Current Events > Final Fantasy X-2 is the most tedious game in the series

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MrMallard
08/06/20 9:11:09 PM
#1:


I've been playing on and off for years, on PS2 and PS3. The sheer lengths you have to do to get everything is beyond a joke.

First of all, you're not finding all of those Crimson Spheres without a guide. And even if you use a guide, or memorise where they all are, it's way too easy to lock yourself out of getting them. Didn't visit Bevelle twice in Chapter 3 and follow that little sidequest? Missed a sphere. Forgot to talk to LeBlanc right at the end of chapter 4 before advancing the story, potentially activating the cutscene accidentally? Missed a sphere. Shit is wild.

Second, you can't get Episode Complete for all locations without using a guide over the course of the game. There are 5 chapters and like 22 locations in Spira, and some of the criteria to clear each area in each chapter is pedantic bullshit.

  • In chapter 3, you need to sell 10 tickets in a row and make a profit doing it. Every customer has a unique, unknown value that decides what value they'll buy a ticket for, and there are people who you have to sell to at a loss to get them to buy a ticket - which you can't reasonably know without a guide. If you sell 9/10 tickets, you've just locked yourself out of 100% completion. The effort you put into the same area in chapter 1 and 2 is all for naught. This is one of the pettiest circumstances in the game, being entirely low stakes, but instrumental to 100% completion. You wouldn't know that anything less than a perfect score locks you out of 100% completion without a guide.
  • In order to get Episode Complete in Kilika, you need to activate a series of cutscenes through the Commsphere in chapter 4. You need to activate the right cutscenes, then do a mission, then activate a second series of cutscenes before you fulfill the main objective of the chapter. There is nothing suggesting you have to do that in the main game, and it lacks the same structure as the only other Commsphere mission in the game.
  • Similarly, there's a Commsphere minigame in chapter 4 where you have to activate a series of cutscenes on the Mi'ihen Highroad to solve a mystery - unprecedented, unprompted and easily missable. There are 5-7 outcomes of this mystery, with different criteria to activate them. Only two of the outcomes net you an Episode Complete, and the hardest outcome to get isn't one of them. You cannot know which objectives to go for, and what actions to take, without a guide.
  • Both missions lack the eye-grabbing "Hotspot" marker that signifies an essential mission in other chapters, and chapter 4 is the shortest, easiest and lowest stakes chapter in the entire game.
  • At 99% completion, there are two options to get 100% completion. You can either try and defeat a dungeon full of superbosses, with the last one in particular being a challenge even at the level cap, or you can grind a pointless Chocobo raising sidequest to open a hidden dungeon. The method to opening this dungeon is so obtuse that even the commonly accepted way to achieve this is a time-wasting load of bullshit - and you won't know it exists without following a guide. I didn't know it even existed until this year. So now, at the end of the game, I need to waste HOURS engaging with a side activity that has played next to no role in the rest of the game, and which is MISSABLE earlier in the game unless you complete a series of other quests.
  • If you don't press a bunch of unprompted buttons in a cutscene at the end of chapter 3, you can't activate the golden ending - even if you have 100% completion at the end of the game.
  • If you don't get Episode Complete for Zanarkand first, the game will lock you out of completing that episode - even if you've met every criteria. You could do everything perfectly, get Episode Complete for every location in the game over the course of 5 chapters - and if you pick the wrong location to begin with, right at the end of the game, you'll lock yourself out of 100% completion due to a glitch.
There's "so linear it hurts", like FF13, there's "open-ended world of opportunity" like pretty much any prior Final Fantasy game barring X, and then there's being so obtuse that at least half a dozen prerequisites for 100% completion are borderline unobtainable without a guide and/or dumb luck. Imagine an RPG where the hero dies at the end because you knocked over a basket of apples halfway through the game - that's what it feels like to 100% this game.

And yeah - getting everything in an RPG is hard and tedious. But most RPGs don't have a percentage metre on the travel screen, and most RPGs aren't segmented in the way that X-2 is. I'm at 99% completion, I've jumped through every hoop, and now I have to either engage with some dogshit Chocobo raising minigame - wasting hours of my life catching Level 5 Bold Chocobos, which is entirely dependent on RNG - or leveling my characters to the level cap and fighting the hardest bosses in the game.

