—DLC Review— Snow: Perpetual Battlefield (FFXIII-2)

There are three playable parts of the DLC for FFXIII-2. I actually bought two of them separately on the 360 before the bundle pack was released, then I bought the bundle. Should have waited, I know, but I'm the impatient sort.

I have this for PC as well as 360.

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***Snow: Perpetual Battlefield***
Final Fantasy XIII-2

Published and developed by Square Enix

Game released 2012 | DLC released 2013 | JRPG

For Xbox 360, PS3, PC | Review: Xbox 360, PC

*Rated T for Teen*

Drug Reference | Simulated Gambling | Violence

Mild Language | Mild Suggestive Themes

HGG rating: ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ 4/10

Synopsis? 

It's an arena. Pick who you want to fight and fight them. If you destroy them, you have a chance of getting them as a "monster" who fights at your side.

First impressions? 

It's an arena. I hate arenas. Most games I play draw me in with their story, not their battles. I freakin' hate arenas. But I want the monsters. DAMMIT, I WANT THE MONSTERS!

Graphics and voices? 

It's FFXIII-2 DLC, so...just like FFXIII-2. Pretty darn good, very little to complain about, in my opinion. I'll get more into all this in the review for the full game. (Yeah, there will be a review for the full game too, of course. Some DLCs are easier to review than their game. lol)

Omega battle (modded PC edition)
No, you can't get Caius as a "monster" unless you use a particular [awesome] PC mod.

Gameplay? 

It's an arena. Pick the person you want to fight and kick the living crap out of 'em. The options are (in order of difficulty, starting with easiest) Omega, Lightning/Amodar, Nabaat, PuPu, Ultros/Typhon, Gilgamesh, or Snow. When you defeat them, you have a chance of getting their monster crystal, thus allowing you to use them to fight alongside you.

At the time of this posting, I have none of the crystals.

The fights are turn-based, sorta. The attack bar (ATB gauge) fills up and you attack. The second character and the "tame" monster attack on their own as their ATB fills. Pretty easy to catch onto.

I haven't beaten any of these on the 360. I lost interest very quickly. For the PC, I really wanted to get a few of these monsters, but gave up when I beat a few 4-5 times and still no crystal. If there's some sort of secret trick for unlocking them, I haven't figured it out yet.

Storyline? 

Snow's trapped in this arena, fighting battle after battle just because, and you can fight all these creatures/people over and over. That's pretty much it for a storyline. I think this DLC is for those gamers who love the battle. I'm not one of them.

This vid is just the little blurby thing that scrolls in the Historia Crux. It kinda explains the weak "story" involved in this particular DLC.

Complaints? 

It's an arena. Beating Snow is almost impossible. Getting the monster crystals from these opponents is harder than it should be. GIVE ME THE FRELLING MONSTERS!!!

In this vid, watch me destroy Omega with the help of my extra special (PC mod) monsters. And guess what?! That's right. No crystal.

And another thing, I think this particular DLC was Squeenix trying to make a buttload of money off their fans. Seriously, before the Bundle Pack, this DLC was a separate purchase and when you bought the arena, it came with Snow as an opponent. Just Snow. All the other opponents were...are individual DLCs, almost like the DLC has its own...DLC. And yeah, you can still buy them this way, at least in the Xbox Live Marketplace. What the frell?

Overall? 

If fighting is your favorite part of a game, or your favorite part of FF games in particular, then this DLC is definitely for you. If you have that completionist/OCD complex, you'll want this just to get the monster crystals for your collection.

My rating? 

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ 4/10 The only thing this really adds to the game is the possibility of strong "monsters" to fight at your side. Otherwise, meh. 

Where to buy?
The Steam edition of FFXIII-2 includes this DLC. So if you have a gaming PC, just grab the game and you can give this DLC a shot for no extra cost. Yeah, I'm saying this DLC isn't worth the extra cost for the console version. The only way it's worth it is if you get the bundle pack (PS3/Xbox 360), so you get all the other DLC too.

• Xbox Live Marketplace (Bundle Pack) 
• PlayStation Store (Bundle Pack) 
• Steam (Full game + all DLC) 

*Screenshots and vidz were done by The HGG, but all things Final Fantasy are © Square Enix who does not in any way endorse this fan blog.

Until next time...