Final Fantasy XIII-2
From: Square Enix
For: PlayStation 3, Xbox 360
Reviewed by Hayden Meikle
True story. Somehow, over a period of 25 years, this fussy gamer had not once experienced the most famous Japanese science fantasy series of all time.
How did I miss the Final Fantasy phenomenon? Mainly personal taste, I guess.
But while I was playing Fifa 1997 through Fifa 2012, and eight different Lego games, and seven Call of Duties, and six Smackdown v Raws, and some Haloes and Forza Motorsports and Gran Turismos, Final Fantasy was setting all sorts of records.
Seven Guinness World Records, in fact. And 100 million units sold.
And some of the most passionate fans in the gaming world.
Finally, a Final Fantasy game has made its way to Signal - part two of the 13th game in the main series.
I don't mind admitting to a decent level of excitement when I sat down for my first dabble in the FF world.
And I don't mind admitting I was ready to snap my controller in half after the first 30 minutes, which consisted of about 29 minutes of incomprehensible cutscenes and some rather pointless button-pressing.
But good things take time, and eventually the actual game emerged. As promoted, it's a nice mix of exploration, character development and combat.
Plot-wise, well, there is something going, on but FF newcomers will be hopelessly lost.
The main characters are someone called Serah and someone called Noel, and there's a place called Cocoon and a place called Pulse, and something called a Mog Clock, and some artefacts that need to be found and ... er, I suppose it all means something.
The famous Final Fantasy visual style is there in all its garishness, from the dazzling fantasy landscapes to the characters with spiky hair and androgynous features.
Combat is turn-based, which I have always loathed, but it actually isn't too bad. There is an auto-combat system for newbies, but enough depth to the process to appeal to the more committed.
I watched The Wire for the first time this year and, while I enjoyed it, I did not explode with excitement.
(Mad Men and Boardwalk Empire are better, but that's another story.)
My Final Fantasy feeling is similar: it didn't blow me away, but it was kind of fun.
