Did a little screwing around. Game is not being subtle about the whole, "While this might not be the end of side content in the game, we've looked at the clock and realized we haven't really been doing much with this overall narrative. So now we're going to cram all the plot into this game right now and railroad you for awhile because that's what I do best! ~ Love Motomu Toriyama" So, I am doing what I can at the moment before plunging into story mode.

Pro
  • Managed to defeat the Immortal and Ochu in the Archlyte Steepe. Still need to beat the Long Gui and the bargain brand version of XIII's ultimate boss.
  • Got a Cauctar
  • Took a few attempts, but got 12,000+ coins in the Casino and the fragment that goes with it. I'm still debating about what to spend it on, but may wait until I get the Bargain Skill after Chapter 5. I imagine by the final chapter, Gil will be useless, so I'll use that to buy coins to purchase all the items I need from Serendipity.


Cons
  • The Casino in this game sucks and requires way too much work or exploits to get anything going. I'm sort of grateful I can't access the Sahz DLC now.
  • With that said, trying to hunt down Wild Artefacts to unlock optional zones is annoying and I hate being mocked by the one in Serendipity that I have to purchase for 10,000 coins.
  • The few fragments I need to grab at this point are either Captain Cryptic's BS, that obnoxious 100% map completion quest in 400AF Academia, killing the last two optional bosses in the Archlyte Steepe, the Casino, or are hidden behind optional zones I can't access yet because of a lack of Wild Artefacts. So yeah... just the tedious annoying trout.
  • A little annoyed to discover that the Mystic in Serendipity doesn't reward you skills based on how many fragments you've acquired as much as she rewards you for obtaining certain one, mainly story ones.