Final Fantasy XIII-2

 PlayStation 3
Metascore
79

Generally favorable reviews - based on 53 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 48 out of 53
  2. Mixed: 5 out of 53
  3. Negative: 0 out of 53
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  1. GameOver.gr
    Feb 22, 2012
    70
    Yes, it's better than Final Fantasy XIII, but the legendary franchise needs more than that. Fans of FFXIII will probably be happy with this one, but older gamers will be disappointed.
  2. Level7.nu
    Feb 11, 2012
    70
    In Final Fantasy XIII-2, a lot of what was wrong with Final Fantasy XIII has been repaired and improved upon. Everything is not perfect - the soundtrack, loading times and animations could use some more work, but overall Final Fantasy XIII-2 shows that Square Enix still knows how to make great games.
  3. Games.cz
    Feb 15, 2012
    60
    A system-enhanced sequel of by many the controversial thirteenth installment is like a sad song. Its form wins clearly over its content that has been "improved" to the utter dullness. Buy only in the case you don't care about a story nor about a fine-tuned combat system that would offer you an appropriate challenge.
  5. Metro GameCentral
    Jan 29, 2012
    60
    An improved sequel on paper only, with an overall experience that is still ruined by incoherent storytelling and unsympathetic characters.
  6. Edge Magazine
    Jan 31, 2012
    50
    This is a big game, clocking in at about the 40-hour mark, but the lack of challenge in combat combined with the formulaic missions and frequent cutscenes too often make it feel like a sticky trudge.

Awards & Rankings

52
#52 Best PS3 Game of 2012
9
#9 Most Discussed PS3 Game of 2012
10
#10 Most Shared PS3 Game of 2012

User Reviews

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User Score
6.8

Mixed or average reviews- based on 848 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 457 out of 848
  2. Mixed: 218 out of 848
  3. Negative: 173 out of 848
  1. CincyJosh
    Jan 31, 2012
    10
    Without a doubt this is worthy of a main FF game number. If it had different characters they could have named it FF 15. Do yourself a favorWithout a doubt this is worthy of a main FF game number. If it had different characters they could have named it FF 15. Do yourself a favor and buy this game, play it, and judge for yourself. I loved XIII very much, however many griped about the linear story line...well part 2 is far from linear. I am glad that SE listened to their fans and made adjustments. Enjoy it and happy playing.… Full Review »
  2. dharma
    Feb 4, 2012
    7
    FInal Fantasy used to be the pinnacle of 'next generation' videogame during the PS 1 era.....but something along the way was lost...SquareFInal Fantasy used to be the pinnacle of 'next generation' videogame during the PS 1 era.....but something along the way was lost...Square Soft seemed to lose their connection with their own customers. I remember back in the PS1 days, Square was the best game developer there is...Every game that they made were gold, even outside FF! Yes, FF 13 part 1 and 2 looks amazing, but it feels 'awkward'. They're not immersive...You don't get sucked into the worlds as you used to. There's too much cut scenes. Better yet, learn from the best JRPG of last year, XENOBLADE Chronicles. For now, FF feels like a shadow of its former self… Full Review »
  3. GigaHz
    Jan 31, 2012
    5
    Is it me, or are the vast majority of the top 10 most helpful reviews written in broken English? I wonder if SE pulled a Bioware and pushedIs it me, or are the vast majority of the top 10 most helpful reviews written in broken English? I wonder if SE pulled a Bioware and pushed their employees to create accounts for the sake of bringing up the user score. Yes, I'm being ridiculous, but I'm not joking about the poor English. Take a look for yourself.

    As for the game, I couldn't even endure the demo. I've tried to give it a chance (3 to be exact) but I would always end up quitting, mostly due to boredom. I've tried playing the game with and without auto-battle to see if it made a difference but to no avail. Even if you manually input the actions, with such a limited amount of abilities, you end up performing identical or similar move sets. So it seems like the more time efficient method is to select auto-battle. There's also paradigm shifting, but really, it just hot swaps your class. It doesn't make the game any more interesting, varied, or challenging. My impressions of the story were not positive. I'm not a fan of the two main leads. Having recently found out that these two are the only human (playable) main characters in the game I was immediately turned off. For every terrible FF character in recent games, there were usually a handful of other more decent characters to focus your attention on. This game doesn't offer you that luxury and if it was their intention to have you focus on these two characters, they should have taken better care to ensure that their personalities had more depth. Instead, they are bland as bland can be. Completely forgettable. The story segments I experienced were laughably bad. Pretentious, cryptic dialogue returns to give you a sense that the FF13 universe believes its own depth. It doesn't take a genius to figure out that the game doesn't have a clue what its talking about at times, or that could be an instance of poor translation/writing. Apparently, the story for the full game is not as strong as previous titles so I take it my impressions were not far off the mark.

    What's worse, this game will sell. People will eat this game up because it's Final Fantasy. That's what bothers me. This game would have been acceptable in 2007, when showing off a systems graphical potential was fresh, but this is 2012. Many recent game releases already exhibit amazing graphical capabilities for severely dated consoles. Graphics are no longer a selling point, but a standard. And while this game does look and sound pretty, it doesn't bring anything else new to the table and it barely refines the source material it has to work with. It's a shame, because the artists and sound designers/musicians could be working on much better projects as opposed to being reduced to another 'phoned in' Final Fantasy title.

    Also, the old fans of Final Fantasy will not just 'move on'. We are the reason why the series got as far as it did in the first place. True fans give praise where it is due and critique on things that are either flawed or dated. They don't just say to themselves "WELL HURP DERP! It's Final Fantasy and made by Square Enix. Therefore, whatever they make I'll have to love and treasure without question". That may be why things got as bad as they are now. I don't know for sure. What I do know is that I was a fan of Final Fantasy and I'm not anymore. The series had its ups and downs, but now I only see downs. With every bold step forward (ff12) comes a cautious step back (ff13 and ff14). I really do hope that the fan base starts to take a hard look at the obvious decline in the quality of SE's recent games and take appropriate action. That is, unless you're perfectly content with slop and mediocrity.    … Full Review »
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