A Random and Civil Discussion about FFII

[Hazzard]

I'm ten hours into this game and loving it, and I've just finished up to the part where Josef nobely sacrifices himself for the group. Just for the hell of it, I wanna post my team:

Firion: HP- 2483 MAGIC: Cure- 5 Protect- 2 Esuna- 2 Elemental magic- thun (2) Fire (6) Blizzard (2) Life- 1
MP- 85

Maria: HP- 1808 MAGIC: Cure- 5 Teleport- 2 Elemental magic- thun (4) Fire (6) Blizzard (2) Life- 1
MP- 169

Guy: HP- 3159 MAGIC: Cure- 5 Elemental Magic- same as Firion
MP- 185

So do any of you think I can improve upon anything here, and I kinda miss not having the Sap spell that Minwu used at times.

Another question is...What was the most remarkable thing about this game, and the factor that really helped you love/like it? I personally admire the battle system, and random level encounters with monsters, I find it great how you can have so much HP so early in the game, also does the HP capacity limit to 9999 HP 999 MP

[Bolivar]

Although you can have the characters do anything you want, i usually keep guy as a fighter, if you don't bother on teaching him magic he can become really strong really fast, although on my last playthrough physical attacks weren't much use on the final boss.

magic w/ firion and maria looks good so far, you should be alright for a while, but remember that weapon selection matters alot too. Monks deal a huge amount of damage in this game, and you want to decide if you want characters to specialize in only one weapon, if you want them to use shields, or if you want to have them use weapons two handed (no shield or second weapon).

I really liked this game alot. I've only played the DoS version, and it looks good on the GBA player for gamecube, so i did that the second time around to give it a more console experience. I think this game was really great, ahead of its time with the battle system that almost foreshadowed VIII's customizability - how your decisions in battle determines how you develop in the game. That's something that you won't find in the other original FF's. It had a pretty good story and progression if you ask me, alot of good guest characters. All of these factors contribute to how much this game influeced FFXII.

I know I might be alone on this, but I really think with the improved graphics and sound on DoS, this game competes with the SNES games. the only thing missing are sidequests, but the soul of rebirth is ok for that, considering.

[Wolf Kanno]

Honestly... considering when this game was released, it was waaaaaay ahead of it's time. Leveling magic was annoying and it was difficult to have your characters grow strong without some "help" :shifty: but overall I found the game to be pretty damn good. I don't quite get why it gets so much hate.

The cast was pretty good though I still have issues with Leon but Josef was my favorite with Mindu a close second. I feel FFIV was more influenced by this game than XII. The music it really well done as well. I love the Liberation Army theme:love: Also it had such cool concepts and ideas going for it.

Also, the final boss is ridiculously weak to the Blood Swords... in fact most bosses are weak to it. I would actually be interested in seeing the battle system make a return to the series, though balanced out.

[Hazzard]

The cast was pretty good though I still have issues with Leon but Josef was my favorite with Mindu a close second. I feel FFIV was more influenced by this game than XII. The music it really well done as well. I love the Liberation Army theme:love: Also it had such cool concepts and ideas going for it.

I would definitely agree that II influenced many of the later FF's, especially story-wise, and I think XII really copied many of the aspects involved in II. By the way, many of my stats have improved and I've realized that having loads of HP can sometimes be your flaw, due to the zombies/renevants. I just like to dual wield on characters, except Maria who uses a bow.

[Hayabusa]

When I started playing XII I said...wow this is like Star Wars and the Story sounds like a recycled verion of FF2 - but yeah FFII rocks - I really liked the Story and how it was like Mission based - you were always on the go - checking in for new orders and going to rock that next mission. It was really fun and leveling up they way you want - But like they said - I was strong but I tried to have to many of my characters versitle, which like red mages...can hinder your overall strength, so try to make them specialize in what you want them to become.

[Wolf Kanno]

The cast was pretty good though I still have issues with Leon but Josef was my favorite with Mindu a close second. I feel FFIV was more influenced by this game than XII. The music it really well done as well. I love the Liberation Army theme:love: Also it had such cool concepts and ideas going for it.

I would definitely agree that II influenced many of the later FF's, especially story-wise, and I think XII really copied many of the aspects involved in II. By the way, many of my stats have improved and I've realized that having loads of HP can sometimes be your flaw, due to the zombies/renevants. I just like to dual wield on characters, except Maria who uses a bow.

