Why Final Fantasy XIII-3 Should Happen (An Open Letter to Square Enix)

(Note: I am holding off on my review of XIII-2 until the Lightning DLC that's supposed to tie up the story comes out.) (I'm not sure I'm using the open letter thing correctly. Whatever.)

Ok, so, if you read my other, personal blog (which I swear I will start updating again), and you read between the lines (and not so in between), you'll know that I have a history of (undiagnosed; come-and-go) depression. (This ties in to why XIII-3 should happen, though it's not the only reason.)

(I will keep it as vague as possible to avoid spoilers.)

The ending to XIII was great. Bittersweet because of Fang and Vanille, but great. It left it open for a XIII-2. I had (almost) no problems with XIII (aside from F/V, only a minor gameplay aspect, levelling, irritated me).

XIII-2 had the potential to give us the (really) happy ending that I personally wanted (in any way), though it wasn't necessary. It really didn't.

Here's why:

The main story (Lightning's/Serah's) wasn't truly resolved. I mean, in a way, Serah's was, but Lightning's, the whole reason Serah went on the journey that was XIII-2, was not in any way.

And then there's the Fang/Vanille aspect.
**spoiler** At the end of XIII, they sacrificed themselves to save Cocoon. While this left me sad, I was ok with it because they did it to save their new family and home. **end spoiler**
Their XIII ending had their fate beyond XIII up in the air, which is where XIII-2 could have come in. Instead, they were really only a minor side story that got no conclusion. Which leaves it open for XIII-3.

Back on why XIII-3 should happen.

XIII-2's ending...well, let's just say it left me incredibly sad/angry (not a good thing, even when I'm in a good place). I was ok with Serah (even though it made me sad); she knew what the consequences might be and went on to do what was necessary to save the world.

But Lightning's ending? That just pissed me off.

Post-XIII Lightning wouldn't have ended things the way she did. She would have kept pushing. Remember? She said: "We live to make the impossible. That is our Focus."

There are many ways that XIII-3 could resolve everything in a neat, orderly, fantastic way.

Here's what I thought:
***MINOR XIII-2 AND MYTHOLOGY SPOILERS***
Ok, so, at the end, Lightning turned herself to crystal with one wish in her heart (whatever that was, we can work with it).

Here's where I was thinking we take that: the original goddess, Mwynn, who died according to the mythology, did not die and instead hid herself away until the end of time (ie: XIII-2), comes back, sees Lightning and Noel (who, following the events of XIII-2, went out in search of Lightning, found her in crystal stasis and then turned himself to crystal) and, with the last of her strength, brings them, Fang, and Vanille, (they'll come in later) out of their crystal stasis to destroy Bhunivelze, her son, who was brought back to life by Lindzei following the end of XIII-2, as he instructed her.

Light and Noel go out in search of Fang and Vanille, finding them in what used to be Oerba, waiting for them. The four then go on to destroy the fal'Cie (known as gods by the people) Pulse, Bhunivelze's protector, Lindzei, and Bhunivelze himself, thus bringing balance back into the universe. (Obviously, there'll be conflicts, side stories, etc.)

In doing this, the quad are flung back to after Cocoon fell (after XIII-2 and XIII-3, but before the actual time happened?), Fang and Vanille along with Noel waiting for Lightning and the others to wake from their crystal stasis. The crystal pillar is still intact, though without F/V in it and Noel, having changed the future and the past, should no longer exist but does as a gift for having brought balance back (or whatever) is waiting to start his new life with the others.

The trio go to Lightning and the others' crystals and tells them to wake up. They do and they all remember what happened in XIII-2 and XIII-3. Life goes on.
***END SPOILERS***

It's good, right???

Everything resolved, balance restored, everyone happy.

Come on, Square Enix. PLEASE I am BEGGING you, PLEASE make Final Fantasy XIII-3. You can even use my story, free of charge!! (Ok, well, not free of charge, but, honestly, I'm not asking for much. I want the limited/collectors editions of the game and guide for the 360 and the soundtrack for this and XIII, I've got XIII-2. And maybe a job as a writer for you? DREAM JOB right there!!)

