Oh, the fact about them adapting that young fan's art for the Festivalist class is so wholesome, I love that they drew the Moogles like an 8 year old would.
Aww, that's beautiful! Congratulations on your wedding! 😭 If I ever get married, I would like to use "Cloud Smiles" from FF7 Advent Children or "Melodies of Life" from FF9 as my wedding walk out song.
This was the game that tought me that gamers can have really Big opinions and that sometimes it's ok to just ignore all the noise and enjoy what you enjoy. Also, that opening scene? Iconic.
Same man. Me and my older brother adored this game and it even led me to my career path. I still fondly remember playing the music cutscenes over and over again in high school while drawing girls in elaborate clothing Our friends that didn’t like it were welcome not to, me and bro had a blast
I was half asleep one night when "What can I do for you? DONT YOU GIVE UP ON IT!" Started playing in my head. I'm now convinced that these 2 opening songs could be mixed and layered into 1 dope song!
X-2 is my favourite FF. I played this first when I was a 12 year old little girl and the girl power and pop music really appealed to me at the time, especially as back then many main characters were guys. I had tons of playthroughs on PS2, and got 100% without a guide but through trial and error over 11 playthroughs. I eventually made it. It’s much easier now with all the guides
Absolutely agree! I played it when I was 14 and it absolutely drew me in. It felt like it was a game with such good girl power - and I loved the story between Paine and the 3 guys. It brought a new dimension to the world that other characters have backstories. Also my favourite combat system by far! Amazing job to 100% without a guide! 🏅
I can't even 100% this shit with a guide. My bad I didn't watch the cutscene of a balloon rising, that's 35 hours down the drain I love the game though, I vividly remember playing it back when it came out
I found it as a 11 year old boy and the pop music and girl power threw me off and I was just like, is this what final fantasy is? What’s going on? But I just kept playing and ended up loving the game and going back for ffX after
FFX-2 does not get the credit it deserves for giving Yuna such AMAZING character development… one of the best if not the best in the entire series. yes she has changed but THAT is the point! It was a natural progression after what she went through in X. The game was her journey of self discovery, and finding her purpose and identity outside of being a summoner more than anything else, as well as learning to go through life after the loss she went through in the first game. Her progression was very human and very relatable. It fleshed her out in such an amazing way.
I feel alot of ppl forget that Yuna litterally lived and breathed to be a Summoner. She never expected to live beyond beeing a Summoner she probably felt no need to evolve any kind of style personality or anything before ffx happenings. So its only natural for her to explore herself once she realized she can live now. You can also notice Yuna sort of looking at Rikku and copying her to try evolve her own personality more in ffx-2.
@@snowycho6351 Amen to this, Yuna personality feels like an ode to Tidus influence on her. She is curious, bubbly and hopeful living in a world were there is an eternal Calm, in which she probably never imagined she could have experienced. Part of the point of the game is too see how the world is trying to be happier and finnaly enjoy life, that also makes sense with their corny situations, they all were so grim that some interactions tend to be awkward, but I love it non the less.
I loved it! But people were mad cuz she went from "wholesome sage to slutty gunner". Which is a very surface level observation. If you think about it, it makes sense that she'd be more open after years of a sheltered religious life.
Love X-2, fantastic combat system and I actually think the story makes for a good sequel, maybe a bit unnecessary, but good nonetheless. Also, that last part sure made laugh, I can imagine the scenario: Kitase: How about "X-2" Square: I dunno, sounds too complicated Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days Square: Yeah, that sounds right to me
It was a fun girl power adventure with some emotional moments but the combat was fire. Really fluid and every ability was useful when strategising. There is a huge intentional contrast between a lot of the soundtrack that’s very interesting.
The only problem I had with the combat is having to cycle through the dress sphere. To be fair though, I was a big fan of having to cycle all the characters in in 10 either.
@@jaredadams8069 Then turn off the dressphere changes to short or off... nobody likes the long animations every time, do yourself a favor and fix those settings
@@ubergamer2010 even with no animations I think it's annoying to proc the nodes on the garment grid to get buffs or exclusive abilities each fight, it's one of the very few things that annoyed me in X2
I will always love X2 because of the ridiculous amount of camp that is saturated through the story. This game has its own personality because FFX was so anti-camp, playing everything very seriously and somberly.
it's just fun. like 1960s Batman but an interesting thought about the contrast you mentioned.. X was gloomy and somber (anti camp), because of sin and the unsent, and everything was awful for literally everyone. but then they beat sin and fixed all that. so X2 was campy, maybe to show how the world's spirits had been lifted and everyone was trying to enjoy life and be happy. just a thought. I still hated every second of every cheesy part lol but if it was an artistic choice, then that's pretty cool. gameplay is where it's at anyway
@@Justin-td2er Even if it is not a masterpiece, I'd say the contrast is beautiful. Coming from a somber atmosphere of Spira in times of Sin, to a post-Sin Spira where people are trying to enjoy their life, without the constant fear and suffocation of a "god" trying to punish them. It is cheesy, fun, and I adored the dynamic between the main cast, during my adolescence I always wished to have friends like out main trio. The story is not great, but it is nice even for Yuna, who I feel most of her bubbly personality and her interest in different thing is an ode to Tidus influence on her. I dunno man, it is subtle but beautiful. Gameplaywise is still my favorite system, you never get bored of the combinations and possibilities. And just a quick reminder that the Prelude song, is AMAZING.
Yep people only hate it because of the opening cut scene with the pop singers. If there was any other cut scene there it would be considered a great game
I actually did think 10-2 was 12 when I was a young boy getting in FF for the first time. I think this actually helped me decide to get it easier since I didn't know it was a sequel. Lucky for me, it ended up one of my favorite RPGs ever.
