Final Fantasy XIII-2

Game Info

Final Fantasy XIII gets its own sequel with a new entry in the Fabula Nova Crystallis series with the PS3/360 title Final Fantasy XIII-2.

Three years after the events in FINAL FANTASY XIII, Lightning has gone missing, and Snow is nowhere to be found. In a rebuilding world, Serah notices that something is amiss. After a fortuitous encounter with a mysterious man named Noel, the two set off to find Lightning.

Gameplay

The Active Time Battle system returns, allowing players to execute numerous commands in a single turn with the multi-segment ATB gauge. Whether allocating a command in each segment for consecutive attacks, or expending multiple segments at once with a single devastating ability, players can choose the most effective method for meeting the shifting demands of battle.

The dynamic battles contain cutscenes that allow the player to take part in the action. Successful execution of button prompts can unleash powerful attacks or defensive maneuvers that give players a huge advantage against enemy monsters.

Players can instantly change strategies by assigning roles to their party members at any time during battle. How effectively the player chooses paradigms will be the difference between victory and defeat.

Commando — deals brutal physical and magical attacks
Ravager — builds chain bonuses more effectively
Sentinel — draws enemy aggression to reduce damage to the party through enhanced defense
Medic — restores HP, removes status ailments, and revives KO'd allies
Synergist — employs a wide range of status-enhancing abilities to improve their allies' effectiveness in combat
Saboteur — casts an array of attribute-lowering abilities and status ailments to the enemy

The Paradigm system allows you to select roles for your team in advance, build strategies that utilize these roles in unique combinations, then quickly shift strategies as the battle requires. Additionally, you can fine-tune each of your paradigms, allowing them to function normally or to shift focus to either individual enemies or large groups. How you craft your paradigms can greatly change the status of a battle.

When a monster is defeated, it sometimes transforms into a crystal for you to obtain. You can select three monsters to create a paradigm pack, allowing these monsters to fight alongside you in battle. Each monster has a set role, but their abilities differ depending on breed and level.

You can teach your monsters new abilities by infusing them with other monsters in your party. Abilities and auto-abilities are infused from monsters of the same role, but passive abilities can be infused from any kind of monster. Beware, when you infuse a monster into another, the monster crystal disappears from your menagerie.

All monsters can perform a special ability. The Feral Link gauge will fill as the battle progresses, and once it's full, special abilities can be unleashed! When a button prompt appears on-screen, act as fast as you can!

Official URL

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Official Site (JP)
Official Site (EU)

Neoseeker Editor's Take
Square Enix pushes its home grown Crystal Tools graphic engine with their latest installment in the RPG series which is anything but final. »Read Full Article