Launch Station: Final Fantasy XIII-2

Ever since the holiday season and the holiday game rush of 2011 came to an end, there have been little to no new games released.  Maybe one or two Game of the Year editions of a couple games, but nothing completely new.  Well tomorrow, January 31st, starts the first big game rush of 2012 as publishers and developers release their first wave of heavyweight games.  Among the first of this big wave of releases is a direct sequel to Final Fantasy XIII.  Final Fantasy XIII-2 hopes to right all the complaints fans and critics laid on its polarizing predecessor.  Let us take a closer look at Final Fantasy XIII-2 before it releases tomorrow.

Immediately after saving the worlds of Cocoon and Gran Pulse in the finale of Final Fantasy XIII, Lightning is sucked into another world.  Trapped in this alternate reality, Lightning must contend with the evil forces of the main villain of this Final Fantasy game, Caius Ballard.  Left without a sister, Serah goes on a quest to find Lightning, which leads her to meeting Noel, a mysterious time-traveller from 700 years in the future.  Serah and Noel must travel across time and space in order to find Lightning and stop Caius Ballard.  Final Fantasy XIII-2's main focus is on improving on the XIII's shortcomings, mainly the extreme linearity of XIII.  You no longer have to travel down long hallways for hours on end as each location is open for you to explore, complete various side-quests or do whatever you want.  The Paradigm Shift battle system returns from XIII with some additions.  The first addition being little quick-time events called Cinematic Action that play at pre-determined moments in fights that keep you engaged while these epic moments happen on-screen.  The second addition is the ability to tame monsters to use as the third member in your party.  This third party member can be very useful especially for its special Feral Link move, which can deal a good amount of damage when needed.  Along with the additions to the combat, Square Enix has added Live Triggers, which serve as Final Fantasy's take on dialogue trees, and Temporal Rifts, little puzzle-like mini-games that play into furthering the story.

Story is a huge component of Final Fantasy games and time travel could provide some messy plot holes if Square Enix does not do it right.  I was not a huge fan of Final Fantasy XIII when it released back in 2010 and I am not really interested in Final Fantasy XIII-2.  It looks like Square Enix listened to the fans and critics and tried their best to right the wrongs they made with Final Fantasy XIII.  Hardcore fans of Final Fantasy and Japanese role-playing games (JRPGs for short) will most likely enjoy Final Fantasy XIII-2.  I do not think it will grab gamers who have their minds set on Kingdoms of Amular or Mass Effect 3 though.