Same haha. When character kept referencing past events and claiming to know me I was like… This seems off. Am I supposed to know these people and places?? Does my character have amnesia or is this a sequel? Lmao Then the opening of the game with LeBlanc being an imposter didn’t help lmaoo
Hopefully now you have cut all judgemental people out of your life. Those who cast judgements, especially over harmless things, like a boy liking a 'girly game' are morons and only bring suffering to their own lives and all who they come into contact with. The moment someone starts with criticism. Either they are getting threw out of my house, or I'm finding the door and taking myself out of bad company. 😂
Without being all "back in my day" I remember borrowing this game from my local library as a kid. Had to do the obligatory walk to the library once a week to check it back in and immediately back out again until I beat it. Wonder if libraries still do free video games these days (it was a very small collection and only text heavy based games). I suspect not but being an early teen with a small allowance that place was great for the odd JRPG/RPG gem. And books of course.
I still don't understand why they don't explore more of the worlds they create with a method like this. Ivalice, Spira and the trilogy of 13 are still my favourites of all the games, especially that last one, the ability to travel through time in 13-2 and see how the world changes from your actions is just genius. I would have loved to see more of the lore behind each of those worlds in some sort of follow up but alas it wasn't meant to be.
Ivalice has an entire sub section of final fantasy under the banner of "The Ivalice Alliance" it even got some content in FF14 Online as a series of raids.
This game is a guilty pleasure of mine. I was fresh outta high-school. I played all the older final fantasy. And with all the free time I had and no money. I found it at a pawnshop for a couple of bucks. I just wanted to play some final fantasy. But I really loved it.
Man, that tidbit about the Yuna and Rikku Editions reawakened memories in me because I remember that news getting out and people making mock up box arts for the two versions of the game.
Im not really a fan of X-2 and will probably never play it again personally, but the story of the festivalist job is the most wholesome thing i've heard all day. Imagine being that little girl and getting to see what you made in the game, for a kid thats something you never forget.
Despite not particularly enjoying the drastic change in tone for the narrative and characters personalities, I still think this game was the peak for turn-based battle systems. Combat was pretty incredible in this game.
To be honest I played FFX-2 wayback high school because I had a biggest crush on Yuna and was very heartbroken about the ending of FFX. So I played it but got a little dissapointed because her face and looks are different. I was also confuse with the story of Shuyin and Lenne the first time. But after playing it I finally accepted and love the game. It's like playing Sailor Moon and Charlie's Angel in the form of Final Fantasy. Besides I really love the intro soundtrack which is Eternity-Memory of Lightwaves. I looped it everytime I played the game. God I miss those days
While I enjoyed FFX-2 one of my biggest gripes with the game was the change of background music for the different areas of Spiral. More specifically the Zanarkand Ruins, due to the change of the field theme I usually spend little to no time at all in the Ruins, which is a shame because it's one of my favorite places to go to in Spira
The reasons people disliked the thought of x2 were: 1.) Yunas "personality changing" along with her wardrobe. She was trying to find herself without Tidus and former guardians guiding her (minus rikku). Personally i found it fit the storyline. I understand peoples disappointment about her outfit but honestly i like it regardless. 2.) The feeling wasn't like it was in x, of course its not. It's during the calm, after sin, after war. Everyone is trying to figure out how to live without the fear of sin coming back. 3.) Brother... I understand but I awkwardly laughed during most moments. Just wish they wouldn't have made them cousins.... the story wouldn't change at all if he was a friend like buddy. 4.) The battle system, which I understand BUT in settings you can change the ATB. The fault I see in the game?? Making winning sphere break be part of 100% completion... I'm not good at math especially under a time limit... 😕 That's my pet peeve.. like xs chocobo race and other ways you have to get their weapons. So... infuriating 😆😭🤣😞
I think it's a good thing they didn't do an auron, braska, and jehkt game. One of the big issues with prequels is alot of the tension and suspense gets lost when you know EXACTLY how it ends. It puts pressure for it to be exceptional. With a sequel anything can happen and that gives the team more creative freedom
On the connection with VII, I saw on Reddit somewhere of someone pointing out that the gorge where the battle with sin took place before, near the calm lands, looks like the gorge that Red XIII and his cubs are seen running through in the end of VII.
I honestly prefer X-2 over X, don't get me wrong, i like both titles, but X-2's story and themes resonated with me a lot more. It's a story about saying goodbye to a departed loved one, and also a story about not forcing changes within one's self. Definitely one of my favorite video games of a time.
man if this game had a fire story, it would probably be my favorite FF of all time. the gameplay is so damn fun and I love the way you master abilities and dress spheres. and the secret ultimate dress spheres we're actually dope af
As a kid when I first discovered this game and even looking back at it all these years later I loved it and still do, to me it was “I love FF10 and I want more content” and this is how I view FFX-2 and it’s still fun to play and it gets bonus points for giving us the best trio in gaming
I LOVED the dress sphere system. Currently playing the HD Remaster of this. I wanna play Lightning Returns since it looks similar with the dress spheres.
LR definitely takes a few elements from X-2 gameplay and is better for it. It's pretty much the only decent thing about the game since everything else feel like a fever dream lol
Yeah, I absolutely loved the difficulty of the game. Starting in Chapter 3, you start facing a ton of enemies with instant death attacks and powerful defenses. It really forces you to strategize carefully. Of course, the International/HD version of the game is almost comically easy once you start using its monster capture system.
Wow, that 2 different versions idea kind of makes sense. I bet in the Rikku version, it would have been easier to get the true outcome (crimson sphere reward) for the highroad mission. I actually kind of wish they revisited the idea but oh well.
I have fond memories of this Era of FF, and square in general. I used to sit down and record the cg cutscenes with my erricson brick phone and watch them with my friends at school. 1000 world's and especially the cg intros of kingdom hearts were just emotional roller-coasters.
Regarding the music, I feel like X-2 has been the only FF game without Uematsu to have a truly bangin soundtrack. It feels just as emotional as X's soundtrack was to me, despite sounding vastly different. But it still captures the exact same energy and mysticism of the first game. They are an absolutely beautiful duo of game soundtracks.
