Final Fantasy 13 2 Retrospective A Perfect Sequel 

This game blew me away. It is as epic as ff 13. The maps were incredible and the gameplay was so good and always kept you engaged. The monster collection was epic. What a great way to bolster the game. Spent hours collecting, infusing, and leveling up. So many cool combos you can do with them. Love this game 😊

This game is very underrated. I think because of 13's reputation, 13-2 never got to shine. Which is a shame because it addresses nearly every criticism that 13 received. I personally thought 13 was fairly mid, but 13-2 pleasantly blew me away. I'm glad someone here on the internet is talking about it. 🙂

13-2 feels like a soft reboot for 13 when it comes to it's world and lore, especially since they basically retcon the ending of the first game. It's definitely my favorite out of the 3 games, the gameplay (especially combat and the monster system) is so much fun and you get a better idea of what this world is like both on a macro and micro level which was one of my major criticisms of the first game. In the fist game, aside from the final big open area in the third half, each environment felt disconnected and it didn't help that there were so few towns to explore at your leisure. It left me with the feeling that I really didn't have any idea of what this world was like geographically, what cultures occupied it's different parts, or what the people living in it were really like. This was all pretty much completely fixed by 13-2, while I'm still not the biggest fan of the lore, I felt like I at least had a better idea of the smaller nuances that make the world feel more lived in.

FFXIII-2 is my favourite Final Fantasy game. Everything about the story, art direction, music and gameplay has had me coming back to it for over 10 years. I'm not one for playing JRPGs over and over, but FF XIII-2 has the depth and flexibility to make it fun every play through.

Best one in the trilogy. The monster breeding and making the ultimate monster for each role was awesome with the combat system. I can't think of anything bad about this game I loved it.

FF13: 13 minutes. FF13-2: 50 minutes. HELL. YEAH. Also, I love that this game has dynamic music in it. An enemy appearing seamlessly replaces the current area's field music with it's "aggressive mix" while you decide to run or fight. I love some of the Aggressive Mix songs, like for Oerba!

Another great analysis, this one is somehow 3 times bigger and 3 times better than the last one! As an ardent XIII-trilogy fan I am definitely sending newcomers this way first so they can get an in-depth and fair analysis of the series. I loved XIII-2 as much as the first one even if the 6 characters we just spent 50+ hours with are not a huge part of the game, it was nice to see the world continue on after their journey. The game does address many of the common complaints with XIII. My only gripe is with how they did the new Crystarium. If you progress through this new Crystarium you could unintentionally nerf yourself for a good part of the game. I wish they elaborated more on the mechanics of leveling since a prior XIII player might just hold X/A to advance like last time without engaging much with the system. Of course this is not an issue if one were to only play to the end of the main story, like XIII it's terribly easy once you do actually find your comfortable build and monsters. But for Completionists, it can get messy at some points since a non-optimized Crystarium can get you bodied by the post-game and DLC bosses. (Lightning DLC included, as even though that has a different system, it will still cause frustration if you don't know that its meant to be played over and over again.) And I definitely agree with your point about the ending, it didn't come out of nowhere, the story slowly but surely led us to that point. Hell, the instant Hope told us his boneheaded plan to save Fang, Vanille, and move the people of Pulse-Academia my first thought was: "there is no way this is going to work, and if anything it will just reset us back to where XIII started, back in a Cocoon." It was at that moment the reality started to sink in that there was no real "resolution" for our heroes. They could change Time but never fix the epicenter of the issue itself...the Goddess. Anyway, can't wait for your Lightning Returns video or what ever game you decide next! Your videos are always time well spent 😤 -I'm not a furry but Chocolina got me acting unwise 🥵-

The team behind this series really showed me their thought process when they were developing these games and taking fan feedback. I personally find them to be so strong for taking some of the exaggerated criticisms and hate, and then constantly doing things differently to where each game is so different. And in a way, I'm proud of the work they're doing on 7R, and how far they've come, even as I still see some of their design quirks in that game too. Oddly enough, in my experience of hearing reviews, it usually follows that if someone disliked FF13 they'd like 13-2 more, but if they really like 13, they'd like 13-2 less. This is likely because enjoying FF13 usually means a person really focused on and resonated with the individual character journeys and interactions, along with the endgame battle difficulty. A couple things 13-2 doesn't do that 13 did, was have that more varied character experience, more spectacle in terms of cutscenes, and based on anecdotal evidence, people generally enjoy the difficulty balance more in 13. I often hear people complain about battle in 13-2 either being too easy or too hard.

