I really like what you've said here. I am not sure where people get this idea that in order for a story to be good, it must reveal as much as possible about the characters so as to evoke an emotional reaction, and that this emotional involvement means the characters (and work itself) have depth.Originally Posted by The White Wizard of Fynn
This whole "evoking human emotions!" thing seems to be a pretty cheap approach. You can easilly achieve the stuff you talk about, but it's a bit harder to achieve something good without having to desperately try to "reach" the people. It's like comparing bestsellers to the really meaningful books (I'm not saying FFXII is as ambitious as such stuff, but is closer to it than other FFs) - anyone can identify with the characters of the former, but it takes more thought to get the bigger picture in the latter. Same with music - catchy music is fine for the masses, but artistic music can be considered "crap" by most, though it actually carries the truest beauty.
Just so that my words don't prove empty, I'll back it up with some in-game evidence. Here's your lack of character development, then: Ashe. She is shaken by the death of her husband, loss of kingdom, and all that stuff. She then decides to take revenge (how original). The images of Rasler she sees on her journey make her want to achieve her goal more. But at the same time, she encounters Larsa, and sees that the empire is not as evil as she thought it to be. Meeting the Occuria makes her question herself, as she turns out to have been just their pawn in shaping their own image of Ivalice's history. She decides to go against the self-proclaimed gods by rejecting revenge on the empire, instead trying to achieve the independence of her kingdom by peace. Her decision was a hard and mature one, because had she followed her original path, driven by human feelings of loss and anger, she would have caused the land to be engulfed in a yet greater, perhaps neverending conflict.
I consider this to be good character development, though it's not in-your-face or melodramatic, as stuff tends to be nowadays. Though I'm not saying it's a bad thing - it appeals to the masses, myself included, and no one's wrong for liking that. No one is wrong for liking FFXII's story either, though you consider it to be bad (though it isn't, it's just different from the others, and thus a lot of people dislike it).
I have to disagree with you, seiferalmasy2, that a story is defined by "what happens in it and by character development". First of all I have to say the term "character development" really bothers me. It's thrown about so much to describe what the gamer is told about the characters and but it sounds like it should be used more in the developmental stage of the game itself. Secondly, I think a story is defined more by character action and the narrative (how the story is represented) than just the events and exposition of character. This is how FFXII is so different to all the other FFs.
I agree with you that without exposition we cannot care about the characters or story. What I disagree with is your assumption that a narrative should seek to emotionally invest in the characters and that the exposition has to achieve this in order for a story to have gravity.
It's easy for anybody to write a story that jerks tears and pulls heartstrings. I'm sure many girls have cried to sleep at night over Edward and Bella from Twilight. Their emotions have reacted to the lengthy and highly detailed exposition of a romance. But this emphasis on emotions doesn't make the story good in any way. It doesn't even mean the characters are relatable or you can get attached to them. It just means your emotions were played.
FFXII doesn't rely on this kind of close character detail as a means to provide exposition to the story. It doesn't need to and its narrative (representation) would suffer if it did. The fact the narrative does not rely on getting inside the character's heads as much as other Final Fantasy games does not mean one cannot care about what happens. A lack of "emotional attachment" does not even mean a lack of character exposition, in fact it means nothing at all except your expectations weren't met.
What did you want as character development in FFXII? Please give me an example because I am genuinely curious. What scenes would you have liked, events etc.
...ugh I can't be bothered writing anymore which is excellent, because this is long winded and no one's going to even read it. Also, please don't interpret what I'm saying as "OH MY GOSH FFXII IS THE BEST THE REST ALL SUCKS". I don't mean that, I actually really enjoyed FFX and VII, but I just don't like the idea that stories have to have fully elaborated upon characters in order to have any meaning.