I personally think the 10 and 7 connection is incredibly weak and I personally just say its not canon cause like. Cmon. You mean to tell me they traveled to another planet, started harvesting the life force of the world, then just somehow lost all the tech and ability to use the space travel stuff and no records of their history before landing on that planet? I like the idea of them sharing a system like the farplane vs mako and how the different worlds interact with it, one being more reverential and the other using it as a resource at least.
I never got far with FFX. Playing the sequel as it's own thing was incredibly fun. Can't say the same for the FF13 sequel tho. It's so painfully dif and chaotic. I wish I hadn't played it directly after 13, maybe I would have had some fun
I'm fine with Lulu being reused even when pregnant, not all women have big pregnancies. I was 7months and the hospital staff took more than an hour and half to realise I was pregnant. And when you take into account the world time that gets passed between the beginning and end of game it's easy to see the characters may have missed the last couple of months of pregnancy where women tend to show more. Anyways love the game and great content.
Canonicity is boring. If you have an interesting theory that improves the game for you enjoy it instead of being overly worried about canon. When I was a kid i got weirdly obsessed with the idea FF4 was the distant past because the Cetra's name could be a combination of Cecil and Rosa's name and I created this giant mythology around it that tied them together. I played them both dozens of times and it was really fun and immersive. Also Square Enix thinking westerners are too stupid to understand how sequel titles work while also letting Nomura name Kingdom Hearts games in such a way Kingdom Hearts 3 is like the 9th game in that series cracks me up. I love Nomura and his excessive creative decisions so I'm glad they let him it's just funny in hindsight. (Besides FF7 Remake but I'm still interested to see what he does.)
I liked how light hearted FFX-2 was. It was fun seeing the world change and the people having more fun. The political side of the story was really well done. My issue is mostly with Vegnagun and Shuyin.. completely unnecessary and has a lot of plot holes and continuity errors
With your mention of FF Unlimited, I'd love to see a video from you guys about FFU or The Legend of the Crystals, considering how little content there is about these long forgotten animes.
I really appreciate the covering of this game. It was pivotal for me growing up as a young girl. This game meant so much to me for them to move away from male driven content. One of the very few games I've played over many times
So, I really, *really* like the gameplay of Final Fantasy X-2. The girl-power kind of Charlie's Angels type energy through a lot of the first and second chapters didn't really do a whole lot for me and I thought overall the story was a lot weaker than X's, but overall it was a pretty good game. Did I mention the gameplay is *really* good? ATB at its peak. Fun fact: I actually played X-2 before X. I wanted to rent a Final Fantasy game because I had just beaten VIII...but my local store didn't have X in stock. Just X-2, so I settled on the sequel. Boy was that a fever dream lol
I sometimes wonder if they're waiting on FFX-3 for FFVII Remake to be compleated because they're doing more to expand on the connections between the two games. Maybe FFX-3 will be Shinra/Fareplane/Mako centric tying Summoners into the ancients? I think that would be a great avenue to get back to the initial tone of FFX.
The game really did have a unique way of changing “characters” mid battle… that I never used once I acquired my endgame dress spheres: Dark Knight, Alchemist and Lady Luck. Hell… quite a few of the garment grids offered buffs for switching spheres mid battle, and I still didn’t use it. In my opinion, FFX should have been left as a single game.
I just wish that the equipped dress spheres were rendered in game and in cutscenes. Always so jarring seeing the basic outfits when you're maining a specific sphere for hours on end.
What I found interesting about X-2 was despite the game's largely lighter and more comedic tone than X, the threat posed to Spira by Vegnagun was more immediate and of a greater scope than Sin.
Thats funny because FF7 and FFX both are at the very least equal in terms of gameplay X having slighty better story 7 having the better villian, but both having a host of cool characters, I wonder what would happen if you combined the 2 in an J-RPG game to have all characters meet and have upto 6 in battle at one time with the ability to switch out.
I'd have love to play as the Braska trio but it definitely was not going to be too exciting. It's basically Yuna's journey without the massive detour and change of heart. The gameplay would've been Braska basically playing like Seymour as a Guest, Jetch combining tidus and wakka, and Auron being Auron again. Guests are certainly possible (Kinoc an occasional guest could work for example). But in all it would've definitely felt like a limited rehash of the journey. That's said, it been long enough that they could do a full on prequel with updated combat (please no ARPG, make it ATB).
The gameplay of X-2 was an outright triumph! You can even see it slight influences in Lighting Returns (different outfits having different power) and XV/7R (changing weapons/tactics mid-battle). It's kinda amazing how good the soundtrack was without his involvement. It worked out solidly. X soundtrack is superior but X-2 is special in it own way. The story was... fine. I always felt the critics were too harsh. Could it have been better, definitely. But there was enough moving parts and interest to make it decent. Does make me wonder what they could've done with a new team though. One thing sorely missing was a sort of brand new town/area or improving old locales. Kilika Island was amazing to see as a thriving area. But It's kinda sad that we dont see anything changed with Besaid or get to explore Bevelle proper instead of just "underground".
I absolutely loved this game growing up from the music to the combat and even the story. It was my second FF game after 10 so still fresh in my mind. In saying that this seems like a good place to announce the Hill I die on with this game, With Maechin being a black mage, Not a sage or scholar. Just something he calls himself due to his life long endeavours into the Historical realm. But when you get the sphere for Black Mage and it shows him, My mind kept being reminded of the Songstress sphere holding Memories of Lenne and so, Music. With that one holding memories with Maechin and then going further to say any Sphere holding memories can be used as a way to implant abilities or whatever else in those who have a sphere grid who can utilise the technology for it. Hence a very loose idea why some classic jobs couldn't be apart of it, There just wasn't any spheres recorded of certain people or around them long enough to have the memories used like that? I dunno, Just a really small thought pattern I ended up with at some stage and just never let go of :/
This was my first Final Fantasy game that I ever played. I was a huge fan of anime and Kingdom Hearts and this game caught my eye at the video rental store because it had really pretty anime girls on it. I had no idea what Final Fantasy was at the time, so I had a hard time with the game mechanics and the turn-based style of the game. I also had no idea what the story was about because I hadn't played X. But I loved it. I loved the fact that they characters had pretty clothes and they could change them during battle to give them different powers. It was so cool. And the opening theme was badass.