If you mean XII took the "Rebels vs. Evil Empire" story from II then it's actually a fairly tried and true story arc in story telling and has been around longer than even Star Wars;)

On the surface, if you generalize the story of Rebels vs. empire then yes the games seem similar from a story perspective but when you really look at the stories in detail then the games are very different. XII definetly took the "Fortress in the eye of the storm" and the fourth guest character ideas but little else IMHO.

IV fleshed out many of the archtypes and characters first presented in II. Gordon is very similiar to Edward/Gilbert from IV as well as Gareth having some minor influence on the developement of Kain.

[scrumpleberry]

I can't remember what I did the first time, it wasn't very good :(

This time, I've made Firion a pure fighter training with shields, swords, knives and lances.

Guy is a white mage and axe and shield or bare fists person

Maria is the black mage (she got ultima as well) and uses either bows or two maces at once.

PS. Gilbert was way worse than Gordon.

[Hazzard]

The cast was pretty good though I still have issues with Leon but Josef was my favorite with Mindu a close second. I feel FFIV was more influenced by this game than XII. The music it really well done as well. I love the Liberation Army theme:love: Also it had such cool concepts and ideas going for it.

I would definitely agree that II influenced many of the later FF's, especially story-wise, and I think XII really copied many of the aspects involved in II. By the way, many of my stats have improved and I've realized that having loads of HP can sometimes be your flaw, due to the zombies/renevants. I just like to dual wield on characters, except Maria who uses a bow.

If you mean XII took the "Rebels vs. Evil Empire" story from II then it's actually a fairly tried and true story arc in story telling and has been around longer than even Star Wars;)

On the surface, if you generalize the story of Rebels vs. empire then yes the games seem similar from a story perspective but when you really look at the stories in detail then the games are very different. XII definetly took the "Fortress in the eye of the storm" and the fourth guest character ideas but little else IMHO.

IV fleshed out many of the archtypes and characters first presented in II. Gordon is very similiar to Edward/Gilbert from IV as well as Gareth having some minor influence on the developement of Kain.

Well I actually meant the following features that I've noticed so far:

1st- Hilda is very similar to Ashe. Both princesses who were wrongfully forced out. Both conspired and lead a rebel army.

2nd- Guest characters

3rd- The Dreadnought, and the imperialists were very identical to that of XII's and helped base off a few ideas solely from II.

[Bolivar]

The cast was pretty good though I still have issues with Leon but Josef was my favorite with Mindu a close second. I feel FFIV was more influenced by this game than XII. The music it really well done as well. I love the Liberation Army theme:love: Also it had such cool concepts and ideas going for it.

I would definitely agree that II influenced many of the later FF's, especially story-wise, and I think XII really copied many of the aspects involved in II. By the way, many of my stats have improved and I've realized that having loads of HP can sometimes be your flaw, due to the zombies/renevants. I just like to dual wield on characters, except Maria who uses a bow.

If you mean XII took the "Rebels vs. Evil Empire" story from II then it's actually a fairly tried and true story arc in story telling and has been around longer than even Star Wars;)

On the surface, if you generalize the story of Rebels vs. empire then yes the games seem similar from a story perspective but when you really look at the stories in detail then the games are very different. XII definetly took the "Fortress in the eye of the storm" and the fourth guest character ideas but little else IMHO.

IV fleshed out many of the archtypes and characters first presented in II. Gordon is very similiar to Edward/Gilbert from IV as well as Gareth having some minor influence on the developement of Kain.

Well I actually meant the following features that I've noticed so far:

1st- Hilda is very similar to Ashe. Both princesses who were wrongfully forced out. Both conspired and lead a rebel army.

2nd- Guest characters

3rd- The Dreadnought, and the imperialists were very identical to that of XII's and helped base off a few ideas solely from II.

^ Saving the princess on the dreadnought is one scenario that was borrowed

another's going to pharos, basically a large tower on an island, to get to some power where one of your guest characters sacrifices himself, then the tornado/sky fortress attacking the kingdom scenario.

4 of the characters are orphans from the war.

If Hilda had a sword, this game would be XII.

[Wolf Kanno]

Well I actually meant the following features that I've noticed so far:

1st- Hilda is very similar to Ashe. Both princesses who were wrongfully forced out. Both conspired and lead a rebel army.

