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Illustration Fridays and FFX-2
9 years ago
Has it's been made obviously clear, I began participating in the Illustration Friday thing for classes. While I don't dislike it, it is something that eats up my time, especially if I take too long to come up with something. In the future, as it has happened with this week's post, I'll only be submitting IFs here and on a few other platforms if I am content with the results. To see all of these, consider following me on Tumblr, on Hen's Pen Drips: http://henpendrips.tumblr.com/
(I am not any more active there than I am here, other than posting sketches and quickies).
Now, onto FFX-2. Lemme rant a bit.
I began playing this game last weekend. While I previously said in its Final Fantasy Lessons comic strips, that I had played the game previously, that isn't entirely accurate, as someone else was constantly picking up the game and playing it, even when I wasn't there. And man... this game is HORRIBLE. Not because of the cheesecake fest, I find it silly, but harmless; not because of so many recycled assets; not even because, to the point of writing this, the story in chapter 1 is that uninteresting. No, the game is horrible, because it's a checklist. In order to get 100% completion, to get all the scenes at the end, you need to literally follow, not just a guide, but a checklist.
The combat system gets a bit on my tits, but it's basically just ATB and three main characters who switch classes instead of multiple characters. The leveling up of the characters and abilities are both a bit dull, but I can manage. It's really the checklist thing that bothers me. That just not doing one minute thing and "WHOOPS!! NO PROPER ENDING FOR YOU!! BETTER REPLAY THE GAME!!!".
I haven't played FFXII yet, but I'd say that X-2 is the appropriate representation of Squeeenix taking over what once was Squaresoft.
Do I hate the game? No. Do I resent this aspect of it? Probably. Will I keep playing? Well, those FF Lesson ideas aren't gonna write themselves (the things I do xDD). Would I say FFX-2 is worse than XIII? They're at the same level, IMO, but for completely different reasons. FFXIII at least kept me playing while the story was still going (a story which, I remind you, I didn't like), X-2 hasn't captivated me enough to make me want to pick up and play as frequently, not on the same level of XIII, and CERTAINLY not even close to X. Maybe it'll get better once I can start grinding like a madman. xD
So yeah, just letting off some steam.
(I am not any more active there than I am here, other than posting sketches and quickies).
Now, onto FFX-2. Lemme rant a bit.
I began playing this game last weekend. While I previously said in its Final Fantasy Lessons comic strips, that I had played the game previously, that isn't entirely accurate, as someone else was constantly picking up the game and playing it, even when I wasn't there. And man... this game is HORRIBLE. Not because of the cheesecake fest, I find it silly, but harmless; not because of so many recycled assets; not even because, to the point of writing this, the story in chapter 1 is that uninteresting. No, the game is horrible, because it's a checklist. In order to get 100% completion, to get all the scenes at the end, you need to literally follow, not just a guide, but a checklist.
The combat system gets a bit on my tits, but it's basically just ATB and three main characters who switch classes instead of multiple characters. The leveling up of the characters and abilities are both a bit dull, but I can manage. It's really the checklist thing that bothers me. That just not doing one minute thing and "WHOOPS!! NO PROPER ENDING FOR YOU!! BETTER REPLAY THE GAME!!!".
I haven't played FFXII yet, but I'd say that X-2 is the appropriate representation of Squeeenix taking over what once was Squaresoft.
Do I hate the game? No. Do I resent this aspect of it? Probably. Will I keep playing? Well, those FF Lesson ideas aren't gonna write themselves (the things I do xDD). Would I say FFX-2 is worse than XIII? They're at the same level, IMO, but for completely different reasons. FFXIII at least kept me playing while the story was still going (a story which, I remind you, I didn't like), X-2 hasn't captivated me enough to make me want to pick up and play as frequently, not on the same level of XIII, and CERTAINLY not even close to X. Maybe it'll get better once I can start grinding like a madman. xD
So yeah, just letting off some steam.
I literally owned a guide to X-2, and I could only get 99.4%. No joke. I followed it to the letter, kept bookmarks, and even put tiny post-it notes on the lines I stopped at when I stopped playing. It's almost impossible.
The story gets -somewhat- better over time, but it's not going to break your heart like Square used to do. If you own the international version, you'll get more emotion out of playing Last Mission, or reading up on the after-game story, but don't expect much more.
I think you'll feel more satisfaction from XII, as a whole. It has some screwy parts, but it -was- a good game. The strategy elements and gambit system kind of nixx each other out though. You can't be strategic, and set up 10 gambits to handle every possible contingency.
As for the completion, yeah, I've found that the Prima Guide gets you through the story in a proper order for the 100% completion, but not exactly for the minute details. I'm doing the Vita version, and I'm using a fan-made list in order to get that 100%.
Honestly, because of this, I'm gonna be missing out on a lot of side-stuff, like the Creature Catcher, because it's ANOTHER thing that I would have to take into account while playing the game. If it's not relevant for the Perfect Ending, then I'm not gonna bother. At most, I'll try to have each character master only some dresspheres (like what I'm currently doing with Yuna Gunner, Rikku Thief, and Paine Warrior).
Personally, I stick with mascot for Rikku, Gunner for Yuna, and Berserker or Lady Luck for Paine. The creature catcher and the tower are both optional as far as I know, but they -are- marginally more entertaining.