I've played this game for over 2000 hours and there isn't much idk about it. What I find amusing is that neither the writers, the producers nor the media make a connection between Shuyin and Tidus. And why Tidus was never mentioned by name in-game. The connection is obvious but, why so loose with the idea that Tidus was the dream aeon of Shuyin brought into being by the dreaming fayth?
I love X-2. Its such a fun game. Love the dress spheres and all the story as well. I replay X and X-2 every couple years. I do want a X-3 but not if they break up Yuna and Tidus. X, X-2, VIII, and IV are my favorites. The number one, being which I am playing at the time.
The story was alright, though nothing to write home about. It wasn't bad, but I think I'd still enjoy a Braska's pilgrimage story over this one. The music was good. The battle system is what brought me back a few times.
I was very disappointed at the end of FFX and was pretty happy when I heard about X-2. I bought it right when it came out but when I watched the intro J-pop scene I just couldn't do it. I played for about 2 hours and I sold it back to GameStop.
FFX was better overall but I sank way more hours in FFX-2 than FFX. It was really fun grinding the Oversoul and maxing dress spheres. My favorite part of this game is Trigger Happy and Catnip on all the characters.
People crap on X-2 for the Charlie's Angels aspect of the presentation. It bugs me that folk ignore the fact that it was a good game because of that. It holds a place in my heart, being a lifelong fan of turn based RPGs.
Original story was literally what I wanted, the story of Braska, Auron and Jecht. Instead we got spice girls who somehow turn everything in comic relief, bending the laws of reality to make the story as light hearted as possible. While also breaking set rules/history/the way things work from the previous game. I really hate how we will never get the prequel story of Braska, Auron and Jecht. The story that could have made the series come full circle, pulling at your heart as you already know the inevitable sorrow that's coming. But also seeing the journey they went on, the things they experienced. And the possibility of revealing answers to questions we had in X, but were never given closure.
I hate with such passion the argument Kitase gave regarding why a X prequel was a bad idea because it only had male characters in it. - So having only males is bad but only female is good ? Back then we had no idea the power of weebs was this big so that's not an argument. - XV (and I guess VII CC) was (were) male only. - There's legit no reasons to not add female character(s) to a prequel cast, actually. It is well known that Yevon manipulates and lies about History, Braska was disliked by Yevon for marrying an Al Bhed, but as he defeated Sin, he became one of their champions, they could've easily added a female character, likely and Al Bhed or whatever, that was disliked by Yevon and Yevon just decided to erase that name from History because it wouldn't fit, now you might say that it would be well known if Braska had more guardians/people with him, just remember that it was 10 years ago, Spira is big, and most people didn't know Braska was even married to an Al Bhed to begin with.
My favorite game and the first ff I won. I honestly think that they should bring this battle system back with the Jobs/transformations and everything. beautiful story and gameplay.
Oh, the fact about them adapting that young fan's art for the Festivalist class is so wholesome, I love that they drew the Moogles like an 8 year old would.
I know this isn't related to FFX-2 but I just got married two days ago and To Zanarkand was my wedding walk out song 😊
Congratulations to you! That is actually really awesome, may your marriage life be filled with gaming joy.
@@authenticmaniac thank you! Let the wife pick every other song but our walk out song I was like "this is none negotiable" 😂
That's song is so good, I like it so much.
Aww, that's beautiful! Congratulations on your wedding! 😭
If I ever get married, I would like to use "Cloud Smiles" from FF7 Advent Children or "Melodies of Life" from FF9 as my wedding walk out song.
Congrats, That was a good choice
This was the game that tought me that gamers can have really Big opinions and that sometimes it's ok to just ignore all the noise and enjoy what you enjoy.
Also, that opening scene? Iconic.
Same man. Me and my older brother adored this game and it even led me to my career path.
I still fondly remember playing the music cutscenes over and over again in high school while drawing girls in elaborate clothing
Our friends that didn’t like it were welcome not to, me and bro had a blast
Please tell me you became a sphere hunter! 😂
Fucking iconic bro
I was half asleep one night when "What can I do for you? DONT YOU GIVE UP ON IT!" Started playing in my head.
I'm now convinced that these 2 opening songs could be mixed and layered into 1 dope song!
This is facts
X-2 is my favourite FF. I played this first when I was a 12 year old little girl and the girl power and pop music really appealed to me at the time, especially as back then many main characters were guys. I had tons of playthroughs on PS2, and got 100% without a guide but through trial and error over 11 playthroughs. I eventually made it. It’s much easier now with all the guides
Absolutely agree! I played it when I was 14 and it absolutely drew me in. It felt like it was a game with such good girl power - and I loved the story between Paine and the 3 guys. It brought a new dimension to the world that other characters have backstories.
Also my favourite combat system by far!
Amazing job to 100% without a guide! 🏅
I can't even 100% this shit with a guide. My bad I didn't watch the cutscene of a balloon rising, that's 35 hours down the drain
I love the game though, I vividly remember playing it back when it came out
I found it as a 11 year old boy and the pop music and girl power threw me off and I was just like, is this what final fantasy is? What’s going on? But I just kept playing and ended up loving the game and going back for ffX after
FFX-2 does not get the credit it deserves for giving Yuna such AMAZING character development… one of the best if not the best in the entire series.
yes she has changed but THAT is the point! It was a natural progression after what she went through in X. The game was her journey of self discovery, and finding her purpose and identity outside of being a summoner more than anything else, as well as learning to go through life after the loss she went through in the first game. Her progression was very human and very relatable. It fleshed her out in such an amazing way.
I feel alot of ppl forget that Yuna litterally lived and breathed to be a Summoner. She never expected to live beyond beeing a Summoner she probably felt no need to evolve any kind of style personality or anything before ffx happenings. So its only natural for her to explore herself once she realized she can live now. You can also notice Yuna sort of looking at Rikku and copying her to try evolve her own personality more in ffx-2.
