Final Fantasy X-2 HD Remaster

Final Fantasy X-2 HD Remaster is the high-definition version of Final Fantasy X-2, a role-playing game that Square originally developed and released for the PlayStation 2 in 2003. The remaster launched on PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita in 2013 together with Final Fantasy X under the name Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD Remaster. The collection later came to PlayStation 4 in 2015, Windows in 2016, and Nintendo Switch and Xbox One in 2019. Both games in the package are built on the expanded international editions of the originals.

The story picks up two years after Final Fantasy X in the world of Spira, where the defeat of Sin has started a period known as the Eternal Calm. After seeing a sphere recording that seems to show Tidus, Yuna joins a group of sphere hunters called the Gullwings alongside Rikku and Paine. Their journey takes place amid rising tensions between the Youth League and the New Yevon Party, and the trio soon uncovers an ancient machina weapon called Vegnagun hidden beneath Bevelle.

X-2 was the first Final Fantasy to have just three playable characters and an all-female main cast. Unlike its predecessor, it lets players fly by airship to almost any part of Spira early on, and the game is split into five chapters, with key story missions marked as Hotspots. Combat uses an enhanced Active Time Battle system in which characters can switch classes in the middle of a fight using dresspheres placed on a Garment Grid, and they learn new skills for each dressphere by earning Ability Points.

Optional content includes side quests, bonus bosses and dungeons, and the most minigames of any Final Fantasy at the time of its release, such as the shooter Gunner’s Gauntlet, the coin game Sphere Break, and a blitzball management mode. The game has multiple endings, with a secret ending for reaching 100% story completion, and a New Game Plus option. The international version adds two extra dresspheres, a Last Mission set in Yadonoki Tower, and the ability to capture monsters and characters to battle with. The remaster updates characters, monsters, and environments to HD and supports cross save between platforms.

Development of the original began in late 2001, with Motomu Toriyama directing and Yoshinori Kitase producing, and the team made change the game’s theme while giving it a more upbeat atmosphere than Final Fantasy X. Noriko Matsueda and Takahito Eguchi composed the soundtrack in place of Nobuo Uematsu. It was the last game Square released before its merger with Enix in April 2003. Reviews were generally favorable according to Metacritic, and the game sold over 5.4 million copies on PlayStation 2.