Final Fantasy XIII-2

[Masamune]

Okay, so I decided to buy FFXIII-2. It should be here in a couple of days. Actually, I'm kinda looking forward to it. Okay, it still has the blasted Auto-battle system but it sounds like they've fine-tuned it a little and actually incorporated RPG elements.... into an RPG! =o

I have a feeling I'll need to switch my brain off where the plot's concerned, though. I mean, Toriyama couldn't even get the fundamental storytelling right in FFXIII but he reckons TIME TRAVEL is a good idea? Pull out, man! You're not talented enough!

 

[Alex Strife]

Well I... think he pulled it out good enough.

He uses an interesting contept I'll tag under an appropriate spoiler tag.

Spoiler

Changing the future also changes the past. It all makes sense in the game.

I think that's an interesting concept and twist to add into time travel.

I actually liked the game very much, and as it's been said before, the reason is probably we have only two characters in the party, which lets Square focus on them, and in the end you're able to care for them, just like it happened with older games.

Also, to be honest I'm convinced that the reason FFXIII-2 works is that there's a first game there that serves as a background and character "introduction" (because, let's face it, XIII-2 is little to not related to XIII, and the possible sequel will be related to XIII-2 but not so much to XIII, so the original game is more like an introduction).

The fact XIII is the introduction allows the game to go down to business straight away, and you already care (sort of) for some of the characters from the previous game, so that's part of the job done.

 

[Lumina]

I haven't gotten all the fragments and stuff but only one thing i can say is: this game is awesome. I wasn't excited about it first but then everything changed as I played it. It easily takes the crown of Final Fantasy X. I feel bad for people who didn't played it because of their hate...

 

[Aqua]

Anyone else think SE got a different person to voice Jihl? That doesn't sound like her at all...or maybe I'm just completely wrong on this. Oh well. (Sorry for the tl;dr...I can spoiler this if anyone wants)

Fighting Jihl is awesome. The fight is just so hectic and challenging but I think I've got a fairly safe strat that takes her down well enough. Since it takes so long stagger her and she can heal herself with her minions, the key is to down her the first time you stagger her.

Depending on my luck (ie how often the character I'm using gets thrown into the air...) this fight takes me anywhere from 5 minutes to 6 minutes. Either way, that's a five star so I'm happy. So here's what I do:

Paradigm Pack (MED/SYN/RAV) Basically I use Lightning, Sazh, and White Chocobo (though I don't really use it much...but for safety it can't hurt)

Paradigms:
SEN/SEN/SYN
RAV/COM/RAV
RAV/COM/MED
RAV/RAV/RAV
SAB/RAV/RAV
SAB/RAV/SYN <-- Your starting paradigm

Equipment: Whoever is going to be your SAB should have the item that increases SAB role bonus (I forget what it is right now...sorry v_v), something that boosts MAG and the Grimoire Hat. Ideally, go with the Grimoire Hat over the MAG boosting item if you can't wear all three. Make sure to have a lot of potions. You will need them for consecutive battles.

Start off immediately with just casting poison. Just do it over and over and over again. Switch to SAB/RAV/RAV every other ATB recharge for a quick refill and to help up the gauge even quicker. About 10 seconds after Jihl uses Sneer, just switch to SEN/SEN/SYN and heal up your HP for the oncoming onslaught. Hopefully by then, your SYN will have given you all protect and shell. If your SYN dies because they were targeted, just raise them and head back into the fray.

Poison just DECIMATES Jihl. My last fight it took her down all the way in about 2 minutes before I could even get her to stagger. It was insane. If it wears off, just apply it again. That's why you should just focus on getting Poison on her. (TBH I haven't tried a method with alternating Imperil and Poison yet but that's next on my list to see if it'll quicken the kill speed)

Heal up as necessary throughout the battle. Just guzzle potions. They are more effective than a MED with the Grimoire Hat at this point anyway.

One thing to keep in mind, once Protect and Shell are all on your party members, you might as well switch to RAV/RAV/RAV and SAB/RAV/RAV to get the gauge up quicker. Just keep an eye on your buffs.

Once Jihl is brought to stagger, switch to RAV/COM/RAV and take her down. If you're controlling Serah, use her Ultima Arrow before switching to Noel. Once Jihl's at 999% and the stagger is about to die off and she's not dead yet, use Meteor Javelin. That should finish her off. If not...you might as well restart the battle.

Once she's down, kill off her minions. To save on potions, just use RAV/COM/MED to take them down and heal up HP so they can't harm you. They are pretty easy, anyway.

The biggest annoyance in this fight is the minions ability to knock you into the air Stupid Aeroga. That can eat up some time. Hope this helps anyone who needs it ^^

Gonna continue finetuning this tomorrow, but for now this strat works great.

Now if only Jihl actually dropped gil....

 

[Zee]

argh i have two more achievements left it's killing meeeeeeeeee

i guess i am just gonna hunker down and do the chocobo races...................sob..........

