[Ninjimbo]

Well, I beat Requiem of the Goddess. It took me awhile because I kept getting 4 stars instead of 5. It was very aggravating.

So about that ending, I'm still not entirely sure of what I witnessed. Lightning was frozen in crystal, but she somehow emerged back in the dying lands? So if Lightning emerged out of the crystal, does that mean Fang and Vanille are out there too?

And Alyssa was never explained correct? She was the one that tossed Noel and Serah out of the Historia Crux saying that in the timeline they're trying to save, she doesn't exist. What the fuck?

Time Travel plots are crazy. That's why I love them. I gotta think about this some more and read up on the fragments I haven't gotten.

[R_thanatos]

Well, I beat Requiem of the Goddess. It took me awhile because I kept getting 4 stars instead of 5. It was very aggravating. So about that ending, I'm still not entirely sure of what I witnessed. Lightning was frozen in crystal, but she somehow emerged back in the dying lands? So if Lightning emerged out of the crystal, does that mean Fang and Vanille are out there too? And Alyssa was never explained correct? She was the one that tossed Noel and Serah out of the Historia Crux saying that in the timeline they're trying to save, she doesn't exist. What the fuck? Time Travel plots are crazy. That's why I love them. I gotta think about this some more and read up on the fragments I haven't gotten.

i wrote thisto make sense of all this time travel thing.

Alyssa was never shown ..but it's explained in the datalog.. ( she did it Because caius manipulated her , she might be the product of a paradox and as such the party , solving them left and right is a threat to her .. that why she believed anyway
i recommand the spoiler thread to see what was already discussed : HERE

What level did you beat the lightning dlc ?

[Perfo]

Alyssa's story is well explained in the game without relying on the DATALOG. She's just a minor character so doesn't get much screen-time, but in two key-scenes you can easily grasp why she does that.

[Ninjimbo]

I beat it at Level 7. I kept ignoring the Shaman role while fighting Caius until I read a FAQ detailing its specific advantages. Once I knew that, the battle was a piece of cake.

[Mario007]

Actually regarding the RoG DLC, do you get something special when you beat it with 5 stars in both fights? I beat Caius with 5 stars and then the bahamut I got 3 or 4 stars but I still got the epilogue after I beat the DLC the second time.

[R_thanatos]

Alyssa's story is well explained in the game without relying on the DATALOG. She's just a minor character so doesn't get much screen-time, but in two key-scenes you can easily grasp why she does that.

i think she get a lot of screen time actually ..also you don't get her motivations without the datalog .. in the paradox ending she get arrested without expressing why she does this ..

Actually regarding the RoG DLC, do you get something special when you beat it with 5 stars in both fights? I beat Caius with 5 stars and then the bahamut I got 3 or 4 stars but I still got the epilogue after I beat the DLC the second time.

did you get lightning godess mode as a monster ? because that's the only reward this dlc offers besides leaderboards bragging rights with both fights

[Mario007]

i think she get a lot of screen time actually ..also you don't get her motivations without the datalog .. in the paradox ending she get arrested without expressing why she does this .. did you get lightning godess mode as a monster ? because that's the only reward this dlc offers besides leaderboards bragging rights with both fights

Actually no I didn't. Is she worth it as a monster? I actually haven't really used my Commando monsters, I usually have Noel for that but if I can find a good one I might change my stance.

Also my God, man, http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost...ostcount=11386 that really put it all into perspective! (especially the last part)

[Perfo]

i think she get a lot of screen time actually ..also you don't get her motivations without the datalog .. in the paradox ending she get arrested without expressing why she does this ..

Why you say that? In the cemetery scene is already clear what's her problem, so every "evil" action is a consequence of that. Noel and Serah are solving paradoxes afterall.

[R_thanatos]

Actually no I didn't. Is she worth it as a monster? I actually haven't really used my Commando monsters, I usually have Noel for that but if I can find a good one I might change my stance. Also my God, man, http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost...ostcount=11386 that really put it all into perspective! (especially the last part)

She is the best monster in the game easily .. much better than the golden chocobo or the uber big robot you can get ... some crazy stats ..

