So who remembers Final Fantasy X-2? I can, somewhat, but most of my memories were justifiably repressed in the utmost efficiency. After all, X-2 was pretty much an attempt to cash in on the success of its predecessor. So, as such I never really followed the development of XIII-2, I was already resolute in my feelings towards another follow on. I am happy to say however, that Square Enix pulled their fingers out to prove me very wrong.

The game begins 3 years after the end of XIII, with the fall of cocoon, and the emphasis here is on begins, because soon enough you won’t even be in the same century. The first cinematic shows a suitably Square Enix style epic battle between former protagonist Lightning, and a Sephiroth lookalike who is wielding Soul Edge...sorry, I mean Caius. This leads to the introduction of Sora, wait, I meant Noel, a young man who came from a bleak future to try and save the future of humanity. Lightning tasks him with finding her sister, Serah, and bringing her to Valhalla, as she must stay and defend the realm. Noel and Serah are the only 2 playable characters of this game; as such the story should have been much more focused throughout.

Very quickly you're introduced to a new travel system. Navigation throughout the game is governed by time gates; these allow you to travel to another new environment, and also a new time, ranging anywhere from 3 years after the fall of cocoon (AF), up to 700 years AF. It’s a unique take that will see you visiting familiar settings, but on a different timeline, where your actions previously will have changed the future (or the past). You will also gain the ability to restart areas as well, just in case you wish to try something differently.

The games environments look very similar to its predecessor, as to be expected. The difference this time around however, is that they are no longer as linear as a single track railway. The game encourages you to explore, restoring a little of the classic Final Fantasy J-RPG feeling. The fact you can travel freely to each of these settings whenever you like means you don’t have to spend time ensuring you’ve done every small quest before continuing.

In contrast to Final Fantasy XIII however, with the game only giving you 2 playable characters, the third slot in battle is filled with a monster ally. To use a monster ally, you must first “tame” one. In other words, beating them gives you a chance to gain them to use. As you can level each monster individually, as well as infuse them into other monsters, it adds a pretty deep meta-game you can easily sink many hours into without much thought.

The battle system itself only has a few minor alterations from XIII. While auto-battle returns, paradigm shifts now happen a lot faster, allowing you to read an incoming attack and alter your roles accordingly. Yet again this improves battles as you can seamlessly alter your tactics without waiting a few crucial seconds during which you are vulnerable.

Unfortunately FFXIII-2 does fall flat in one area, its story. About the only driving part of the plot is the attempt to get to Lightning, and along the way solving paradoxes of that time. And once you have gone through all that it will still fail to give you any real closure. I’d go as far as saying that every other aspect of this game is superb, but in a series that has tugged on heart strings in the past; I did feel a bit let down.

Needless to say, despite the failings in the narrative, Final Fantasy XIII-2 trumps XIII in every other department. It will certainly go some way in appeasing the fans of old, and shows that Square Enix may still have something in the bank for the series for the future. After all, Chocobo racing is back!