@@snowycho6351 Amen to this, Yuna personality feels like an ode to Tidus influence on her. She is curious, bubbly and hopeful living in a world were there is an eternal Calm, in which she probably never imagined she could have experienced.
Part of the point of the game is too see how the world is trying to be happier and finnaly enjoy life, that also makes sense with their corny situations, they all were so grim that some interactions tend to be awkward, but I love it non the less.
I loved it! But people were mad cuz she went from "wholesome sage to slutty gunner".
Which is a very surface level observation.
If you think about it, it makes sense that she'd be more open after years of a sheltered religious life.
Love X-2, fantastic combat system and I actually think the story makes for a good sequel, maybe a bit unnecessary, but good nonetheless.
Also, that last part sure made laugh, I can imagine the scenario:
Kitase: How about "X-2"
Square: I dunno, sounds too complicated
Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days
Square: Yeah, that sounds right to me
Honestly X/2 would've probably been less confusing than X - 2
@@NoraNoita not in the west
@@NoraNoita X*2, X/2 would imply a prequel.
That last scene with Yuna and Tidus seeing eachother again pulled on some old emotions.
It was a fun girl power adventure with some emotional moments but the combat was fire. Really fluid and every ability was useful when strategising. There is a huge intentional contrast between a lot of the soundtrack that’s very interesting.
100% agree
The only problem I had with the combat is having to cycle through the dress sphere. To be fair though, I was a big fan of having to cycle all the characters in in 10 either.
I hated the mission system at first, but it was dead useful to just knock out a city at a time before school and had a natural stopping point
@@jaredadams8069 Then turn off the dressphere changes to short or off... nobody likes the long animations every time, do yourself a favor and fix those settings
@@ubergamer2010 even with no animations I think it's annoying to proc the nodes on the garment grid to get buffs or exclusive abilities each fight, it's one of the very few things that annoyed me in X2
I will always love X2 because of the ridiculous amount of camp that is saturated through the story. This game has its own personality because FFX was so anti-camp, playing everything very seriously and somberly.
it's just fun. like 1960s Batman
but an interesting thought about the contrast you mentioned..
X was gloomy and somber (anti camp), because of sin and the unsent, and everything was awful for literally everyone. but then they beat sin and fixed all that. so X2 was campy, maybe to show how the world's spirits had been lifted and everyone was trying to enjoy life and be happy.
just a thought. I still hated every second of every cheesy part lol but if it was an artistic choice, then that's pretty cool. gameplay is where it's at anyway
@@Justin-td2er Even if it is not a masterpiece, I'd say the contrast is beautiful. Coming from a somber atmosphere of Spira in times of Sin, to a post-Sin Spira where people are trying to enjoy their life, without the constant fear and suffocation of a "god" trying to punish them. It is cheesy, fun, and I adored the dynamic between the main cast, during my adolescence I always wished to have friends like out main trio.
The story is not great, but it is nice even for Yuna, who I feel most of her bubbly personality and her interest in different thing is an ode to Tidus influence on her. I dunno man, it is subtle but beautiful.
Gameplaywise is still my favorite system, you never get bored of the combinations and possibilities.
And just a quick reminder that the Prelude song, is AMAZING.
@@ScarletTangerine well said. And I agree. That prelude was 🔥🔥🔥
Anti camp?! The very first thing we see is them camping in Zanarkand though!
X-2 is pretty underrated. It has its corny moments but it’s a great title, and IMO the best battle system in all of the FF games.
Yup
straight up
The battle system did in fact slap
Yep people only hate it because of the opening cut scene with the pop singers. If there was any other cut scene there it would be considered a great game
@@apnwu369 trust me it isn't just the opening scene lol that's actually one of the less campy moments
Learning that it was originally supposed to be a story about Jecht, Auron & Braska was really cool.. that’s a story I would have loved see.
Ngl, I would have prefered this greatly....
I just played through FFX and was thinking that it would be great to actually play through their stories. Maybe a future game idea
But then which one would be doing the J-pop?
we already know their whole story tho lol
@@LoganKeatts true, but did we need an idol spinoff game that ruined the story all together?
I actually did think 10-2 was 12 when I was a young boy getting in FF for the first time. I think this actually helped me decide to get it easier since I didn't know it was a sequel. Lucky for me, it ended up one of my favorite RPGs ever.
Same lol
Same haha. When character kept referencing past events and claiming to know me I was like… This seems off. Am I supposed to know these people and places?? Does my character have amnesia or is this a sequel? Lmao
Then the opening of the game with LeBlanc being an imposter didn’t help lmaoo
When I got this game, I remember having to play it in secret for fear people would judge me.
No regrets. Great battle system.
Hopefully now you have cut all judgemental people out of your life. Those who cast judgements, especially over harmless things, like a boy liking a 'girly game' are morons and only bring suffering to their own lives and all who they come into contact with.
The moment someone starts with criticism. Either they are getting threw out of my house, or I'm finding the door and taking myself out of bad company. 😂
Lol wtf you played x2? Pfffft hahahehehoho
as a gay kid way back then I'm proud to play this game xD
Without being all "back in my day" I remember borrowing this game from my local library as a kid. Had to do the obligatory walk to the library once a week to check it back in and immediately back out again until I beat it. Wonder if libraries still do free video games these days (it was a very small collection and only text heavy based games). I suspect not but being an early teen with a small allowance that place was great for the odd JRPG/RPG gem. And books of course.
a lot still have rentals for disc games from ps2/xbox 360 to modern
@@Kcii-99 oh I'm glad to hear! Hopefully kids are still getting some good gaming knowledge haha
I still don't understand why they don't explore more of the worlds they create with a method like this. Ivalice, Spira and the trilogy of 13 are still my favourites of all the games, especially that last one, the ability to travel through time in 13-2 and see how the world changes from your actions is just genius. I would have loved to see more of the lore behind each of those worlds in some sort of follow up but alas it wasn't meant to be.
Ivalice has an entire sub section of final fantasy under the banner of "The Ivalice Alliance" it even got some content in FF14 Online as a series of raids.