The Forever Girl by Rebecca Hamilton (Forever Girl series, Volume 1)

Here's my short review: GO BUY IT!

Now, for the details.

Right off, I felt this deep connection to Sophia, the main character.

Growing up gay, I know what it's like to be isolated and ostracised. You see, Sophia practices Wicca and has the unfortunate chance of living in a small town. She has to continually contend with those looks and comments from the whole town, and from one citizen in particular. Nothing like an ultra-Conservative bigot to help you learn who Sophia really is.

Sophia is confident in who she is and who she wants to be, while at the same time being completely unsure of both (due to her ostracisation from her family and townmates), which makes her a very real, very relatable person.

She is not afraid to share her views, but rarely does so to avoid being further isolated. She's the kind of person who would rather take the harrassment and slights than bring them up to stop them, which would only cause more harrassment.

Now, enough of Sophia. On to the plot!
(I'm not going to get too detailed because this is the first (and only) book in the series and to get incredibly detailed would unravel the book.)

From the beginning, you don't really know what's going to happen and that continues on throughout the whole book. This keeps you drawn in, wondering, waiting for what happens next.

We meet her mentor, friends, mother, and love interest fairly early in the book (think Night Huntress series, my review of which is pending), which leaves space for story-telling and world-building.

The world is slow to build on at first, but soon after meeting her love interest, it gains speed. From then on it alternates between story-telling and world-building, both being incredibly tied together. Sophia starts off clueless, but is then thrown into this other world. It's remarkably well-writ in it's simple complexity.

About mid-book (or maybe just past), we start learning that Sophia is not at all what she seems. She starts off as a Wicca-practicing human, slowly making the transition into Forever Girl Witch. A Forever Girl is a witch who is a reincarnation of their past lives.
(That's all I'm saying on the subject of Forever Girls. Go read it and you'll find out.)

Even though, at the beginning and throughout the book, you've no clue what's going to happen, there's a very subtle background that only just ties into the plot in the beginning and middle, but, in fact, turns out to be the plot! (I didn't see it coming at all, which is very surprising. I rarely don't see what's going to happen, even for a first reading.)

And then, at the end, when you think you know what's going to happen and what's been happening, twist!, it turns on you.

It is truly a testament to Rebecca Hamilton's (follow her on Twitter) abilities that it surprised me. I didn't even have a vague idea where it was going until I got there (which doesn't often happen), which left me with a fierce satisfaction that I didn't know where it was going.

So, to conclude right back where I started: GO BUY IT! You will not regret it at all.

(Here! I'll even put links for you!)

Amazon

Barnes & Noble

The Hollows Series by Kim Harrison

Also known as The Rachel Morgan Series, this book series follows Rachel Morgan, a witch who quits her job at the I.S. (Inderland Security) to start her own independant runner firm (basically a bounty hunter).

It starts with Dead Witch Walking in the middle of a job tagging a leprechaun for tax evasion, as opposed to her past-usual jobs of tagging black witches. It's during this job that we meet Rachel's newest (and unexpected) business partners.

We meet Rachel's backup, Jenks for the first time. Jenks a pixy, is four inches of attitude with dragonfly-like wings. Jenks is one of the most enjoyable characters to read. He is often underestimated, due to his lackluster size. In all actuality, he's one of the most dangerous, being able to "pix" (sort of an itch powder) whom he chooses with his pixy dust (pixies dust, not bleed), sneak around with high chance of being unnoticed, and a knack for technology that allows him to loop security cameras with little effort.

We also meet Ivy, a living, high-blood (born with the virus forming her from the womb) vampire. Unlike Jenks, Rachel knows Ivy already, having been her punishment for not conforming to office politics. Ivy is one of the more dark characters. Though still enjoyable to read, she has a past that's shrouded in both mystery and shame and is quite sad to learn about at times. Being a living vampire, she has some of the perks of the undead vampires: enhanced hearing and speed; extreme strength, being able to break an arm with little effort; and the ability to pull an "aura," sort of like threatening, only much scarier. Hard to explain. Being a high-blood living vampire gives her sharp canines and a hunger for blood (though she abstains). One of Ivy's many quirks is her tendency to plan everything, down to every last breath. This fact irritates Rachel to no end.

