One of my biggest gripes about people complaining this game is the lack of NPCs and "towns". While I understand that some people get their kicks out the NPCs and look for different things when enjoying games, it seems that people are too busy complaining about the lack of NPCs and "towns" to actually think about why it is so (besides being S-E is lazy/doesn't care about us/etc...).

In most FFs your band of heros are rather unnoticeable to the public or well received. Yuna et al are trying to defeat Sin, so why wouldn't the people of Spira love her? (FFX). AVALANCHE is not really that noticeable as in you can tell who is a member of AVALANCHE just by looking at them. Plus once outside of Midgar it doesn't really matter to the general public anymore that Barret, Cloud and Tifa were part of AVALANCHE (FFVII). The Light Warriors are trying to save the world. Really, are they gonna get hate from the people? (FFI). A princess in hiding is pretty inconspicuous especially travelling in neutral territory, even then it is not like she goes screaming who she is in enemy's territories either (FFXII).

I could think of more too, but my point is that for the most part the cast of protagonists are usually well received by the public (like Yuna), blend in with the rest of the crowd, or so far away from their hometown that it is irrelevant. Thus NPCs make sense. A large percent of NPCs are 2-3 line flat characters that are of no huge consequence in so far as plot goes. They usually hint to the next place to go, give random information on the back-story or just nonsensical. They, to some, also help with immersion.

Now, FFXIII's band of heros is far different from your usual protagonists in the series. They are loathes by the general populace. Unlike the PSOne era where world maps were there and you can travel far, far away from your hometown to places where no one knows who you are, the cast of FFXIII can't. For 12/13 chapters you are stuck on Cocoon. The people of Cocoon for centuries were told that Pulse l'Cie are evil, vile creatures that will destroy Cocoon. To say that Pulse l'Cie are loathed is the public is not an over-statement. For the most part, your whole party is ostracized from every single person in Cocoon. Cocoon is not small by any means. I'd wager it is about the size of a country with a similar population; it'd make Midgar look small. Also, due to the mark left by the fal'Cie it becomes pretty obvious that someone is a l'Cie. I mean you can hide it (like Lightening, Serah and Vanille can) but for the most part it keeps growing bigger to the point where it becomes noticeable (Like Sahz's and Hope's that were mostly hidden at first). So it becomes obvious fast who is a l'Cie.

So, with the exception of the few cases where there were some, how would more NPCs even make sense in Cocoon? Everyone hates you. Those that don't are either family or fal'Cie/fal'Cie pawns. Within the world of Cocoon it makes sense that there are not really many NPCs. Unless you've been blind the whole game, they make it clear that the general public shares very little love for you even if you are trying to save their asses.

As for Gran Pulse, it seems that they decided to kill off all the humans. I mean, it would have been interesting where there human life on Gran Pulse and see how they would take to the gang, but there wasn't.

So the lack of NPCs seems more symptomatic of something else: a focus on characterization. It really changes a group dynamic when they are truly the only people they have. That because they are all pariahs they only have themselves left. The lack of NPCs in Gran Pulse serves to underscore this with Vanille and Fang and plays a role in their relationship. Whether or not you like the characters is a different issue.

As for towns, there are towns. Just, once again, everyone hates you (or they are dead).

So yeah, while I get that people miss what they felt are staples of the series, I feel that they are too focused on complaining about their absence to actually think about it and what it means. Yes, there are little to few NPCs but the game tells you why (without 4th walling that is). It also seems to do with characterization too. That these people they are bound to by being l'Cie, with few exceptions, are all that they have.

[/rant]

No, this thread is not about the linearity of the game or whether or not you like the characters. It is about the lack of NPCs and what it means.