Final Fantasy X-2
Final Fantasy X-2 Logo

Strategy Guide

Final Fantasy X-2 is the sequel to Final Fantasy X, one of the most successful games in the Final Fantasy franchise. Released on March 13th, 2003 in Japan and on November 18th, 2003 in North America, it may not have done as well as its predecessor, but it ended up selling over 5 million copies. Quite the amazing feat considering it was one of the first Final Fantasy games to have a sequel.

However, now that Final Fantasy X has been released in HD on the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4, Steam, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and recently, Nintendo Switch 2, it has nearly always been packaged with Final Fantasy X-2, giving players who didn’t purchase the standalone game an opportunity to continue their journeys through Spira with a second game set in the same world.

Review

Final Fantasy X-2 had some early detractors and still has many players who are not interested in playing the game. While it has many ties to Final Fantasy X, a fan favorite in the series, it also differs from the predecessor in polarizing ways. Those polarizing elements come into play with the first few minutes of turning on the game. They are:

  1. An all-female playable party
  2. A much more light-hearted, and at times literally musical, story.

Both of these take center stage (again, literally) during the opening cinematic of the game. Unfortunately, this ends up being a bit of a detraction from players who are looking for a more seriously styled final fantasy, or for a role-playing game that doesn’t force you to take the role of the three lead females. Gone are the days of being able to choose between a full cast of varying characters, as was the case in Final Fantasy X.

That being said, that’s about as far as one can go when it comes to negative aspects of this game. By far, the most engaging element of Final Fantasy X-2 is its job system, a.k.a. the Dresspheres. This system allows Yuna, Rikku, and Paine to switch between various roles in the party during active combat, so instead of having characters that are typecast (for example, only Yuna being able to cast summoning and healing spells), all three party members can take on various roles as you progress through the game.