Anything pressing to make sure I get done before heading into the final dungeon? I can't see that I've missed too much, but I figure I might as well check. I haven't done all the side quests, but I've done enough to get Oliver's super upgrade from the merit badges. Going to grind a bit near Perdida by blasting enemy groups with Evenstar to get some experience and cash before heading in.

Are there any other places to buy equipment after the vendor in Perdida? Anything necessary to buy other than a bunch of cappuccinos?

Phoenix feathers...maybe? I dunno, I think I was a bit over-leveled when I got to the very final boss... it was not much of a challenge for me. Up to that point however, I had multiple "I want to throw my controller at the television" moments, lol. Mostly when I had to go through the ice grotto. That seemed like the difficulty just spiked out of nowhere!!

@rorie: Not really I mean post-game there is an optional boss you can do along with but that is all I can think of outside of the obvious side quests and doing stuff like monster collecting for trophies.

@sfighter21: There are difficulty spikes? Huzzah! I bought this when it was 12 bucks on PSN but haven't gotten into it yet, if it turns out to be challenging I'll be much more interested.

I'd suggest getting Espresso, Nostrum, Sage's Secret, Phoenix Tear/Breath, etc. in any amounts you can from alchemy. Depending on your level and tactics you'll need something more efficient than Cappucino. Having weapons with Nix attribute might help but I don't remember exactly.

Nothing is missable, so you might as well blast through it if you can. There is additional stuff to do afterwards that is conditional to beating the last boss. I'd thought about going back to finish the "catch 'em all" trophy, but man it takes hours and hours.

Eh, I got my Platinum in under 100 hours. The biggest bummer is grinding for gold enemies. Its pretty doable. Just throw on the latest bombcast and grind away while you listen. Exactly what i did.

Good idea actually, might as well put in the time since I already did everything else 100%.

I can't think of anything off the top of my head, but I didn't go out of my way to prepare for the final dungeon and ended up doing alright. I remember that place having a lot of good items though, and the enemies give quite a bit of experience if I remember correctly, so it's worth exploring the place.

How are you liking Ni no Kuni now that you're nearing the end of the game?

Stocking up on espresso is a good idea, but I wouldn't worry overly much. The last boss is challenging but certainly not impossible.

The enemies in the final dungeon have a lot of items that are used in alchemy to make pretty good loot. I'd take a look at the recipes to see what to look for. You can keep going after the game is over though so there is nothing missable.

I think Perdida is the last place for armor and stuff before Shadar. But... if you're going to fight the White Witch, there's a shop on the airship that opens up after you talk to the fairy comedy duo ( I think their names are Surly and Smiley. The conversation was pretty hilarious.)