Why you say that? In the cemetery scene is already clear what's her problem, so every "evil" action is a consequence of that. Noel and Serah are solving paradoxes afterall.

Not really .
The cemetery scene , show her problem but she reaches the conclusion that ( since her name isn't on the tombstone ) she isn't a paradox ..

it's been a while so i'm going in with my memory alone

The thing is that she was fine with her being real until, the party inform them that paradox affect the timeline itself and that only one true continiuity exist..
At this point , from her we get 1 sentence and that's it ..
The thing is ..at this point we have no way to know that caius is using his power to manipulate her and talk in her dreams ..that isn't explained aside from the datalog ..

The thing with alyssa isn't that she betrayed you , it's why she betrayed you.. and those reasons are absent from the game aside from that datalog explanation.

Heck if you go back to academia , there is no new info ..because by then she disapeared.

[Ninjimbo]

Thanks for your input Thanatos. It puts most things into perspective.

Man, that spoiler thread is hard to read. Half the people in that thread just use the game's story as an impetus to bash Toriyama. I mean, the lead writer on the game is someone else so why does Toriyama get all the attention?

Whatever. I'm going for the paradox endings and 160 crystals for that sweet Serah avatar.

[Dark Schala]

Thanks for your input Thanatos. It puts most things into perspective. Man, that spoiler thread is hard to read. Half the people in that thread just use the game's story as an impetus to bash Toriyama. I mean, the lead writer on the game is someone else so why does Toriyama get all the attention?

He may have been the director, but he was also the scenario designer, and thus had impact on the direction and general scenarios of the narrative and narrative flow.

'Sides... Toriyama isn't exactly a paragon of storytelling...

Edit: Er. I just thought the game was rather average. I don't really hate it; just thought it was pretty boring to get through.

[Kagari]

He may have been the director, but he was also the scenario designer, and thus had impact on the direction and general scenarios of the narrative and narrative flow. 'Sides... Toriyama isn't exactly a paragon of storytelling... Edit: Er. I just thought the game was rather average. I don't really hate it; just thought it was pretty boring to get through.

Aren't you excited for the super recycled sequel? ;)

[Dark Schala]

Well, you know, Lightning must not be forgotten! Her story must be told in its entirety, and we think she's popular!

Neither must the enemy designs so reuse them! Reduce the difficulty again! Ah, I've said my piece about the game several times before. I don't think these games are super-stellar or engrossing, really, but I want to play them because I want to see what they've improved, what they haven't, what things they've fixed while they weren't broken, etc.

I'm also curious if they continued the pattern of throwing a bunch of things at the wall to see what stuck or not, because like you said several times before, FFXIII-2 lacked its own sense of identity. I'd like to see if that sort of mentality sticks around for FFXIII-3.

[HawthorneKitty]

I finally caved and decided to start this game and I hate how prominent Snow is even though he's not there. Why do they have to continually shut down my shipping...

[Perfo]

I'm also curious if they continued the pattern of throwing a bunch of things at the wall to see what stuck or not, because like you said several times before, FFXIII-2 lacked its own sense of identity. I'd like to see if that sort of mentality sticks around for FFXIII-3.

I really hope these sequels give them the chance to improve the features added instead of trashing everything again like they always did with the main series. If sequels can give us a progression through time, then I'll be happier. For example the conversation system introduced with XIII-2 must be expanded, so the alternative endings. The cheaper production gives them the time to focus on gameplay ideas other than graphics. XIII-2 was packed with tons of ideas, even more than any other FF that came before it. But most of them were just that, ideas. Now they have to take those ideas and develop them in deep gameplay mechanics with XIII-3. Let's see if they're up to it.

As for recycled monsters and scenarios, every sequel does the same. Just look at Kingdom Hearts or Mass Effect.

