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!!)

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.