No.

>>3944190
there's only 1 sequel to X-2 and it's a book, so good luck playing it

>>3944190
X-2 is the most underrated Final Fantasy game. Just don't expect the story to be that serious and you'll have a good time.

>>3944332
FFX-2's tone is pretty jarring compared to X, but even if you never played X the story of X-2 is just complete garbage. Complete, insincere, contrived, garbage.

You go to Mt. Gagazet because it's a "hotspot." You have to beat Leblanc before she gets the sphere first. You enter this magnificent and elaborate shrine that's being guarded by a giant spider fiend. Yuna and Co. defeat it, get into the inner sanctum, get the sphere, Leblanc is a salty bitch.

You bring the sphere back only for Shinra to reveal the sphere is "junk" and the playback is just about some rando getting all excited they got a random ticket to see some random thing.

... why would something so worthless by enshrined like that? The writing just moves along like it's not important, but in any other half-decent work of fiction there would be a character who'd at the very least ask that reasonable question when Shinra and Yuna make the discovery of the poor quality of the sphere. And any work of fiction that was baked just a little bit past half would have a 2nd character chime in with an excuse--like maybe there have been sphere hunters throughout the ages and perhaps the original sphere was taken and replaced or some shit. A fully baked narrative would have a discrepancy like elaborate shine and junk plot reward be part of at least a mini-twist with a payoff later.

The fact none of that happens is a hallmark of the shoddy writing on offer.

>>3944501
>FFX-2's tone is pretty jarring compared to X
It's the "Eternal Calm" now, of course it is.

>Complete, insincere, contrived, garbage.
It's just a fun romp, bro. It's Charlie's Angels, but with some of the best gameplay systems in Final Fantasy.

>>3944509
>It's the "Eternal Calm" now, of course it is.
No, there is no "of course." Doesn't matter how many bad guys Batman takes in, the next adventure can carry a similar tone. That said, I'm not even opposed to a sequel with a different tone. I even wrote my post with the idea we'd set X aside as if we didn't play it to judge the quality of the writing on it's own, and without X to compare it to? There's no tonal whiplash in the first instance.

>It's Charlie's Angels-
Who cares? I'm not saying X-2 is bad because it borrows from Charlie's Angels just like I'm not indicting it because it took inspiration from Time Bokan's Time Skeletons, and basically has Whalter, Grocky, and Marjo running around.

>It's just a fun romp, bro. - but with some of the best gameplay systems in Final Fantasy.
... eh. It's not the worst. Unfortunately I do like the narrative stakes that go along with the Final Fantasy combat and so the dressphere system doesn't save the game for me.

X-2 is like Kingdom Hearts. I can’t believe that anyone played it and I can’t take them seriously if they did

>>3944190
Ask not of your sequels "are they worth it for me" but rather "what can they do for me":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rQac53qqyvo

>>3944585
Same, but with japanese games in general.

>>3944578
>No, there is no "of course."
Except there is. What happens after the heroine saves the world and now there's the eternal peace that comes after? And then the gang goes back to the locations except this time it's for fun and there isn't a looming dread with each location that Yuna is getting closer to sacrificing herself to save the world. I'm not saying it's the best story, because it isn't, but it there is an "of course".

>>3944623
NTA but that doesn't mean the tone has to be jarring compared to X. X was a very depressing game where everything got torn down. X-2 could have very easily been a depressing game about how difficult it is to build back up. Instead it's a much more poppy high energy giggly affair.

>>3944634
>NTA but that doesn't mean the tone has to be jarring compared to X
I'm not saying it HAS to be, I'm just saying it is and it makes sense.

>X-2 could have very easily been a depressing game about how difficult it is to build back up
It could have, but instead people are just happy that Sin is gone. I think it makes sense and is something that hasn't been done in the series before. On that note though, Last Mission is sad/bittersweet.

