FFX-2's Battle System

[Aethon Zerus]

I never played X-2 back in the day, so now seemed like the perfect oppotunity to finally give it a chance. And my first impression was holy crap, the battle system! I wasn't sure what I was expecting... I suppose something similar to the first game. Instead I got this ultra confusing, seemingly unpolished battle interface where Paine was facing backwards and Yuna was literally standing next to the enemy. I then started magically learning abilities that made no sense like FlimFlam. But after playing for a bit, I realized something very interesting. FFX-2's battle system was the precursor for FFXIII.

Dresspheres are analogous to roles like Commando and Ravager, and swapping dresspheres in battle is analogous to paradigm shifting. Characters and enemies even act simultaneously instead of taking turns, using an early iteration of the cut and keep mechanics. Then we have the creature creator, whose underlying ideas mirror monster capturing in FFXIII-2. Finally, we have Oversouls, which is similar to the Last Ones in Lightning Returns. I am actually now much more interested in this game, because I'm seeing it as a fascintating window into the ideas that would later spawn XIII.

[Taka]

The game's job system is actually based on Final Fantasy V.

[Fraggoso]

Um... no... not really.

FFX-2 uses the Jobsystem that debuted with Final Fantasy V and it uses the ATB (Active Time Battle) System that debuted with IV and was refined with the Bar also in Final Fantasy V.

If you've listened to the tutorial you would know that you don't lrean stuff "magically " but you can see in the menu and pick what you want to learn next. ;)

[MorningLightMountain]

They aren't actually that similar.

The creature creator didn't even feature in the original release of X2 and was a feature in the international edition which was exclusive to Japan until the remaster was released on the PS3.

The dresspheres are analagous to the job system which has appeared in several of the earlier games where there are quite a variety of different classes the characters can use unlike 13 where the amount of roles is actually very limited in both the number and how available those roles are to each character. While they can be switched in battle it isn't actually a requirement to do so at any point in X2, the garment grids are more for bonus gained from doing so unlike 13 where those changes are pretty much compulsory.

And you gain AP towards abilities in battle and can learn them in the heat of the moment.