Final Fantasy X-2

[zurich]

So what do ya'll think? So far I think its fairly good. The demo on the OPSM disc really made me think twice about picking it up, but I've been surprised thus far.

Some thoughts:

-The lack of Nobou Umatseu really sticks out like a sore thumb. Easily the worst battle music of any FF game. I'm about 5 hours in and 1 in 5 BGM tracks is 'alright', with the rest plain sucking.
-The non-linear-yet-still-having-a-strong-story route seems to be working alright.. I still prefer a linear story, but this should atleast make a few people on this board shut up
-The dress/garment grid system is pretty neat actually, if confusing at first. I still prefer the sphere grid, but this isn't nearly as bad as say, the Junction system from VIII (shudder).
-The ATB system is alright, even if it does come off a little 'messy'. For some reason your PCs and the mobs are randomly tossed on the battle screen, instead of the typical FF 'my side, your side' battles. So you can have 1 enemy behind Yuna, another 6 inches from Rikku, and another across the screen from Paine (who rules btw). I don't really see the point of this, and it just makes things look confusing and disorganized, while making the animations seem worse than they really are. Oh, the combo system is pretty cool too.
-While still using the FF X engine, Squenix seems to have cleaned things up a bit. The texture aliasing is still there, but IMO not as bad as X's. Also, it seems the LOD system has sorted itself out, as (atleast to me) the high LOD models seem to be used more often than the low LODs that plauged FF X. It almost seems like the flicker filter has been tweaked some too, as everything has a soft blur to it.. not distractingly blurry, but decent enough to hide the hideous aliasing some Oh, and the lipsynching is totally off again btw :?

I doubt I'll enjoy it as much as X, but for a completely recycled game, it's surprisingly good. If you liked X, you'll like X-2, and if you hated X, you'll love X-2, as it seems to 'fix everything people hated about X' (read: non-linear gameplay)

Oh, and if you're one of those heterosexual types, you'll appreciate the skimpy outfits

edit: I actually Otaku-ed out and bought the deluxe hardcover Brady strategy guide + artbook (which I never, ever do). I'm actually really glad I did, as because of the totally non-linear gameplay, you really need to have a guide or FAQ in hand, otherwise you'll end up missing important story bits.

 

[Almasy]

Zurich, can you detail a bit more the graphical aspect? I read on IGN that the game runs at 60 fps, is this true? Also, how is the animation? Glad to know about the LOD system. One question, do the low-detail models look as bad as FFX´s low-detail models? Or is there a more consistent look where characters look better for the most part?

It´s just that sometimes it was really disturbing in FFX to see an incredibly detailed character model in one scene, only to see that the other three/four characters that look pretty bad in the same scene. Or an immediate switch between high and low detail models in the same scene. Has this been improved upon?

 

[maskrider]

I am not Zurich but I do have the game.

To me, animation is nearly the same (i.e. not very good), and the game doesn't look like it is running at 60fps.

Can you give examples on where that LOD problems occurred ?

 

[zurich]

Zurich, can you detail a bit more the graphical aspect? I read on IGN that the game runs at 60 fps, is this true? Also, how is the animation? Glad to know about the LOD system. One question, do the low-detail models look as bad as FFX´s low-detail models? Or is there a more consistent look where characters look better for the most part?

It´s just that sometimes it was really disturbing in FFX to see an incredibly detailed character model in one scene, only to see that the other three/four characters that look pretty bad in the same scene. Or an immediate switch between high and low detail models in the same scene. Has this been improved upon?

Well, the new character models look great.. Rikku, Yuna, Paine (Paine looks awesome). The hair and cloth animation is MUCH improved. Remember how Lulu's hair seemed to bend in one or two places? This has been fixed up nicely for Rikku's new dredlocks hehe. The cloth animation is much nicer too, even in battles. The 'tertiary' characters, like Brother, Rin, etc, still have one low LOD model and generally look like shit. The returning characters, like Lulu and Wakka, have the exact same models from FF X, with not a single touch up (see Lulu's hair, mentioned above).

While they're still using a LOD system, the models just look nicer. For example, the low to mid LOD flow much nicer than in X. I'd go so far as to say that it's tough to spot which is mid and which is high in some scenes. So no, its not as dramatic.

I've never been much of an FPS whore so I can't really comment on the framerate, but I guess its the same as X? The new animations are nice as well, but characters still stop and rotately slowly whenever they need to turn The shakey-model-glitch (something about using PSOne gemoetry compression?) from X isn't as bad either, but its still there.

I think as a stand alone game I'd have some more serious issues with FF X-2, but seeing as its 95% regurgitated, I'm pretty impressed with what they did. I seriously miss Nobou Umatseu though, ugh!!

 

[zurich]

I am not Zurich but I do have the game.

To me, animation is nearly the same (i.e. not very good), and the game doesn't look like it is running at 60fps.

Can you give examples on where that LOD problems occurred ?

Mask,

IMO there's more varried animations. Like in X, Tidus had his single hand waving gesture whenever he talked... in X-2 there seem to be alot more specific animations for specific circumstances. So while it's better, its still not great. For me, the biggest standouts are the more consistent LODs and the much much better hair/cloth animations.

 

[maskrider]

I am not Zurich but I do have the game.

To me, animation is nearly the same (i.e. not very good), and the game doesn't look like it is running at 60fps.

Can you give examples on where that LOD problems occurred ?

Mask,

IMO there's more varried animations. Like in X, Tidus had his single hand waving gesture whenever he talked... in X-2 there seem to be alot more specific animations for specific circumstances. So while it's better, its still not great. For me, the biggest standouts are the more consistent LODs and the much much better hair/cloth animations.

I mean the motions than the subtle animations, the motion is still very unnatural. Get them to move smoothly and I will be happy even without the subtle animations.

 

[Blade]

I'd be surprised if FFX-2 ran at 60fps, considering how good it looks.. and the fact of the matter is that it's 30fps.

Apparently slowdown to ~15~fps occurs, but primarily if not entirely in just the Gunner's Gauntlet.

 

[passerby]

Just my preference. But to me, the Nobou Umatseu influence has gone on for too long, and I am feeling bored. I have the FFX OST, and whenever I hear some of his tracks, I just go "I've heard something like this before many times", and it becomes less interesting. My favorite tracks in the OST are actually those that were not done by him. I think it is good for new blood to take over.

 

[maskrider]

Should be "Nobuo Uematsu".