How Final Fantasy XIII-2 won us back

A couple of months ago, I thought Final Fantasy XIII-2 was a baffling aberration, a weird mix of redundant thinking and dodgy experimentation held together by a basic misunderstanding of what people want in a game.

Rather than fixing what Final Fantasy XIII got wrong - ludicrously stodgy pacing first and foremost - Square Enix seemed to be trying to paper the faults over with bizarre new features. That jump button for instance - what the hell. And QTEs mid-battle. And the Moogles, seriously - we enjoy a good Moogle, but they're not the proverbial magic wand.

With a single Q&A, the publisher has just reversed that troublesome train of thought almost entirely. Not so much by stripping out the wonky bits, as by dialling the wonk up to 11, fattening it out into something compellingly... different. We're in mega-wonk land, people.

Final Fantasy XIII-2 takes place not long after the events of Final Fantasy XIII. We won't trouble you with the plot details. Suffice to say: things were said, worlds were saved, and now main character Lightning's trapped in Valhalla, realm of Eidolons, while her younger sister Serah and new character Noel zip through the fabric of time itself, visiting eras in search of anachronistic artefacts that in turn unlock gates to more eras.

In case you were any doubt, the time-zipping part is where things get interesting. It feeds into what is effectively a fourth dimensional world map, the Historia Crux, heaped to the gills with the trademark Final Fantasy bling. You can journey across the map in strict chronological order if you like, for more of a classic campaign experience, or you can flip back and forth between eras, altering the make-up of each one by interfering with its predecessor. Scenery, flora, fauna and weather conditions will shift depending on when you visit a location and what state the timeline's in, and there are unique items, conversations and "strong and colourful mini games" to be found down different temporal threads.

Motomu Toriyama offers some interesting analogies. "The flow of areas accessible via Historia Crux has been structured so that all of the player's actions and decisions will influence the gameplay. Casual players will be able to use the Historia Crux in a similar manner to browsing a favourite website, picking and choosing between all the different links available. It also contains elements aimed at more dedicated gamers, for more challenging play through encouraging exploration of all the different times and places - to find additional secrets including the multiple endings that are hidden in the different routes."

Colour us ruefully optimistic. Turns out there's more beneath Final Fantasy XIII-2's glossy carapace than a puddle of fantasy jargon. Now if only they can sort out the squishy characterisation and cutesy-poo voice-acting...