Most people like to hate Final Fantasy XIII, but it’s an alright game. It’s nothing amazing, just an average entry in the franchise. I would say one of the weaker aspects is its story and characters. So when going into Final Fantasy XIII-2, I didn’t expect much from the plot. In some ways, I was right not to. Most of what relates back to the original feels like excess baggage. Yet there’s another side to XIII-2: an original story centered around a man named Noel, who is from the future.
The world he comes from is a desolate wasteland. He’s one of the three remaining humans alongside his former mentor, Caius, and Yeul, who is somewhat immortal and can see the future. While Noel wants to repair the timeline and fix humanity’s fate, Caius wishes to destroy it.
The story surrounding these characters is surprisingly well-done. They’re each pulling in their own direction and attempting to form the timeline in their own vision. Noel and Yeul play their roles, but Caius is a standout figure. His villainous behavior is driven by, arguably, one of the best motivations of the entire Final Fantasy franchise.
Destroying time itself sounds like a typical “evil guy doing evil things to be evil so you fight evil” set up. However, there’s reasoning behind this mad plan.
Yeul suffers from extremely short periods of life. Only able to survive for a little over a decade at a time, she’s reborn over and over again. Each Yeul is the same though also different. They develop various hobbies and personalities based on their experiences. Nevertheless, every single time her life is cut short. With humanity on the edge of extinction, Caius wishes to end her suffering by destroying time and thus the cycle. Compared to the typical villains of the genre who aim to dominate the world, cleanse the planet or simply gain more power, it’s a surprisingly selfless goal.
Unfortunately, to enjoy this you also have to put up with the remnants of Final Fantasy XIII’s story. As someone who didn’t particularly care about the original’s plot, almost every bit involving Serah, Lightning and the original XIII’s crew feels unnecessary. Oddly enough, Hope – one of the weaker characters in the original – sees a complete transformation. He was young, frail and irrationally vengeful. Now an adult, he has gained a positive can-do attitude and plays a major supporting role.
Final Fantasy XIII-2, in general, is just a better game. The combat is opened up from the start, there’s a lot more to explore and it tries new story elements the series hasn’t touched on before, like chapters featuring multiple paths and endings. If you can get over the connections with, and stigma, of Final Fantasy XIII, I highly recommend checking it out.
