Final Fantasy XIII-2

 PC
User Score
6.6

Mixed or average reviews- based on 167 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 83 out of 167
  2. Mixed: 46 out of 167
  3. Negative: 38 out of 167

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  1. 22446688Bb
    Aug 5, 2019
    10
    Trio 13 is excellent in all respects, offering an excellent story with very famous characters. Turns out to be like the old parts.
  2. tigor91
    Feb 15, 2022
    10
    В 2021 году, в связи с отсутствием нормальных игр перепрошел эту игру на PC. Я понимаю, что для 2014 года оценка может и актуальна, но для 2021 года это просто шикарная игра. Да графика не дотягивает. гемплей слегка устаревший. Зато интересная история. И по сравнению с тем , что вышло в 2021 году это шикарная игра.В 2021 году, в связи с отсутствием нормальных игр перепрошел эту игру на PC. Я понимаю, что для 2014 года оценка может и актуальна, но для 2021 года это просто шикарная игра. Да графика не дотягивает. гемплей слегка устаревший. Зато интересная история. И по сравнению с тем , что вышло в 2021 году это шикарная игра.
  3. LastResource
    Jan 14, 2023
    10
    worth it and glad to play this game again. so much memories and nostalgia within this thirteenth game in the series.
  4. ComradeJonathan
    Mar 14, 2015
    9
    This title is amongst the best I have ever Played.

    You play as a young girl searching for her Goddess of a sister (both internally and externally) alongside a man sent by your sister to aid you, as you solve time anomalies and paradoxes in order to piece a broken world back together. Throughout your journey you meet some very interesting and occasionally melodramatic characters and    This title is amongst the best I have ever Played.

    You play as a young girl searching for her Goddess of a sister (both internally and externally) alongside a man sent by your sister to aid you, as you solve time anomalies and paradoxes in order to piece a broken world back together. Throughout your journey you meet some very interesting and occasionally melodramatic characters and watch yourself develop from a scared girl waiting for her hero into an avid fighter and competent problem solver.

    I get 60 FPS with my Radeon HD 7850 GPU, FX8350 CPU and 4GB DDR3 (aka a moderately high end PC) @ 1920 x 1200 resolution, 4k x 4k shadow resolution, and x8 AA, which is amazing for all intents and purposes.

    Unfortunately It crashes If I go any higher at all, assumedly from my RAM bottleneck. The game itself suffers from random crashes every once in awhile and it may be because I am using high end settings with only 4GB RAM.

    The controls are pretty good for a console port, and they are customizable, which is really all that matters.

    Anyhoo the game itself is amazing which is why I give it this particular rating. This is probably one of the best final fantasy titles ever released.    … Expand
  5. Lightning189
    Jun 23, 2020
    9
    After Replaying FFXIII, I knew I'd have to move onto this one, and XIII-2 was my least favourite of the trilogy, mostly because of the mini games and puzzles (looking at you slot machine and Clock puzzles), I did however like how it improves XIII's combat system and made it feel faster and less "Keep the character I'm controlling alive, or else I'm F**ked", and that you could swap leadersAfter Replaying FFXIII, I knew I'd have to move onto this one, and XIII-2 was my least favourite of the trilogy, mostly because of the mini games and puzzles (looking at you slot machine and Clock puzzles), I did however like how it improves XIII's combat system and made it feel faster and less "Keep the character I'm controlling alive, or else I'm F**ked", and that you could swap leaders mid battle, I always swapped when healing needed doing because oh boy, the medic role is not the best role to let the CPU do. I don't hate the game, but in terms of story, it kinda feels un-needed, XIII had a happy ending, but then this came along like "You know that happy ending? F**k that happy ending" the game is enjoyable, with over double the amount of Side quests XIII had, and a MUCH less expensive Crystarium. Another problem I had was with the monsters because it felt like it hindered your Paradigms, but That's a minor thing which doesn't affecr the game too much. Also it came with all the DLC which means you won't need to pay out anymore than you already have for extra content… Expand
  6. Hobomold
    Jul 23, 2020
    9
    Overall:
    A well-made upgrade compared to the former game and has a lot of fun and enjoyable content and soundtrack that keeps the player busy for a long time.
    Story: It touches an interesting topic with time travelling and executes it well, the story is not too hard to grasp and it keeps you interested throughout the game. There are way less playable characters compared to the former    Overall:
    A well-made upgrade compared to the former game and has a lot of fun and enjoyable content and soundtrack that keeps the player busy for a long time.