Thanks for these breakdowns. You've inspired me to give 13 another try. I played the first of the trilogy when it was new-ish and gave up maybe a fifth of the way into the game. It just felt like a chore to play and the story was so obtuse. But your videos gave me a new appreciation for them.

Awesome, in-depth review! Great points, and I agree with how strong the soundtrack was. Makes me want a remaster of the trilogy for PS5 so I can experience it all again. Would love to see a review for Lightning Returns one day!

Glad to know that you like FFXIII-2 it was my very first final fantasy game on the ps3. Though I really wish the game and story extended more world building instead the main canon ending.

📌13-2 is one of the rare examples of developers learning their lesson and improving on all the problems. Oftentimes we see studios that are tone-deaf to the problems of the original game and in worst case scenarios, instead of improving on the original, they remove the few things people actually liked about the original and they add features nobody asked for so the sequel is even worse than the original.

This is one of my favorite video game reviews on RU-vid… ever. I appreciate how non cynical you are just in terms of RU-vid reviews.

Loved the opening section and so much agree with you! XIII-2 is one of my favorite games of all time and can highly recommend to anyone!

I love the entire XIII trilogy and am very happy that it's legacy (the stagger mechanic) lives on even in XVI! This video is awesome, but I think you forgot about tuning paradigms, which change how the AI uses skills. Let's take Agression for example. Normally Aggresion (a paradigm consisting of 2 COMmanders and a RAVager) causes one COM and the RAV to focus on one enemy while the other COM chooses a different target. If you tune the paradigm to CROSS (-x) it causes all allies to focus attacks on a single enemy. On the other hand if it is tuned to WIDE (-W) it causes allies to use attack that target multiple enemies. The WIDE tuning even causes MEDics to prioritize skills that heal all allies and SYNergists to use AoE buffs like Bravega instead of Brave or Shellga instead of Shell. Sorry for the wall of text, but I couldn't help myself.

The beat drop from the Historia Crux song was a great surprise on top of everything else.

U explained everything perfectly and also made me want to play it again rn 😂

I adore ff13, it's my 3rd ff game and so far it's my favorite. I really like its plot and characters, especially since they all have tangible arcs and I really got to care about them. However, a lot of the dialogue was rough and felt juvenile. My favorite part about ff13-2 is that the writing seemed a lot more focused and because of that Serah, Noel, Caius, and Hope are all really great here. The amount of stupid dialogue is down by like 90% and it really lets the characters shine

13-2 is simply the best of the trilogy. Lightning Returns got close but I think it needed more time in development… time it didn’t have. Edit: thank you for not bashing Serah and Noel as leads. Most people say they’re boring, especially Serah… but that’s disregarding her complex backstory. She’s an optimist, but fans like the brooding type so they see her as kinda lame.

I love the XIII saga, I’d forgotten how much I loved Etro’s theme, thanks for showing them some love.

Omg my king🥰 ive just started the video- excited to see how it goes!

I was just wondering which soundtrack to unlock on Theatrhythm Final Bar Line, after finishing the FFVII Remake path. You've just convinced me to use my next key on the FF XIII-2 /Lightning Returns selection!

This is my favorite FF game. The graphics are great, the gameplay is solid, the music top awesome. My favorite part though is Caius. His story, motivations were really good and made good practical sense. He wasn’t twirling his mustache scheming was to take over the world. He was trying to stop someone’s suffering. It’s hard to even call him a villain imo. His theme music is probably one of the best themes ever.

I really enjoyed 13 and didn't think it deserved/deserves the hate it gets. Other FF games have arguably been MORE linear and less interesting story wise and no one bats an eye. But 13-2 is not only an improvement on every aspect but I'd go so far as to say it's one of the best FF games period. I think it's probably in my top 5 pretty handily. The story itself was wonderful but the game itself was so good to play that other than the big ones(7, 10, etc), 13-2 is probably the only one I like to actually replay. And it had a "villain" that people could actually identify with and arguably be on his side. It's also depressing how good the battle system of the 13 games really was but since people disliked the games that we'll likely never see anything like it again. Other than maybe FF10, it might be my favorite battle system.

