Hey guys, sorry it's been so long since my last post. I was eagerly awaiting Final Fantasy XIII-2 and then playing it as much as possible. Now that I've beaten it and am just doing the extra stuff available after the game I thought I'd go ahead and post my review. Beware, I'll try to limit spoilers to a minimum. However since this is a review I might spoil something, so read on at your own risk.
The new cinematic battles scenes are a little strange at first but once you get used to them their actually a really cool new feature. Always have your controller handy because some battles will have this, others will not and you never know which will.
You're cute little moogle companion is like the dog in Fable. For some of the treasure chests he will lead you to them and then stand there and glow until you open the chest. He also helps with other treasure chests that you cannot get without him. So if you hear him go 'kupo' watch him closely!
The leveling is a little easier and less time consuming in Final Fantasy XIII-2, you can level whatever you want whenever you want without the caps. However, at first I did prefer Final Fantasy XIII's crystalarium. You could see everything and decide where you wanted to go. In the new leveling screen you don't have to worry about those branches. You only have to worry about how much CP you have, which role you want to level, and press A. Easy.
The monsters that you capture to fight at your side have special attacks that build up overtime. Then when they pop up you have to push the buttons that pop up, much like your overdrives in Final Fantasy X.
Remember in Final Fantasy XIII when you turned your game back on and loaded a save, it would give you a recap? Those paragraphs you had to read are now short cut scenes :D I used to skip the paragraphs because I would be doing extra things in an area for awhile and would get tired of listening to it, now though I let it play. Why not?
If you do not like solving puzzles then chances are you are not going to enjoy this game. There are a few times that you do have to solve puzzles, again like Final Fantasy X. There are three different types, I'll let you find out what they are for yourself. Sometimes you are timed, just take your time and don't rush yourself.
The last thing I have to say about this game is this. I love Final Fantasy! I was first introduced to the series with X, and then backtracked to Final Fantasy VII. I've played Final Fantasy VII-XIII-2. So the only way I can sum of this review without giving any spoilers is to say this: I greatly disliked this game despite being a Final Fantasy fan. The replay value of this game is very low.