For the love of fuck, don't 100% this game - not even for the trophies. It's all a load of bullshit. Imagine trying to get 100% completion as a kid, without a guide - fuck that.

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Prismsblade
08/06/20 9:16:57 PM
#2:


I blame that on it just being a product of it's time, but cranked up to eleven. Theres a reason missable content isnt usually a thing anymore in most rpgs.

And I remember trying to 100% FF-2 countless times and even with the guide and following it religiously we failed. The lady luck dresssphere was one I remember having a ton of trouble obtaining but can't quite recall why.

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MrMallard
08/06/20 9:23:06 PM
#4:


Prismsblade posted...
I blame that on it just being a product of it's time, but cranked up to eleven. Theres a reason missable content isnt usually a thing anymore in most rpgs.

And I remember trying to 100% FF-2 countless times and even with the guide and following it religiously we failed. The lady luck dresssphere was one I remember having a ton of trouble obtaining but can't quite recall why.
The Lady Luck dressphere is a reward for winning the Sphere Break tournament in chapter 3. Being a game of chance, it's possible for the game to break your streak at any time by giving you a multiple of 1 - the main way you get points in that minigame is to get to a multiple of whatever number shows up on your screen, and either using the same amount of coins to reach each consecutive number or reaching the same number as last time. Without this multiplier, it's extremely hard to just brute-force the game into giving you enough points to win.

So when the game gives you a multiple of 1, no matter which coin you pick to begin with, it'll activate a Sphere Break and reset your multiplier. It's a game of skill, but it's just as much a game of chance.

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MrMallard
08/06/20 9:26:21 PM
#5:


tote_all posted...
I did 100% it like 10 years ago, I was thinking of playing it again and seeing if I'd 100% it again. I remember it was quite satisfying finally getting it done.

You've put me off with your post.
It's a fun game, especially with the job system. But this is just bullshit of the highest order. I'm at the end of the game, and I have to waste my time gaming the RNG system to open a hidden dungeon I never knew existed until now. It's not even something that the game told me about - I only know it exists because of a guide.

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Touch
08/06/20 9:28:03 PM
#6:


90% of X-2 was Creature Creator for me lol. I would only advance the plot so I can get better monsters :0

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ModLogic
08/06/20 9:38:24 PM
#7:


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MrMallard
08/06/20 9:43:54 PM
#8:


The funny thing is, by the time I can open the Chocobo dungeon, I'll probably be around level 80 anyway.

To catch a Chocobo, I need to enter a random battle on the Calm Lands, Mi'ihen Highroad and possibly the Thunder Plains. One of the monsters needs to be a Chocobo, which is not a 100% chance. When I get into a fight with a Chocobo, I need to defeat every other monster and feed it some greens to capture it. In some battles, the Chocobo runs away before you ever get a chance to act.

So you have random battles that may or may not yield a Chocobo, and in battles where you do get a Chocobo, they may or may not run away as the first action of the battle. That cuts down the chances of me catching one significantly.

After I catch that Chocobo, I need it to be upgradeable to level 5, and it needs to have the Bold personality trait.

Here's what sucks about that: Chocobos can be Level 1 - 5. You can catch a Chocobo and have it level up to Level 2, 3, 4 or 5, or it will only ever be Level 1.

So of the Chocobos I catch, there's a 1 in 5 chance that it's a Chocobo that I can even use.

On top of that - this next part might not be 100% needed - each of these Chocobos need to have a Bold personality. To my knowledge, you can get Normal, Bold and Timid Chocobos. So you have a 1 in 5 shot of getting a Level 5 Chocobo, which will have a 1 in 3 chance of being the right personality type. Which will only appear in random battles, and which might run away before I can catch it.

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Kami_no_Kami
08/06/20 10:01:14 PM
#9:


Indeed. And it follows Final Fantasy X, which is the most Tidus game in the series.
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eston
08/06/20 10:04:00 PM
#10:


FFX-2 is one of those games where after I beat it I regretted all the time I spent on it

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Axiom
08/06/20 10:05:47 PM
#11:


You think that's bad then try playing Last Mission. I noped out of that real quick
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Zack_Attackv1
08/06/20 10:14:11 PM
#12:


And though, I know, the world of Real Emotion has surrounded me..
I wont give into it!
Now I know, that forward is the only way my heart can go..
I hear your voice calling out to me!