I love FF13-2, especially the because the ending was foreshadowed and they followed it through, even if it was tragic. Unfortunately FF13-3 kinda retconned it 😅

Almost done with 13 on pc and really looking forward to this

Awesome review! Made me pick up the game and start replaying 😊😊

"Rambunctious chocobos are just inferior chocobos in every way." False. The metal arrangement of the chocobo theme is awesome!

Noel is such an underrated FF character

This game was such an emotional rollercoaster for me. Even though I spoiled the ending for myself, getting to the end still choked me up inside. One of the best plot twists of gaming history. Noel stands as my favorite FF protag, he’s just so goated. Style, fighting, personality, he’s got it all. Not to mention Caius is one of the best antagonists in the entire series too! I am so glad other people feel like it is the perfect sequel

I think I'm gonna go home and download this game again. Weird how this game give me nostalgia because I played it before I ever touched the first game. So for me it was the first game in the series and it made the story crazy for me

I’ve loved the FF XIII games since they came out! I think I was 16 at the time. I loved XIII-2 especially! I’m so glad people are finally starting to give these games fair criticism and not just blindly hating them.

Thank you for the video, I can never get enough of FFXIII Series and Lightning. Keep up the great work 👍

I fell into a farming rabbit hole with this game and the monster fusing system. Its silly how strong you can get and I love it. I do miss 13s weapon system sometimes though. The way you could manipulate the AI through stats was neat

Love your videos bro! 13-2 is my favorite of the trilogy and one of my favorite Final Fantasy’s period

My absolute favorite of the trilogy! I wish Jihl Nabaat wasn’t DLC and we had access to her sooner

I don't like muchof the game itself, but i REALLY LOVE how it treated the Lore and mythology, showing that the Big Eventes of XIII are nothing compared with what happaens since the begginging of the time, and man Caius. If you played XIII-2 and didn't like caius you need medical assistance.

Gotta say, 13-2 is a big improvement over 13. I even managed to platinum it back in the day. Also, RIP to Origa, who does some of the vocal tracks here (and did the opening songs for Ghost In The Shell: Stand Alone Complex)

The soundtrack for this game was pretty incredible.

I played the whole series on PS3 at the time. I think that is the best platform to play FF13. I had no lags, no freezes, no fps drops, nothing.

Love this game, blows my mind that it was made in 1 and a half years! PS: You can remove the lag on Series X. When in game, press the start and select buttons at the same time to open a secret menu. Then scroll right to “Xbox One X Settings” and change the game to performance mode. This will make the game still 60fps but just not 4k anymore. The lag is some glitch with Microsoft’s emulator that they unfortunately never went back to fix.

Loved this game too. Music isn't as great as 13 but still awesome. Caius ballad was great as a bad guy. I usually don't like time travel stories and this one didn't change my mind but was beareable. I hated some of the puzzles, like the clock one and having to walk all over to conplete the maps. But it was fun and engaging and I completed it 100%

I honestly love the monster collection feature and I don’t care if it doesn’t fit the story. Maybe it’s cause I grew up with Pokemon and yo-Kai watch but I love getting to have the monsters as playable characters especially from final fantasy. Lightning returns should’ve kept this feature

Long story short, FF13-2 was my first but I was hooked since 2007ish when it was being promoted but I only had a PS2 :( when I got my 360 13-2 came out. I played it, then ending made my cry but my only complaint was not being able to play as Lightning as much as you can in FF13. Played FF13 before Lightning Returns came out, Ending made me cry lmao. Finish Lightning Returns. I like all 3, however, I put the most time into FF13-2 I wanted all the endings and achievements. If FF13 flowed and played like FF13-2 dare I say that would be the perfect JRPG of all time.

I really liked this game because of the content. The only thing I really don't like are the paradox puzzles, I hate the one with the clocks, also the slot machine and the Academia quizzes, thank goodness you only have to do it once 😅

I actually can’t wait to play this trilogy. As a kid I looked at it and immediately spat on the idea of buying it, but as an adult I think I might enjoy it the same way I enjoy bad movies. It’s absolutely not what I normally go for, but after half watching a couple of these videos and laughing my ass off at certain plot points, I’m down. Square enix can have my money a decade later

One of my favorite Final Fantasy games of ALL TIME.

