I have a big soft spot for this game, but I think it doesn't quite hold up as well as its peers. There's a lot to love. The game has the most amazing, most cinematic, most bombastic set pieces in the series up to this point. X-ATM 092 chasing you through Dollet, the parade assassination, the battle of the gardens, the lunar cry. Junctioning and drawing, min-maxing your stats, I love it all.
The problem is the whole isn't quite the sum of its parts. The plot connecting the set pieces is just not as good as the set pieces themselves. The Battle of the Gardens, for instance, happens more-or-less because the Gardens bump into each other. There are no particular stakes to it, it doesn't change anything, and it doesn't feel very connected to the next plot beat (Rinoa going into a coma). The revelation that all the main characters are amnesiac orphans is just thrown out by Irvine at no point in particular. I have a friend who's fond of saying the game needed a second draft. I'm inclined to agree.
Mechanically, it feels the complete opposite of its predecessor, where materia started out simple and had you waiting half the game to get interesting, Guardian Force and junctioning are super complicated right out the gate, but fail to really develop or evolve as the game goes on. I found the game most difficult at the start, then super easy right up until Omega Weapon. My biggest disappointment here is there's no real incentive to specialise or diversify, I ended the game with three beefcakes who could smack enemies hard with the fight command and absorb any amount of punishment. Still really chasing the SNES peak where I could spread out all the game's toys between the full party.
Still, a good time, and I'd love to see it revisited someday to redraft the rougher bits of the story. If you haven't played it, here's my advice: unlock "Encounter None" on Diabolos and never, ever feel bad about using it!
The problem is the whole isn't quite the sum of its parts. The plot connecting the set pieces is just not as good as the set pieces themselves. The Battle of the Gardens, for instance, happens more-or-less because the Gardens bump into each other. There are no particular stakes to it, it doesn't change anything, and it doesn't feel very connected to the next plot beat (Rinoa going into a coma). The revelation that all the main characters are amnesiac orphans is just thrown out by Irvine at no point in particular. I have a friend who's fond of saying the game needed a second draft. I'm inclined to agree.
Mechanically, it feels the complete opposite of its predecessor, where materia started out simple and had you waiting half the game to get interesting, Guardian Force and junctioning are super complicated right out the gate, but fail to really develop or evolve as the game goes on. I found the game most difficult at the start, then super easy right up until Omega Weapon. My biggest disappointment here is there's no real incentive to specialise or diversify, I ended the game with three beefcakes who could smack enemies hard with the fight command and absorb any amount of punishment. Still really chasing the SNES peak where I could spread out all the game's toys between the full party.
Still, a good time, and I'd love to see it revisited someday to redraft the rougher bits of the story. If you haven't played it, here's my advice: unlock "Encounter None" on Diabolos and never, ever feel bad about using it!