Looking at my notes, the last time I played FFX-2 was back on September 4th, so once again I'm wrapping up while the game is a bit in my past. One important thing I don't think I've noted yet is that the game is organized by "episodes". This term only comes up during the last chapter, 5, when you get an "episode complete" message. This is different than the "mission complete" messages received throughout the game. Basically each location you can visit in the game has a storyline that progress chapter by chapter, if you complete them all, you get the "episode complete" message in chapter 5.
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| In chapter 5, the Gullwings help complete Tobli's show with a special appearance! |
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| Lulu and Wakka's child is born. |
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| Also, this happens, mega hotspots! |
I can't remember if it's a chapter 5 only event, but the Spherebreak tournament is worth mentioning here either way. Spherebreak is a new game introduced in FFX-2, in the tradition of past games, such as Triple Triad and Blitzball. It's fundamentally a math game, without too many bells and whistles, so entertainment mileage will most certainly vary. Thankfully, I was able to get myself to play enough to win the tournament, as it nets the Lady Luck dressphere. This dressphere has dice abilities, rolling dice for damage, which I find simple and effective. Occasionally you get a stinker roll, but generally speaking the dice do a high amount of damage. I didn't unlock all the abilities, but a notable one is Double XP, which really makes the character zoom up in levels.
Yuna must play, of all people, boy-wonder Shinra in the finals. Humorously, if Shinra wins, he keeps the dressphere for himself rather than doing the obvious thing and giving it to the girls. He says he needs it for "research"... oh Shinra, you dirty boy!
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| Shinra basks in the glory of his win. |
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| Yuna receiving the prize. Now that's better! |
Chapter 5 also opens up the path to the final boss. The Gullwings have discovered that the fayths have disappeared, and in their place are now deep, dark, holes. Yuna may pick anyone of these holes as a path. There are slight, but not big differences between the paths, as far as I could tell. I think the Cavern of the Stolen Fayth is the easiest and shortest, which makes sense as it is optional and somewhat tough to open up. However, I believe any path still involves battles with the three remaining Aeons: Shiva, The Magus Sisters, and Anima.
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| Down the rabbit hole... er... fayth hole. Why does that sound perverted? |
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| At the end of the hole, the Gullwings find the Leblanc Syndicate waiting patiently on the Farplane. |
Once the Gulls reach the Farplane, they find a portal which leads to where Vegnagun has settled itself. This area is interesting, there is a "puzzle" involving musical notes. I put quotations around puzzle, because I'm not sure it really qualifies as one, so much as you collect the notes from keyboards and then repeat them later, but it doesn't appear you have to memorize them or anything. The second area definitely qualifies as a puzzle, but I'm not sure how important the music is at this point. Yuna must step on a series of platforms in the correct order to play the melody retrieved earlier. You end up memorizing the order of the platforms more so than any music I think. I may have been expecting too much with the music, since I have a musical background, so someone else will have to chime in on that!
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| Memorizing the pattern... |
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| The gate guarding the way to Vegnagun. |
The first time I approached the platforming puzzle, I didn't get it, so just ended up going in an order that seemed appropriate. Once I reached the final gate, I was attacked by a guardian beast that mopped the floor with me. If you follow the right path, you don't have to fight the beast. I rather prefer this approach to instantly slaying the party or teleporting them back, because it adds an extra layer to things. In this example, an over leveled party could potentially defeat the beast, providing an alternate solution.
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| Vegnagun stirs! |
The final battle is a typical, quality final fantasy affair. By "typical" I mean it's an epic, multi-battle affair, typical of the series, and it delivers. The Gulls first battle the tail, then make their way up past Veg's wings and feet to it's head.
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| I'll form the tail. |
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| The path to the monster. |
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| And I'll form... the head! |
The Gullwings battle through the various forms of Vegnagun until they can reach Shuyin himself. Yuna is hopeful that love will conquer all. In other words she professes her love in the guise of Lenne to calm Shuyin down. However, Shuyin sees through the ruse, and in his anger, decides to kill 'em all. What follows is a pretty classic battle against Shuyin himself, armed with only a sword and his blitzing skills (which are "pallet swaps" of Tidus's overdrives). I find it refreshing after battling ginormous mecha, summoned beasts, one-winged angels and whatnot to end up going mano-e-mano for this final battle.
In the end, Shuyin is defeated, and Lenne does decide to make an actual appearance. After a somewhat touching scene, the two spirits are able to rest in peace. There is a speach held at Luca stadium, where the three Faction leaders talk about the lessons they've learned, while Yuna and the Gullwings skip town to avoid the hullaballoo. All in all, it's a pretty satisfying end to a pretty satisfying game.
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| "Remember Spirans, make good choices... stay in school, don't do drugs." |
With peace achieved, we yet again bid farewell to Spira. However, there may yet be more tales of Spira to be spun, to find out, come back again soon... to This Bard's Tales!
Play Time to Post: 13h 30m
Total Play Time: 75h 57m 7s
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