I finished the game. I have some questions.

I read the first few responses, and I'd like to offer my take on the matter.

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Originally Posted by i-kant

1. Did Shadow commit suicide or something? He just stayed on kefka's tower, talking about Baram and starting anew? Who's Baram anyways? I didn't really understand those shadow dreams, and I didn't see shadow on the ship at the end.

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Depending on if you had all of Shadow's dreams, he does different things. In some cases, he jumps off the tower, and most certainly, dies. In the other case, he comes to terms with his emotions and I believe he just allows himself to be killed by collapsing tower. Either way, he dies.

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2. speaking of missing people, I didn't see umaro or gogo on the ship either at the end. what happened to them?

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Easy enough to answer. They didn't make customized cutscenes. No matter what you do in the game, everyone sees the same ending, and therefore, including characters which are optional doesn't make much sense. What if someone beat the game who never got Gogo or Umaro? Then they'd see these guys that shouldn't have been there.

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3. It seemed strange that the scene was brought to katarina and her pregancy, and one of the kids saying "do it right kararina" - i.e. don't give birth by C-section - this seems really strange and inappropriate at this point in the game?

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I think this was poor wording for what was going on. They meant "Be a good mother, Katarina" or something like that, really.

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4. I was also kinda upset that the world didn't become all ideal and green and beautiful. It looked still pretty crappy

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But it was now freed from Kefka, and well on it's way to becoming beautiful, whereas before, it was gonna stay all crappy.

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and the love story between celes and locke didn't really get developed very far.

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It got developed enough. Frankly, I'm bothered when the love story is the dominant part of the game, as in FF8. I understood what was going on with it just fine. You can just fill in the blanks on your own.

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Nor did Terra herself find a lover, despite the fact that apparently she had enough love for "somebody or a group of people" to be able to live as a human?

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I don't know that she was looking for a romantic love. But she did have General Leo, and he offered her the first taste of love that she got. When he died, she realized what love was because he was there, and she felt it, but then when he was gone, she noticed the love to be gone, thus, finally understood love.

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5. Did anyone find the final boss to be tremendously easy compared to FFV? I had a nasty time with neo-exdeath...I wasn't very levelled up this time either, hovering around 48 for all my characters.

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Kefka is insanely hard if you dont' take your time and level up. Not so much Kefka, but the three parts before him. Exdeath was way harder, but Kefka wasn't exactly easy. Now Zeromus, that's a hard FF boss.

But if you level up regularly, Kefka is nothin. Especially if you do the Lete River trick.

Feion

Shadows ending never changes, whether you see the dreams or not.

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Originally Posted by feioncastor

I don't know that she was looking for a romantic love. But she did have General Leo, and he offered her the first taste of love that she got. When he died, she realized what love was because he was there, and she felt it, but then when he was gone, she noticed the love to be gone, thus, finally understood love.

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Whoa, is that in the Japanese version? I've only played through a couple of times, but are you talking about the ship scene when they go to Thamasa? I remember Terra opening up to him, but I don't remember a romantic overtone. Terra opened up to us as well, so we knew one thing that depressed her, and that was she wasn't normal, but specifically that she was afraid she couldn't love. She didn't understand love, and was maybe jealous of humans. I thought she had a crush on Locke or something, but after beating the game the only love I found (unless she could love Maduin) was the orphaned children of Mobliz. She felt the love that a parent has for her children. If you've seen FMV of Terra, I think they captured that well, of her being this loving mother figure. I mean, the way she looks, as opposed to say, Selphie from FF8.

It's up to interpretation. A lot of folks see a romantic undertone in the scene between Terra and Leo. I dont at all. The only sort of love she got from him was a friendly sort, like she got with the rest of the party.

I like to think of Terra and Locke as a couple at the end of the game, but again that's just my interpretation. There's no concrete relationships between main characters in that game, unlike... well, we'll use VIII again. In VIII, it's obvious and concrete. In VI, it's subtle and left up to interpretation.