[Dark Schala]

Don't like KH and I haven't played ME outside of bits of ME2, but I get what you mean. I'm pretty sore that they reused the Undying models, and some other FFXIII mission models, despite them being put to rest in FFXIII, and them gimping them to all hell because the sequel as a whole was much easier.

I like that FF starts with something brand new each time they have to make a game, though. They ended up developing ATB for a few years after TTB and then started using CTB (then used ATB Kai + Dresspheres), (then RTB in FFXI), then ADB, then the current incarnation of CSB. Since they usually switch it up every now and then more often now, sequels or a revisit to the system in another FF game would be a good way to trying to extend and improve upon the engine. I'm not a huge fan of CSB myself, but at least they tried to improve upon it with Switch Leader and taking out the Optima Change animations, despite making the game much easier and gimping a few of the character classes (ex: gimping Syn was the biggest offense; but most of the time you don't need most of your classes).

FFXIII-2 just felt like a bunch of stuff jumbled together and packaged into the game with little coherence between all the stuff stuck together within the game universe because they wanted to see what satisfied people and what didn't. Felt like it was taking elements from original thought and perhaps even from some other games and using them in the game to see if they could make everyone happy. Kinda felt like a mess at times.

At the very least, if I have to say something positive about a sequel to FFXIII-2, I certainly hope they:
- make all of those ideas more cohesive and better related to the in-game world
- have better sidequests, and remove slot machines from the FNC world forever
- stop relying on the datalog to tell the story because it feels like a crutch at this point and neither FFXII nor FFVIII used their datalogs to tell the entirety of their stories, but merely offered little tidbits to extend the game's worldbuilding, where all of the worldbuilding and some of the storytelling/character backgrounds were told in FFXIII's/FFXIII-2's datalogs.
- put better balancing in the game for the love of pancakes please stop making it easy
- restore the classes to the way they were in FFXIII and improve upon them in terms of movesets and possibly begin to use conditional moves for better combos (ex: only use this attack while the enemy is staggered and launched; use this healing spell once every few rounds; rely more on party synergy by allowing them to combine moves based upon various conditions like when an enemy is knocked down on the ground and staggered, and have that affect how much damage is being delivered; launch should not only be used as an auto ability while an enemy is staggered because it gets kinda boring; use some of these mechanics while the enemy is unstaggered)
- difficulty modes; include a hard mode because only including Easy and Normal makes no sense to me
- make Wound Damage matter on behalf of the allied party because I never used a Wound Potion ever since you don't need it

I finally caved and decided to start this game and I hate how prominent Snow is even though he's not there. Why do they have to continually shut down my shipping...

Did you get the dialogue option where Serah talks about how awesome Snow is? :P

[Alucrid]

Time to seclude myself away while I start to play this with Serah in her bikini costume.

jk i only have 210 msp

I'd buy the white mage costume though.

[Exentryk]

I find that the White Mage is her best costume

I didn't like any of Noel's though.

[Dunan]

I find that the White Mage is her best costume

<-- White Mage = the Awesome. (Not that I can get into spending money for additional costumes, or any additional FFXIII-2 content. Maybe some day, if it gets a lot cheaper.)

[Alucrid]

I just downloaded the free one since it's better than the original one she has. I went to EP 3 pt 2 by accident before 1 and got my ass handed to me by the big guy.

Oh, so...I really haven't been paying much attention to the order I chose the Crystarium upgrades. Does it matter THAT much or is it just a matter of min-maxing stuff? Will you eventually get all of the bonus options (i.e. new paradigms, accessory slots, etc.) by the time you max out everything?

Also if I assume that the head icons when you look at a monster mean how powerful they are? So should I feed my Urgururu (or w/e) to my Behemoth that I just got since it has +1 level or w/e?

[Exentryk]

<-- White Mage = the Awesome. (Not that I can get into spending money for additional costumes, or any additional FFXIII-2 content. Maybe some day, if it gets a lot cheaper.)

