More about DLC

A friend of mine commented that for anyone who isn't completely familiar with downloadable content--DLC for short--I may want to give a quick rundown of it. Thus, here is an explanation of DLC and the controversy surrounding it.

Downloadable content is exactly what it sounds like: content that can be added to a game through downloading it. Most often, this content--extra costumes, items, weapons, entire game expansions, and more--costs a small amount of money, although some publishers put it out for free. Occasionally, full games are distributed as entirely downloadable.

Microsoft's DLC options for Final Fantasy XIII-2, including new weapons and Coliseum opponents.

The philosophy behind DLC is to expand the game without having to put out an entirely new retail disc. For instance, new scenarios were added to Alan Wake after its original release, adding several hours and some small amounts of plot for around $7 each. Other games have gotten longer expansions, such as Grand Theft Auto IV: The Ballad of Gay Tony, an entirely new scenario that introduces a new, different protagonist from the original game.

Many gamers seem to have a problem with DLC, as can be seen in any gaming website's comment sections for articles dealing with the matter. I'm focusing a lot on Final Fantasy XIII-2 lately because that is what I'm currently playing, but if we look at the comments on an article about the newest DLC for the game, we see comments such as:

• Total bullshit. This should be on the disc i purchased.
• Stop buying this garbage and publishers/developers will stop doing it!
• Instead of finding the hidden arena with hidden bosses underwater or in the dessert. You now find a large steel door with a keyhole, and next to that keyhole is a tag that reads "Pay $5.00 to enter."  Fuck this industry. Where is all the endgame content that helps make a game survive after beating it? Why must you do this?!

Some companies--such as Capcom in Marvel vs. Capcom 3--have put out DLC that is simply a code that unlocks content already on the game's disc. Other companies release DLC that seems to be something that should have been in the original release, such as an additional character for BioWare's Dragon Age: Origins.


That sort of situation seems to be where the criticism of DLC lies: the philosophy behind putting out a game and then releasing content for it soon after instead of including it in the title itself implies corporate greed, and to many gamers, there seems to be a very, very fine line between putting out quality DLC--such as new campaigns in Left 4 Dead 2 over a year after its original release--and charging money for what should have been in the game originally.

So, a quick rundown: downloadable content, or DLC, consists of various bits and pieces of games that are released after any given game is, in an effort to expand on the original title. Unfortunately, companies have begun to pick up the practice of creating DLC that feels as if it belonged in the game in the first place. Gamers heavily criticize this practice, and it is something to be aware of.

Final Fantasy XIII-2: The DLC Problem

Playing Final Fantasy XIII-2--and mind you, I'm still only at the beginning--I've noticed two spots in the game that are suspiciously empty:

In the menu, there is an submenu labeled "Outfits".

In the Historia Crux--the game's map system, using time travel as its main element--there is a location called the Coliseum.

The only available options in the Outfits screen are the default costumes for Serah and Noel, and I assumed I would find more as the game progressed.

When I saw that the Coliseum was available, I was interested; normally in games, areas like that--in which one can fight varieties of monsters, generally for prizes--are unlocked toward the middle of the game. Strangely enough, the only option I had in the Coliseum when I talked to the shadowy, freaky being called the "Arbiter of Time" was downloadable content (DLC) I won in a contest, a recurring boss in the series called Omega.                                                                                  

                          Omega. Picture from Just Push Start.

After about twenty seconds of shouting "NO, STOP THAT NO NO NO SERAH HEAL NOEL NOW" at my screen--along with multiple profanities--I saw my first "Game Over" screen while playing Final Fantasy XIII-2. I went online to go find out what level was recommended to take on Omega, and what other opponents may show up in the Coliseum.

What I found, though, was quite disappointing: players who didn't get

the Omega DLC weren't even allowed into the area. Others were told that they would never be allowed into the Coliseum unless they purchased DLC, so I did some more snooping, this time on the Outfits menu... and again, the only available costume changes would be in DLC.

Serah's first DLC outfit, the "Summoners Garb". Image from the Final Fantasy Wiki.

Now, I don't have a problem with DLC. When done right, it can extend a game's lifespan in great ways; free content--such as the first extra campaign for Left 4 Dead--is a great way to create support for software, even if Microsoft seems reluctant to allow it, and game expansions can breathe new life into older titles.

However, cutting out content that in older times would have been unlockable by completing in-game challenges is, to me, unacceptable. Had Square put in unlockable Coliseum fights and extra costumes then supplemented them with newer downloadable options, I would be completely content.But to put a menu into the game's interface, to include an entire location to just tell players "NOPE GO BUY THIS LOL"... that's just not cool, Square.

Final Fantasy XIII-2, thus far, has a few flaws but is pretty solid as a whole.

But I'm calling foul.