It was the children that taught Terra love, as is stated by her.

No, there's one concrete relationship. Celes and Locke. Your little Terra fantasy flies in the face of everything the game says and shows :)

It's not concrete. If it was concrete, there would have been actions involved. Of course there's far far more evidence as to a Locke/Celes than a Locke/Terra, but it's not at all a concrete deal. Same thing with Cloud/Tifa of VII. Sure, there's a lot of supporting (and I love the idea) but it isnt concrete. Squall/Rinoa are concrete. Selphie/Irvine are not. Zidane/Garnet, concrete. It's obvious these other, non-concrete relationships have feelings involved, but they arent set in stone.

To play Devil's Advocate, some people claim that there is a Setzer/Terra thing going too and that the proof is when Setzer tries to save Terra when the airship breaks up after the Floating Continent.

Yeah, and further evidence for that one is when Setzer saves her with the airship at the end, and she says something about him saving her... some interpret that as to him saving her by giving her something to love.

As far as a romance between Terra and Leo, recall that even though a romance may not exist, Terra is definitely moved by Leo, and it is him that causes her to understand what love is.

When you talk to Terra on the airship to change party members, she says, "General Leo, I think I understand what you're trying to say" or something like that.

Feion

Yes, General Leo's words very much effect Terra. What he says to her is very special, and she does treasure it. Not everything they talk about is about love, though,

Leo may have helped her to understand, eventually, but she doesnt figure it out until she rejoins the party. She's very clear in that scene that it's the children that help her understand.

I don't think Terra loved anyone in the romantic sense. It just doesn't fit with her character. Any love she spoke of was probably for the children, as previously stated.

Having an obvious romantic subplot in a game is one of the things I'd rather do without. I'm glad it wasn't a big focus in this one. Just another thing that makes this the greatest game ever made.

Well, I think the Locke/Celes relationship was concrete. I mean, it wasn't absolutely CLEARLY stated, but look at the game. At the end, it shows Locke and Celes' names together.

Feion

Locke and Celes are about as concrete as Zidane and Dagger. Neither couple says anything, but its pretty obvious. Same with Irvine and Selphie... well at least Irvine admits to it.... so that one could be one sided like Edge and Rydia. ahhhhh, the multiple love interests throughout the series.

I think it was in the movie "Speed" where Keanu Reeves tells Sandra Bullock that relationships based on near death experiences don't last. So all these relationships end in a couple weeks anyways.

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Originally Posted by Danger

Locke and Celes are about as concrete as Zidane and Dagger. Neither couple says anything, but its pretty obvious.

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Of course they say stuff. How would we know, then? Well, okay, the kiss at the end. Zidane says plenty of stuff that says that he loves her.

But if you mean like Fei and Elly in Xenogears, yep, they definitely said stuff. They don't imply that there's a love interest between them; you know there's a love interest between them.

I don't think Locke and Celes are as obvious as Zidane and Garnet, because I remember when it was first time I played these games, it wasn't made official enough for me to remember that L&C had a romance when I played it a second time when I was older and thought that maybe they did. The first time I played FFIX, though, it was pretty obvious to me b/c Z&G said a lot more. I was probably looking for something as concrete as FFVII, Xenogears, and FFVIII, the three T Squaresoft RPGs I had finished by the time I had started FFVI.

Looking back, I think what did it for me when I realised that Celes did like Locke was the whole bandana thing on the island when I decided this time I'd let the old man die. But the way the game is presented, it looks like they wouldn't have time to have a relationship.

If I were designing the characters, I would play with the idea of a love triangle with Celes, Terra, and Clo-- I mean Locke! Also, does anyone here think Terra needs a husband so Mobliz has a father figure there, too?

Personally, I don't think Locke is commited enough to love someone. He definitely loved Rachel, but I suppose it's okay to move on when it's hopeless like that. Next, he tells Terra he'll protect her, and restates that at various scenes in the game. He does the same thing to Celes. Make up your mind!