I don't buy costumes either. I only have the Style and Steel (free) one. I did get all the of the battle DLCs however.

Oh, so...I really haven't been paying much attention to the order I chose the Crystarium upgrades. Does it matter THAT much or is it just a matter of min-maxing stuff? Will you eventually get all of the bonus options (i.e. new paradigms, accessory slots, etc.) by the time you max out everything?

You will eventually get all the upgrades, but your stats wont be optimised. See this guide if you want optimised stats. Also, for monster related questions, there is a lot of good information in this FAQ.

[Gvaz]

Kagari, thank you. This is the way OTs should look. Never in holy hell should an OT for a game look like this. Nice, clean, and to the point. I'd import this but no english language option bites. BTW, are Summons returning?

From the first page, but there's nothing really wrong with that OP.

Anyways, just got this game, so far the story is not bad. Yet.

[CartridgeBlower]

Just about to start this game after finally completing the original FFXIII. Can someone give me a rough estimate of how long it takes to complete?

I'm battling between starting this or going back to Lost Odyssey and trying to get through that.

[Perfo]

Can someone give me a rough estimate of how long it takes to complete?

20/25 hrs for the story, 60hrs for completing it 100%.

[CartridgeBlower]

20/25 hrs for the story, 60hrs for completing it 100%.

Okay so is it safe to say it's half as long as FFXIII if you're just in it to beat it and finish the story, not 100% it?

[Gvaz]

Oh man the DLC armor is fucking retarded haha

N7 armor for you and whats his face? come on...

[Alucrid]

Just 100'd this.

Things I like:

Having a chocobo in your party shaking dat ass at enemies

Things I didn't like:

That cliffhanger

[Bladenic]

Oh man the DLC armor is fucking retarded haha N7 armor for you and whats his face? come on...

Gotta get that crossover appeal and promo.

[Perfo]

Okay so is it safe to say it's half as long as FFXIII if you're just in it to beat it and finish the story, not 100% it?

Yes.

[clay_ghost]

just complete the game so everyone died? wtf.
Some one explain this shit to me.

[corrosivefrost]

I see all DLC is on sale on PSN this week -- what's worthwhile for the game?

Here's a list:

Final Fantasy XIII-2 Add-On Content LIGHTNING: REQUIEM OF THE GODDESS (now: $2.49 original price: $4.99) MOG’S OUTFITS: A WONDROUS WARDROBE (now: $1.49 original price: $2.99) NOEL’S OUTFIT: BLACK MAGE (now: $1.49 original price: $X2.99) NOEL’S OUTFIT: EZIO AUDITORE (now: $1.49 original price: $2.99) NOEL’S OUTFIT: N7 ARMOR (now: $1.49 original price: $2.99) NOEL’S OUTFIT: SPACETIME GUARDIAN (now: $1.49 original price: $2.99) OPPONENT: GILGAMESH (now: $1.99 original price: $3.99) OPPONENT: LIGHTNING & AMODAR (now: $1.49 original price: $2.99) OPPONENT: NABAAT (now: $1.49 original price: $2.99) OPPONENT: PUPU (now: $0.99 original price: $1.99) OPPONENT: ULTROS & TYPHON (now: $1.99 original price: $3.99) SAZH: HEADS OR TAILS? (now: $2.49 original price: $4.99) SERAH’S OUTFIT: BEACHWEAR (now: $1.49 original price: $2.99) SERAH’S OUTFIT: N7 ARMOR (now: $1.49 original price: $2.99) SERAH’S OUTFIT: WHITE MAGE (now: $1.49 original price: $2.99) SNOW: PERPETUAL BATTLEFIELD (now: $1.99 original price: $3.99)

[Gvaz]

I don't know about you, but all these model swaps for costumes is way too fucking expensive. $3 for a model swap? .99 bitch.

Also I saw a ton of shit up there for other games at .49 cents too. Like for real? Just fucking list it as free you penny pinching cocksuckers.