    Story:
    It touches an interesting topic with time travelling and executes it well, the story is not too hard to grasp and it keeps you interested throughout the game. There are way less playable characters compared to the former game but this does not hurt the game itself. While there are some flaws in the storytelling it is still very much enjoyable.

    Gameplay:
    The gameplay is fun and a good upgrade, combat is mostly same as previous title but now has support characters in the form of monsters that you fight and catch in the world which I thought was a nice way of not having too many characters to control in combat. This also makes you want to go out and 'catch 'em all' like some other games that probably all of us have played.
    There are some aspects that I would've liked to not have in the form of a certain puzzle, but it doesn't hurt the game that much overall.
    Otherwise it's a really solid game, takes about 50+ hours or so to 100% and it has made me come back many times to play this game again.    … Expand
  7. Watersson
    Apr 2, 2015
    8
    Generally Final Fantasy XIII-2 is better than predecessor. Story is better, gameplay isn't linear as hell. That changes are very good but I have to say something important. We have only 2 "real" playable characters (Serah and Noel) . We can catch some monsters and use them in battle (and be a Pokemon trainer) but they aren't interesting. What's more? Maybe we should talk about soundtrack.Generally Final Fantasy XIII-2 is better than predecessor. Story is better, gameplay isn't linear as hell. That changes are very good but I have to say something important. We have only 2 "real" playable characters (Serah and Noel) . We can catch some monsters and use them in battle (and be a Pokemon trainer) but they aren't interesting. What's more? Maybe we should talk about soundtrack. It is similiar to FF XIII. Bit strange but good. I think that's all. If you enjoy Final Fantasy XIII you will like XIII-2… Expand
  8. 0hope
    Dec 12, 2014
    8
    Where to start with this one, ah yeah there is something funny when you check game description and features and then find there highlighted ability to change resolution, texture detail and volume sliders!
    Those are thing that should be standard for PC games.
    But then memory from last FF floods my brain and i came to remember how that one didn't even have volume sliders so yeah XD This    Where to start with this one, ah yeah there is something funny when you check game description and features and then find there highlighted ability to change resolution, texture detail and volume sliders!
    Those are thing that should be standard for PC games.
    But then memory from last FF floods my brain and i came to remember how that one didn't even have volume sliders so yeah XD

    This one is actually fairly decent port. Have not had any major issues like with last FF13. Game was running smoothly on 60fps most of time, there ware some hick ups but nothing major.
    And it actually supports widescreen and most important the freaking ability to actually change resolution.

    This PC version have both japanese and english dub just like last one but this time without major increase in space taken, guess they did learn something instead of just dumping copy of movies with different audio.

    Now about game it self.
    This time around you have only 2 playable char and this is good and bad. Bad in sense that if you dislike both of them there wont be much redeeming chance. But this way there is far more character development so the story doesn't suffer from that issue much.
    Wont spoil anything regarding story it self but you don't really need to play last FF 13 to understand this one even though story is continuation of that one, well kind off.

    Combat is more or less identical, meaning real time ATB system where you pick commands only for your main char while other two act depending what preset you have selected (AI controlled).
    Yes i said two because 3nd party member is a monster(almost any monster NPC) which can be captured and added to your team. That is new part added to game its fairly interesting one.

    How ever combat still feels flawed in part that you never feel like you have complete control over your characters.
    Thing is monster do have hit boxes and its possible to miss or getting missed by just moving around or jumping in air during some move but those are random things which are hard to time or predict.
    And in some rare cases monster collision can even prevent you from getting to its hit box.

    But over all its nothing worse then FF 13.
    Game do suffers from some repetitiveness but over all i dare to say its best FF from FF 13 trilogy.
    And its worth to mention that all 'DLC' are already added into game with exception of certain that couldn't be ported because of some copyright laws and BS.

    Its only 16 euro on steam, not over all that expensive so i'd say its worth your money if you never had chance to play it or just want to replay it.