>>3944190
X-2 is a fine, 7/10 game. By that I mean it runs. My main issue with the game has always been how lazy it was with reusing every asset possible from X. Which was the point of making FF sequels, but out of all FF sequels it is the most lazy with asset reuse. There were some interesting ideas, like what do all these people do now that Yevon has been proven as a false religion, there isn't a looming apocalyptic threat. Seeing Zanarkand become a tourist location was funny. I wish it didn't have "FINAL FANTASY" branding, because its just not, but it they needed to sell copies somehow.

>>3944634
>Instead it's a much more poppy high energy giggly affair.
The dev team received instructions from higher ups to make a game that targeted teen girls. They believed it was an untapped market. TBF, they weren't wrong JRPGs are very popular with women nowadays. IMO they went a tad overboard.

>>3944623
Okay I think I see the disconnect here. Let's try this again:

So in creative fiction anything is possible. Tidus dies in X but is resurrected in X-2 (assuming you met all the requirements), right? You see how with the power of fiction a dead character can come back to life, right? But at the same time we can also keep a dead character dead, because it's not like Seymour comes back in X-2, right? It is that principle of fiction being allowed to go wherever it damn well pleases that there is no "of course."

HOWEVER!!

You're not wrong. If the writing team for X-2 decided not to do something like resurrect Sin (and in X-2 Sin does indeed stay dead)? Well then that means Yuna would have to be involved in something else, some other source of conflict, and **OF COURSE** that something else wouldn't be a re-defeat of an already defeated Sin that we're not bringing back, right? So, given, that X-2 is a sequel of X it would be reasonable to explore what Yuna did after becoming the greatest High Summoner and follow up on a way to bring Tidus back, which is what the creative team behind X-2 pursued. **OF COURSE** there's nothing inherently wrong or particularly bad about following those threads to make into the premise of a game.


My criticism is of the writing quality of X-2. That's really it.
I'm not saying you have to agree with me, but do you at least understand what I'm saying here?

>>3944644
>Okay I think I see the disconnect here. Let's try this again:
It does seem like there is to you, doesn't it?

>**OF COURSE**
Yup, "of course". Like I said.

>My criticism is of the writing quality of X-2. That's really it.
I don't think anyone would defend the writing quality of X-2, except maybe Last Mission. It's just a fun little romp, its tone is very not serious, I don't think it's supposed to be taken seriously. Just look at Brother. The story is just a vehicle to deliver the gameplay, and I guess a little something extra for people who loved X and wanted more. And with regards to Tidus being alive, considering that a normal human being is not going to get 100% and that it's notoriously bullshit to get even while following a guide, I choose to believe that Tidus does not come back to life. And if you wanna talk about poor writing quality, how about the fact that in X-2.5 or whatever it's called, Yuna cucks Tidus and then Tidus kicks a bomb that is made to look like a Blitzball and gets his head blown off. I don't think it can be made any clearer, it's just a "fuck you" at that point.

>I'm not saying you have to agree with me, but do you at least understand what I'm saying here?
I do understand that you're upset.

>>3944665
>how about the fact that in X-2.5 or whatever it's called, Yuna cucks Tidus and then Tidus kicks a bomb that is made to look like a Blitzball and gets his head blown off
You're mixing things up. In Will Yuna gets jealous that Tidus has some hot chick he's friends with and says "Actually I've totally got a different boyfriend and you don't know him and he's hot and goes to a different summoning school" during a petty fight. Tidus is an idiot and believes her until Lulu calls him a retard. In 2.5 Tidus does in fact die from one of those blitzball bombs, and immediately gets resurrected. There's a bunch of really really stupid shit in 2.5, but it's not a "fuck you" like you think it is.

>>3944665
Cool, cool.

I guess you don't see why I was so confused, and it's because it's kind of difficult to read what you say in some places (not that my text is perfect either, but I digress).

