Here’s How To Get Your Aerith Costume For Lighting Returns In North America

Over the weekend, it was discovered that a special, limited piece of DLC for Lighting Returns: Final Fantasy XIII was accidentally made available to the masses for purchase in Japan. The Aerith Gainsborough costume was intended as an exclusive pack-in for the V Jump strategy guide.

If you have fond memories of Final Fantasy VII and want your Lighting to dress up as Aerith, there is a way to make that happen here in North America. All pre-orders come with the Cloud Strife costume and buster sword, but those that opt for the Collector’s Edition will also be able to don the flower girl’s attire.

This version is only available from the Square Enix online store, and it comes with an art book, pocket watch, and different packaging. It’ll run you $89.99, but you’ve always wanted to save Aerith, right?

As for those of you sitting on Japanese import copies (or reading this overseas), the other two costumes in the mistakenly sold bundle (Cloud Strife and Yuna from Final Fantasy X) should be back up for sale.

[Source: @LRFF13 (1) (2) via Joystiq]

Our Take
Exclusive DLC is starting to creep, and while the practice isn’t going to stop, it can be made less offensive. I don’t want to have to buy Fritos to get Skylanders sidekicks, I hate having to give up DLC because I don’t want to buy a guide, and packing in game content with expensive peripherals can be interpreted as unfriendly to fans.

The only thing that makes this practice tolerable for me is when the content becomes available for sale later. Especially when retailers have different bonuses, I like to know that I can pick those add-ons up later for a nominal fee (if I’m still playing the game when that happens).