Ranking Every Final Fantasy Spin-Off Game

If this list was being judged on the first hour of each game, Final Fantasy X-2 would undoubtedly be towards the absolute bottom. The ‘Real Emotion’ concert that opens the game is painful to endure and the combination of several cringeworthy moments like this, the unashamed re-use of models from X without any graphical improvement and the general silliness of the storyline compared to its stark predecessor have always put X-2 in the firing line for a lot of fan hate.

This is almost completely unjustified by the sheer depth of the game and the fluidity of the fast-paced combat system, which enabled dynamic in-battle switching of jobs for the first time. The 100% completion mechanic could be a nightmare given that it can be missed by skipping a single scene, but the bonus ending that it rewarded players with served as a wondrous piece of fan service (that is completely destroyed if one is subjected to the unnecessary novel and audio drama sequel Square Enix produced in 2013).

The more recent HD remaster improved X-2’s legacy substantially through the addition of the Creature Creator, a game-within-the-game that allowed any monster to be caught and trained to replace Yuna, Rikku or Paine in battle. Their enhanced combat abilities were almost essential to best the new arena mode and brutal superbosses, easily adding another thirty or so hours to what was already a vastly underrated mix of experiences.

Sphere Break was also brilliant. Fight me.