    Final score 8/10    … Expand
  9. mugsy
    May 9, 2020
    8
    Best game out of the XIII trilogy by a significant margin. While the plot is confusing, the great soundtrack, atmosphere and general feel of the game made it an enjoyable experience for me.
  10. poplo220
    Jan 28, 2019
    8
    He jugado 40 horas de juego, he completado la historia principal y dispongo de 123 fragmentos de 160. Voy a valorar el juego como tal no el cutre port que presenciamos en la versión de PC (pero que con los parches adecuados y algún que otro mod puede hacerse funcionar de manera fluida perfectamente)

    Tras mi experiencia con FFXIII, llega esta secuela que es un poco locura por la trama    He jugado 40 horas de juego, he completado la historia principal y dispongo de 123 fragmentos de 160. Voy a valorar el juego como tal no el cutre port que presenciamos en la versión de PC (pero que con los parches adecuados y algún que otro mod puede hacerse funcionar de manera fluida perfectamente)

    Tras mi experiencia con FFXIII, llega esta secuela que es un poco locura por la trama pero que hace todas las cosas bien. No es nada linear, tienes sidequests desde el principio, gran variedad de criaturas. Y sobre todo lo más interesante sin lugar a dudas es esa posibilidad de capturar monstruos para que luchen a tu lado.

    El antagonista sigue siendo lo mismo que FFXIII, un ser que busca su muerte para liberar a alguien, algo que me parece un poco reciclado de guión, pero se hace interesante la historia con eso de poder viajar en el tiempo y la cantidad inmensa de coleccionables que hay en el videojuego.

    Luego otra pega, es que, pese a todo lo bien hecho en este juego, es un copia y pega del primero, habrá como 4 mapas nuevos o menos, y los demás son reciclados vastísimos donde solo aplicaron un filtro. Las criaturas tambien son en gran mayoría las mismas con alguna nueva, pero bueno.

    De lo mejor sin lugar a dudas es la banda sonora, aunque no supera a la del FFXIII, si llega a estar al mismo nivel.

    Lo más criticable es sobre todo el port, que es nefasto, te da muchos problemas de inicio, a veces el sonido se reemplaza por un pitido insoportable, tiene problemas con Windows 10, y hay caídas estúpidas de FPS en momentos aleatorios.

    Pero en general es un gran juego, mucho más entretenido que el primero (por su jugabilidad, en historia no es para nada superior). Básicamente es la jugabilidad de lo que debió ser FFXIII. Considero imprescindible pasarse ese primero para entender todo el lore de este universo y para entender la historia mejor, pero eso ya depende de cada uno.

    Recomiendo el juego para todo aquel que le gustó FFXIII en su momento y el estilo qu se mantuvo en la triología.

    Gráficos 9/10 (para la época de lo mejor que había)
    Banda Sonora 9/10
    Jugabilidad 8/10
    Historia 6/10
    Personajes 7/10 (son buenos protagonistas pero no dejan de ser clichés)
    Ambientación 6/10 (el reciclado se hace ver durante todo el juego)

    (Hace una media de 9, pero debido al mal port le bajo la nota)    … Expand
  11. aecsuter
    Aug 18, 2022
    8
    I recommend the game even for those who didn't like FFXIII, because it changes a lot in the story and mechanics.

    Strong points: - Main story very engaging and apprehensive with a nail-biting ending. - Although there are few CGS, the ones that exist are very beautiful - More fluid battles - Very good PET system - I really liked the new character Weaknesses: - Sidequests waaaaay    I recommend the game even for those who didn't like FFXIII, because it changes a lot in the story and mechanics.

    Strong points:
    - Main story very engaging and apprehensive with a nail-biting ending.
    - Although there are few CGS, the ones that exist are very beautiful
    - More fluid battles
    - Very good PET system
    - I really liked the new character

    Weaknesses:
    - Sidequests waaaaay to do
    - Unbearable mini games
    - Secret bosses are just fighting the same Boss with a different time paradox
    - Very mequetrefe equipment system
    - My pet was much stronger than the main characters at the end of the game lol

    I think it's worth giving the game a chance, despite not being a masterpiece like 12.

    81 out of 100    … Expand
  12. jayman007
    Aug 6, 2015
    7
    This game turned out better then expected. After playing FFXIII on the xbox during it's initial release, I remember feeling underwhelmed and completed it for completion sake.

    When news came of XIII-2 I avoided it like the plague; the idea of more XIII with only 2 playable characters hardly felt like a compelling buy, especially since the lead this time around being Serah, who I found to    This game turned out better then expected. After playing FFXIII on the xbox during it's initial release, I remember feeling underwhelmed and completed it for completion sake.

    When news came of XIII-2 I avoided it like the plague; the idea of more XIII with only 2 playable characters hardly felt like a compelling buy, especially since the lead this time around being Serah, who I found to be a bland, generic princess archetype from the first game.

    I caved in eventually and bought the game when it was ported to pc, partially due to obligation and partially because it was a steam sale and the game was purchased on the cheap side. Months later, I finally decided to play it and the game was surprisingly good - not amazing mind you but definitely a solid attempt.

