Until then, we lose ourselves in the adventure, as do the characters. Here's another conflict: for them this is probably a suicide mission, but leaving Lumière brings a buzz of freedom and discovery. Sharing their wonder, we find every area worth poking around for combat challenges and rewards new weapons or pictos, and lumina that increase your capacity to equip them. If an RPG is measured by the temptation to explore elsewhere before heading to the next objective, this is as great as any. We stall for hours finding and investigating one magical environment after another. It's bliss.
In a way, though, that lure creates another conflict. We're so enchanted by treks off the critical path that, by the time we refocus again, we've often levelled up beyond our objective. Some bosses, fanfared as epic adversaries, fold before we've broken a sweat. True, you can always mitigate the imbalance by sticking to your assignment until the credits roll. But that's easier said than done when the visual pull of an unexplored biome, its musical accompaniment and the battles it promises are so magnetic. And as tempting as it might be to suggest fixes for the problem, it also feels rather impudent to request alterations to a masterpiece." [10]