Final Fantasy X-2

Final Fantasy X-2 (X-2 is pronounced: IPA tɛn'tuː, "ten-two", not "ecks-two", "twelve" or "ten point two") is a computer role-playing game in the Final Fantasy series, and the first to be a true sequel to a previous Final Fantasy game.

Gameplay

The battle system from the previous game (Conditional Turn-Based) was dropped in favor of a fast-paced variation on the traditional Active Turn Based system. Instead of waiting for enemies to attack, it is now possible to interrupt an enemy while they are preparing their attack, or chain your characters' attacks together for special bonuses. Of course, the same thing can be done to the player's party.

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Because the party never grows beyond three characters, the ability to switch out characters in battle was invalidated; instead, Garment Grids and Dresspheres are introduced. {{ref|1}} A Garment Grid is a geometric shape with nodes on it; the nodes are slots that can be filled with "Dresspheres", which are similar to Jobs from Final Fantasy V. The Grid-Sphere system allows characters to change from one Class to another during battle, and allows the player to decide which jobs any given character will have. Each Dressphere has a smaller list of abilities than the characters and classes of most role-playing games, meaning that job-switching is often advantageous or necessary in battles. Furthermore, each Garment Grid adds bonuses, for instance allowing the character wearing it to cast Firaga, or triggering combat bonuses when the character moves between two specific nodes. Finally, each lady has a unique Dressphere that can only be used if the she changes between all her Jobs in one battle.

Related Topics:
Final Fantasy V - Class

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The field system has been upgraded, and now Yuna has the ability to jump and climb, and, in the words of Ken Berry (the SE Product Supervisor), Yuna can also "do heaps of other cool stuff". The field is still totally 3D.

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The world map is essentially unchanged. Most of the locations from Final Fantasy X return, though some have changed (the player was never able to visit Bevelle outside the main storyline, for instance, and Kilika is no longer in a state of ruin) and others have been added. Players are also able to visit almost every location from the (near) beginning of the game, via an airship—another major departure from normal Final Fantasy fare, in which the airship is never obtained until late in the game. These two changes allow for a less linear storyline. Unlike Final Fantasy X, in which the player's course through the game's world, and story, was largely linear, X-2 is entirely freeform. The game has many locations and five chapters, and each location has one "event" per chapter. Put together, the five "events" in one locale form a subplot "Episode". Only a few events per chapter are important to the game's main plot, however, and these are marked on the world map as "Hotspots" ("Active Links" in the Japanese version). By accessing Hotspots only, the player can speed through the story (and find out whether Yuna gets Tidus back) in ten or fifteen hours. However, the game keeps track of percent completed, and only by achieving a 100% completion is the search for Tidus brought to an optimal conclusion. In addition to this, the game also features a fork in the plot, allowing the player to make choices that change what scenes and percentage points they see. It is not actually possible to see all of the game's content on a single playthrough, though it is possible to achieve 100% completion. Thankfully, when the game is completed for the first time, it unlocks a "New Game+" that allows you to start the game over with all of the gear, Garment Grids, Dresspheres and percentage you picked up previously.

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Job classes

In Final Fantasy X-2 each playable character (Yuna, Rikku, and Paine) is allowed to equip one Dressphere at a time. These Dresspheres differentiate the character's available abilities and function in combat. Each character can change Dresspheres at any time during battle, provided they can act. Following is a list of all of the available Dresspheres as well as their basic functions.

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• Gunner: Allows the character to use a semi-automatic pistol in battle. Gunners rely on rapid attacks. Their special technique, Rapid Fire involves multiple hits, useful in building up a long combo chain to deal extra damage.
• Thief: Allows to character to steal items, gil, and HP (among others) from enemies in battle. The Thief Dressphere also aids in quickly acting or escaping from battle.
• Gun Mage: Grants the character access to enemy's abilities, provided the abilities are first used by the enemy. This Dressphere is similar to the Blue Mage class in other Final Fantasy games.
• Warrior: Specializes in dealing major damage to enemies, by either focusing on the enemy's elemental weakness(es) or lowering the enemy's combat statistics.
• Alchemist: Allows the character to combine two inventory items during combat, creating a product item that usually gives greater effects than the ingredient items. Combining rare items often produces stronger or more unusual effects.
• Samurai: Physical class that specializes in dealing damage in various ways such as halving enemy HP, dealing successive damage, or dealing heavy damage to weakened enemies. Also has the very useful ability Dismiss which cancels any action an enemy is preparing.
• Dark Knight: Strong physical class with the ability to inflict various status effects upon enemies while guarding the party from negative status effects. Also has a powerful attack spell, Black Sky.
• Berserker: Melee combat class that inflicts large amounts of damage. Able to activate "Berserk" mode wherein the effected character automatically attacks random enemies fiercely and rapidly.
• Songstress: Non-damaging class that focuses on either inflicting continuous negative status effects on enemies (by dancing) or temporarily improving the party's stats (by singing). Effects depend on the dance or song used.
• Black Mage: Damage dealing magical class that inflicts major elemental damage on enemies.
• White Mage: Magical support class that cures the party's HP, revives fallen party members, and removes negative status effects from the party.
• Lady Luck: Quirky class that relies on random slot machines to inflict various effects to either the enemies or the party.
• Trainer: Allows the character to control a unique pet that has access to various abilites from damage dealing spells to curative spells to stealing items. Unlike most other classes, each character has access to different abilities while using the Trainer dressphere.
• Mascot: Allows the character to dress as a unique Final Fantasy mascot (each is a recurring creature in the Final Fantasy series; Yuna becomes a Moogle, Rikku becomes Cait Sith, and Paine becomes a Tonberry). When in this form, the character has a large range of varying abilities, from dealing damage to inflicting or removing status effects. Unlike most other classes, each character has access to different abilities while using the Mascot dressphere.
• Special Dresspheres: Transforms the character into an intricate three-part "ultimate form" of herself. While in this form the remaining two party members are removed from battle, so using these Special Dresspheres is still like fighting with three party members. Each character has different forms (Yuna has Floral Fallal, Rikku has Machina Maw, and Paine has Full Throttle) and a wide, varying range of abilities.
• In the International version of the game, two additional dressphere were added. The first transforms the user into a kimono-clad festival-goer. The second transforms the user into a sci-fi hero complete with futuristic costume. {{ref|1}}