@@shinon748 I know.That just proves my point.
I would love a return back to ff12 world, I would even buy it if it was nothing more than a bunch of guild missions, that how much I love the game.
This game is a guilty pleasure of mine. I was fresh outta high-school. I played all the older final fantasy. And with all the free time I had and no money. I found it at a pawnshop for a couple of bucks. I just wanted to play some final fantasy. But I really loved it.
No guilt here. I find this game a pleasure to play and i always find myself coming back to it every now and then.
Man, that tidbit about the Yuna and Rikku Editions reawakened memories in me because I remember that news getting out and people making mock up box arts for the two versions of the game.
Im not really a fan of X-2 and will probably never play it again personally, but the story of the festivalist job is the most wholesome thing i've heard all day. Imagine being that little girl and getting to see what you made in the game, for a kid thats something you never forget.
Despite not particularly enjoying the drastic change in tone for the narrative and characters personalities, I still think this game was the peak for turn-based battle systems. Combat was pretty incredible in this game.
To be honest I played FFX-2 wayback high school because I had a biggest crush on Yuna and was very heartbroken about the ending of FFX. So I played it but got a little dissapointed because her face and looks are different. I was also confuse with the story of Shuyin and Lenne the first time. But after playing it I finally accepted and love the game. It's like playing Sailor Moon and Charlie's Angel in the form of Final Fantasy. Besides I really love the intro soundtrack which is Eternity-Memory of Lightwaves. I looped it everytime I played the game. God I miss those days
While I enjoyed FFX-2 one of my biggest gripes with the game was the change of background music for the different areas of Spiral. More specifically the Zanarkand Ruins, due to the change of the field theme I usually spend little to no time at all in the Ruins, which is a shame because it's one of my favorite places to go to in Spira
Thanks for the upload during my September 2022 birthday month! Always glad to learn new FINAL FANTASY facts! :D
The reasons people disliked the thought of x2 were: 1.) Yunas "personality changing" along with her wardrobe. She was trying to find herself without Tidus and former guardians guiding her (minus rikku). Personally i found it fit the storyline. I understand peoples disappointment about her outfit but honestly i like it regardless. 2.) The feeling wasn't like it was in x, of course its not. It's during the calm, after sin, after war. Everyone is trying to figure out how to live without the fear of sin coming back. 3.) Brother... I understand but I awkwardly laughed during most moments. Just wish they wouldn't have made them cousins.... the story wouldn't change at all if he was a friend like buddy. 4.) The battle system, which I understand BUT in settings you can change the ATB.
The fault I see in the game?? Making winning sphere break be part of 100% completion... I'm not good at math especially under a time limit... 😕 That's my pet peeve.. like xs chocobo race and other ways you have to get their weapons. So... infuriating 😆😭🤣😞
I think it's a good thing they didn't do an auron, braska, and jehkt game.
One of the big issues with prequels is alot of the tension and suspense gets lost when you know EXACTLY how it ends. It puts pressure for it to be exceptional. With a sequel anything can happen and that gives the team more creative freedom
It's my favourite battle system in any Final Fantasy, and the best iteration of the job system in any game.
On the connection with VII, I saw on Reddit somewhere of someone pointing out that the gorge where the battle with sin took place before, near the calm lands, looks like the gorge that Red XIII and his cubs are seen running through in the end of VII.
Interesting theory but that would suggest that Spira & Gaia are the same despite their wildly different geography.
The festivalist dress always stuck out as a weird inclusion. I'm glad to know it's origin and that the origin is as adorable as it is.
The fact that people still make videos on my favorite final fantasy game 20 years later gives me hope for a remake.
The festivalist story was so good! I love that it came from the mind of an 8 year old.
Yeah it's a touching moment for sure.
Although I'd imagine all the adult artists that poured time and love into their submissions were pissed
@@Justin-td2er haha I bet!
I honestly prefer X-2 over X, don't get me wrong, i like both titles, but X-2's story and themes resonated with me a lot more.
It's a story about saying goodbye to a departed loved one, and also a story about not forcing changes within one's self. Definitely one of my favorite video games of a time.
man if this game had a fire story, it would probably be my favorite FF of all time. the gameplay is so damn fun and I love the way you master abilities and dress spheres. and the secret ultimate dress spheres we're actually dope af
Yeah the only thing that stopped it from full greatness is not having a better story.
Anime
As a kid when I first discovered this game and even looking back at it all these years later I loved it and still do, to me it was “I love FF10 and I want more content” and this is how I view FFX-2 and it’s still fun to play and it gets bonus points for giving us the best trio in gaming
It was my first ever FF and is my second favorite in the series.
That was really devious of you to lure me in with the Rikku thumbnail.
I LOVED the dress sphere system. Currently playing the HD Remaster of this. I wanna play Lightning Returns since it looks similar with the dress spheres.
LR definitely takes a few elements from X-2 gameplay and is better for it. It's pretty much the only decent thing about the game since everything else feel like a fever dream lol
The contrast between cheesy side quests/ soap opera type story and the punishing combat system was just great. Chefs kiss
Yeah, I absolutely loved the difficulty of the game. Starting in Chapter 3, you start facing a ton of enemies with instant death attacks and powerful defenses. It really forces you to strategize carefully.
Of course, the International/HD version of the game is almost comically easy once you start using its monster capture system.
Wow, that 2 different versions idea kind of makes sense. I bet in the Rikku version, it would have been easier to get the true outcome (crimson sphere reward) for the highroad mission. I actually kind of wish they revisited the idea but oh well.
X2 is and will always be my all time favorite Final Fantasy game. ❤️❤️❤️
Congratulations on the 260K subs!
I have fond memories of this Era of FF, and square in general. I used to sit down and record the cg cutscenes with my erricson brick phone and watch them with my friends at school. 1000 world's and especially the cg intros of kingdom hearts were just emotional roller-coasters.
Your channel's content is so amazing and well researched. Thanks for another great video!
