Honestly, one of my favorite Final Fantasy games. It’s a bit of a confusing mess at times but for some reason, emotionally it all makes perfect sense. Serah and Noel are both compelling protagonists that you can’t help but root for through it all because of how simple and effective their character arcs and stories are. They both just trying to find the people most important to them as they navigate time travel and the responsibility of that power.

The game refines and improves on the mechanics in XIII pretty well and essentially cuts the bullshit when introducing it to the player. I could tell that the devs were actively trying to address the critiques of XIII, and within the constraints of a lower budgeted sequel to a game that no one really expected or wanted, I think it’s as perfect as it can be.

I can only imagine the kind of game this would be as its own beast on the scale of a mainline FF game. Maybe a story that’s truly allowed to go all loose with it’s time travel ideas and maybe a higher difficulty. What does exist however, is still one of the most fun I had playing a game as a kid. Maybe I didn’t know what was going on the whole time but I think I’ll never NOT have a good time with this one.