Am I going nuts...

[Skyblade]

No, you couldn't cut Vaan from the game and expect it to play out the same. Vaan's development is crucial because it directly affects Ashes development. If he was unable to overcome his own desire for revenge, he would not have been able to help Ashe overcome hers.

I felt his scenes with Ashe were awkward, unnecessary, and didn't actually change much about her character.

Tidus on the otherhand could easily be removed from FFX with zero consequences. Should he have not existed, Auron would still have guarded Yuna following his promise to Braska. He would still have lead them off the track to train against harder foes, he would still of witheld information from them so it could have a bigger emotional impact when the party found out, and he would still have given his warcry and lead the party against Yunalesca. Auron blames Yunalesca for the death of his two best friends, and after failing to get his revenge once before and being killed for his troubles, he comes back with a team of powerful guardians and tells them now is the time to fight... his plan from the beginning. Tidus doesn't change any of this.

No, you couldn't have. Auron is too conservative, probably because he was raised in Spira. Tidus is the character who causes Yuna to question her beliefs and ideals. She wouldn't have overthrown the yoke without him, because she never would have asked any of the questions which eventually caused her to rebel.

Also, when I said that Vaan was the only character who could be removed without affecting the story, I was referring to FFXII's characters (though I respect your right to make a similar accusation about X). Removing anyone else, even Penelo, would have changed the plot (due to her ties to Larsa). But Vaan does nothing.

The laughing scene is a million times worse than the "I'm Basch Fon Ronsenburg" scene. I can only assume you're trolling when you say such things.

The laughing scene, while incredibly awkward, makes sense, which is FAR more than you can say about the "I'm Captain Basch" scene.

I've posted it before, but I'll go ahead and give my defense of the laughing scene.

They're two teenagers stuck in very uncomfortable positions. Tidus, facing the reality that he'd never make it back to his home, and Yuna, facing her death when she summons the Final Aeon. Each is contemplating the end of all they've known, and neither really knows that the other is in the same situation at this point. The scene is uncomfortable and full of nervous energy, and the laugh is their way of releasing it. It sounds forced and unnatural because it was, and it was supposed to be. I thought it was quite well executed and fit perfectly with the characters and the situations they were in. And then we get to everyone else staring at them and calling them nuts, and that fit too. This sort of thing is one of the things I like about X's characters, and, while the scene may be awkward as hell, I wouldn't want it removed.

The "I'm Captain Basch" scene, in addition to be horribly acted, makes no sense whatsoever.

Vaan gets exactly one outburst (when he's confronted by the man he believes to be his brothers murderer), he matures pretty fast after that, as a result of learning of the horrors in the world and being an active part in trying to free Dalmasca from the Empire. Tidus keeps up his tantrum throwing for most of the game and he almost never has a reason like Vaan does for his one and only outburst.

If you want to hate on Vaan, i hope you'll be mature enough to talk about it in detail, unless you just hate him because he has painted abs, in which case i'd just be wasting my time talking to you.

I hate him because he's a bland character who doesn't seem to develop naturally. You say he "matures pretty fast", but that's not necessarily a good thing. Tidus's whining served a point. His story was about him growing up, accepting the world and its problems. Vaan's "development" usually feels forced and unnatural. During the handful of scenes where he actually addresses his issues, it never feels like he's coming to terms with things, but rather that acceptance of the issues is just being magically fed into him. It's a problem he doesn't whine, because he has a lot of reason too. A character who has held on to those issues for that long should not get over things as quickly as he did.

Partially this is due to FFXII's game design. There's never a scene where a character walks away from the party and takes time to think. We never see Vaan actually process or work through any of his issues. FFVII, FFVIII, FFIX, FFX... In each of these games we get points where the party just thinks, about their situations. It never happens here.

Also, Ivalice's massive scope actually hurts the game here. It's so large, and so open, that scenes which show development are few and far between. When you spend three hours between one scene and another, it's hard for them to feel joined.

Vaan: How can he protect anything when he's dead? Was it different for Prince Rasler? Did that make sense? Hating the Empire, getting revenge.It's all I ever thought about. But I never did anything about it. I mean, I realized there was nothing I could do. It made me feel hollow, alone. And then I'd miss my brother. I'd say stuff like "I'm gonna be a sky pirate"... or some other stupid thing. Just anything to keep my mind off it. I was just - I was running away. I needed to get away from his death. That's why I followed you. Know what? I'm through with it. I'm through running. I'm ready to find my purpose. To find some real answers - some reasons. If I stick with you, I think I will.

Although, looking back at it, it has some merit, at the time I played it, I loathed this speech. It seemed to come from nowhere, it wrapped up too much too fast, and it felt unnatural. His free admissions didn't seem to fit his development at that point.