 

[Masamune]

It easily takes the crown of Final Fantasy X.

Come back when it takes FFXII's crown. Then we'll talk.

I feel bad for people who didn't played it because of their hate...

Can you honestly blame them after FFXIII?

 

[Marle]

I'm glad you decided to give it a shot, Masamune!

It's a pretty fun game and the plot is actually pretty well executed. This is coming from someone who wasn't a great fan of FF13 and was skeptical of the sequel, too. Not to mention, they really did well with character development on Serah, Hope and Noel's part.

It's definitely an improvement imo and I think you'll enjoy it. There's a lot of the classic elements and that's probably why I actually enjoyed it quite a bit.

My only quirk is the ending...

 

[Masamune]

Thanks, Tifa.

I played for a couple of hours today. There's already so much that doesn't make a lick of sense, and I get the feeling this time-travel lark is going to be a blanket 'wizard did it' for the rest of the game. But I'm not unreasonable, so I'll see how it plays out. Of course, I did that with FFXIII and I was left with more questions than answers.

Anyway, this is certainly closer to what FFXIII should have been (which is why I don't blame people for keeping their money in their pocket). So far, the pace of the plot feels much tighter and more conventional than its predecessor, which dumped a bunch of characters in your lap and expected you to connect the dots yourself. I've always found that less is more, and I'm hoping the game can provide two compelling protagonists instead of six half-baked ones.

Squenix have also realized that they're making RPGs and not interactive movies, allowing players to actually explore, talk with NPCs and take on sidequests. But it's not so much of a plus point when these are the bare essentials for any RPG.

I'm still disappointed that they tweaked the Auto-battle system when it needed overhauling. Feels lazy on the part of Squenix, when they've only made the basic changes that should've been in FFXIII in the first place. If they were able to revamp battle systems between FFX & FFX-2, there's really no excuse for half-assing it with FFXIII-2. Let's not be naive here, though, this game was shot out to make a quick buck on the back of FFXIV's complete nosedive.

Quick question: Can you teleport back to previous stages? There's a treasure sphere I can't access, so I imagine I'll have to return for it when I'm dicking around with time?

 

[AvecAloes]

Squenix have also realized that they're making RPGs and not interactive movies, allowing players to actually explore, talk with NPCs and take on sidequests. But it's not so much of a plus point when these are the bare essentials for any RPG.

I'm still disappointed that they tweaked the Auto-battle system when it needed overhauling. Feels lazy on the part of Squenix, when they've only made the basic changes that should've been in FFXIII in the first place. If they were able to revamp battle systems between FFX & FFX-2, there's really no excuse for half-assing it with FFXIII-2. Let's not be naive here, though, this game was shot out to make a quick buck on the back of FFXIV's complete nosedive.

I still maintain that the XIII and XIII-2's battle systems are great fun. I can see why people might think that they enable the player to be lazy, but that's only if you take decide to be. I messed around with it a lot and had a lot of fun. It's one of my favorite features of the two games, tbh.

Quick question: Can you teleport back to previous stages? There's a treasure sphere I can't access, so I imagine I'll have to return for it when I'm dicking around with time?

Yeah, you'll be able to travel back to previous stages. There are all kinds of things you can't get at certain points in the game that you can always go back and get. In certain ways I found this to be frustrating, but that was mostly before I got the guide and had no freaking clue where I was supposed to go to find X,Y,Z item, ha.

 

[Masamune]

I still maintain that the XIII and XIII-2's battle systems are great fun. I can see why people might think that they enable the player to be lazy, but that's only if you take decide to be. I messed around with it a lot and had a lot of fun. It's one of my favorite features of the two games, tbh.

To be honest, that's a flawed defence of the Auto-battle system. 'You can play manually if you want'... Well, no. Not really. The game is programmed to be played on autopilot, as the game makes the optimum commands for you. Sure, there were times in FFXIII which had an element of strategy but they were few and far between. For the vast majority of the game it was simply button-mashing from A to B.

Yeah, you'll be able to travel back to previous stages. There are all kinds of things you can't get at certain points in the game that you can always go back and get. In certain ways I found this to be frustrating, but that was mostly before I got the guide and had no freaking clue where I was supposed to go to find X,Y,Z item, ha.

Cheers, just wanted to make sure!

 

[Fangu]

Re: button mashing - all FF games turns into X spam when you're leveled up enough. That's not unique for XIII and XIII-2.

I think you either love or hate the time based battle. I, like Avec, liked it. Though I liked it better in XIII. XIII-2 lacks the strategic battles IMO, everything is a matter of being leveled enough, using the right monsters and setting a few debuffs. But I haven't done the Coliseum fights yet, probably more strategy needed in those.

