Am I missing something? (Final Boss SPOILERS)

[Elpizo]

The Lifestream at least had a story behind it, being the source of life of the planet and all. Plus there's the thing of Aeris' sacrifice, so it all made some kind of sense. We didn't get anything in 13 indicating that there was anything they could do to save Coccoon (except of course, all the cutscenes in which they all boldly proclaimed to save Coccoon instead of destroy it, which just made them seem like they were all talk because nobody had any idea on how to do it).

Ragnarok had a story behind it, too, so that point isn't really valid, IMHO. It's not that surprising that if Ragnarok has the power to destroy Cocoon, those defying their focus could tap into its power to instead save it.

[kotora]

What story? It's only mentioned how it cracked Cocoon's shell before, other than that we don't get any information on the whole thing (datalog entries don't . It certainly doesn't explain how it saved the planet. That's like saying how the power of a nuclear bomb can be used to save things because it also has huge destruction power. The whole defying their focus thing seems to make even less sense. They shouldn't have been turned to crystal then.

[VeloZer0]

They did their focus, kill Orphan. It was only after that they actually got around to save Cocoon.

Being able to sacrifice your life for some temporary blaze of crazy magic power is not that uncommon an occurrence in FF titles. Out of everything in the ending I think that was the only part that made sense and was worth watching.

[Cloudane]

Yeah this did seem a bit odd - all that, and they ended up fulfilling the Focus anyway!

The way I interpreted it was, they thought Orphan was just some innocent party in this and not actually the bigger mastermind behind it all. When he turned out to be the evil one, it was really just a case of putting an end to him ('them'?) and carrying forward with what they were saying about the ability of humans to change destiny and all that. Otherwise, he'd have just turned them into Cie'th and the cycle would've gone on until eventually someone will less self-will would've done the "kill Orphan" bit without the "determination to save Cocoon even if it falls" bit.

Perhaps it just needed some mention of this in the dialogue. Subtlety is good rather than having things spelled out with a sledgehammer, but it was a little too subtle.

Edit: The guide at the end of page 1 seems to say pretty similar. Glad I'm one of the people who understands what's going on for once

Edit 2:

Chapter 12, Entry 2 "Eden Under Siege"

As a true testament to memorable things in FF games, even X-2, I still read this in a Hypello voice. "Ohhh no! Banditsh! We are under shiege..."

Edit 3 (maybe I should read the whole thread before replying!):

I only know that VIII had a totally unpredictable ending. I mean, sure, beating the obvious boss did it, but all the stuff that happened immediately afterwards was nothing short of bonkers to me.

I think you've just summed up the charm of FF for me (including VIII). It's bonkers. To borrow your name, it's downright looney at times. But that's just so much more fun than making sense (especially when you get online and start discussing it). XII made sense, and it was boring.

[Loony BoB]

I've always thought that the worst thing about most Final Fantasy games is the unsatisfying endings. But I was okay with this one. Probably mostly because you could carry on and do more gaming. I like that. I'd prefer it if it was "post-end" though, rather than going 'back in time'. VIII was my favourite ending, not because of the ending itself, but because of the little video that shows the aftermath. I think that aftermath is key for me - I think it makes you more satisfied with how things turn out if you know what happens to people after the end of the game instead of just "Then the world was happy, goodbye." I like in XIII that they show you the people being evacuated from Cocoon, though. It's kind of halfway towards showing an aftermath, I guess.

[Cloudane]

I'm torn between the two methods - I like the "full closure" type endings, as it makes you satisfied that you've made their world a better place. After all, that's what it's about isn't it On the other hand, some of the most abrupt and annoying (at the time) endings, most famously FFVII, have triggered years of debate, discussion, fan fiction, imagination and theory-making. And it's always been a LOT of fun. So I'm not too sore about the very abrupt ending.

[Loony BoB]

Oh, the 'closure' of an ending is never closure anyway. There are still untold amounts of theories regarding FFVIII, R=U not being the least of them.

[Cloudane]

Heh... true.
Just thinking compared to VII with its rather sudden finish. Of course, the whole Aeris thing contributed too.

One of the most wrapped-up endings I thought was X, with is ironic given the existence of X-2 and what transpires there.