2nd- Guest characters

3rd- The Dreadnought, and the imperialists were very identical to that of XII's and helped base off a few ideas solely from II.

^ Saving the princess on the dreadnought is one scenario that was borrowed

another's going to pharos, basically a large tower on an island, to get to some power where one of your guest characters sacrifices himself, then the tornado/sky fortress attacking the kingdom scenario.

4 of the characters are orphans from the war.

If Hilda had a sword, this game would be XII.

I still feel it's a rather generalization of the two stories. First off, Hilda plays a purely supportive role in the games story, she also wasn't exactly the main focus of the story either like Ashe was. Also, only Vaan, Penelo and Ashe are orphans but if we're going that route then half the FFs are copying FFII's plot since almost all the FF cast are orphans fighting represive empires and evil organizations with similiar clout to an empire.:rolleyes2

The Leviathan scene has more refernces to Star Wars than FFII, the Pharos is also more relevant to XII's story as opposed to the tower you obtain Ultima. Ulitma is just a powerful spell whereas Nethicite is what everyone has been killing each other over for most of the game. Also the Pharos is where the party recieves insight into the mindset of the Occurians as well as Balthiers showdown with Cid and Ashe finally coming to terms with her choice of revenge or saving her kingdom. To say it's just a "tower where you obtain a powerful artifact and a major guest character dies" is pretty much a generalization of what went down in both games.

XII is about a party of adventurers trying to stop a war between rebels and the empire. Vaan and company are not memebers of the rebel army nor do they ever officially join one. The first half of the main quest focuses on the party trying to find a way to prove Lady Ashe is who she is. When they discover the family heirloom can be used as a weapon of great power the party searches for a way to neutralize it while Ashe debates over using the power against the empire itself. Occurinas get involved as well as some family squables and then we get the rip offed Bahamut that is a direct referece to FFII.

As opposed to FFII being about a group of teenagers orphaned by the imperial attack on their home town, they join the rebels sans one who disappeared in the chaos of the battle. Collect mythril for weapons, destroy the Dreadnought (which plays a much more important role in II as opposed to the Leviathans role in XII:p ), rescue Hilda and restore a sniveling's prince's feelings about himself. Obtain a spell of ancient power which quickly drops from story relevance once the spell is aquired. Retake their kingdom, slay the emperor, discover their lost friend is actually the right hand man to the emperor and has taken over his war machine, storm his fortress and kick the :skull::skull::skull::skull: out of him, have the emperor return to life after conquering hell, storm Pandmonium with Leon in your party who has decided to join you, kick the demon emperors ass, and everyone lives happily ever after.

Yeah the games are just exactly the same thing:rolleyes2

[Hazzard]

Well I actually meant the following features that I've noticed so far:

1st- Hilda is very similar to Ashe. Both princesses who were wrongfully forced out. Both conspired and lead a rebel army.

2nd- Guest characters

3rd- The Dreadnought, and the imperialists were very identical to that of XII's and helped base off a few ideas solely from II.

^ Saving the princess on the dreadnought is one scenario that was borrowed

another's going to pharos, basically a large tower on an island, to get to some power where one of your guest characters sacrifices himself, then the tornado/sky fortress attacking the kingdom scenario.

4 of the characters are orphans from the war.

If Hilda had a sword, this game would be XII.

I still feel it's a rather generalization of the two stories. First off, Hilda plays a purely supportive role in the games story, she also wasn't exactly the main focus of the story either like Ashe was. Also, only Vaan, Penelo and Ashe are orphans but if we're going that route then half the FFs are copying FFII's plot since almost all the FF cast are orphans fighting represive empires and evil organizations with similiar clout to an empire.:rolleyes2

The Leviathan scene has more refernces to Star Wars than FFII, the Pharos is also more relevant to XII's story as opposed to the tower you obtain Ultima. Ulitma is just a powerful spell whereas Nethicite is what everyone has been killing each other over for most of the game. Also the Pharos is where the party recieves insight into the mindset of the Occurians as well as Balthiers showdown with Cid and Ashe finally coming to terms with her choice of revenge or saving her kingdom. To say it's just a "tower where you obtain a powerful artifact and a major guest character dies" is pretty much a generalization of what went down in both games.