 

[Lumina]

Come back when it takes FFXII's crown. Then

Everyone has different tastes. For me XII is one of my less favoites so l

 

[Zee]

Not really. The game is programmed to be played on autopilot, as the game makes the optimum commands for you. Sure, there were times in FFXIII which had an element of strategy but they were few and far between. For the vast majority of the game it was simply button-mashing from A to B.

Dude, autopilot is sitting my controller on the couch while I go eat lunch because the gambit system in XII literally makes it so that all the characters can fend for themselves. The AI even runs close to enemies in dungeons, so I can literally have them grind and clear floors without having to touch a single button.

Even with the autobattle, you're still swapping roles, using items, y'know, generally being involved in some capacity in the battle. And it's not like the autobattle really makes things that much easier when it comes down to it, and certain roles (syn/sab/sen come to mind) it's actually better to input the commands manually.

 

[Alex Strife]

I also liked the battle system. And... also! The "autopilot" does not always make the perfectly optimum choice. I like to play it manually as, first of all, it allows you to make shorter actions. (I may prefer to heal just once and see what happens).

Then, the system sometimes uses some actions that are not perfect in succession, but just individually.

 

[Aqua]

I've noticed that too. It seemed to get worse in FFXIII-2 as well lol

Most of the time auto-attack on COM role was not a good idea because the character you're controlling will use Ruin once and then the rest would be Attack. Makes no sense.

 

[Alex Strife]

Gosh, Jihl!! I do not wish to do that battle again.

I'll have to do it until I get her crystal, though... damn.

 

[Aqua]

I's not that bad. I caught her in 1/6.

The most annoying part of that fight has to be her minions. They can knock you into the air over and over again ugh.

 

[Alex Strife]

Well, 1/6 is good enough for me.

I plan on fighting her once a day, so in around a week I hope to have her!

EDIT: Ahh, I have no shame; I'm going to try it out now again!

Also, I didn't have to use any potion; I'm using economy fighting!

 

[Alex Strife]

Double post because...

Five stars + Nabaat crystal. Awwww yeah!!

 

[Arianna]

Bought the Jihl Nabaat battle.

I have one more fragment to obtain, and then I can go for that secret ending.

Then off to fight the final battles all over again.

 

[Zee]

oh man can i just say the silver chocobo is super rad???

i infused mine with the abilities:
dark horse
health nut
marathoner
sprinter

and he already comes with blue streak (& i think rocket blast was already there too)

basically i'm knocking out these races awww yeah


the slots just....hate me
i don't even know

i've tried the rubber band method but every time i just lose more coins
my luck is just ass i think

EDIT

AND ACHIVEMENT GOT

FUCK YEEEEEEEEEEEEEAH

 

[AvecAloes]

I only have the normal ol' yellow chocobos. 3 of them for some reason. I feel like I barely got any monsters during my playthrough. I think I might start a new playthrough sometime in the near future, to do things differently. Especially the way I leveled. I want to do that differently. Also, I spent the majority of my time in the Archylte Steppe, and I'd like to explore other areas more than I did last time. I think that must be why I only got a limited number of monsters, and none of the cool ones, so to speak.

I haven't gotten any of the DLC's yet, but I'd like to sometime. Heck, I still haven't used my promotional code from my preorder yet. I'm a little behind...

 

[Zee]

I only have the normal ol' yellow chocobos. 3 of them for some reason.

I never got why you could catch an endless amount of these. Maybe for racing?

The silver chocobo is really great because you don't have to even fight him. Just go to Academia 4XX and toss Mog into that green orb and you'll nab him.

Do you have the fragment skill that increases the monster drop rate? Try talking to the chocobo lady in Serendipity if you don't!

But I also was thinking about doing another playthrough just cause I love this game so much and oh lord I already clocked 80 hours hELP.

 

[ForceStealer]

I'm 10 hours in, liking it so far. I got lucky and captured a Behemoth before you're "supposed" to, but maybe the game was jsut taking pity on the number of phoenix downs that battle took... Regardless, he's pretty awesome.

Besides him, I've been reluctant to change my Ravager and Medic monsters that I've had from the very beginning since Cait Sith is a "late bloomer" and my little robot dude has been pretty good...

 

[Splintered]

Even as a late bloomer Cait Sith is a lower tier, you will get better medics. I use a green chocobo, and I heard the flanitor is one of the best.

I kept my RAV until the end though, and only bothered changing it when I got Lightning.

But I also was thinking about doing another playthrough just cause I love this game so much and oh lord I already clocked 80 hours hELP.

NO REGRETS. I actually kind of started a new one, but decided to hold out playing it until I Noel's AssCreed and Serah's outfit from the poll.

Gunna making Serah physical and Noel a mage. Noel has better medic abilities anyway. That way I actually get to take advantage of the genji bow- I was annoyed when I noticed that the higher up, the bow seems to favor physical attacks.

The only problem with this set up is I FUCKING HATE THE ATTACK AI, sometimes she attacks with a bow when they are to her, or she switches to a sword when they are far away. It's annoying.