    The main leads are as bland and generic as I feared and the main villain is nothing special, however, what made this game shine for me is the time travelling backdrop. The game is at it's best when seeing the effects of time unravel, travelling to parallel worlds, and jumping hundreds of years into the future and seeing how all these timelines are linked to one another.

    Also, for the most part, cameos from the original cast of XIII didn't feel like they were out of place or shoehorned in and that they had an actual purpose in the grand scheme of XIII-2's story.

    Game play mechanics have been tightened and gone are the linear corridors that plagued the original.

    As a PC port, it ran ok for me, I was getting 30-60fps throughout the game however due to the large frame variance and stutter, this was very noticeable but not unplayable. That said, I do run a very beefy computer (i7-3930k, titan x playing on a resolution of 3440x1440).

    Overall, this game was a surprisingly good entry and has got me interested in the sequel lightning returns (when it comes on steam).    … Expand
  13. SanctumRevel
    Dec 17, 2014
    7
    a saga of dreams the ff games have allways been the treasure of consoles for many years and now coming to pc is a long and difficult path as we have seen on ffxiii the previous one i bieleve they haven't really payed much attention to pc optimization just throw it out in the market now a slight improvement has been made in this one but it still needs fix or patches but you can enjoy it nonetheless
  14. HRChan
    Aug 1, 2020
    7
    This didn't really hooked me in like FFXIII did but still fun nonetheless, the story just didn't do it to me. It felt like this whole part is pointless ngl. Sorry not sorry.
  15. NN010
    Feb 16, 2023
    7
    It's better than XIII! With a somehow more straightforward story and an emotional core about the value of life & determining your own destiny XIII-2's highs are much higher than XIII's. Combine that with the game giving you access to XIII's combat system's full potential from the get-go & great as always music, XIII-2 is worth playing if you managed to get through XIII. Hell, skipping XIIIIt's better than XIII! With a somehow more straightforward story and an emotional core about the value of life & determining your own destiny XIII-2's highs are much higher than XIII's. Combine that with the game giving you access to XIII's combat system's full potential from the get-go & great as always music, XIII-2 is worth playing if you managed to get through XIII. Hell, skipping XIII & jumping straight to XIII-2 wouldn't be the worst idea given the story does sideline most of the first game's main cast & focuses on new characters (and Serah, but she was a crystal for most of XIII anyway).

    Now I'll have to see if Lightning Returns keeps up this momentum! Especially given that cliffhanger.

    As for the issues with the PC port, just install FF13Fix & a Large Address Aware patch, and you'll be fine.

    Ratings:

    Creative score (story, gameplay, voice acting, art direction): 7.5/10

    Technical score (graphics, audio, performance)): 6/10 (pretty good graphics for its day, but the PC port is terrible)

    Business Practices score: 6.5/10 (not terrible, but there was a lot of DLC for this game, including some bizarre Assassin’s Creed & Mass Effect crossover costumes)

    Overall score (my thoughts on a game’s overall quality, doesn’t consider the business practices unless they are detrimental to the experience): 7/10    … Expand
  16. Frein
    Apr 2, 2015
    6
    This review is based on 13h of gameplay and I have plenty of experience with the FF series, including FFXIII, which I beat.

    FFXIII-2 is in many ways similar to FFXIII, however, it's clear that the designers wanted to address some of the criticism FFXIII received. They removed the endless linear corridors, for instance, however, not all changes were for the better. While the linear    This review is based on 13h of gameplay and I have plenty of experience with the FF series, including FFXIII, which I beat.

    FFXIII-2 is in many ways similar to FFXIII, however, it's clear that the designers wanted to address some of the criticism FFXIII received. They removed the endless linear corridors, for instance, however, not all changes were for the better.

    While the linear corridors are gone, the quite open ended nature of FFXIII-2 struggles to keep the narrative tight. Most of the side quests are completely uninspiring and even the main plot seems to be riddled with C-grade sci-fi writing. Despite the time traveling theme, Chrono Trigger this is not. As I mentioned earlier, I have not finished the game, so take this with a grain of salt, however. The story may well improve later on.

    The most significant step backwards, in my opinion, is the character progression system. FFXIII-2 also uses the crystarium, however, this time it works differently. You can unlock available roles all the way to the end at any point of the game, which can lead to extreme variance in character builds. Also, optimal allocation of CP (exp in FFXIII) is an exercise in spreadsheet porn, which is extremely poor design. Basically, if you allocate CP to your various roles in the wrong order, your character will end up with worse stats. The tutorial doesn't even properly explain how this works and there is no going back, so you're basically screwed if you don't follow a guide from the get go.