I'm on lightning returns but I have a funny history with ff13. I played the first one. Played until the fight with some dude with blue hair. Kept getting destroyed repeatedly. Dropped the game. 5 years go by and I find ff13-2 for cheap. I buy it play it. Fall in love with it even tho I was super confused with the story. Then I beat it. The ending shook me and I was just surprised as to how good it was. Another 5 years go by, I think Xbox gave away ff13 a random month because on my series X I had it on my account and said now that I'm not longer a dumb kid, im sure I can beat the game and yess i did. The guy with blue hair was NOTHING to me now! But what I didn't expect, was to fall in love with cocoon. The amazing futuristic sci Fi design of cocoon is the greatest thing in gaming since cyberpunk. And now In 2023 almost 2024 I'm 1 hour into lightning returns and uhhhh it's kind of a turn off because now the combat system is totally different and based on costumes? I am trying because I want to know what happened to Sara and everyone else

I'm about to run this game up for the 1st time on series s 60fps ❤

One of my fav game, the soundtrack of this game was so chill👌👌👌👌👌👌👌

Just finished it. I'm going to miss seeing Serah in her DLC beachwear outfit.

Had so much promise but nope. The whole time traveling back and forth to find where to go next was unnecessarily cumbersome and ruined an otherwise fun experience. I liked the first 10 hours or so.

Dude how did you figure out the clock puzzles? I only got them randomly after a million tries

cool take!

I have the collectors edition of the game that came with the soundtrack. I feel this game was even better than the original and with sequels that’s very hard. I feel like all the DLC was worth it…. I purchased literally EVERYTHING lol and since i was logged into the PSN when i played it carried over to my PS5. I collected every single trophy and got the platinum trophy 🏆 for obtaining everything lol. Im gonna be honest i was a bit let down that the game didn’t end with 13-2. Being even more honest i wasn’t a big fan of FF13-3….. i think if they would’ve allowed you to gather party members from the past and partnered up with them throughout a bigger world it would’ve been better. Or if they would’ve allowed lightning to bend monsters to her will like Serah did in 13-2. When i bought the lightning DLC and she turned herself into crystal i was let down….also 13-3 made everything in 13-2 null and void. Why did we try so hard to keep Cocoon airborne if in 13-3 there was NO mention of it? How did it all turn into one world map with 1 desert 1 true big city 1 grass lands lol it just didn’t make sense. 13-2 going around time to fix paradoxes was great Im so upset how they handled the 3rd installment. I put over 300 hours into 13-2 it was really a masterpiece

I love FFXIII-2 so much. Great review except RED CHOCOBO THEME CLEARS!!!

Just ordered a copy for my series x for when I finish my xiii playthrough, ffxiii-2 has a beyond amazing soundtrack constantly!!!

Bought the game at a small game shop. Looks amazing

I loved this game it was so engrossing loved the battle system characters the world it was so much fun

Thank you so much, I know lightning and FF XIII from dissidia psp, I know im not dive enough to player review but most of what i see in my usual review or content place, they had particularly bad view to FFXIII series, its discouraging me. But your video encouraging me to play the game, along with FFXV, yeah, interesting that you find interesting about those game that have mixed review from players. My impression to the game back then is good. I wish i really buy it this time, on january first 2024. FF 7RI, FF X, FF XIII

Damn we went from a 10 minute vid to nearly an HOUR with this one. FF13-2 must've been absolute FIRE for you

Loved xiii-2 Defs the best in the trilogy, I loved this vid, I didn’t recall frame rate issues but I played on ps3. Also how did you not see they are numbers on the clock haha I’m so confused by that. . One of the best ost ever made

Will you do a video for Type 0 and World of FF?

I've noticed the only people who don't like XIII-2 are the people who act like the first game killed their firstborn. I got one of my buddies to try XIII-2 he only made it 2 hours in while complaining about the first game the ENTRIE time. Things that were addressed. He even started complaining during Final Fantasy VII Remake when he saw the stagger meter. He also started complaining when he heard the terms L'Cie and Fal'Cie in Type 0...despite the fact that the 3 main FNC games were announced all on the same day. People really have some sort of PTSD with the original XIII.

Thank you for this video! I finally have something to show my friends as to why this beats out FF14 as my favorite FF game. And I i STILL remmeber when I first played it and Serah first aimed that bow at the giant mecha's head and I went from, "Ugh, why SERAH!?" to "FUCK YEAH! SERAH!"

Lots to love about this game, it's one of my favorites, but I overall prefer 13 because of the tighter difficulty balancing (I beat 13-2's final boss in seconds and didn't even realize it was the final boss) and what I felt was excellent pacing on the story front.

