History, it says so little.

[Nevermore]

Tactics is awesome and has many great and interesting characters. However, many of them seem to have seen very little elaboration, and are instead hidden and forgotten behind the veils of death, such as Islude.
I mean, Wiegraf is awesome...but he did take center stage quite a lot compared to many others. I guess his poor sister merely served to orchestrate his rage. I'm sure she was much more than that.

I took up a great interest in many of the characters, only to have become disappointed in the end, because so little was said of them, and they only seemed to belong as keypoints in the tale, usually as someone you had to slaughter. Sure, it's a video game, and therefore, expected.

But I love Valmafra, or Balmafula, if you will. She was sent to keep an eye on Delita by the Church of Glabados, and to terminate his life at the first sign of betrayal. Yet, she did not, even when she was well aware that he was not loyal to them.

And he didn't kill her either. Something was going on.
In the ''personae'' section, it said that Del had much respect for Balmafula. Maybe she liked him. Why didn't she kill him? We know naught of her, so we don't know if she was physically capable of doing it or not.
It is, of course, much more genuine and tragic when you have to imagine it all yourself. I cringe when I think of the FFVII love triangle. Still, Balmafula deserves much more than what the game gave her. I woulda loved to see her character elaborated upon much more than this.

That's my example. What about yours?

[VeloZer0]

FFT is an aberration of a game where it doesn't contain a single character I don't like. I think all of the characters are interesting enough that I would like to know more of them.

HOWEVER, I think that the minimalist approach is one of the games strengths. If anything, the later FFs have shown me that in the hands of Square writers all giving them more dialog will do is give me more opportunity to find something I don't like about them. I think it is kind of a careful what you wish for scenario, I loved the FF7 world but after the whole compilation I can certainly see the value of leaving things to the imagination.

If you want to see them fleshed out more there is always FanFiction.

[Nevermore]

HOWEVER, I think that the minimalist approach is one of the games strengths. If anything, the later FFs have shown me that in the hands of Square writers all giving them more dialog will do is give me more opportunity to find something I don't like about them. I think it is kind of a careful what you wish for scenario, I loved the FF7 world but after the whole compilation I can certainly see the value of leaving things to the imagination.

Aye, a good point, and one which I've acknowledged. However I didn't quite get the positive approach that you did when it comes to the game's minimalist approach. I always felt that with some characters, something was fleshing out, and then it just drops, to be concluded with them dying or forming a pact with the Lucavi.
Kinda felt like when Harry and Cho broke up, and then he just ends up with Jenny for the sake of convenience.

Not saying that this is what it is, just that it felt like that to me, and so I had seen potential with some characters like Zalbaag or Balmafula who didn't succumb to the fate of so many others. But it's a tragic tale, so it's not really a beef with me. It does it way better than so many other games do when they borrow such a concept.
Maybe I'm too used to traditional gaming and storytelling though.
Which, by the way, I'm sick and tired of. For all the faults I might like to find in a game like Tactics, it's a damn refreshing change from most of what's out there.

If you want to see them fleshed out more there is always FanFiction.

Haha, surely you jape.

[Roogle]

I was under the impression that Valmafra and Delita may have been sleeping together.

Valmafra has a job class called Witch of the Coven in the data of the game, and its description implies that she wields great magical power. I think that the Church chose her to watch over Delita for a reason, and the confrontation that we see between the two in their final confrontation does not even give a hint of her true power.

[Nevermore]

Witch of the Coven huh? Interesting, never knew that. I think I remember reading a FAQ about the classes you never actually see in the game for some of the characters, but I don't recall at this point.

So hey, maybe they were sleeping together, or really thinking about it. I sort of had this same feeling as well, or at least, were circumstances to differ, something may have happened between them. But then they probbaly would have never met if things didn't turn out as they had...I wonder what Delita would have been doing had he not felt so strongly about Ovelia and his drive to not let her become another Tietra. Unless he was ultimately doing all this for himself and to appease the gravity of his pains and his self blame for not being able to save his sister, he might have just chosen anyone to save. But I think he was a little too smart for that, and definitely honest in his intents.

Anyways. I'm hijacking my own thread.

Witch of the Coven. That's awesome. Now I'm wondering where she actually comes from and how she got to be a witch.
Certainly not through the Church of Glabados, I'm sure. I don't remember what it says in her brief profile other than Delita having respect for her.

[Del Murder]

I agree with Velo. I think leaving some of it up to the imagination has a certain charm. We have seen what happens when Square tries to overdevelop its characters. Not good.

I do think it would have been cool to see some more of the minor characters but only a little bit more.

[Roogle]

Witch of the Coven. That's awesome. Now I'm wondering where she actually comes from and how she got to be a witch.
Certainly not through the Church of Glabados, I'm sure. I don't remember what it says in her brief profile other than Delita having respect for her.

Yes, the description of the Witch of the Coven job class describes her as a powerful witch who has made a pact with The Dark to place its power under her thrall.

There is a lot of content left out of Final Fantasy Tactics. Valmafra is one of the characters that works perfectly in battle despite never appearing in a battle.

[VeloZer0]

That link is broken I was so excited to read it and everything.

I was under the impression that Valmafra and Delita may have been sleeping together.

I had never even considered that until now. I still don't see it, but I can understand how someone would get that impression. If that were the fact it would say quite a bit about Delitia and Ovelia's relationship.

[Roogle]

The link works for me at multiple locations. You may want to clear the cache of your Internet browser or switch to a new Internet browser in order to view the site.

I had never even considered that until now. I still don't see it, but I can understand how someone would get that impression. If that were the fact it would say quite a bit about Delitia and Ovelia's relationship.

I only assumed that this may have been the case because it was mentioned that Valmafra had started to become enamored with Delita, and they worked so closely together. In that political and cultural climate, I truly doubt that Delita and Ovelia had ever engaged in any intimate physical contact until after their wedding, and I think that someone as manipulative as Delita may have sought to fulfill his needs elsewhere in the meantime. The implications to me were that Valmafra and Delita were far closer than they should have been socially, which would lead to a situation where someone like Valmafra would get closer than she should have.