    The weapon upgrade system from FFXIII is, thankfully, gone. The original system had shocking design failures that are no longer present. This time you hunt specific monster materials to modify your equipment in multiple ways. It appears quite confusing and not really worth the effort at the point in the game that I am at, however. Why can't we just go back to FFIX? Or even FFVII? They had much more functional equipment systems than these bloated messes.

    Instead of a third character, in FFXIII-2 combat the third party slot is occupied by a tamed monster. Monsters can have only one role, however, you can "equip" up to three monsters at the same time, which simulates the effect of having a character with three roles unlocked. The monster taming system is perhaps the best example of the systems bloat the game suffers from. Almost every foe you face can be captured, but capturing is luck based, so you may have to grind for a very long time before the game decides to award you with the monster you were looking for. Additionally, every monster type has a unique growth profile that can be further modified by feeding it different types of foods (monsters don't level with CP like characters do) and there are multiple tiers of each type of food with more advanced food types being required to level your monsters past certain points. There is no way of knowing how your monster grows and what abilities it will learn without looking into a guide, so you make significant resource investments with blinders on. As if this wasn't enough, there is also Infusion, which is essentially you feeding a tamed monster to another tamed monster in order to transfer over abilities. All this encourages massive grinding accompanied by countless spreadsheets if you want to have any direction with your monster game. It's like trying to breed a competitive Pokemon tournament team, the thought of which sends chills down my spine. Finally, because the monsters follow the same role system player characters do, they don't end up feeling all that diverse or unique despite having a some traits and abilities unique to monsters.

    Then there is the music. Let's just say that this is not your Dad's FF and the soundtrack is a 180 degree departure from the Uematsu masterpieces of the PS1 era games. I guess some people enjoy the extremely loud dance-electro-pop-whatever, but personally I find it extremely annoying. Why are there lyrics in just about every track? Why does it have to constantly blast into my ears like I was in a disco? Why can't I turn the music off or reduce the volume? The lack of volume controls seems insane even if you were confident everyone is going to love your soundtrack.

    But how does it all run on the PC? Pretty much identically to the patched FFXIII PC version, which is to say pretty damn poorly. It's not as disastrous as FFXIII was at launch as you can make all the same adjustments to resolution, AA and so on that were initially missing from FFXIII, however, the wildly fluctuating frame rate is still there. It doesn't matter how powerful your PC is or how low your settings are, the game is going to stutter, even if you implement some of the third party tweaks and workarounds that have popped up.

    After the first 13h of gameplay, I would rank this below FFXIII. While the original had its obvious flaws, it had more balanced gameplay, less bloated design and the story was more interesting and sensible    … Expand
  17. Nyakuya
    Oct 20, 2017
    6
    Una historia muy interesante empañada por un pesimo port. Utilizo medidores de consumo, mi procesador esta al 20%, mi placa de video al 60%, y el juego corre a 20 fps siendo que podria utilizar el resto de mis componentes para aumentar el rendimiento, pero no, porque está mal programado y ni teniendo una PC de la Nasa lográs que funcione bien.

    La historia del juego me gusta mucho, y eso    Una historia muy interesante empañada por un pesimo port. Utilizo medidores de consumo, mi procesador esta al 20%, mi placa de video al 60%, y el juego corre a 20 fps siendo que podria utilizar el resto de mis componentes para aumentar el rendimiento, pero no, porque está mal programado y ni teniendo una PC de la Nasa lográs que funcione bien.

    La historia del juego me gusta mucho, y eso de poder elegir que decir cada tanto lograr sumergirte mas en los dialogos, (aunque las opciones que elijes no tengan mucha importancia, si que aveces te harán reir, y si que te meten mas en las conversaciones).

    Otro punto negativo es que solo tienes 2 personajes en TODO el juego para utilizar, Serah y Noel. Listo, ninguno más. (La saga final fantasy se ha caraterizado por tener varios personajes jugables... Excepto en este caso que utilizas a los 2 mismos todo el rato).

    El combate, la progresion, y lo de utilizar mounstruos en tu equipo está genial... Pero es repetitivo debido a las pocas opciones que tienes, (ya que como dije arriba, solo hay 2 personajes jugables durante TODA la historia).

