Alyssa (spoilers), and thoughts regarding FF characters in general

I really, really liked her as a character in the game. Of all the little things (and big things) going on in this game, it was her that kept me guessing the longest as to what her agenda was. Even now, I'm still not 100% on what that agenda was, but I think they should put in more characters that have a little bit of mystery to them. And I'm not talking just the main villain and the playable characters. There need to be characters who make you wonder how they're going to turn out, characters that can end up splitting opinion, even those characters (which I would actually count Caius amongst in for most of the game) that are neither good nor evil. All too often characters are either on the good side or the bad side. Do you think FF needs to make things a little less black and white? Have characters who leave you second-guessing them? I do! I hope we see more of Alyssa in DLC or possibly in endings I've not uncovered yet (if there are any - I think I may have them all bar the not-so-secret secret ending now), and I hope we see more characters like this in future games.

I am ambivalent about Alyssa... (SPOILER)I dislike the way she betrays you to Caius and damns the whole world to everlasting darkness just so she can stay alive, how can someone live with themselves after betraying the whole world like that, she even damned herself... its like hey I am going to die so I have to take everyone with me... on the flip side I really like her personality, very spunky and lively, loved the character, hated her actions... if ya know what I mean.

Yeah, I really, really liked Alyssa. Something about her was just really pleasant and likable, so the betrayal came as kind of a shock. But then, it still has some thought behind it. It's a glimer of hope of more 3D and interesting characters. I would really welcome some DLC involving her, but I doubt it'd come..

I disagree. I thought she was a flat and underdeveloped character. Her betrayal really didn't make any sense and seemed like it was only there to get the party into the proper endgame situation. Really bad writing.

She also has a weird overbite.

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Originally Posted by Del Murder

I disagree. I thought she was a flat and underdeveloped character. Her betrayal really didn't make any sense and seemed like it was only there to get the party into the proper endgame situation. Really bad writing.

She also has a weird overbite.

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I agree with one part at least - I would say that her betrayal did make sense, but was just poorly written. She had the potential to be so much more. She reminds me a lot of Jill Nabaat or whatever her name was. The chick from the first game who was with Dajh at the theme park. :p

Right from the beginning I had my suspicions about her, but I wasn't sure what those suspicions were, exactly.

I freaking love when characters are handled like that.

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Originally Posted by Loony BoB

I agree with one part at least - I would say that her betrayal did make sense, but was just poorly written. She had the potential to be so much more. She reminds me a lot of Jill Nabaat or whatever her name was. The chick from the first game who was with Dajh at the theme park. :p

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How does it make sense? For it to make sense, she would have to have met Caius and he would have had to convince her that he could give her something in return for betraying the party, who are traveling through time to save the world (so what he promises her better have been good). Neither of those things were explained. Or are you inferring these things?

It was Jihl (they love the random h in names), and she was a much better character than Alyssa.

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Originally Posted by Del Murder

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Originally Posted by Loony BoB

I agree with one part at least - I would say that her betrayal did make sense, but was just poorly written. She had the potential to be so much more. She reminds me a lot of Jill Nabaat or whatever her name was. The chick from the first game who was with Dajh at the theme park. :p

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How does it make sense? For it to make sense, she would have to have met Caius and he would have had to convince her that he could give her something in return for betraying the party, who are traveling through time to save the world (so what he promises her better have been good). Neither of those things were explained. Or are you inferring these things?

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From the moment I first encountered her in the game I had suspicions over her, and she did come across as a selfish person. While friends with Hope, he was the leader of a major organisation so that 'friendship' could easily have had (and probably did have) alterior motives. She became obsessed with her own survival and I believe Caius had indeed informed her that if Noel/Serah were to save the future, she would not be part of it. Given her self-serving attitude, it's not surprise that at this point she devoted her efforts towards thwarting the duo.

I can't remember exactly what Snow mentions in that one paradox ending, but I'm pretty sure it mentioned that Caius had made a deal with Alyssa? I think the guide mentions something to do with this. Either way, it was a story that needed much more gametime and much more dialogue detailing the things which you mentioned would have had to happen (and again, I'm sure it's mentioned at some point in about... five seconds of Snow blurting out stuff). Simply put, Alyssa was not one of the good guys in this game, even if she was close to them.

If they save the world, Alyssa doesn't exist! If you recall the graveyard scene she mentions experiencing her own death much like Serah saw Lightning. She probably didn't even need Caius to tell her that.

I thought it was her friend's grave she saw. It sounds like she was a pretty good character on paper, and it was just the execution of it (ie, the writing) that screwed it up for me.

Yeah, it was her friend's grave. Although it was supposed to be hers.

She 'experienced' her own death and then somehow the grave belonged to someone else. She was so certain she actually died that she was desperate to see that gravestone. I'd say it was a pretty serious mindsmurf for her. I don't know the intricacies of it all, though... I should really read through the DataLogs sometime. xD My understanding of it is that she was supposed to die, but because Etro saved the heroes of FFXIII from eternal crystal sleep, time changed and her friend died instead.

She basically is a paradox, I guess... which I can only imagine means that if Noel and Serah are out correcting time, then she would need to be 'corrected' as well, perhaps? I think we'll see more of her in the almost inevitable FFXIII-3.

If memory serves, it was a monument to the people lost in the Purge. And I do like her in that while she betrayed the team, she was not written as evil...just scared. As far as she knows, your team has given them enough information to avert the ensuing chaos of Cocoon falling. The New Cocoon's construction was well underway, and all is rosy, correct? So she has the dilemma of does she let them tie up that last temporal loose end, and let herself be RETROACTIVELY snuffed out? Or does she let it be a "close enough" and continue to live? As far as the Datalogs show, Caius just said that if they continue, she will die. Nothing of what his true motivations are.


That said, from the moment I met her, I felt something just...off about her.

i really liked the foreshadowing of her betrayal coming to fruition in the paradox ending, sort of
it all made sense then

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Originally Posted by Mr. Miriel

I disagree. I thought she was a flat and underdeveloped character. Her betrayal really didn't make any sense and seemed like it was only there to get the party into the proper endgame situation. Really bad writing.

She also has a weird overbite.

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Kind of like this. The only thing to add is that she had loads of potential story wise. With most betrayals, you slowly but surely get small hints here and there that something isn't quite right (Phrases, body expression etc) however with Alyssa it is completely by surprise. Seriously, not even a weird facial expression or anything. It is slightly odd, but then again she's just means to get Serah and Noel to split.

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Originally Posted by Loony BoB

She basically is a paradox, I guess... which I can only imagine means that if Noel and Serah are out correcting time, then she would need to be 'corrected' as well, perhaps? I think we'll see more of her in the almost inevitable FFXIII-3.

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Is that the reason why she (SPOILER) helped Caius and betrayed the group ?

Better late than never: Yeah, I think so, maybee.

Well, in terms of Alyssa, while I always found her both annoying and very slightly odd, odd enough to make me slightly suspicious, I did find her betrayal towards the latter half of the game genuinely surprising.

Worst thing about alyssa is that they completely removed her from the plot just when she started to get interesting. So that's not really her being bad, but the writers, which kind of is a game-wide problem, not just an alyssa problem.

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Originally Posted by Del Murder

I disagree. I thought she was a flat and underdeveloped character. .

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The same thing could be said about her chest! :monster:

The most important thing about a female character is her milk tanks, right?

I'm more of an ass guy, but as I've not witnessed a picture of her bum yet, I had to go with the boob comment!