XII is about a party of adventurers trying to stop a war between rebels and the empire. Vaan and company are not memebers of the rebel army nor do they ever officially join one. The first half of the main quest focuses on the party trying to find a way to prove Lady Ashe is who she is. When they discover the family heirloom can be used as a weapon of great power the party searches for a way to neutralize it while Ashe debates over using the power against the empire itself. Occurinas get involved as well as some family squables and then we get the rip offed Bahamut that is a direct referece to FFII.

As opposed to FFII being about a group of teenagers orphaned by the imperial attack on their home town, they join the rebels sans one who disappeared in the chaos of the battle. Collect mythril for weapons, destroy the Dreadnought (which plays a much more important role in II as opposed to the Leviathans role in XII:p ), rescue Hilda and restore a sniveling's prince's feelings about himself. Obtain a spell of ancient power which quickly drops from story relevance once the spell is aquired. Retake their kingdom, slay the emperor, discover their lost friend is actually the right hand man to the emperor and has taken over his war machine, storm his fortress and kick the :skull::skull::skull::skull: out of him, have the emperor return to life after conquering hell, storm Pandmonium with Leon in your party who has decided to join you, kick the demon emperors ass, and everyone lives happily ever after.

Yeah the games are just exactly the same thing:rolleyes2

You are aware that I never said they were exactly the same game, in terms of story and all that. I did mention that I noticed there was many similarities between the two games, and how I'm certain that XII was greatly influenced by II for a number of points, and maybe inputed something from Star Wars as well. Basically, I think II took a great tole on XII's story, and it extracted more basis' in II than any other FF, and can you please explain how IV how some of the qualities in story that II had beforehand, and what features they copied.

[Wolf Kanno]

You are aware that I never said they were exactly the same game, in terms of story and all that. I did mention that I noticed there was many similarities between the two games, and how I'm certain that XII was greatly influenced by II for a number of points, and maybe inputed something from Star Wars as well. Basically, I think II took a great tole on XII's story, and it extracted more basis' in II than any other FF, and can you please explain how IV how some of the qualities in story that II had beforehand, and what features they copied.

First off, sorry Hazzard. My rant was more geared towards Bolivar's comment of
If Hilda had a sword, this game would be XII. rather than your specualtion. My thoughts are that FFXII was not influenced by II as much as Star Wars influenced both II and XII. Though each game is unique enough to not be complete copies of Star Wars and instead emerge as their own entities.

II only had a few influences on IV but I feel these influences are important enough to have a profound (though not very obvious) effect on certain factors that make FFIV truly shine. I honestly feel Gareth, Josef, and Gordon are achtypes created in II and later borrowed and expanded upon in IV in the forms of Kain, Yang, and Edward/Gilbert. Also both games feature a party change based upon calamatous events. Most of your support characters are killed in II while most in IV are injured. Both Gareth and Tellah die heroically fighting one on one against the main antagonists of their respected game and the whole Leon betraying you is expanded upon in Kain's story of betrayal in IV. Whether II actually influenced IV is up to debate and I have no rock hard evidence outside of speculation;)

[Hazzard]

You are aware that I never said they were exactly the same game, in terms of story and all that. I did mention that I noticed there was many similarities between the two games, and how I'm certain that XII was greatly influenced by II for a number of points, and maybe inputed something from Star Wars as well. Basically, I think II took a great tole on XII's story, and it extracted more basis' in II than any other FF, and can you please explain how IV how some of the qualities in story that II had beforehand, and what features they copied.

First off, sorry Hazzard. My rant was more geared towards Bolivar's comment of
If Hilda had a sword, this game would be XII. rather than your specualtion. My thoughts are that FFXII was not influenced by II as much as Star Wars influenced both II and XII. Though each game is unique enough to not be complete copies of Star Wars and instead emerge as their own entities.

II only had a few influences on IV but I feel these influences are important enough to have a profound (though not very obvious) effect on certain factors that make FFIV truly shine. I honestly feel Gareth, Josef, and Gordon are achtypes created in II and later borrowed and expanded upon in IV in the forms of Kain, Yang, and Edward/Gilbert. Also both games feature a party change based upon calamatous events. Most of your support characters are killed in II while most in IV are injured. Both Gareth and Tellah die heroically fighting one on one against the main antagonists of their respected game and the whole Leon betraying you is expanded upon in Kain's story of betrayal in IV. Whether II actually influenced IV is up to debate and I have no rock hard evidence outside of speculation;)

I see what you mean there, but I'm also still not convinced how it's more influenced than XII. Maybe it might have been the first Final Fantasy to actually use some of the previous ideas from II, for the reasons you used above, but both stories are completely different, especially towards the end of the game in IV, but they did use most of the original traits from II, for example; the Dark Knight, a shady jealous character- Kain who is similarly a backstabber like Lionheart or whatever his name is. Yang does remind me of Josef, and the way they used them both as honorable monks/men who sacrifice their selves for the party. Edward is definitely the same as Gordon, but much worst.

