The Wonderful World of Ivalice

[Big D]

Yeah, I think Squenix definitely should be making another game in Ivalice. Preferably Vagrant Story 2, although they'd probably ruin it, so make it a Vagrant Story remake. Unless you played as Sydney...ooohh.

Vagrant Story 2 could be brilliant - after all, the 'story of the vagrant' doesn't even begin until the very end of the first game, so they've set themselves up for it pretty well.
However, I do fear that VS2 would be just another 'black-clad emo warrior with super-powers', like so many others these days. Maybe it's a story best left to the imagination...

[Spatvark]

Vagrant Story 2 would be probably be best off if you didn't actually play as Ashley Riot. Personally, I'd rather like to play a sequel as Callo Merlose, investigating Cardinal Batista (and his Wellspring that he has tucked away somewhere) and Ashley's disappearance.

[Wolf Kanno]

This is of course a matter of opinion. I felt that XIIs story lacked something. But I have not analysed it in great detail, which I think you (being WK) has. It also took me several months to finish it, which probably did not help.

I have knocked this point in continuously, but I'll repeat it again. When I travelled through the Sandsea (which seems like a ripoff from Dune), I did not get any dialogue. That took me a couple hours. The trip to Archades, same.


What I did enjoy was the NPCs and the hunts, because those little stories were really interesting.
I have read your analysis of XII and I understand where you are coming from. But I do not think it was effectively told. It's great being subtle, but if you're being subtle, you are going to have to have a lot more body for most people to pick it up. And when you have 4 hour treks before you get to the next progression of the story, you really start forgetting the subtleties.

I agree it comes down to personal opinion.

As I've stated to you before, though I will agree the pacing is off on account that the world is massive in comparison. Its very easy to lose track of the story. I even feel there were several simple ways this could have been remedied. Yet I personally don't find anything wrong with going through a large area and not having a dialogue scene. Especially when the scenes are utterly pointless like they were in X.

And why exactly could El-Cid not get involved in the story. Yes, your point is accurate in that it's probably wouldn't be for the best if he went to Archades, but why did the main party not join him in Rozarrio? Why was he almost completely omitted from the game?

Funny enough, reading the Wiki, his role was apparently expanded from the original script.

The reason the party couldn't help was also given in my post. Al-Cid explains his kingdom is just finally starting to step away from a military dictatorship thanks to his own families influence but Archades action in Dalmasca and Nabradia has caused suspicion in his country (since Archades' empire extends to Rozarrio's borders.) It has been taken as an act of military aggression and hardliners on the military side are ready to start war with Archades. That's how the Marquis got Rozarrio to back up his rebellion cause the military of Rozarrio was using Dalmasca's fight for independence as an excuse to start a war with Archades. I don't really feel going to Rozarrio would have helped anything except drive home the point of the political situation that Al-Cid told you when he was introduced at Mt. Burimasce.

And the game also lacked real WOW scenes. The three that were of note (and they were good) were: (SPOILER)The opening, the Death of the Gran Kiltias and Reddas at the Pharos
The ending was an anti-climax for me. After the last scene mentioned above, I really expected to see something on par. I didn't get it.

It depends on how you define WOW moments. If you are talking about explosion and high action then the three scenes you mention are case in point as well as the destruction of the Leviathan, the parties first encounter with an Esper, and the whole sequence where your party meets under the sewers of Rabanastre are also a few.

If you are talking about story moments that change the course of the game. The Tomb of Raithwall in fact any of the places that take you through the Dynast-Kings journey, Balthier's revelation at the Phon Coast, any of the scenes where your party deals with Dr. Cid, the introduction of the (SPOILER)Occurians, Venat, and Judge Drace's death to name a few.

Emotional? Any scene dealing with Lady Ashe's struggle to choose between revenge and saving her kingdom, Basch being rejected as a traitor by the resistance, Reks's death, Drace's death (again), the entire scene at the Pharos, Gabranth's scenes with Gramis where he swears to protect Archades and Lamont. Hell, Gabranth's revelation at Bahamut where he finally begins to understand his brother. All these are quite emotional scenes imo.

And before we talk about how realistically it portrays life, compare it to VII. The final battle against Sephiroth (especially the final, final one, where Cloud has rage against Sephiroth). And the planet coming to destroy Meteor at the end.

I have no idea how you consider that whole ordeal "realistic" the scene in question is good though it involves two characters I don't hold in high regard. (In a nutshell, Cloud is unlikable and Sephiroth is only a decent villain in my eyes). As for VII's ending... I never liked it and before I go onto the rest of your post I should make it clear I am not particulary fond of many of the endings in the series. I actually found VII's ending to be pretty pretentious to be honest with you. I don't care how it just drops you and the story. Especially when its prologue kinda kills the mystery and mystique of it all.

Or VIII, where we have a perfect conclusion to a game about a loner who is brought out of his shell by a girl. And the last boss who is identical in many respects to Squall. It reflects on many of the ideas bought out in the game.

I never liked Ultemacia and I've always felt VIII had one of the worse endings in the series. Its so "Happily Ever After" its completely unrealistic, especially considering the world was plunged into political chaos in disc 3 and Esthar was trashed and the world has to deal with the after affects of a Lunar Cry. I don't necessarily see why everyone should be throwing a party when the job is half done imo. It just ended to perfectly for my taste and left too many loose ends.

Or the ending of X, where Tidus fights his own father, and then fades away. All of these endings have some meaning.

Though I don't mind Tidus, I always felt his anger towards his dad was stupid and rather childish. To be honest, the whole ending of X would have been amazing had the writer stopped while he was ahead and not made every part of it somehow morbidly comical. I also despise Yuna and see her as a pretty two dimensional being so I felt no impact concerning her and her story. In fact I generally feel X has the worst cast of characters in the series.

In XII, I face some guy. Can you seriously compare Vayne to someone like Sephiroth or Kefka? His motives were there, but it's not like it was emotionally exciting.

Yes, if only cause he was not only an antagonist I can sympathize with but generally agreed with. The fact that he lies in the gray area whereas all previous attempts at villains are decidedly evil or definetly doing the wrong thing. It was wonderful to have a story where everything wasn't necessarily black or white. In fact I found it amusing it starts rather black and white and only through the unveiling of the story do you realize that its not so simple.

That's my problem with XII. The story has many really interesting elements, and if you expand on them, you have a really good story. But I should not be the one expanding on them. The game should execute these elements in a way that makes it entertaining for me.

I've always felt that if a story leaves no room for interpretation and audience interaction, then the writer has failed. Course I'm from the theater crowd who feel that stories are meant to be interpret and expanded on by the audience rather than have the writer leave no room for the audiences opinion. I felt XII did a good job in this regard and thats why I walked away from the game rather satisfied. Course in the end this all comes down to personal preference