[R_thanatos]

I see all DLC is on sale on PSN this week -- what's worthwhile for the game? Here's a list:

requiem of the godess is the only thing that matters with you want more story
Snow dlc is the most hard fight of the coliseum.Ultros fight being a close second.

I suggest you to consider what remaining time you've left to do in this game BEFORE you purchase a costume dlc as it's purely a matter if taste

[corrosivefrost]

requiem of the godess is the only thing that matters with you want more story Snow dlc is the most hard fight of the coliseum.Ultros fight being a close second. I suggest you to consider what remaining time you've left to do in this game BEFORE you purchase a costume dlc as it's purely a matter if taste

I haven't even started it. It's sealed in my backlog over on yonder shelf.

But I saw the sale and was wondering what is worth the price of entry. Do the costumes do anything besides change appearance?

What about the "OPPONENT" DLC? And the Sazh one?

[Tizoc]

So the XIII-2 DLC are on sale on EU and US PSN; I'm thinking of getting the Coliseum DLC, but are the Lightning and Sahz DLCs worth getting? Or is Sazh's mainly a black jack-like mini game? I personally don't feel like getting the Lightning DLC as I recall reading it's just Lightning vs. enemies and filled with QTEs.

[Canis lupus]

I have the game still in the package for months, how long is it?

[corrosivefrost]

So the XIII-2 DLC are on sale on EU and US PSN; I'm thinking of getting the Coliseum DLC, but are the Lightning and Sahz DLCs worth getting? Or is Sazh's mainly a black jack-like mini game? I personally don't feel like getting the Lightning DLC as I recall reading it's just Lightning vs. enemies and filled with QTEs.

I started looking at the reviews and most of this DLC seems terrible.
The only ones I'm actually considering now are the Snow DLC and the opponents for the coliseum or whatever.

Reviews on the Lightning DLC make it seem repetitive and boring. 2 boss fights in a groundhog day repeat ad naseum until you're done. Sazh's seems to be extra games in a casino, a few lines of story clarification, and the ability to get him in your party as a "monster" or whatever. No thanks, not worth the collective $5 for the two in my book.

[R_thanatos]

I have the game still in the package for months, how long is it?

30 hours if you rush 70 hours for platinium/all achivements

I haven't even started it. It's sealed in my backlog over on yonder shelf. But I saw the sale and was wondering what is worth the price of entry. Do the costumes do anything besides change appearance? What about the "OPPONENT" DLC? And the Sazh one?

Snow is the last part of the opponent dlcs ( and the only part with a bit of story included, the others are totally stand alone )

the costumes only change the appearance of the characters.
Sazh story is best to be viewed on youtube ..the new card game ai doesn't offer a proper challenge anyway , and the reveals aren't worth it )

[Tizoc]

EDIT: GAH! Sorry forgot I already asked in the thread ^_^;

[Gvaz]

Which of the FF13-2 DLC are worth getting? I personally am tempted to get Gilgamesh and Ultros. EDIT: NVM, no need to get Sazh, S-E is racist >=/

They're Japanese. Japanese are racist as fuck.

[MechaX]

Requiem of the Goddess is... bizarre.

Like, I beat normal Caius at level 3 and that was only enough to get 3 stars. And doing that took around 15 minutes. The game knows that I can't 5-star it to get the second phase of the battle to unlock at level 3, but yet it still wants me to grind CP to unlock more levels for Lightning.

If simply turning the fight on and losing on purpose only gets me like 15 CP, is there a quick way to just grind Lightning a few levels or do I seriously have to fight the boss for a certain amount of time each and every single time?

[R_thanatos]

Requiem of the Goddess is... bizarre. Like, I beat normal Caius at level 3 and that was only enough to get 3 stars. And doing that took around 15 minutes. The game knows that I can't 5-star it to get the second phase of the battle to unlock at level 3, but yet it still wants me to grind CP to unlock more levels for Lightning. If simply turning the fight on and losing on purpose only gets me like 15 CP, is there a quick way to just grind Lightning a few levels or do I seriously have to fight the boss for a certain amount of time each and every single time?