That's all really for IV and II's relations, but XII has a whole load of ideas configured from II, but I think of it more as a show of respect that an older FF being copied. Overall, I love all of the games mentioned, except IV for various reasons.

[Bolivar]

Well I actually meant the following features that I've noticed so far:

1st- Hilda is very similar to Ashe. Both princesses who were wrongfully forced out. Both conspired and lead a rebel army.

2nd- Guest characters

3rd- The Dreadnought, and the imperialists were very identical to that of XII's and helped base off a few ideas solely from II.

^ Saving the princess on the dreadnought is one scenario that was borrowed

another's going to pharos, basically a large tower on an island, to get to some power where one of your guest characters sacrifices himself, then the tornado/sky fortress attacking the kingdom scenario.

4 of the characters are orphans from the war.

If Hilda had a sword, this game would be XII.

I still feel it's a rather generalization of the two stories. First off, Hilda plays a purely supportive role in the games story, she also wasn't exactly the main focus of the story either like Ashe was. Also, only Vaan, Penelo and Ashe are orphans but if we're going that route then half the FFs are copying FFII's plot since almost all the FF cast are orphans fighting represive empires and evil organizations with similiar clout to an empire.:rolleyes2

The Leviathan scene has more refernces to Star Wars than FFII, the Pharos is also more relevant to XII's story as opposed to the tower you obtain Ultima. Ulitma is just a powerful spell whereas Nethicite is what everyone has been killing each other over for most of the game. Also the Pharos is where the party recieves insight into the mindset of the Occurians as well as Balthiers showdown with Cid and Ashe finally coming to terms with her choice of revenge or saving her kingdom. To say it's just a "tower where you obtain a powerful artifact and a major guest character dies" is pretty much a generalization of what went down in both games.

XII is about a party of adventurers trying to stop a war between rebels and the empire. Vaan and company are not memebers of the rebel army nor do they ever officially join one. The first half of the main quest focuses on the party trying to find a way to prove Lady Ashe is who she is. When they discover the family heirloom can be used as a weapon of great power the party searches for a way to neutralize it while Ashe debates over using the power against the empire itself. Occurinas get involved as well as some family squables and then we get the rip offed Bahamut that is a direct referece to FFII.

As opposed to FFII being about a group of teenagers orphaned by the imperial attack on their home town, they join the rebels sans one who disappeared in the chaos of the battle. Collect mythril for weapons, destroy the Dreadnought (which plays a much more important role in II as opposed to the Leviathans role in XII:p ), rescue Hilda and restore a sniveling's prince's feelings about himself. Obtain a spell of ancient power which quickly drops from story relevance once the spell is aquired. Retake their kingdom, slay the emperor, discover their lost friend is actually the right hand man to the emperor and has taken over his war machine, storm his fortress and kick the :skull::skull::skull::skull: out of him, have the emperor return to life after conquering hell, storm Pandmonium with Leon in your party who has decided to join you, kick the demon emperors ass, and everyone lives happily ever after.

Yeah the games are just exactly the same thing:rolleyes2

Yes, I am fully aware of how star wars influenced XII, as I was one of the first to really go into detail about it in my "Not much of a Final Fantasy" thread...

And like Hazzard, I'm not saying they're exact scene-by-scene ripoffs, for you to even write that much to say it's not is redundant.

For example, I meant that Vaan, Penelo, Ashe, and Basch (homeland destroyed) are all orphaned from the war. I realize that very few final fantasy main characters aren't orphans, but this one focuses on those who lost their parents to the agressive acts of the empire.

But I'm pretty damn sure, that if they could fit it onto the DVD, you would've went to fight Vayne now joined with Venat somewhere else, making the last few acts of XII presented in the same way as II.(considering the way they actually put it into the game made it repetitive and lame).

[Wolf Kanno]

I take offense to having my post considered "redundant" but I'm going to just drop it cause I'm not in a mood for a fight (or getting banned over something this trivial) but I doubt the game would have ended similiar to II but then again who's to know but Matsuo...

