How would you improve Vaan?

[Kalevala]

Vaan's real problem was that he was never even in the game to begin with (or Penelo) but the test market in Japan didn't like a story featuring "old people" like Basch and Balthier as leads. Sooooo as a total afterthought, the kiddos got lumped in to tag along. Balthier even makes a joke about being the leading man near the beginning of the game.

So yeah... more plot.

That's fascinating. I wonder just how different the end result would have been without them.

Balthier is 22 and Basch is 36... "old people." What the smurf, Japan.

[Lone Wolf Leonhart]

I like Vaan.

People can hate but he started the best FFXII trend around the forums, which was when several members tried to convince everyone else they were the real Captain Basch.

Dem abs tho. I don't know if they were just a sign of the graphics at the time or what but I would change the look of them or adjust his clothes. I always feel so bad giving critiques because I just picture the designers hard at work trying to do a good job.

I'm sure they'd look fine if we get the FFXII HD people have been thinking about ever since X HD came out.

[Fynn]

Honestly, I was never really bothered by the abs. They fitted the stylistic direction that the game's graphics took, in that they tried to represent Yoshida's brush strokes, which I think they did a really good job with. I just think he looks better in a shirt.

[LocoColt04]

For what it's worth, I actually liked Vaan. They did a halfway decent job integrating him and Penelo into the storyline, but you can tell they just aren't "important" when you look at how the other four tie in to everything.

Love the game though. I'm interested to see Fynn's rant about this at some point.

[Silent Warrior]

If anything, I would just dial back on the Japanese humour. (The little 'argue like a married couple' skits with Penelo and his insta-enthusiasm as soon as airships are mentioned, specifically.) Doesn't work on my old Scandinavian funnybones...

I too think Square did a good job on Vaan and Penelo, making them plausible characters. So, Vaan isn't a cookie-cutter bona fide hero, big deal. Characters don't have to be paragons or help you through a life crisis to be well crafted, right?

[Raistlin]

I'm in the minority that didn't really have a problem with Vaan (except for his poor sense of style). I thought starting off someplace local gave the player a starting point to start to care about the broader world, and he could be safely ignored after that. Maybe he could have been injected into the central plot more, but that would have likely ended up corny as hell ("Ashe's long lost bastard half-brother!") -- which would have been especially out of place in the more mature plot development that made FFXII stand out from most other entries in the series.

Plus, he was not nearly as annoying as Tidus or Squall.

[Rostum]

I actually quite like Vaan (and Penelo) as a character, it's just that he needs a more integral role in the story. He doesn't need to be the hero, but he needs to offer something to the party more than what he currently does.

[Fynn]

I actually quite like Vaan (and Penelo) as a character, it's just that he needs a more integral role in the story. He doesn't need to be the hero, but he needs to offer something to the party more than what he currently does.

But he's influenced Ashe's judgment, which is pretty damn important. But I've already talked about that at length

[LunarWeaver]

I think if he were a chocobo Penelo kept as a pet he would be much cooler.

[Rostum]

I actually quite like Vaan (and Penelo) as a character, it's just that he needs a more integral role in the story. He doesn't need to be the hero, but he needs to offer something to the party more than what he currently does.

But he's influenced Ashe's judgment, which is pretty damn important. But I've already talked about that at length

Sorry lately I've been more inclined to skip most of the thread.

[Fynn]

I actually quite like Vaan (and Penelo) as a character, it's just that he needs a more integral role in the story. He doesn't need to be the hero, but he needs to offer something to the party more than what he currently does.

But he's influenced Ashe's judgment, which is pretty damn important. But I've already talked about that at length

Sorry lately I've been more inclined to skip most of the thread.

Not this thread, though

[maybee]

he should of burst into song about how tough it is to live on the streets, be poor and and be a thief

[Dat Matt]

Would have preferred it if he wasn't "Main Protagonist". The main characters are usually the first people you control that stay in your party for an extended period of time. Vaan is the first person you control, so I'd alluded to that he is your main character.

The story revolves around Balther and Ashe more than anything else. Personally, I think than Vann, Bashe and Fran were all equally dull. Penelo was not much better but at least she was cutesy enough to ward off the dull.