Play normally .
this dlc isn't long ( 1 hour ) but you should play with what you've and unlock something else each time you lose, untill you have enough to 5 star

The real appeal of this dlc is to 5-star the battle with less things unlocked..
And if you play very well it's totally possible to 5-star the battle at level 2 or 1..

[Tizoc]

I started looking at the reviews and most of this DLC seems terrible. The only ones I'm actually considering now are the Snow DLC and the opponents for the coliseum or whatever. Reviews on the Lightning DLC make it seem repetitive and boring. 2 boss fights in a groundhog day repeat ad naseum until you're done. Sazh's seems to be extra games in a casino, a few lines of story clarification, and the ability to get him in your party as a "monster" or whatever. No thanks, not worth the collective $5 for the two in my book.

Yeah I'm mostly thinking of getting the coliseum DLCs, mainly Ultros+Typhon and Gilgamesh, what's the general conciousness on these 2 dlcs?

[Supermanisdead]

SE needs to hurry up with a DLC-included re-release.

[Tizoc]

Bah after seeing vids of the Ultros and Gilgamesh DLCs on YT, I cracked down and am gonna get them. Gilgamesh's intro was brilliant and to top it off it seems he's voiced by DiMaggio just like in FF12~

[dokish]

Hello everyone.

I just started playing XIII-2 and I'm probably 6~7 hours in. From the first "world" (Bodhum) I could already tell that playing this game was gonna be a pretty messed up experience.

Live trigger, Moogle clock, finding artifacts, 'anomaly puzzles', the lack of NPC's and beasts as party members, etc... what were they thinking?

Although at this point I don't care too much about what happens, I want to stay away from spoilers, I still have hope that at least playing it can still be enjoyable.

Even so... COME ON. Time travel? Seriously? EVERY STORY that has no place to go, who the author is lost and don't know what to do, he just throws a time travel story. Sometimes I feel like I'm playing a mix of X-2 and VIII.

Anyway, what I wanna to ask is this:

What are the tips for shortening my frustration? What roles should I upgrade? What monster should I use? There are any missable weapons/accessory? (oh, and the accessory limit... such BS). If I buy the Snow/Sazh DLC, can I use them right away in the story?

Thanks!

[Exentryk]

Put your brain aside, and you may start to enjoy it.

Early game, get a Sentinel Monster. Pulsework Knight is a good option, found in Bresha Ruins. There aren't any missables, but if you're a stickler for stats, then you should check out the Crystarium FAQ on Gamefaqs as you can mess up your character stats. Also, for finding and raising perfect monsters, read the Monster FAQ on Gamefaqs *Highly Recommended*.

Sazh, you'd be able to use him as soon as you want. Snow, is a difficult opponent and will take some beating. "Lightning DLC - Requiem of the Goddess" can also be gotten immediately, but she has a story element to it which is ideally meant to be played at the end. She is an awesome ally though, so maybe you can beat the scenario and just skip the story part? Options for you, anyway.

P.S - Try and get Goblin Chieftain, Cloudburst, Chichu (even Cactuar will be good) in the Archylte Steppe area. If you follow the guidelines in the Monster FAQ with those monsters, you'll have no problem with the game or the harder DLC bosses.

[Ixion]

Didn't really like FFXIII, so I waited until now to buy this for cheap. I'm a few hours in and it's what I expected so far. More crappy writing, but a much better overall gameplay experience.

Man, that spoiler thread is hard to read. Half the people in that thread just use the game's story as an impetus to bash Toriyama. I mean, the lead writer on the game is someone else so why does Toriyama get all the attention?

It's hard to pinpoint whether the fault lies with Toriyama or Watanabe. For both games, Toriyama created everything about the scenario, while Watanabe actually wrote the script.

