Stream Journal: Moogle Murder! Kupo!

I am enjoying Final Fantasy XIII-2. There. I said it. The Final Fantasy XIII series thus far has proven to be one of the most convoluted games in the franchises's long history. Final Fantasy XIII was a completely different approach to world design and story progression for the series and for the most part, it didn't work in it's favor. XIII-2 comes across as an obvious attempt to prolong the use of the game's assets while fleshing out the world in some interesting ways and adding a bevy of new features and mechanics.

Going into this broadcast, I was certain that you would all hate me for playing this on the feed. To my surprse, it was met with a fairly positive response by the community. A few dedicated souls even took to trying their best to explain the plot and answer questions posed by others who had played the game and came away confused. It was nice to see that there are still some folks out there who can appreciate the game despite it not living up to the Final Fantasy name.

Having spent a good 12+ hours in the game thus far, I am both impressed and a little confused by the sheer number of features that have been added this time around. The combat and character progression feels refined but largely unaltered while nearly every other aspect of the game has been completely overhauled. The enviornments are more complex (though I still wouldn't describe them as open), NPC's are abundant, and the sheer number of newly introduced systems or mini-games is mind boggling. The result is a game that is far more satisfying to the seasoned RPG fan but realistically... the game suffers from "feature creep." There are so many new features in this game, that it can be hard to keep track. I'm STILL being introduced to new mechanics after more than 10 hours of gameplay.

Of course, that is not necessarily all bad. For those of you joined me for my Sunday night broadcast, you may have noticed that the game is far more varied in its content. I was pleasantly surprised by the game's new monster capturing system that allows you to capture monsters after a battle and level them up independently of your two main characters. These monsters can then be added to your party and used to create paradigms just like in Final Fantasy XIII proper. On top of that, monsters can be fused to boost stats and pass on passive abilities from one creature to another. It's actually quite deep and pefect for someone like me who has not yet shed his addiction to Toko Tokos (That's a Ni No Kuni reference... for those of you who aren't familiar...).  Additionally, Square-Enix has added time travel, parallel dimensions, puzzle rooms (wut...?), moogle throwing, and more to the mix!

Let's back up for a second to the moogle thing. JESUS. Someone give me an axe and let me behead this damn Mog. I can handle the convoluted plot lines, boring side characters, and cringe-inducing dialogue but this voice acted moogle is by far the worst thing about this game. Mogs were cute in previous Final Fantasy games and i'm starting to realize that it must be because we couldn't hear them speak!

Despite being an inferior entry in an otherwise glowing and historic franchise, XIII-2 is doing a pretty good job of redeeming the Final Fantasy XIII series in my eyes. Since I will be reviewing Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII, tonight's Nick at Night broadcast (7:00 - 11:00PM CST) will be split between Persona 4 and Final Fantasy XIII-2 in the interest of completing the game in time for the game's release next week. Look for my review of Lightning Returns soon! You can catch my next broadcast tonight on 4pp.tv!