    Los mapas dejan de ser tubos alargados como en FF XIII (al fin), y esto es una mejora total ya que al anterior final fantasy ni siquiera lo terminé por repetitivo y cansino. Ahora tienes mapas con varios caminos concectados entre si, no lo suficientemente grandes como para perdertes y tener que revisar el mapa, pero si lo suficientemente "grandes" como para no tener que caminar todo recto y ya está.

    Estuve jugando al juego con un joystick, y esto me hizo dar cuenta de otro problema del cutre port que es. Cuando usaba el joystick, la interfaz seguia mostrando el teclado, y mostraba las teclas, pero no los botones del joystick. Esto hubiera sido menos molesto si este juego no tuviera quick time events, ya que debido a que me mostraba que botones del teclado pulsar en lugar de mostrarme los del joystick, se me complicaba muchisimo adivinar que boton era el que tenia que pulsar.

    Pros:
    - Buena Historia.
    - Buena inmersion.
    - Exploracion mejorada en comparacion con FF XIII. (No mas tubos en lugar de mapas, pero no mas mapas gigantes en los que te pierdes. Mezcla perfecta)

    Contra:
    - Pésimo port que empaña la jugabilidad por completo.
    - Pocos personajes y opciones que vuelven a los combates muy repetitivos.
    - Te permite usar joystick pero sigue mostrando el teclado en todo momento en lugar de los botones del joystick, (convinado a los quick time events, es horripilante).    … Expand
  18. imalynxcat
    Aug 4, 2023
    6
    optimizasyon sorunlarından oynanmayacak seviyede ama bir şekilde oynattırıyor bana kendisini.
  19. Tintler
    Jun 25, 2023
    6
    İlk oyunda olduğu gibi port kötü olarak hatırlıyorum ve topluluk patchi olmadan oynanmıyordu diye hatırlıyorum. Hikaye olarak güzel bir değişiklik yapıyordu ve zaman arasında zıplama mekaniği güzeldi.
  20. scarfake
    Dec 19, 2015
    5
    game is improved. 13 was lineer but nice game. 13-2 is not lineer and you can choose your decision in dialogues. soundtrack is perfect. i like new bodhum. graphics and cutscenes is great. cutscene actions is really good but port is terrible. it is really bad port. you should play on ps3
  21. dislexicpotato
    Jul 4, 2020
    5
    Final Fantasy XIII-2 is an incomprehensible mess, with a story that is very convoluted and the same mediocre FF XIII gameplay with annoyances being added such as quick time events and random encounters. The battles have been made ridiculously easy in this sequel too which makes the game boring and completely unsatisfying to play. It should be noted that the game has great art direction,Final Fantasy XIII-2 is an incomprehensible mess, with a story that is very convoluted and the same mediocre FF XIII gameplay with annoyances being added such as quick time events and random encounters. The battles have been made ridiculously easy in this sequel too which makes the game boring and completely unsatisfying to play. It should be noted that the game has great art direction, character designs and music like its predecessor and doesn't suffer from the 'hallway simulator' feeling that XIII had however the story is just so difficult to follow with gameplay that is so mediocre that it just feels like a chore to play nevermind the laughably bad PC port that has countless issues. I won't be playing Lightning Returns after this experience.… Expand
  22. cahan
    Jul 4, 2020
    5
    Final Fantasy XIII-2 is an incomprehensible mess, with a story that is very convoluted and the same mediocre FF XIII gameplay with annoyances being added such as quick time events and random encounters. The battles have been made ridiculously easy in this sequel too which makes the game boring and completely unsatisfying to play. It should be noted that the game has great art direction,Final Fantasy XIII-2 is an incomprehensible mess, with a story that is very convoluted and the same mediocre FF XIII gameplay with annoyances being added such as quick time events and random encounters. The battles have been made ridiculously easy in this sequel too which makes the game boring and completely unsatisfying to play. It should be noted that the game has great art direction, character designs and music like its predecessor and doesn't suffer from the 'hallway simulator' feeling that XIII had however the story is just so difficult to follow with gameplay that is so mediocre that it just feels like a chore to play nevermind the laughably bad PC port that has countless issues. I won't be playing Lightning Returns after this experience.… Expand
  23. dotrem
    Feb 12, 2022
    5
    This game is all way worse than FFXIII. Especialy a story. If in previous game we have a solid lineiar storyline, but there we have shattered something. This don't encourage you to play to know how it's ends.

