So the Final Battle expansion adds a new chapter to the story mode which goes over a decent amount of season 3 of the anime among a few other things which I'll get to later.
Firstly the new story is good, however compared to the base game's story it is fairly weak for a few reasons. Reason 1: It's very short, each of the previous seasons in the game would be nice and long with a lot of detail thrown in there with every cutscene being beautifully animated whereas the season 3 story feels as if it skips over a few things, especially with the royal family stuff in the first half of season 3. Also only about half of the story is actually animated as a 3D cutscene, the other half shows the story in a picture book format akin to Sonic and The Black Knight, I really was not a fan of these and would often end up skipping these cutscenes. Instead of going through the little hub worlds to go from mission to mission where you could also interact with all different characters and do fun side things you know only have a linear menu to access the next mission which is pretty boring but at least the menu itself is very easy to navigate and looks very aesthetically pleasing. Instead of playing with your custom character in the story you take control of the anime characters themselves, especially Levi. Levi becomes the new main character of the game with you being forced to play as him for the majority of the story missions which isn't really that upsetting because who doesn't want to play as Levi? Especially in the mission where you have to fight the Beast Titan and it's just like the anime where you swing from Titan to Titan slaughtering each one as you get closer to Beasty and the misson where you face of against the Kenny Squad in the city where it's just you against like 100 squad members.
Speaking of missions, as short as the story is it for sure has some standout missions and some new enemies to boot. You face off against Kenny Squad with their Anti ODM gear which means they can zip around just as fast as you can and they can shoot you from a distance which makes them very formidable especially in large groups, it's a nice change of pace from the regular big and slow Titans. Also a very unique boss fight against the massive Rod Reiss titan where you go through different stages of battle is one of the most entertaining boss fights in the entire game including the base game. However, I will say there is one mission in the story i actively disliked where you have to escort horses from side of the map to another, it doesn't sound so bad right? there are a few escort missions in the base game and they're fine, while yes that is true, these horses are from Hell. They keep running off into the opposite direction and they get stuck on the slightest invisible wall and then you have to restart the entire mission, it took me 5 attempts just to get it done, did not like that mission. Every other mission is very enjoyable though.
Some new twists to the gameplay have been added which I quite enjoyed, You can know access the Anti-Personnel ODM Gear which is the ones with the guns that Kenny Squad uses, these new weapons do definitly take a little while to get used to after using just the regular ODM gear for the whole game but once you figure out how to utilise them properly they can be quite fun with the different manoeuvrability mechanics and the different types of ammo you can use from explosive to electric to smoke, the Anti ODM for sure keeps things interesting on the battlefield but more often than not i would rather stick to the regular ODM, but that's just me sticking to what i've stuck with for the whole game. you know also have the ability to acquire "Showdown Equipment" by helping characters out on the map who are in danger, Showdown Equipment is basically an ultimate weapon, depending which version of the ODM gear you are currently using your Showdown Equipment will change, if you are using regular ODM then you can use the classic Thunder Spears which are excellent for clearing massive crowds of Titans in one go, but not so great for one on one fights with bigger boss Titans. And if you have the Anti ODM gear then you get mini gattling guns strapped to your arms which are great for focusing on individual parts of big boss Titans and obliterating them. So both weapon variations have their own strengths and weaknesses and the ability to change them mid battle if you reach a supply base allows you to strategize even more around your current mission.
Your custom character is noticeably absent for the majority of your playtime with this expansion which sucks because your custom character was one of my favourite aspects of the game, HOWEVER, this expansion fixes one of my main issues with the base game which is post game content, the expansion adds ALOT to do when you beat the main season 3 story including mini side story missions to do where you play as side characters like Sasha and Hange which are pretty fun but the big boy addition, which you will honestly probably spend most of your playtime with this expansion playing like i did, is the new Territory Expansion gamemode. In this gamemode we are back with our custom character (if you want to you can pick other characters to play as in this mode but i missed my CAC) and we make our own custom regiment outside of the Scouts and etc and you are given your own base of operations. Once you've picked a character and set up shop then you can go on different expeditions outside the walls with each expedition having different objectives and different characters to meet, the more expeditions you do the further and further outside the walls you can go and you gather materials to build up your base with new buildings and weapons and you get different characters from across the AOT series to join your regiment so they join you in battle. This mode is incredibly fun and it's always a good time when you come across one of your favourite characters and recruit them into your new regiment.
Overall this is a really solid expansion with some solid additions, however if this was the entire game it would leave me wanting more... BUT IT'S NOT, this is an expansion to an already full game. You put these two together and you get one of the most amazing Attack on Titan experiences you could've asked for. AOT 2: Final Battle is one of if not the best anime game out there and I highly recommend it to anyone.
Now all we need is a sequel which covers the entire show with your custom character keeping to their key role instead of dipping after season 2, some more fleshed out playable Titan gameplay and maybe the ability to make your own titan? and we would have a perfect game. I hope we can get something close to that soon.