I hated it when I was 15 years old. Played it 15 years later with my kids, loved it.
I genuinely loved X-2, not really sure why it gets the level of hate
The Shinra connection with Remake had me laughing.
I always love the tone of your videos.
The good ending, is easily one of the best I've ever seen. Tear jerking.
I am proud to say that I had a LOT of fun with X-2, I never got to 100% it but I loved the job and combat system, its by far my favorite.
Yuna in the songstress outfit is the most beautiful thing i have ever seen.
Yep 👍
Excited to watch this 😂 I literally put down the game after being stuck on one of the bosses in the cloisters
Honeatly it was one of my favorite games. X and x-2 where some of the first two FF games I got to own for myself.
Although I knew most of these, I never knew the story behind the festivalist!
X-2 was fun...but God was it a NIGHTMARE trying to 100% complete without using a Strategy Guide or GameShark the Hell out of it 🤣
Regarding the music, I feel like X-2 has been the only FF game without Uematsu to have a truly bangin soundtrack. It feels just as emotional as X's soundtrack was to me, despite sounding vastly different. But it still captures the exact same energy and mysticism of the first game. They are an absolutely beautiful duo of game soundtracks.
I personally think the 10 and 7 connection is incredibly weak and I personally just say its not canon cause like. Cmon.
You mean to tell me they traveled to another planet, started harvesting the life force of the world, then just somehow lost all the tech and ability to use the space travel stuff and no records of their history before landing on that planet?
I like the idea of them sharing a system like the farplane vs mako and how the different worlds interact with it, one being more reverential and the other using it as a resource at least.
Always great stuff FFU! I love getting more background on one of my favorite series. Now when is that Rikku game coming back..?
To be honest a prequel in 2022 about Auron, Jecht and Braska would be fcking mind blowing. The should honestly do that.
I never got far with FFX. Playing the sequel as it's own thing was incredibly fun. Can't say the same for the FF13 sequel tho.
It's so painfully dif and chaotic. I wish I hadn't played it directly after 13, maybe I would have had some fun
I'm fine with Lulu being reused even when pregnant, not all women have big pregnancies. I was 7months and the hospital staff took more than an hour and half to realise I was pregnant. And when you take into account the world time that gets passed between the beginning and end of game it's easy to see the characters may have missed the last couple of months of pregnancy where women tend to show more. Anyways love the game and great content.
Please do a Quistis character analysis please or Lulu.
Canonicity is boring. If you have an interesting theory that improves the game for you enjoy it instead of being overly worried about canon. When I was a kid i got weirdly obsessed with the idea FF4 was the distant past because the Cetra's name could be a combination of Cecil and Rosa's name and I created this giant mythology around it that tied them together. I played them both dozens of times and it was really fun and immersive.
Also Square Enix thinking westerners are too stupid to understand how sequel titles work while also letting Nomura name Kingdom Hearts games in such a way Kingdom Hearts 3 is like the 9th game in that series cracks me up. I love Nomura and his excessive creative decisions so I'm glad they let him it's just funny in hindsight. (Besides FF7 Remake but I'm still interested to see what he does.)
I liked how light hearted FFX-2 was. It was fun seeing the world change and the people having more fun. The political side of the story was really well done. My issue is mostly with Vegnagun and Shuyin.. completely unnecessary and has a lot of plot holes and continuity errors
As alway, the best ff content around
What's the music being used at the end - the piano and strings version of To Zanarkand; can you share the music source? Really love it.
With your mention of FF Unlimited, I'd love to see a video from you guys about FFU or The Legend of the Crystals, considering how little content there is about these long forgotten animes.
I really appreciate the covering of this game. It was pivotal for me growing up as a young girl. This game meant so much to me for them to move away from male driven content. One of the very few games I've played over many times
So, I really, *really* like the gameplay of Final Fantasy X-2. The girl-power kind of Charlie's Angels type energy through a lot of the first and second chapters didn't really do a whole lot for me and I thought overall the story was a lot weaker than X's, but overall it was a pretty good game.
Did I mention the gameplay is *really* good? ATB at its peak.
Fun fact: I actually played X-2 before X. I wanted to rent a Final Fantasy game because I had just beaten VIII...but my local store didn't have X in stock. Just X-2, so I settled on the sequel.
Boy was that a fever dream lol
I sometimes wonder if they're waiting on FFX-3 for FFVII Remake to be compleated because they're doing more to expand on the connections between the two games. Maybe FFX-3 will be Shinra/Fareplane/Mako centric tying Summoners into the ancients? I think that would be a great avenue to get back to the initial tone of FFX.
Possible
motomu toriyama : i'd like to avoid all male cast
hajime tabata 13 years later : how about a traveling boyband?
The game really did have a unique way of changing “characters” mid battle… that I never used once I acquired my endgame dress spheres: Dark Knight, Alchemist and Lady Luck.
Hell… quite a few of the garment grids offered buffs for switching spheres mid battle, and I still didn’t use it.
In my opinion, FFX should have been left as a single game.
I just wish that the equipped dress spheres were rendered in game and in cutscenes.
Always so jarring seeing the basic outfits when you're maining a specific sphere for hours on end.
My favourite game. The music is beautiful especially 1000 Words the orchestral version
Rikku has got to be my favourite Final Fantasy character of all time. It's ashame they didn't release the Yuna and Rikku versions.
Im a simple person, I see a 'facts you may not know about x/x2' video, I watch it bc I know I already know everything and I like to feel smart.
Shinra electric company's secret model: our strongest weapon is just a kid
I'm just finding it weird now that my friends and I used to call FFX as "FF Ten" but refer to FFX-2 as "FF ex two"
What I found interesting about X-2 was despite the game's largely lighter and more comedic tone than X, the threat posed to Spira by Vegnagun was more immediate and of a greater scope than Sin.
Thank you for putting the most beatiful scene in these two games at the end. Just perfect
Thats funny because FF7 and FFX both are at the very least equal in terms of gameplay X having slighty better story 7 having the better villian, but both having a host of cool characters, I wonder what would happen if you combined the 2 in an J-RPG game to have all characters meet and have upto 6 in battle at one time with the ability to switch out.