    Gameplay is pretty same as FFXIII, but with a little twist. If you remember that original Half-Life mod what you buy monsters, upgrade them and after they fight for you. So twist    This game is all way worse than FFXIII. Especialy a story. If in previous game we have a solid lineiar storyline, but there we have shattered something. This don't encourage you to play to know how it's ends.

    Gameplay is pretty same as FFXIII, but with a little twist. If you remember that original Half-Life mod what you buy monsters, upgrade them and after they fight for you. So twist here is: you tame monster, grind for n hours to collect all needed components to upgrade it, and after you get a commpation that can be stronger that your main character. That is 50% of game play. You grind. So interesting.

    Other things just a same as in FFXIII. Nothing new. Yeah there are time trevels, but who cares how you were delivered into next location.
    I can't say that the game is unplayable bad, but can't say anything good about it. If you want to beat every FF game - play it and forget, if not don't play.    … Expand
  24. delaware80
    Mar 10, 2021
    4
    The only FF port that does not really work on my PC because of technical problems.
    I would accept this if FF 13-2 is the latest port I have played - but all the other FF games on PC worked just fine.
  25. masterx1234
    Dec 16, 2014
    3
    PS: The other reviewers are not real:
    Terrible port, This game is awesome but it looks like Square Enix did not put any effort into optimizing the PC version whatsoever. i have a r9 290 and a i7 4770k abd this game can barely even do 35-40 fps on the lowest settings. not only is the framerate super low but oh god the stutter is horrendous! enev if i move the camera 2 feet the stutter is    PS: The other reviewers are not real:
    Terrible port, This game is awesome but it looks like Square Enix did not put any effort into optimizing the PC version whatsoever. i have a r9 290 and a i7 4770k abd this game can barely even do 35-40 fps on the lowest settings. not only is the framerate super low but oh god the stutter is horrendous! enev if i move the camera 2 feet the stutter is so bad it will make you want to throw up. after playing for 30 minutes i stopped, uninstalled and got a refund, thanks square enix for such a terribly optimized PC port of what could of been an epic journey of a game....    … Expand
  26. VidyaBum
    Jul 12, 2015
    2
    I'll start with the pluses cause it's really short:

    -Not as linear as most JRPGs which is a nice novelty -XIII's gameplay was good, here it's even better with tweaked elements and the monster catch system that adds fun without being too complex -Visuals are still nice -Serah is a boring Mary Sue but she's not detestable, Noel is nice and Caius is a great villain -That's all folks    I'll start with the pluses cause it's really short:

    -Not as linear as most JRPGs which is a nice novelty
    -XIII's gameplay was good, here it's even better with tweaked elements and the monster catch system that adds fun without being too complex
    -Visuals are still nice
    -Serah is a boring Mary Sue but she's not detestable, Noel is nice and Caius is a great villain
    -That's all folks

    Let's not dance around the problems:

    -Considering that it calls itself XIII-2, it's a complete failure as a sequel. That's not a con, but when you call yourself XIII-2, I expect that you get something that follows XIII. Themes, setting, cast, world, goals, SOMETHING. Well, here no. This sequel virtually has nothing in common with XIII.
    -Except the cameos. Instead of putting up the XIII cast again(whom I loved except for stupid arse Snow), they decide to shove the XIII people in cameos here and there. Which is stupid in every way because that means that you face a bunch of formerly important characters that barely have an impact here. They aren't important enough to the story that they need to exist here(except Lightning) but at the same time they are big enough that they take away the spotlight from the new characters. Bad design all the way. The cameos never should've existed.

    So it fails as a XIII sequel. On its own though, it's worse:

    -Plot is extremely convoluted and the principles and rules established for time travel and Yeul feel...wierd. Forced. Just bad. Especially about Yeul.
    -Story is forced as heck. Nothing about it feels like a flow, the characters don't feel like they make decisions, it feels like the plot is forcing them, or at least like you could replace the characters by any other characters in the game and they'd make the exact same decisions.

    That would be bad, but wait for the real reason I'm giving this a 2.

    -As this is a time travel plot, the game obviously is at least a little reminiscent of Chrono Trigger. I didn't think CT to be the absolute masterpiece everyone thinks it is, but it managed to do a very important thing: have its times, places and characters be memorable. Middle Ages, Future, Zeal, Prehistoria, Present, every place in CT is associable with one or several characters, has fun elements and quests to do, and is memorable.

    NOTHING in XIII-2 is memorable to me. Academia, Yaschas Massif, Bresha Ruins, Oerba, the Archylte Steppe, New Bodhum, in no timeline, at no point, under any circumstances, do I have any memorabilia from any place.