And Hazzard... you don't like IV? :cry:

Back on topic. So here's a question... which do you feel had a greater impact on the genre. FFI or FFII?

[Crossblades]

Make Guy a pure fighter. Don't teach him any magic whatsoever. And make Firion and Maria learn one type of magic. Teaching two types of magic to one character is hard. Also, make Firion use Swords and shields and Maria a bow. This is what I always do when I play, but if you're comfortable with what you got, then kudos:)

[Dr. Acula]

My answer to WK's question: FF1, although FF2 DID do a lot of influencing for later FFs.
FF2 was boring, though, in my opinion.:)

[Hazzard]

Greater impact: Probably FF2, because I think the story was a main setting stage for other Final Fantasy's to base it on. They just developed the story, and added new story-lines, but still keeping the basis from FF2.

FF1 was the beginning of the whole genre, but I don't really think it done any thing else, don't get me wrong I found it enjoyable to play, but not as good or as vital to the genre as FF2.

Crossblades: I might try your party next time, but at the moment things are going well, maybe the magic is starting to hinder me, because I think it's affecting my stats, or it's just hassle to level it up.

[Wolf Kanno]

Though FFII brought a story charactewr based story telling to the series and tried to revolutionize the genre before it really began, I would still have to say FFI was a bigger deal. In comparison to each other, II seems the logical choice but when you think about what else was avaliable back then... FFI was a greater leap for the genre. Zelda was an action RPG, DQ1 and 2 were simple "Descendant's of the hero! Stop the evil Demon Lord!" and anything else remarkable in the genre was stuff for the PC which were D&D games.

FFI was the first console RPG to allow mutiple party members and allowed you to decide what they were in your party. It's story isn't about stopping an evil Dark Lord from destroying the land (though it becomes that eventually but so much more delisciously so:D ). The world is dying and four heroes are to appear and save it. The first task assigned to you is to test to see if you really are the "Light Warriors". Immediately, FFI sets istelf apart by placing you in a world that's a bit closer to home. Pirates? Dark Elves? and Curses? FFI's world is plagued by many things and your task through out most of the game is to find out why the world is dying...

Hell, the world is threatened with destruction, unlike the other games I've mentioned; where you're tasked with overthrowing an evil (sometimes demonic) dictator and thwart their plans for world domination. In FFI, you are trying to save the world from being destroyed. The metaphors of the elements and the places you visit are certainly more profound than other titles at the time and the ending is what really set this game apart...

In other games, the hero saves the princess, stops the Overlord, and everyone lives happily ever after (or until the sequel) but in FFI, your party learns they are forever trapped in a time loop. Forced to battle Chaos for all time, never aware of their fate until it's too late. Though very pessimistic, FFI creates a vision of another type of hero. The hero who is forced to sacrifice themselves to save others. I think it's these very themes that allowed FFI to succeed. There really wasn't anything like it at the time.

[Bolivar]

i haven't checked this thread in a minute, so 1st i want to say my bad if i offended you kanno, that wasn't my intention.

but to answer your question, i would say I's more influential on the genre. Like you said, there was no RPG like it at the time, everything was about slaying the dragon and saving the princess, and even though the time loop scenario seems small and lame by today's standards, at the time it must have been groundbreaking. Other RPGs at the time focused on traditional medieval european settings whereas Final Fantasy was true and good romanticism, taking the folklore of many different cultures into one story.

As far as the FF series, I think they both are the two templates that every game is based off of. II went in a completely different direction than I. in I, the characters aren't really important at all, it's the world around them that is. The same thing happens in III, and in V, VII, and IX, the characters aren't as big or powerful as the circumstances which made them. They are representative of those things, and in the case of I, it was the crystals.

On the other hand, in II, 4 unlikely heroes step up and save the world. In this respect, IV, VI, VIII, and X are all about people who take matters into their own hands and change the course of history.

I think that's why in all the odd numbered games (I, III, V, VII and IX) the fate of the world is decided by crystals, in one form or another. In the even ones, there are no crystals. I know in IV there are, but they are a product of the "other" world, not of the one which all the main heroes hail from.

Which really makes me think about XII and how there's competing forces about whether or not to put history back into the hands of man, and whether or not that's what really happened. I don't know, I think i've rambled too much to start getting into the Philosophy of Final Fantasy.