>>3944623
>What happens after the heroine saves the world and now there's the eternal peace that comes after?
So there is "eternal peace" and there is the "Eternal Calm" and they're two separate things. X-2 doesn't have eternal peace because the beating heart of any story is conflict and there is no conflict in peace which is why you have rising tensions between the Youth League and New Yevon and Yuna is still stuck on Tidus after 2 years, having dreams about him, and having difficulty finding clues about him. None of that is peace. Sinless? Yes. Eternal peace? No.

The "Eternal Calm" is the result of Sin being permanently defeated, and maybe that's what you're talking about, but you didn't capitalize "Eternal Peace," now did you? So maybe not? I mean who knows? I know you're not playing X-2 for the story, perhaps you're just mashing the buttons trying to hurry the dialogue along as fast as possible, and who could blame you?

Moreover, you make "eternal peace" juxtaposed with "heroine has saved the world"... when in X-2 Yuna saves the world a 2nd time as if that didn't happen. Again... it's confusing.

And of course we had the "of course" business where we're talking past each other.

I was beginning to wonder if I was even understanding what you were saying. Like I thought I did at first, but I was beginning to wonder.

But anywho, I think I spent enough time talking around this circle, unless there's anything you wanted to add?

>>3944684
>There's a bunch of really really stupid shit in 2.5, but it's not a "fuck you" like you think it is.
My mistake then.

>>3944685
>I guess you don't see why I was so confused
I don't, no.
>and it's because it's kind of difficult to read what you say in some places
It's not. I went back and reread my posts. The only typo I made was this one: >>3944623
>>>because it isn't, but it there is an "of course".
It's really not that difficult to read at all, but it is an error. I believe my brain went between "it is an of 'course'" and "there is an 'of course'". I believe that most people would be able to correct this error in their brains, but maybe not. It's also not really a fundamental statement to need to be able to interpret in order to understand my stance on this "conversation".

I didn't read the rest of your post, for obvious reasons. If you are continuing to be belligerent and combative and smarmy, while saying that my posts are difficult to read when they're not, then you've proven that there is no use engaging with you further, not that there ever was. X-2 is the most underrated Final Fantasy game, just don't expect the story to be that serious and you'll have a good time. It has some of the best gameplay systems in Final Fantasy, and it has the single best minigame in Final Fantasy as well. You've said you dislike the tone of X-2, and that's a personal preference, but exploring the concept of the Eternal Calm makes sense and that's what they did. I already said I don't think anyone would defend the writing of X-2, because it's not good and I don't even think its meant to be taken seriously in the first place considering much of what happens during it as well as the existence of things like Brother or the fact that Yuna eventually cucks Tidus and then he blows himself up on a bomb that looks like a Blitzball.

It's impossible to discern what issues you could even continue to be having that would require you to be acting the way that you are.

>>3944691
>If you are continuing to be belligerent and combative and smarmy
Huh. Well thanks for that feedback, that wasn't my intent.

>while saying that my posts are difficult to read when they're not
No, I'm not trying to gaslight you.
Well. I think that'll do it.

Sorry.

>>3944332
>X-2 is the most underrated Final Fantasy game
I'll say XIII-2 is the most underrated Final Fantasy game.It's a good game that gets overlooked because.... Well... XIII.

>>3945707
It and lightning returns seriously suffered from being associated with XIII.

>>3944190
Lightning Returns is better than og FF13, but it's a hard sell for anyone to continue that series if you don't already enjoy the first one.

I played ff13 pretty late, thought people were right about their critique pretty much.
Skipped XIII-2, but watched someone else play it and it addressed a lot of my complaints about og 13 so I gave Lightning Returns a chance and really liked it.

>>3944190
If you can survive the plot and that the game is the side quests, X-2 has the best ATB gameplay and job system in the series.

>>3947620
I played FF13 and 13-2 last year and I liked them enough to finish them

lightning returns was just weird though, I dropped it after a few hours

>>3953048
>X-2 has the best ATB gameplay and job system in the series.
it's a bit overrated. the balance between jobs is poor and it takes so long to switch jobs in a fight that you're often better off not doing it at all

>>3953620
Lightning Returns was not so secretly just a Valkyrie Profile game.

