DLC for FFXIII-2

MAJOR MAJOR SPOILERS FOR FFXIII-2 AHEAD!

Okay, still here?   Great!

I've talked about DLC before.  When I did, I mentioned that SE had basically just found out DLC existed.  The previous DLC content (not including their MMO's) consisted of alternate costumes for Dissidia.  When Final Fantasy XIII-2 was announced, they also announced there would be some DLC for the game.

Alright, so the game is released, people unlock all the endings and.... it ends on a To Be Continued. I'll note that they did register a XIII-3 trademark a few months before the game was released, and they claimed it was to pre empt any filings, but it's easy to assume they were lying after that ending.  But there is one thing that really bugs me.

Like I said, they just found out about DLC.  Their first foray into DLC was in Dissidia 012. The DLC consisted of extra costumes and songs on top of their already expanded in game content. However, the newest costumes and songs were only available if you paid.  A large number was released in Japan, a lesser amount was brought over to the US (I don't know why, some of those would have been great! Look!)

And that is fair enough.  The original game only had 2 sets of costumes, default and alternate.  While it was annoying some of it was tied into preorders and so on over here (I only got KH Cloud, which is fine.  I love that outfit)  it was hard to get all of it before, and then SE just stopped bringing the costumes over even though they had already been made.

Then we get to XIII-2.  It ends on a complete cliffhanger, In fact, we see Lightning turn to Crystal on Valhalla, Serah dies, and it's all confusion (even more so for me since I haven't played the game, but I have heard about this)  Now, before the game was released they did talk a bit about DLC.  There would be costumes (Pre order based. I HATE those.) and then they talked about a Sazh episode.  Now, that makes sort of sense for me.  It would probably be a minor or pointless side story. Don't get me wrong, I love Sazh  I'm annoyed it wasn't in the full release, but it could have been cut but instead it's DLC.  Unless Sazh ended up actively involved with the plot and changed it due to him being there then DLC works.  It fills us in with some minor details, some fanservice, but won't cause alot of headaches if we miss it.  There is another DLC, the coliseum battles between Serah, Noel and various monsters so that you can catch the monsters and use them later.  Okay, I can see how that could be used. I would like to have it in there already, but it works.

It's the last piece of DLC that I've heard about that makes me mad.  LIGHTNING'S STORY is going to be DLC.  I don't know if it will cover her side of what happened in XIII-2 or it will be a continuation of the game, but that is a MAJOR part of the plot and it SHOULD have been put in the game.  Other games switch players around all the time. In fact, Final Fantasy has done it before!

So, why did this have to be DLC?  If it's a side story, it's probably going to explain a HECK of a lot.  If it's a continuation of the story, then that SHOULD HAVE BEEN IN THE FINAL RELEASE.   And then they're going to do it again with Theathrythm, it's getting some Day 1 DLC of songs that could probably have actually been on the cart. Unless they are giving it away for free, it's a complete rip off.

Game companies, clean up your act.  It's not just Square Enix who does this.

DLC can be a VERY wonderful thing, as long as you are NOT cutting things out of the actual release and/or restricting it only to people who buy it new.  I'm sure it brings in a lot of money now, but people are getting sick of it.  Sooner or later, that revenue stream will dry up, and people will stop buying the games.

Please, just give us the whole game. You may have to delay it, but I'd rather pay sixty for it later then pay 100 dollars in installments for something I'm not even sure I own.