NINE has different battle themes for different alignments, that alone makes it worthwhile experience in my opinion lol

np. there are a few instances like that where you have to look up or down, keep that in mind. dpad up and down for both cases. also left and right change camera perspective i think?

There is a single ladder near the entrance/exit (which you can see on the map. You need to walk up to it and then press up on the d-pad to get the prompt.