101 Things Square Enix Could Learn from Other Media

[Loony BoB]

1. Game of Thrones: Killing off your lead characters will not ruin the game. Death happens! "Oh, everyone survives" is unrealistic (and, with Final Fantasy, a bit predictable).

[maybee]

2 Attack on Titan- Don't be afraid to make your characters short, have goofy outdated hair styles, have the same uniform/ lack of creative clothing, as longs as they're all well developed and like-able. You don't have to try and create pretty Bishie boys and chicks with DDD sized boobs to try and get fans buying your games.


"Oh, everyone survives"

But what about Aerith ? She was sort of important. And Galuf ??

[Loony BoB]

3. Lord of the Rings: Having a Super Bad Guy that actually is the Super Bad Guy in the plot is a good thing. He might not even need a huge 'angle' other than "I want to take over the world and enslave everyone." Simple can work really well if it's done right. But Sauron was cool because from the start, you knew he was the Big Evil in the story. There was not some Secret Hidden Final Boss You Didn't Expect.


But what about Aerith ? She was sort of important. And Galuf ??
I would not consider them 'the norm'. We haven't had a playable character die in... what... 16 years?

EDIT: Changed the title, perhaps that's more appropriate. :)

[NeoCracker]

3. Whose Line is it Anyway? - Having Collin Mocherie will make your game better.

[maybee]

We haven't had a playable character die in... what... 16 years?


Yeah there was Serah Farron, but with LR she comes back


Spoiler tagged because of LR spoils *


3. Whose Line is it Anyway? - Having Collin Mocherie will make your game better.

Hell yes

[Loony BoB]

I mean in a complete story where they stay dead. I don't trust SE not to revive Serah by the time they're done with the XIII trilogy.

[Ayen]

4. Almost anything by Joss Whedon: You can still be serious, tell a good story AND STILL be fun. Quit with all this melodramatic crap and crack a joke every once in a while that makes us laugh. Jesus. Game of Thrones more fun than you and people die all the time in that.

[Pumpkin]

5. Xenosaga/Xenogears:

I learned things about science, religion, and pshycological theories from playing these games. Add in some of that stuff with a database. You don't have to go super detailed, but by throwing it in, it pique's my curiosity, and I look it up and research it on my own and learn things.

[Loony BoB]

6. Hannibal Lecter - The best villains have humour and attitude.

[Fynn]

7. Xenoblade Chronicles - you can tell a great story while giving players the freedom of exploring a huge world that is inhabited by thriving communities that feel real, letting the players follow said story at their own pace, doing as many sidequests as they want along the way.

[Jinx]

The Non-Bishi: Not every male protagonist has to look like a 14-year-old beauty queen.

[Sephiroth]

I mean in a complete story where they stay dead. I don't trust SE not to revive Serah by the time they're done with the XIII trilogy.

Well, Auron was gone forever. Jecht was good and died. Shuyin and Lenne could finally go. Cid Raines died. Someone who becomes a hero in Final Fantasy XIII-3 Lightning Returns dies forever, Reks died, Rasler died, Noah (Gabranth) died, they are all good people (some earlier, some later). And all important characters who died die in a world where the existence of afterlife is proven.


3. Lord of the Rings: Having a Super Bad Guy that actually is the Super Bad Guy in the plot is a good thing. He might not even need a huge 'angle' other than "I want to take over the world and enslave everyone." Simple can work really well if it's done right. But Sauron was cool because from the start, you knew he was the Big Evil in the story. There was not some Secret Hidden Final Boss You Didn't Expect.

Actually I was always disappointed by Sauron and that he didn't even appear until I thought about how he is the Ring (you could say his Horcrux, that was the book Tom Riddle read to find out about them, ha, ha, ha) as well so his influence is badass.

[Loony BoB]

Well, Auron was gone forever. Jecht was good and died. Shuyin and Lenne could finally go. Cid Raines died. Someone who becomes a hero in Final Fantasy XIII-3 Lightning Returns dies forever, Reks died, Rasler died, Noah (Gabranth) died, they are all good people (some earlier, some later). And all important characters who died die in a world where the existence of afterlife is proven.
While true, none of these are of the level of Aeris' death. Actual playable lead characters in actual main games in the series. This simply doesn't happen anymore and my only guess is that SE are... scared? Maybe? I dunno.

[Elskidor]

9: Character with a daddy issue complex like .....Star Wars




10: Tragic flawed hero like Batman, John Locke, Harvey Dent, Boromir, Thorin, Anakin. Death of the main hero would not be out of the question!

[Shorty]

The Dark Knight: The best villains have no rules and they reign with chaos and unpredictability.

Nobody ever knows how to count in these threads.

[Elskidor]

Nobody ever knows how to count in these threads.

I'm still learning how to count. Math, it's a tricky subject!

[Sephiroth]

While true, none of these are of the level of Aeris' death. Actual playable lead characters in actual main games in the series. This simply doesn't happen anymore and my only guess is that SE are... scared? Maybe? I dunno.

Zack died in a new Final Fantasy.

He was known as dead before Crisis Core already, yes, since it was an already existing story, but it was a very short scene. In Crisis Core it is very dramatic and Final Fantasy VII fans even think of it as very sad because they know how it all ends.

I personally do not want my characters to die. Serah's scene in Final Fantasy XIII-2, who was also shown not to be exactly normally dead but just something like that as you could find out in Final Fantasy XIII-2 with a fragment where she asked where is and that it is so dark, would not have been satisfying for me. There must be a really good reason for me to let such characters die. And Aerith was brought back like Obi Wan Kenobi anyway. I am already sad when I think about characters like Squall and Rinoa' mothers being dead, I don't want important characters to die.

[VeloZer0]

IMO dying in the middle of a game is completely different from dying at the end or as part of the opening act.

[Sephiroth]

IMO dying in the middle of a game is completely different from dying at the end or as part of the opening act.


That's exactly what I think as well - but as said, if there is a reason good enough for me, it is also "okay" at the end. Generally I don't want good people to die anyway. Kuja's death after he became good was sadder than probably anything else.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7PvI9g8kj3A

Except a Final Fantasy being over.

[Karifean]

Clannad: Have the player make choices during the game that affect sub-stories. Simple things like which person to ask for help or whom to pay a visit sometime or whose advice to listen to or whatever. Allow us to explore the backgrounds of minor characters if we decide to make choices that focus on that particular character. It would add a layer of depth and give the game replay value.
Maybe even make it so that you can choose to help them with their personal problems, and if you make the right choices, that character has a "happy ending" for their own story, while if you make the wrong choices, things remain unresolved. Just don't go overboard with rewards for these kinds of quests - they're supposed to be nice touches, not game-changers.

[Loony BoB]

IMO dying in the middle of a game is completely different from dying at the end or as part of the opening act.
Not to mention in a sequel. In other words, not a main game, as I specified. :p Why put all the 'big' moments outside of the 'big' games?