I played X-2 on repeat on ps2.
I love X but X-2 Is so fun to play with Dress Spheres, Garment Grids. ATB. Special Dress spheres MACHINA MAW!!
I'd have love to play as the Braska trio but it definitely was not going to be too exciting. It's basically Yuna's journey without the massive detour and change of heart. The gameplay would've been Braska basically playing like Seymour as a Guest, Jetch combining tidus and wakka, and Auron being Auron again. Guests are certainly possible (Kinoc an occasional guest could work for example). But in all it would've definitely felt like a limited rehash of the journey.
That's said, it been long enough that they could do a full on prequel with updated combat (please no ARPG, make it ATB).
The gameplay of X-2 was an outright triumph! You can even see it slight influences in Lighting Returns (different outfits having different power) and XV/7R (changing weapons/tactics mid-battle).
It's kinda amazing how good the soundtrack was without his involvement. It worked out solidly. X soundtrack is superior but X-2 is special in it own way.
The story was... fine. I always felt the critics were too harsh. Could it have been better, definitely. But there was enough moving parts and interest to make it decent. Does make me wonder what they could've done with a new team though. One thing sorely missing was a sort of brand new town/area or improving old locales. Kilika Island was amazing to see as a thriving area. But It's kinda sad that we dont see anything changed with Besaid or get to explore Bevelle proper instead of just "underground".
I absolutely loved this game growing up from the music to the combat and even the story. It was my second FF game after 10 so still fresh in my mind. In saying that this seems like a good place to announce the Hill I die on with this game, With Maechin being a black mage, Not a sage or scholar. Just something he calls himself due to his life long endeavours into the Historical realm. But when you get the sphere for Black Mage and it shows him, My mind kept being reminded of the Songstress sphere holding Memories of Lenne and so, Music. With that one holding memories with Maechin and then going further to say any Sphere holding memories can be used as a way to implant abilities or whatever else in those who have a sphere grid who can utilise the technology for it. Hence a very loose idea why some classic jobs couldn't be apart of it, There just wasn't any spheres recorded of certain people or around them long enough to have the memories used like that?
I dunno, Just a really small thought pattern I ended up with at some stage and just never let go of :/
I really like it when add references from different FF series and are their rumors about a FFX 3 ?
This was my first Final Fantasy game that I ever played. I was a huge fan of anime and Kingdom Hearts and this game caught my eye at the video rental store because it had really pretty anime girls on it. I had no idea what Final Fantasy was at the time, so I had a hard time with the game mechanics and the turn-based style of the game. I also had no idea what the story was about because I hadn't played X.
But I loved it. I loved the fact that they characters had pretty clothes and they could change them during battle to give them different powers. It was so cool.
And the opening theme was badass.
I've played this game for over 2000 hours and there isn't much idk about it. What I find amusing is that neither the writers, the producers nor the media make a connection between Shuyin and Tidus. And why Tidus was never mentioned by name in-game. The connection is obvious but, why so loose with the idea that Tidus was the dream aeon of Shuyin brought into being by the dreaming fayth?
Perfect sequel of X in my opinion. Such a happy atmosphere. Who wanted Yuna to go through another ordeal?
I love X-2. Its such a fun game. Love the dress spheres and all the story as well. I replay X and X-2 every couple years. I do want a X-3 but not if they break up Yuna and Tidus. X, X-2, VIII, and IV are my favorites. The number one, being which I am playing at the time.
The story was alright, though nothing to write home about. It wasn't bad, but I think I'd still enjoy a Braska's pilgrimage story over this one.
The music was good.
The battle system is what brought me back a few times.
I was very disappointed at the end of FFX and was pretty happy when I heard about X-2. I bought it right when it came out but when I watched the intro J-pop scene I just couldn't do it. I played for about 2 hours and I sold it back to GameStop.
FFX was better overall but I sank way more hours in FFX-2 than FFX. It was really fun grinding the Oversoul and maxing dress spheres. My favorite part of this game is Trigger Happy and Catnip on all the characters.
I loved this game back in the day.
Sweet I’m on my new game + play through right now so i welcome this video
This game will be 20 years old next year.
People crap on X-2 for the Charlie's Angels aspect of the presentation. It bugs me that folk ignore the fact that it was a good game because of that. It holds a place in my heart, being a lifelong fan of turn based RPGs.
Original story was literally what I wanted, the story of Braska, Auron and Jecht.
Instead we got spice girls who somehow turn everything in comic relief, bending the laws of reality to make the story as light hearted as possible.
While also breaking set rules/history/the way things work from the previous game.
I really hate how we will never get the prequel story of Braska, Auron and Jecht.
The story that could have made the series come full circle, pulling at your heart as you already know the inevitable sorrow that's coming.
But also seeing the journey they went on, the things they experienced.
And the possibility of revealing answers to questions we had in X, but were never given closure.
The dressphere battle system is one of the best.
I hate with such passion the argument Kitase gave regarding why a X prequel was a bad idea because it only had male characters in it.
- So having only males is bad but only female is good ? Back then we had no idea the power of weebs was this big so that's not an argument.
- XV (and I guess VII CC) was (were) male only.
- There's legit no reasons to not add female character(s) to a prequel cast, actually. It is well known that Yevon manipulates and lies about History, Braska was disliked by Yevon for marrying an Al Bhed, but as he defeated Sin, he became one of their champions, they could've easily added a female character, likely and Al Bhed or whatever, that was disliked by Yevon and Yevon just decided to erase that name from History because it wouldn't fit, now you might say that it would be well known if Braska had more guardians/people with him, just remember that it was 10 years ago, Spira is big, and most people didn't know Braska was even married to an Al Bhed to begin with.
The dress sphere system definitely feels like the predecessor to the paradigms of ff13
Great video!
My favorite game and the first ff I won. I honestly think that they should bring this battle system back with the Jobs/transformations and everything. beautiful story and gameplay.