I dislike FF13 and 13-3 but Love FF13-2. might be my second favorite FF after FF6. I liked it that much. Also it looks great on XSX at 4K 60 👍

Hey love watching videos about the FF13 series. There definitely seems to be a resurgence of gamers re-considering the game and recognizing its brilliance. I, for one, am so glad it was made, despite all the hang-ups and pushback it received. And that the development team pushed through with the entire series. And your video makes me want to replay FF13 right away. One question for you. Which system did you capture your footage from, and which version/platform of FF13 do you recommend playing on (ps3, XB1/S/X, PC)?

is it just me or does the gates give kingdom hearts chain of memories vibez gang ?

Lightning is amazing. I've played through 13 at least 20 times. 13-2 is equally impressive although Light isn't a playable character in it. She was a downloadable "monster" add on though. I love these 2 games. Lightning Returns wasn't very good.

Anyway to mute the moogle in 13-2?

Best song in any final fantasy is crazy chocobo

I Just need a reason to replay these games again, ive done it a few times just the PC ports suck

I loveeeee the 13 series, however i dont understand the confusion around ffxiii story. Do people actually have trouble following?

I played this game on Xbox 360 and it never lagged for me.

I played FFXIII when it was released and was heavily disappointed. Recently I bought the whole trilogy in their Xbox360 versions to play them on my Series X and I played through XIII last year. Made my piece with it and could appreciate it more after I played XIV and XV which I both liked very much. It is linear, yes, but it has great characters, music, graphics and a great endgame. I will definitely play XIII-2 and LR for the first time in the near future and I am very thrilled to do so.

Despite not being a fan of FF13 trilogy, I still got the platinum for 13-2. It is a pretty good game.

The game ran terribly on pc, is there any way to fix it?

Gosh, there's a Terian in the game.😮

13 is my fave, i dont care about its spin offs.

sad that there are no remaster to the ff13 trilogy that you can't find it in the ps store or even ps plus free games.

when lightning returns retrospective? this game is underrated

13-2 was best game in ff13 series and they messed it up (story) in lightning returns

no, the pc version is still the best. there are mods that remedy the performance issues. the same exact thing happened with ff7 remake lmao. shoutout to ff7hook for allowing me to play that game at 165 FPS without all the disgusting blur, DoF, film grain and any other gross post-processing effects.

i wouldnt say perfect but id agree its a damn good improvement over the first game in soooooooooo many aspects its not even funny.

i greaterly prefer 13-1 cause i prefer lightning over Serah

WTF!!! I loved ff13 but never knew they did a 13-2

If you hate FF 13, like me. 13-2 is way better in almost every possible way and doesn't have any of the terrible characters (except Hope, you have to deal with him but he ain't playable) So yeah, is a good sequel.

Substantial upgrade over xiii. This should've been xiii!!!!

I want and HD remaster for ps5

Much better than the mess that xiii was. The story is absurd but at least it was fun and beautiful. Xiii-3 lightning returns also was alright. Better than xv.

Do you platinum trophies this game 🎮

I got on drugs after playing ff3 so i never even knew they came out with a second one

Noel is in the wrong game he should be in KH

Did you really just suggest that non-intuitive puzzles with hidden hints don’t fit in Final Fantasy games? Seriously? They’ve been a part of so many FF games that they are practically an iconic part of the FF experience. I liked your video - but the entire segment on the games/puzzles just had me shaking my head.

I wish Playstation 5 would let us get this series

Jesus chirst came to save you

Fine, ill replay the XIII trilogy, if i have too. 😂

Ironically this is my least favorite XIII game with XIII and LR being in 1st and 2nd

I mean don't get me wrong I like 13 -2 but the way you put down 13 so aggressively and then sing the praises of this one like it's a Renaissance is crazy to me you talk like 13 story with some Shakespearean unintelligible tale and it really wasn't you said the characters in 13 are unlikable but I like them significantly more than 13 - 2 The story in 13-2 is so hard to follow it bounces around in all sorts of different ways and is incoherent at sometimes until the end game where you attempt to put some sort of a story together Sarah is one of the most bland female protagonist Noel kind of holds the story together she pales in comparison to vanille, fang and lightning I like caius a lot I think he's really cool especially with his story with Yule and the connections to Noel but I don't know this just seems a little too much I'm glad there's another person out there who likes the 13 series but I feel like you're ignoring a lot of this game's flaws but to each their own.