After many years of people begging, pleading and whining, Square finally released a Final Fantasy sequel that continues with the same world and characters. Final Fantasy X-2 has been out in Japan for a while now, and it's been doing brisk business, with over 2 million copies sold. To put that number in perspective, that means around half of the people that bought Final Fantasy X also bought its sequel.

"Why so low?" you might ask yourself. The answer to that is easy enough. While everything will look familiar, Final Fantasy X-2 is by no means a direct sequel as far as plot and mood are concerned. The game oozes fun, and anyone who approaches it without keeping this in mind will probably be annoyed.

The demo on show at E3 has two sections. The first involves use of the new jump feature, which allows you to traverse terrain like never before. This feature is implemented very well, with very smooth and quick animation as Yuna climbs up and jumps down ledges. The setup for the first section is a mission that you're assigned. That mission: To beat an opposing team up a winding path to the top of a cliff for a showdown with a boss. The battles are ludicrously easy, as Square Enix made sure that all your characters are many levels above any of the enemies faced in the brief demo.

The second portion of the demo is much more straightforward, and basically consists solely of a throw down with longtime Final Fantasy creature, Bahamut. Again, the battle was easy, but, as in the previous half of the demo, the aim is to allow you to familiarize yourself with a new feature: the Dress Sphere system. It looks a litte like the Sphere Grid from its predecessor, just much smaller. There are six different classes available to each of Yuna, Rikku and newcomer Paine. Once a new class is chosen, the character will undergo a dress change to one more befitting of the new class. This menu is accessed via the L1 trigger, and it can be done at any time during battle.

It's clear that Final Fantasy X-2 is not to be taken seriously. The girls are scantily clad and there are as many flesh shots as would be allowed before it became distasteful. The demo, though short, at about 15 minutes, is a blast to play. I just wonder what impact this constant frivolity will have on the story, and, if it's too light in tone, whether anyone will even be very concerned with it. I guess we'll just have to wait and see. Final Fantasy X-2 is currently on track for release in North America in the fall of 2003.