>>3944190
they all look the same to me

>>3944190
X-2>X

File: IMG_5474.jpg (54 KB, 510x430)

54 KB JPG

>>3944190
This shit is so gay. Anyone who likes this game probably plaps their balls with a dildo while locked up.

The decline of the Final Fantasy series can be drawn straight down from this shit cluster.

>>3958261
>t. someone who doesn't play any final fantasy games at all

>>3957859
Trvke

>>3944190
>>3944332
I'm still salty about no Christmas cake Lulu dressup

X-2 killed the franchise, so no, it's not worth playing, and everything after it is dogshit.

>>3947620
I unintentionally beat XIII 13 years to the day after I had intially gave up on it.

>>3961916
No one even played X-2, it can't have "killed the franchise" the same way XII or XIII or any game after that might have. And it was the last Squaresoft game, so it's still part of the "good" Final Fantasys.

>>3961952
>No one even played X-2, it can't have "killed the franchise"
Anon, I…
>And it was the last Squaresoft game, so it's still part of the "good" Final Fantasys.
10 was the last good FF, and the writing was on the wall. 10-2 was the start of the necromancy of FF’s formerly-good name.

>>3961961
>Anon, I…
People need to have played a game in order for it to have a bad reputation. No one played X-2. It's honestly a good game in a package that made the Final Fantasy audience at the time (and even now) say "eww"

>10 was the last good FF, and the writing was on the wall.
You're allowed to think that, but many people consider X to be the best game, and X-2 was the last Squaresoft Final Fantasy, so to say "the writing was on the wall" while X-2 was also the last Squaresoft game (generally considered the only good FFs) is just two nonsensical things back to back.

>>3961952
I'll concede that 12 wholly terrible, but X-2 is directly responsible for the abortion that is 13, waifu simulator 2.0. After that you get gay boy band and gay medieval guy.

>>3961984
12 wasn't*

>>3961984
>but X-2 is directly responsible for the abortion that is 13
Personally, I think that XIII is the first "bad" Final Fantasy game, and while I do acknowledge that XIII is just an auto-battle version of X-2 and that maybe Square Enix wanted to try the "female" game again after X-2 was overlooked, there are a million things "wrong" with XIII that are not wrong with X-2. My opinion is that X-2 is the actually good version of XIII, if you want to look at it from that perspective.

>>3961975
You are sounding like a zoomer who didn’t play any of these games when they came out, and are relying on retrospectives to tell you about them.
>People need to have played a game in order for it to have a bad reputation.
>No one played X-2.
>It's honestly a good game in a package that made the Final Fantasy audience at the time (and even now) say "eww"
It has a bad reputation because it made the Final Fantasy audience say eww. People didn’t play it because it had a bad reputation. No one wanted a spinoff girl band game.
Your posts are contradictory non sequiturs because you’re starting from the assumption that it’s a good game because you like it.
>many people consider X to be the best game
I actually love 10 and it’s one of my favorites, but yes, the writing was on the wall. It clearly marks the point at which Square wanted to stop making games and to start making movies (they had literally made a full length Final Fantasy movie that was released in theaters). The focus on a large amount of cinematic cutscenes, full voice acting, removal of the overworld, hallway level design, replacing the pilotable airship with a menu… it was obvious.
>and X-2 was the last Squaresoft Final Fantasy, so to say "the writing was on the wall" while X-2 was also the last Squaresoft game (generally considered the only good FFs) is just two nonsensical things back to back.
You’re simultaneously arguing that
1. X-2 alienated existing fans
2. No one played it because of that, but
3. That doesn’t mean it got a bad reputation, and although
4. The Squaresoft FFs are considered (by who? You? Your friends? A YouTuber?) to be the last good FFs, although
5. That doesn’t mean that the writing was on the wall for the end of the series with 10, the last Squaresoft mainline non-spinoff game that sold well and was popular
I just don’t even get what you’re even arguing, aside from that you like X-2 and disagree with me that it’s bad.

