Either This or a XIII-3.
February 13, 2012
As I write this I'm trying not to sound like a bitter cynical old man, but Square-Enix, if you're planning on doing what I think you're planning on doing, fuck you. Perhaps I should explain myself.
Final Fantasy XIII-2 has come out, and I have to say it impoved upon the original in every way. I enjoyed it, that is until the ending. Not to spoil anything but the game ends on a cliffhanger including the words "to be continued." It was more like the end to the second act than a fitting ending. So you must ask, "why so upset?" Well I'm upset because before Final Fantasy XIII-2 was released Uncle Squeenix said that they'd be supporting the game with months of DLC. Here's where I get a bit cynical. Now don't get me wrong, I enjoy DLC, for the most part it is a good thing, and I have downloaded quite a bit of DLC in my day, but not all DLC is created equally.
Good DLC adds new layers of gameplay to an already great game. For a few buck more you can add hours of entertainment to your game. Examples of good DLC are the extra mission packs for Red Dead Redemption, or Mass Effect. They add to the experience without detracting from the core game. Bad DLC however is something that doesn't really add to the game, instead just aesthetically alters it, examples being extra costumes for fighting games. I know some people like that, but I really don't feel like paying five dollars so I can play as old school red haired Ryu. That sort of thing should just be a part of the norrmal game, and the thing about stuff like that is nine time out of ten thaat information is already on the disk, the thing you're buying just just a little piece of code to unlocks something on the disc you already spent $60 on.
So, yeah what does this have to do with Final Fantasy XIII-2? Well like I said before the game came out Square-Enix said they planned on months of DLC for the game. Well I'm just gonna call shenanigans. Final Fantasy XIII, for the Xbox 360 at least came on 3 discs and took about 40 hours to finish, and with extra side quests you could spend over 100 hours. That's a lot of game for $60 dollars. Final Fantasy XIII-2 however came on only a single disc, and old takes about 20 hours to get to the "ending." Taking all of this into consideration I have to think that at one point Square-Enix though to themselves and said, "I could release the entire game for $60, or I could sell them half the game for the same price, then sell them the rest of the game at a later date for an increased profit." The fact that they so clearly said that they had DLC planned long before the game came out leads me to believe this to be the truth.