Final Fantasy 10-2 Original Trailer (2003, Square-Enix)
8Final Fantasy X-2 (ファイナルファンタジーX-2 Fainaru Fantajī Ten Tsū) is a role-playing video game developed and published by Square for the PlayStation 2 video game console. The direct sequel to Final Fantasy X, the game's story follows the character Yuna from Final Fantasy X as she seeks to resolve political conflicts in the fictional world of Spira before it leads to war.
Final Fantasy X-2 set several precedents in the Final Fantasy series aside from being the first direct sequel in video game form and the second sequel in the franchise, after the anime Final Fantasy: Legend of the Crystals. It was the first game in the series to feature only three player characters, an all-female main cast, and early access to most of the game's locations. Additionally, it featured a variation of the character classes system—one of the series' classic gameplay concepts—and is one of the few games in the series to feature multiple endings. Finally, it was the first Final Fantasy game in the series that did not have musical contributions in it from longtime composer Nobuo Uematsu.
The game was positively received by critics and was commercially successful. After nine months of being released in Japan, it sold a million copies in North America, and approximately four million copies worldwide. Final Fantasy X-2 was voted as the 32nd best game of all time by the readers of Famitsu. The English version of the game won an award for "Outstanding Achievement in Character Performance" at the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences in 2004. The game has attained a rating of 86% on GameRankings and an 85% rating on Metacritic. The game was re-released as a high-definition port for the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita in 2013, together with Final Fantasy X, under the title Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD Remaster. It was also re-released for the PlayStation 4 in May 2015
Though a direct sequel to Final Fantasy X, Final Fantasy X-2 does not duplicate its predecessor's gameplay; instead, it innovates on traditional elements. Like pre-Final Fantasy X installments, characters "level up" after a certain number of battles, by gaining pre-determined stat bonuses. The conditional turn-based battle system in Final Fantasy X has been replaced by a faster-paced variation of the Final Fantasy series' traditional active time battle (ATB) system, which was originally designed by Hiroyuki Ito and first featured in Final Fantasy IV. Whenever a random enemy is encountered, the ATB system is used. Under this enhanced version of the ATB, playable characters may interrupt an enemy while they are preparing to take action, in lieu of waiting for an enemy's turn to finish before attacking. Furthermore, it is possible for both characters and enemies to chain attacks together for greater damage.
Final Fantasy X-2 sold over 1.94 million copies in Japan in 2003 as the highest-selling game of the year. Within nine months of its Japanese release, it sold more than a million copies in North America (within two months of its release there), and nearly four million copies worldwide. It went on to sell 2.11 million units in Japan, 1.85 million units in the United States, and more than 100,000 units in the United Kingdom. International + Last Mission sold over 288,000 copies in Japan over the course of 2004.[