What's puzzling is that Watanabe worked on FFXII, which has the best writing of the series. But of course, Matsuno wrote most of it and Watanabe simply finished it, along with two other writers.

If I had to guess, they're both to blame. S-E really needs to bring someone in who can write for the Final Fantasy series.

[dokish]

Comments after New Bodhum 700AF

Well... The story is now FINALLY explained. Most of it. The struggle of our heroes in the first game touched the Etro's heart so she saved them from their destiny (who is Etro? Was she mentioned in the first game?). But in order to send this "mystical power" to the human world, she opened a gate between worlds and a "dark force" invaded the human's world, right? Distorting time (how, exactly?).

So, there's this 15 year old girls that can see the future. Why hasn't anybody heard of them? Caius wants to protect Yeul, and the only way to stop Yeul from seeing the future and dying is destroying the whole fucking Earth. Yeah, a place with no time, life, death or joy seems the PERFECT place to live. Great writing, S-E. I can't get convinced of Caius's motivations. He says to Noel: "I don't want to please her, but save her".

S-E has to stop making these dumb villains who wants to destroy everything because they want ONE TINY LITTLE ACCOMPLISHMENT, and always a dumb and illogical one, killing thousands to save one.

These storylines about gods/goddess/divine entity has to stop. And the whole "I know we all will die in the end, but I still wanna do it" thing.

The franchise has lost its identity, its soul. It this a mix of VIII and X with a little seasoning of rotten pot?

Although... I'm still hooked on the history and wanna see the end of it. FF, like RE, is one of those games that I expect nothing but I buy anyway. ugh...

EDIT: And only now I realized HOW FF 13 WAS MUCH MORE POLISHED! GODDAMN!

[R_thanatos]

Comments after New Bodhum 700AF Well... The story is now FINALLY explained. Most of it. The struggle of our heroes in the first game touched the Etro's heart so she saved them from their destiny (who is Etro? Was she mentioned in the first game?). But in order to send this "mystical power" to the human world, she opened a gate between worlds and a "dark force" invaded the human's world, right? Distorting time (how, exactly?). So, there's this 15 year old girls that can see the future. Why hasn't anybody heard of them? Caius wants to protect Yeul, and the only way to stop Yeul from seeing the future and dying is destroying the whole fucking Earth. Yeah, a place with no time, life, death or joy seems the PERFECT place to live. Great writing, S-E. I can't get convinced of Caius's motivations. He says to Noel: "I don't want to please her, but save her". S-E has to stop making these dumb villains who wants to destroy everything because they want ONE TINY LITTLE ACCOMPLISHMENT, and always a dumb and illogical one, killing thousands to save one. These storylines about gods/goddess/divine entity has to stop. And the whole "I know we all will die in the end, but I still wanna do it" thing. The franchise has lost its identity, its soul. It this a mix of VIII and X with a little seasoning of rotten pot? Although... I'm still hooked on the history and wanna see the end of it. FF, like RE, is one of those games that I expect nothing but I buy anyway. ugh... EDIT: And only now I realized HOW FF 13 WAS MUCH MORE POLISHED! GODDAMN!

Some answers :
Etro was mentionned in the first game files/database ..she also in the various mythos of the universe ..in short she is not something they invented for the sequel..

For the people seeing the future , she comes form the same civilisation as vanille & fang ..Also , the society of cocoon was sheltered and feeded lies ..there is nothing to indicate that they didn't exist before and there is nothing that exist to prevent them from existing ... most people habilities in cocoon were sealed so we have no way to know
( some ordinary people started to be able to use magic after the fall of cocoon when the seal was undone after all )
Furthermore , in ff13 we barely explored gran pulse.

Yeul soul is forced to live and die and a very fast rate , and the guy can't do a thing about it ( he is forced to watch every time ) .. i think wanting to break this status quo is a normal motivation ..

you'll understand maybe better his motivations after the ending...