Rachel is a white earth witch. Her power comes from plants and three drops of her blood to quicken it. She can store it in potions or amulets. Her most powerful "offensive" magic is sleepy-time charms (which obviously, put her enemies to sleep). She has strong morals and will not change them, even under her I.S. death threat for quitting. She's a bit naive, but only so much that she forgot that the world isn't going to protect her like the I.S. did. Having quit her job, she realizes that she has to rely on her friends to help her, something which is new to her and very hard for her to do.

As the series progresses, they learn to live with each other, becoming not only great business partners, but also incredibly close friends.

Throughout the series, we meet more characters and learn of more species. Fairies, Weres, demons, elves, and trolls being the brunt of it.

Full of magic, excitement, danger, and humor, the Hollows is one of the best urban fantasy series out there. Only nine books out now (at least three more coming), numerous short stories (in anthologies), a comic prequel from Ivy's POV (and more comics coming, though not particularly from Ivy's POV), and the coming Hollows Insider (a world book; facts, fictional newspaper clippings, species descriptions, etc.), the Hollows will suck you in faster than you can say Rhombus! (Hint to later books, though no spoilers.)

The Hollows is one world that will continue to influence my life in ways I can't even imagine. I encourage you to give the series a try.

Mirror's Edge

I made this post (and blog) because I keep reading criticising reviews and complaints about this game. More often than not, they're trying to compare it to another game. You cannot do this with Mirror's Edge for one reason, it is (until the sequel comes out) not like any other game. It is one of a kind.

When I first bought this game in June 2009, I was a little scared. It's completely different from my usual RPGs and action adventure games. I played the demo about 30 times before I decided to buy the game. Even after all that thought, I was still unconvinced that I wouldn't hate this game. But after beating it the first time (which took about 9 hours), I couldn't wait to play again. The next few times I played through it, I beat it within an hour before the first. After about 10 playthroughs, I was down to 6 hours. At one point (after playing for about a month straight), I was down to 3 hours. It's all down to what you need to do and how you do it. Once you know what to do, where to go, and who to fight, it's all a game of chance (with the enemies, and even the parkour sometimes). The chance of just barely missing a pole or disarming an enemy keeps it fun.

I have personally played (and beaten) through it about 550 times, give or take 50. I love this game. The speed (even in the elevators and air vents) is perfect, the combat, although difficult and infuriating at times, is good enough to keep the general atmosphere of realism alive, the puzzles are difficult enough at times to make you want to quit and easy enough at times to still let you feel as if you accomplished something amazing. Even now, I still make mistakes because of the sheer chance that you can just barely misstep or disarm an opponent.

When I say there's a 'chance' that you'll miss something or get hit by not disarming your opponent, I mean that you only have about a second to react (with the enemies, at least). With the parkour, there's small little signs that what you're about to do is wrong and will lead to your death. Signs like, when you jump from one pole to another near the end of Chapter 2, your hand has to be off of the pole for you to grab the one you're jumping to. Little things like this show you how much thought was put into this game.

It's comments like "they didn't put enough thought into it" and "I thought it was going to be like a shooter" that irritate me. It's not trying to be a shooter. Also, I have searched all over the internet and have found out that a good chunk (about 40%) of the script of the game was cut out at the last second, without even informing the writers. An entire chapter was cut out and a screenshot of it is shown in the unlockables of the game. Also cut out were inner monologues from Faith when she was in the elevators. Thought was put into it. It was just cut out for unknown reasons.

Before people open their mouths about things, they should research them and make sure they know the whole story.

Overall, I rate this game a 5/5. If you have $20 (or it might even be half that now) and a PS3 or XBOX 360 pick this game up. Play the demo first if you can though, make sure you won't be wasting your money.

Pop Culture

This blog is about pop culture. I will (and hopefully others) review movies, games, books, and tv shows.