. She was generally, nervous but filled with resolved. This free-spirit version of Yuna is completely out of character for the serious young woman of Final Fantasy X. It's true that people can change over time, but after experiencing the events of Final Fantasy X, and after a mere two years, Yuna would NOT turn into a pop star. Rikku, maybe. Yuna, no.

Even without the silly concert, the shift in the character designs are ludicrous. Square seemed to have a desire to show as much skin as possible no matter how out of character it might be. From what I know of Yuna from Final Fantasy X, she wouldn't be dressed in such a manner. From what I've read about Paine having a Squall type personality, she wouldn't run around wearing next to nothing either. Again, it wouldn't be out of Rikku's personality, but was it really necessary to have a string of bows in place of sleeves on her outfit? It seems like Tetsuya Nomura desperately needs a vacation as his designs become more ludicrous with each passing game.

Then there is the issue of the music. Not one of the original composers from Final Fantasy X is working on the sequel. While Final Fantasy X had a beautifully epic score driven with intense percussion and some strong choral work, the sequel seems to be filled with lame techno back-beats and silly J-Pop anthems. It's as if the world of Spira has suddenly turned into a shoujo Anime theme park. I'm sorry, but a world devastated by Sin for a thousand years would not suddenly turn into an upbeat pop Disneyland.

Finally comes the ideas behind the story. When I first read a translation of "The Eternal Calm." I was horrified. It seemed like one of the worst Fan-Fiction pieces I'd ever read. Why would there be a New Yevon movement, when the whole of Yevon had been exposed as a fallacy? Further, the game seems to designed around the idea of reviving Tidus. Call me a tragic romantic, but Final Fantasy X's ending was absolutely beautiful. I hate it when games take away a character's sacrifice, especially when it was so wonderfully portrayed in the original game.

I know that many people will say "don't knock it until you've tried it" but the last time I knocked something before I tried it was xXx. And my insticts were utterly correct about that movie which seemed to be as much a sell-out/mauling of the James Bond franchise as Final Fantasy X-2 seems to be of the Final Fantasy franchise. Every previous game in the series seemed to have some sort of artistic intent behind it, as if someone NEEDED to tell the story because it conveyed something s/he believed to be of value. Final Fantasy X-2 seems to be a horrible sell-out meant to make a cheap game using a popular franchise and to hopefully expand its demographic to include shoujo fans and sex-fiends. You can stick this long-term FF fan in the "not-buying" category.