Final Fantasy X-2 is a role-playing video game in which players take on the role of Yuna as she explores the fictional world of Spira.[2][3] In contrast to its predecessor, Final Fantasy X, players may visit almost every location in Spira from an early point in the game via airship.[4][5] The field-map navigation system is largely unchanged from Final Fantasy X; players navigate large, continuous three dimensional areas by controlling the on-screen character. A few upgrades have been implemented, providing the player with extended interaction with the environment through jumping, climbing, and rotating camera angles.[2][3] The game's sidequests include minor tasks and quests, optional bosses and dungeons, and the most minigames of any Final Fantasy at the time of its release.[2][6] These minigames include Gunner's Gauntlet (a shooter game) and Sphere Break (a math-based coin game), and a management sim based on blitzball, the fictional underwater sport from Final Fantasy X.[2]
Unlike its predecessor, in which the player's course through the world was largely linear, Final Fantasy X-2 allows players to visit almost any location at any time. The game consists of five chapters, with each location featuring one scenario per chapter. Together, the five scenarios in one locale form a subplot of the game called an "Episode". Players are free to engage with as many or as few optional scenarios as they choose; only a few scenarios per chapter are required to advance the game's central plot and are marked on the world navigation system as "Hotspots".[4][5] Both Hotspots and optional scenarios contribute to a story completion tracker and the latter may indirectly influence the main narrative. Achieving 100% completion unlocks a secret ending.[4] When the game is finished, a New Game Plus option gives players the opportunity to replay the game with different choices with all of the items and storyline completion percentage previously achieved intact. However, all character levels are reset.[4]The combat in Final Fantasy X-2 uses an enhanced version of the Active Time Battle (ATB) system, in which characters and enemies take actions according to their speed.[7] This implementation of ATB allows characters to interrupt enemies while they are preparing to take an action. With precise timing, it is possible to chain attacks together for greater damage.[2] Characters may change their character class mid-battle using dresspheres and the Garment Grid. These dresspheres, based on Final Fantasy character classes, allow access to different abilities to alter the course of battle.[4] The Garment Grid is a placard featuring a geometric shape connected by nodes. Characters have access to dresspheres placed in the nodes. Depending on the properties of the Garment Grid, changing dresspheres in battle will grant bonuses such as increased strength or added elemental effects. Characters can learn new skills for each dressphere with the use of Ability Points (AP). AP is earned by defeating enemies and by the use of items and abilities for that sphere.[2][4]