    Bodhum? There's the beach and the Snow Crew.
    Bresha? Alisha was tied with the convoluted plot.
    Oerba? Empty. Also Chocolina felt like she didn't belong.
    Archylte Steppe, Sunleth Waterscape, this and that place? Every time the same thing, I get there, I fight a few things, I get a sidequest or a main plot quest, the main plot quest is convoluted and uninteresting, the side quest is uninteresting.

    And the best example of what the game feels like is Academia.

    This is my experience:
    I land in Academia. I fight some monsters and do the local minigame.
    I get info about the convoluted, ellipse-filled, generally uninteresting plot. Info which doesn't shed any light.
    I do a boss. Then I meet Hope and he exposes more of the story to me.

    And then I leave.

    THE END. That's how every single area felt to me. Do some fights, get more plot with ellipses that don't get anywhere, then go on and do it again in the next area. When you actually meet a character, he's just another plot device with so many ellipses I'm through giving a sh*t. So what the hell am I playing this for?

    Cameos? No. Plot? Certainly not, especially when beyond the convoluted aspect, it seems to just be a really stupid plot that constantly has to ellipse itself so as to not advance, in which case the whole plot would be revealed in less than an hour. New characters? All overshadowed by the old ones in cameos. Main characters? A mary sue and one pretty cool guy do not suffice at all. Villains? You barely see Caius. Music? It honestly is meh and has a lot ot tracks I wish I didn't hear? Visuals? No way am I ever playing a game for that.

    That leaves me with gameplay alone. And just like Noel, Serah and Caius, it's not enough. I can play an RPG with really crappy gameplay, Persona 3 FES is one of my all time favs, but if the story sucks, I'm not playing for 50 hours.

    XIII-2 has a **** story, plot, unwarranted cameos, poor music, just decent main characters and a good villain. Its main appeal, the plot & time travel, is weak, convoluted and it absolutely doesn't warrant any time spent on playing this game. I'll even say that the plot being so convoluted is a complete turn-off.
    Its appeal is close to zero and it never managed to reach the most important element of any RPG: personality. Locations, people, quests, nothing, absolutely nothing in this game has personality.
    Oh and I almost forgot: the port is horrid and I get 25 FPS tops on my 4.4Ghz CPU.
    2/10 and I'm extremely glad that I didn't finish it.    … Expand
  27. jvmcnk
    Dec 18, 2014
    2
    They fu..ed this game with merging the auto and manual saves to a point of no return. Hate it. Rest is nice and worth playing if you tolerate the auto-save system.
  28. Sequn
    Aug 2, 2022
    1
    Retarded garbage game, that try hard to copy pokémon and fail miserably.
    This sh#t game was created with a terrible and aggressive copy and paste from all the assets of the first game.
    The only thing changed was the gameplay, unfortunately it's still sh#t. And they menage to make the already trash story even more trash, with time travel sh#t and multiple useless endings. (since the only    Retarded garbage game, that try hard to copy pokémon and fail miserably.
    This sh#t game was created with a terrible and aggressive copy and paste from all the assets of the first game.
    The only thing changed was the gameplay, unfortunately it's still sh#t. And they menage to make the already trash story even more trash, with time travel sh#t and multiple useless endings.
    (since the only true ending was selled as pay DLC)    … Expand
  29. Xazy
    Feb 18, 2023
    1
    A copy and paste piece of trash, from a trash game.
    Yep. Because xiii-2 just recycle 90% of everything of xiii, and build an even worse plot into a sh*t gameplay.
  30. Yucuvu
    Oct 2, 2022
    0
    Avoid this horrid piece of trash game.
    It's an atrocious Pokémon clone, in the worst possible way.
    Since the gameplay is garbage and the cringe plot sucks.
    Don't waste your time with this
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Critic Reviews

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Metascore
75

Generally favorable reviews - based on 6 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 5 out of 6
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 6
  3. Negative: 0 out of 6
  1. GameStar
    Feb 1, 2015
    80
    It's not perfect, but fans of JRPGs will like it if the played the first part, too.
    Read full review
  2. PC Gamer
    Jan 23, 2015
    59
    A better game than XIII but with an intolerably bad story, this is a still-flawed sequel that clearly isn’t at its best on PC.
    Read full review
  3. Vandal
    Dec 22, 2014
    80
    FF XIII-2 is just one of those versions without relevant upgrades, but good enough if you missed it on the original platforms. Probably, the best episode of the Lightning trilogy.
    Read full review
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