Firstly the new story is good, however compared to the base game's story it is fairly weak for a few reasons. Reason 1: It's very short, each of the previous seasons in the game would be nice and long with a lot of detail thrown in there with every cutscene being beautifully animated whereas the season 3 story feels as if it skips over a few things, especially with the royal family stuff in the first half of season 3. Also only about half of the story is actually animated as a 3D cutscene, the other half shows the story in a picture book format akin to Sonic and The Black Knight, I really was not a fan of these and would often end up skipping these cutscenes. Instead of going through the little hub worlds to go from mission to mission where you could also interact with all different characters and do fun side things you know only have a linear menu to access the next mission which is pretty boring but at least the menu itself is very easy to navigate and looks very aesthetically pleasing. Instead of playing with your custom character in the story you take control of the anime characters themselves, especially Levi. Levi becomes the new main character of the game with you being forced to play as him for the majority of the story missions which isn't really that upsetting because who doesn't want to play as Levi? Especially in the mission where you have to fight the Beast Titan and it's just like the anime where you swing from Titan to Titan slaughtering each one as you get closer to Beasty and the misson where you face of against the Kenny Squad in the city where it's just you against like 100 squad members.
Speaking of missions, as short as the story is it for sure has some standout missions and some new enemies to boot. You face off against Kenny Squad with their Anti ODM gear which means they can zip around just as fast as you can and they can shoot you from a distance which makes them very formidable especially in large groups, it's a nice change of pace from the regular big and slow Titans. Also a very unique boss fight against the massive Rod Reiss titan where you go through different stages of battle is one of the most entertaining boss fights in the entire game including the base game. However, I will say there is one mission in the story i actively disliked where you have to escort horses from side of the map to another, it doesn't sound so bad right? there are a few escort missions in the base game and they're fine, while yes that is true, these horses are from Hell. They keep running off into the opposite direction and they get stuck on the slightest invisible wall and then you have to restart the entire mission, it took me 5 attempts just to get it done, did not like that mission. Every other mission is very enjoyable though.
Some new twists to the gameplay have been added which I quite enjoyed, You can know access the Anti-Personnel ODM Gear which is the ones with the guns that Kenny Squad uses, these new weapons do definitly take a little while to get used to after using just the regular ODM gear for the whole game but once you figure out how to utilise them properly they can be quite fun with the different manoeuvrability mechanics and the different types of ammo you can use from explosive to electric to smoke, the Anti ODM for sure keeps things interesting on the battlefield but more often than not i would rather stick to the regular ODM, but that's just me sticking to what i've stuck with for the whole game. you know also have the ability to acquire "Showdown Equipment" by helping characters out on the map who are in danger, Showdown Equipment is basically an ultimate weapon, depending which version of the ODM gear you are currently using your Showdown Equipment will change, if you are using regular ODM then you can use the classic Thunder Spears which are excellent for clearing massive crowds of Titans in one go, but not so great for one on one fights with bigger boss Titans. And if you have the Anti ODM gear then you get mini gattling guns strapped to your arms which are great for focusing on individual parts of big boss Titans and obliterating them. So both weapon variations have their own strengths and weaknesses and the ability to change them mid battle if you reach a supply base allows you to strategize even more around your current mission.
Your custom character is noticeably absent for the majority of your playtime with this expansion which sucks because your custom character was one of my favourite aspects of the game, HOWEVER, this expansion fixes one of my main issues with the base game which is post game content, the expansion adds ALOT to do when you beat the main season 3 story including mini side story missions to do where you play as side characters like Sasha and Hange which are pretty fun but the big boy addition, which you will honestly probably spend most of your playtime with this expansion playing like i did, is the new Territory Expansion gamemode. In this gamemode we are back with our custom character (if you want to you can pick other characters to play as in this mode but i missed my CAC) and we make our own custom regiment outside of the Scouts and etc and you are given your own base of operations. Once you've picked a character and set up shop then you can go on different expeditions outside the walls with each expedition having different objectives and different characters to meet, the more expeditions you do the further and further outside the walls you can go and you gather materials to build up your base with new buildings and weapons and you get different characters from across the AOT series to join your regiment so they join you in battle. This mode is incredibly fun and it's always a good time when you come across one of your favourite characters and recruit them into your new regiment.
Overall this is a really solid expansion with some solid additions, however if this was the entire game it would leave me wanting more... BUT IT'S NOT, this is an expansion to an already full game. You put these two together and you get one of the most amazing Attack on Titan experiences you could've asked for. AOT 2: Final Battle is one of if not the best anime game out there and I highly recommend it to anyone.
Now all we need is a sequel which covers the entire show with your custom character keeping to their key role instead of dipping after season 2, some more fleshed out playable Titan gameplay and maybe the ability to make your own titan? and we would have a perfect game. I hope we can get something close to that soon.