You'll never be alone!
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MrMallard
08/06/20 10:25:06 PM
#13:


...I had a Level 5 Chocobo.

I was releasing other junk Chocobos.

I accidentally released the Level 5 one.

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MrMallard
08/06/20 11:31:07 PM
#14:


Finally got 3 Level 5 chocobos. Now I need them to not run away, otherwise I'll have to save scum

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smoke_break
08/06/20 11:33:50 PM
#15:


Okay, but Yuna in booty shorts though.

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andri_g
08/07/20 12:21:15 AM
#16:


I beat the PS2 version, for the first time, 5 years ago. I used guides specifically so I could 100% the game and get the *perfect* ending from one play-through.

https://i.imgur.com/rUPVG8p.jpg
Actual final screen from my play-through. I had to reload to get the "whistle" events near the end.
.

Btw, FF X-2's Sphere Break is my favorite "in-game" game of the series. The only thing I don't like is how [SB] is shoe-horned into the main game.

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MechaKirby
08/07/20 12:29:22 AM
#17:


I beat X-2 earlier this year, giving up on trying to get everything. Followed like 4 guides, basically had to do things in sessions.

I started that playthrough 6-7 years ago. It kinda soured my feelings on the game, and Why I don't bother with games with excessive quests/grinding. (FFX had a part in this too)

Still like the game, though.
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jumi
08/07/20 12:38:57 AM
#18:


ModLogic posted...
ff12 says hi mate

Opened a chest in the first town in the game? No god spear for you!

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Dark Symphony
08/07/20 12:52:47 AM
#19:


I still haven't beaten it. The first thing I did in the game was forget to talk to the costumed Yuna at the very beginning killing the chance at 100%. And I had grinded for hours after that before learning how the completion system worked.

Restart.

Then the actual process was super tedious and esoteric. I've been struggling with deciding whether to just forget it and play and enjoy the game or actually put in the unfun work to complete it.
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Fenrimis
08/07/20 12:59:39 AM
#20:


I followed two (maybe 3) 100% guides did everything, was really meticulous about double checking both guide to make sure i did EVERYTHING and never skipped a cutscene, and I still finished the game at 99.9% with no idea what I didnt do. Fuck that game. I'm told i can do NG+ and give sphere to other group and it'll give me 100% but I dont want to play the entire game again.

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Kaiganeer
08/07/20 1:05:11 AM
#21:


i don't think they intended for you to do it in one playthrough, seeing as how the completion percentage carries over to NG+ and even goes above 100% if i'm remembering it right
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MrMallard
08/07/20 1:15:16 AM
#22:


Did the Chocobo dungeon. Didn't put me over the line.

Gonna beat Via Infinito.

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moh82sy
08/07/20 1:18:59 AM
#23:


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jumi
08/07/20 3:15:41 AM
#24:


MrMallard posted...
Did the Chocobo dungeon. Didn't put me over the line.

Gonna beat Via Infinito.

Good luck. Trema awaits.

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Shadowplay
08/07/20 3:34:26 AM
#25:


Well, at least the cast is fuckable.

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BlockAddition
08/07/20 3:38:30 AM
#26:


The biggest shit kick with FFX-2 is that you have to watch cutscenes for 100%

The first time we could skip cutscenes in an FF game and it gimps you like that

Thanks SE!

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Guerrilla Soldier
08/07/20 3:49:27 AM
#27:


are we just ignoring the fact that it's a really terrible game

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pinky0926
08/07/20 6:52:16 AM
#28:


MrMallard posted...
Imagine an RPG where the hero dies at the end because you knocked over a basket of apples halfway through the game - that's what it feels like to 100% this game.

So basically, The Witcher 3

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andri_g
08/07/20 1:14:53 PM
#29:


jumi posted...
Opened a chest in the first town in the game? No god spear for you!
This! I trashed a FF XII +70 hour play-through save file because of it. Ironically, after I restarted and got both conditional ZS chests I disliked the way they performed in battle.**

** [ Other weapon/shield combos have better DPS stats and performance. I didn't bother trying to get the third ZS. ]

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