>>3963370
>You are sounding like a zoomer who didn’t play any of these games when they came out
I'm in my 30s and I played the games as they released. I didn't play X-2 when it released though. I thought it looked like shit for girls. I didn't play it until the HD Remaster and I was very pleasantly surprised by how good it actually is. I didn't read the rest of your post because your fundamentals are already incorrect.

>>3963387
Translation: you’re a 30 year old zoomer, you were in kindergarten when FF10 came out, you were crawling when FF7 came out, and you weren’t born yet when any of the SNES games came out, but you’re gonna tell me about the “golden age” of Final Fantasy.
Good talk.

>>3963441
The first FF I played was FFI on the NES.
My favorite game as a child was Crystalis.

>>3944501
Why do we have niggas shopping lists in museums in this very fucking day in real life right now?

>>3963441
Anon is right. The NES FF games were ok, but the series took right the fuck off when FF6 released in the US and Europe. 7 was mindblowing next-gen. The series started to taper off a bit with 8, but 9 and 10 were pretty big, 9 because it was a "return to form" attempt with a more accessible story/cast, and 10 because, again, next-gen mind blown. Also, I was a big fan of FFT, Xenogears and Parasite Eve. BFM was kinda dumb, though. The PS1 days were the golden age, imo, which isn't saying much really, because PS1 was arguably the golden age of console gaming, especially for RPG's. PC has some very solid competitors, though. PS1 was just off the hook with its variety, most of the greats start there.

>>3963717
What the fuck is this revisionist bullshit? 9 was absolutely the black sheep of the PS era because it was such a departure from the science fantasy that players had grown accustomed to from the magicpunk of 6, straight cyberpunk dystopia of 7, and the high tech fantastic world of 8 with space travel and giant robotic enemies.

>>3964176
Maybe casual gamers were being faggy about it, I dunno.

>>3964176
I've never heard of anyone disliking 9 because it was a return to a focus on fantasy.

>>3964176
You're describing something that didn't happen. I don't know how you came to think or believe this, but what you're describing isn't something that occurred. Most people, at least in America, didn't even play IX because PS2 was a thing and that kind of killed the hype for any games still releasing on the PSX, but for the people who did play it, it was generally liked. It was more well received than VIII, for example.

>>3965505
For me, it went
>play 7 (love it)
>play Tactics (love it)
>play 4/5/6 (love them)
>play 8 (it's OK)
>play 9 (it sucks)
>play 10 (love it)
>drop the series forever because they obvious want to make hallway simulator moviegames now

>>3965505
What the fuck are you on about? FF9 was before PS2.

>>3965536
I hate zoomers so fucking much it's unreal.
https://files.catbox.moe/ie9sgk.png
4chan is shitting the bed and I can't seem to post anything with an image attached

>>3964176
8 was the black sheep of the PS1 era, imo. Squall is an extremely depressing and annoying protagonist that no one really liked because he was just kind of a loner asshole that didn't like talking to anyone, and most of his lines are stupid one-liners that just handwave whatever someone else said. Square wanted to impress people with fmv's, too, which is why the summons are so long, lots of people complained that you couldn't skip them. The story generally makes no sense, too. The only thing the game had going for it at the time was that it was an interesting futuristic setting, but no where near as good or memorable as 6 or 7. They really just kind of fucked up everything for the game for the sake of innovation.

>>3944585
the opening FMV of X-II is a litmus test on whether you are a terminal weeb or a normal, functional human being based upon your decision to reject it or not.

>>3965628
>Squall is an extremely depressing and annoying protagonist that no one really liked because he was just kind of a loner asshole that didn't like talking to anyone, and most of his lines are stupid one-liners that just handwave whatever someone else said
so exactly the same as cloud, the most popular FF protag ever ?

