This review contains spoilers
Final Fantasy XIII-2 thoughts – Aggressive Mix
Look, I got very into the Lightning Saga and this is the game that tipped me over the edge. I bought all the novels, got a copy of XIII-2 with the light novel/la. I have a print of Lightning looking out over the crystal pillar. I have a Japanese FFXIII themed limited edition PS3 on my eBay watch-list right now. I defaced my PS3 Slim with a Final Fantasy XIII logo sticker. I collected every trophy in XIII-2 and Lightning Returns. (XIII has so much grinding for weapon upgrades oh my god).
So what did I love about XIII-2 so much? I think it was the pared down party, focusing the story on Serah and Noel, and the exploration concept. Despite following a guide for the platinum, I found navigating the different worlds and their timelines enthralling. The ripples of your actions changing the future in meaningful ways kept me hooked, excited to backtrack. Collecting monsters to round out your party and designing paradigms around them was a joy, especially tracking down all the differently colored chocobos. My Golden Chocobo with the COM role was unstoppable.
FFXIII-2’s soundtrack has some of my favorite music in the trilogy. I loved learning that it was the game director Momotu Toriyama’s goal to “have a sound that’s unlike the typical Final Fantasy style”, I believe they excelled and I love the range of genres featured. The ballad ‘Noel’s Final Journey’ perfectly matches his era; a lonely, empty wasteland sitting at the end of time, juxtaposed with hopeful lyrics – and I love Akiko Yoshida’s vocal performance. Crazy Chocobo is a just a fun singable ear-worm, worth burning the Gysahl Greens to listen. Full Speed Ahead has an unreal, groovy rock fusion breakdown. Caius’s Theme and Heart of Chaos give me chills akin to One Winged Angel. Sincerely a soundtrack full of regular rotation songs.
And I love Mog.
I’ll need to revisit sometime to play the DLC Colosseum battles.
https://www.destructoid.com/exclusive-meet-final-fantasy-xiii-2s-sound-team/
Look, I got very into the Lightning Saga and this is the game that tipped me over the edge. I bought all the novels, got a copy of XIII-2 with the light novel/la. I have a print of Lightning looking out over the crystal pillar. I have a Japanese FFXIII themed limited edition PS3 on my eBay watch-list right now. I defaced my PS3 Slim with a Final Fantasy XIII logo sticker. I collected every trophy in XIII-2 and Lightning Returns. (XIII has so much grinding for weapon upgrades oh my god).
So what did I love about XIII-2 so much? I think it was the pared down party, focusing the story on Serah and Noel, and the exploration concept. Despite following a guide for the platinum, I found navigating the different worlds and their timelines enthralling. The ripples of your actions changing the future in meaningful ways kept me hooked, excited to backtrack. Collecting monsters to round out your party and designing paradigms around them was a joy, especially tracking down all the differently colored chocobos. My Golden Chocobo with the COM role was unstoppable.
FFXIII-2’s soundtrack has some of my favorite music in the trilogy. I loved learning that it was the game director Momotu Toriyama’s goal to “have a sound that’s unlike the typical Final Fantasy style”, I believe they excelled and I love the range of genres featured. The ballad ‘Noel’s Final Journey’ perfectly matches his era; a lonely, empty wasteland sitting at the end of time, juxtaposed with hopeful lyrics – and I love Akiko Yoshida’s vocal performance. Crazy Chocobo is a just a fun singable ear-worm, worth burning the Gysahl Greens to listen. Full Speed Ahead has an unreal, groovy rock fusion breakdown. Caius’s Theme and Heart of Chaos give me chills akin to One Winged Angel. Sincerely a soundtrack full of regular rotation songs.
And I love Mog.
I’ll need to revisit sometime to play the DLC Colosseum battles.
https://www.destructoid.com/exclusive-meet-final-fantasy-xiii-2s-sound-team/