WHAT I SAW:

A well-meaning sequel to Square Enix's overblown FFXIII, with a slight return to the series' traditional RPG roots.

WHAT I EXPECTED:

In all honesty, Final Fantasy XIII was the most miserable 50 hours I have ever spent with any game, ever. But then again, I'd heard that XIII-2 - a rare storyline sequel in the Final Fantasy series - was intended to address the previous game's flaws, so I rocked up expecting less linear maps, more exploration, shorter cut scenes and a good deal less nonsensical melodrama. And that's pretty much what was on display at TGS.

WHAT THEY SHOWED:

After a mercifully brief cut scene, the demo throws Sera (Lightning's sister from FFXIII) and Noel (a new and yawnsome androgynous JRPG manchild) straight into battle against a giant hand belonging to a semi-invisible monster. The Active Time Battle that was the saving grace of FFXIII has been upgraded: Occasional QTEs have you hitting buttons or the L stick at key moments in battles; get it right and your enemy will enter Limit Break faster, so you can deal more damage. The QTEs keep you paying attention, where before you could just spam one button for the whole battle if you wanted to.

In the field, the Mog Clock provides warning of encounters. Monsters no longer roam the map as they did in FFXIII; instead, a lightning bolt strikes when a monster is close and a red ring surrounds the player. Head in to the center to take on the enemy hard and fast, or run out of the ring to avoid the battle altogether. Oh, and if a creature is inside that red ring as well, you may well find it included in your battle party.

Exploration-wise, well, the demo shows a bigger, seemingly less linear area of the futuristic city of Cocoon to explore and NPCs to talk to - but time will tell whether these stretch throughout the game.

WHAT I THOUGHT:

I can't say XIII-2 made me desperate to return to Cocoon and Pulse. But it didn't make me want to throw myself off a balcony either, which places it head and shoulders above its big brother. The question will be whether Square Enix can spin this out to a whole game and not simply resort to gorgeous but empty CGI movies and go-nowhere maps. Also, while the QTEs do break up the sometimes monotonous battles, let's hope they aren't overdone.

FFXIII-2 seems to be a genuine attempt at salvaging the (very) few good points from one of the decade's biggest games and making a title the fans will love. Whether that's enough to tempt the doubters back for another 50 hours remains to be seen.