>>3967196
>so exactly the same as cloud, the most popular FF protag ever ?
Nah, Cloud only acts like a jackass for the very early game of FF7. He is actually pretty goofy (everyone remembers “Let’s mosey”) and goes through quite a bit of character development and growth throughout the game. He’s quite unlike Squall, besides surface level appearances.
You have played the original versions of FF7 and FF8, anon, right? Right??

>>3944190
>sequels worth playing?
u mean the games after X-2? maybe the MMO games if u meant sexuality.

>>3961916
u meant it peaked. i don't even remember what was XI's plot.

>>3965524
>>play 9 (it sucks)
it is a return to trad JRPG(FF 1 to 6) except in 3D.

>>3944190
on my knees begging for the greentext of the guy that got this for a christmas present and watched the opening in front of his family and everyone was weirded the fuck out, I cant for the life of me find it

>>3965628
>>3967196
>>3967200
Forgot to mention how shitty the level scaling was at the time, too. It's tolerable now that we know how the game works, but it was irritating back then. It just breaks the progression of the game in so many ways, making it tedious in others, and, if you're not keeping up with it, damage sponges.

Also, and maybe it makes no sense, but FF8 came at the tailend of the nu-metal era, and that style of being an introverted and quiet/dismissive of pop culture outsider had kind of a movement going on. I knew a lot of people who dressed and acted like Squall - not because of Squall, though, they were just goth losers that everyone kind of avoided because they weren't "normal". Gamers in those days were pretty rare, and being goth or punk or whatever didn't mean you stayed indoors playing video games. Actually, a few of the goth people I knew were big in to tabletop D&D, or other roleplaying games, and were kind of like passive hipsters behind closed doors.
Anyway, I guess what I'm saying is that Squall was probably inspired by that short cultural movement, and Japan has had its issues with depression among Japanese, so angry music and feeling distant in a very controlled society, it was probably just a natural fit, and I'm sure they heard all the nu-metal shit the US was churning out, too. Every culture has their weird introverted outsider groups. Squall was an attempt to emulate that, I suppose.

>>3967222
>the greentext of the guy that got this for a christmas present and watched the opening in front of his family and everyone was weirded the fuck out, I cant for the life of me find it
i asked AI...

>a dimly lit living room, bathed in the flickering glow of a CRT television screen displaying the infamous opening cutscene of *Final Fantasy X-2*—Yuna, Rikku, and Paine gyrating in their skimpy, glittering outfits atop a concert stage, the camera lingering on slow-motion hip thrusts and suggestive winks.

>On the couch, a teenage boy sits frozen in horror, gripping the controller like a lifeline, his wide-eyed expression a mix of disbelief and impending doom. To his left, his grandmother clutches her rosary beads, mouth agape; his father has paused mid-bite of Christmas turkey, fork hovering in the air as if time itself has stopped; his younger sister points at the screen, gleefully shouting, "Why are they dressed like that?!" while his mother slowly turns her head toward the boy, her face a masterpiece of silent, withering judgment.

> The Christmas tree in the corner twinkles mockingly, its lights reflecting off the now-cursed game disc lying discarded on the coffee table, the shiny surface displaying Yuna’s coy wink as if to say, *"Merry fucking Christmas."*

>>3967206
Disagree, I’ve played all of 1-6 on their original systems, and 9 is just mediocre. I’d easily say 1, 4, 5, and 6 are better than it.

>>3967349
>i asked AI...
Shiggy diggy

FFX's legacy improves when you just accept X-2 is non canon.

>>3970289
>you just accept X-2 is non canon.
i like grills, anon.

X-2 has cringe characters, dialogue and story. Most of the game feels like a waste of effort. However it does have one of the best job/class systems in any FF and the 100 floor bonus dungeon is pretty cool.

>>3944644
She never became a high summoner and dosen't deserve that title.

>>3944190
FF4 sequel? Pretty good, probably the best sequel.
FF7 sequels? They're fine, nothing really that good.
FFX sequels? Not good, but still playable.
FFXIII sequels? Eh, but the gameplay is fine, I guess.