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Thread: Character vs. Plot

  1. #16
    Newbie Administrator Loony BoB's Avatar
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    I guess they intertwined a lot. But looking back on the entire experience, I remember more about the plot than I do about the characters. I wonder how much playing the character packs changes that... I never did.

    I mean, I remember key points in the plot and how they impacted the characters, that's for sure. I remember the characters being seriously central to it all. But for me, FFXIII is a better example of characters > world plot.

    I learned so much about the characters in FFXV but I never really felt there was the character story to push them. They were just who they were, with a couple of exceptions. I get the feeling there was a lot of room for us to explore their characters if they just put more into the (original) game. I'll play the character things eventually... maybe. xD
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  2. #17
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    Admittedly, my only experience with the characters is from the trailers (and, what stands out the most is the car trip trailer, which is what destroyed my interest in the game), but they seemed incredibly bland, stereotypical, and cookie cutter. It was actually part of what killed my interest in the game.
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  3. #18
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    They are kinda cookie cutter, and that was my biggest fear going into the game, but I think the English VA managed to give them enough personality to grow on me. Rather, as an English speaker, it had more fun listening to the dialogue than when I watched Brotherhood or previous trailers (or even the Duscae trailer, which was apparently dubbed way faster than the industry standard).

    But anyway, to get on topic, I have mixed feelings about Character vs Story. I was going to say "story", because some of my favorite writing in RPGs has comparatively little character development (Valkyrie Profile, FFXII, SMT3). But then I remembered how much I love Persona 4 despite the fact that its story is... frankly it's kind of a mess. I know YMMV on the game's writing, but I kind of like that the story took a backseat to the characters. Oftentimes, the game's setting reminds me more of Rune Factory or Harvest Moon with a murder mystery to pull the plot along more than SMT or the other Persona games, but that's alright.

    I guess what I'm trying to say "it's a case by case basis", or more specifically: "it depends on what the writers want, and how well they accomplish whatever they prioritize". Like FFVI is great because it expertly switches perspective between 3-4 "main" protagonists, and every character feels fully realized, but I equally like the writing in FFV, where the camaraderie among the 4 stock characters and the hijinks they get into during their quest is given more emphasis than any of their personal backstories.

    EDIT: Now that I think about it, SMT3, Valkyrie Profile and FFXII all have strong world building in common... plus I've been interested in Chrono Cross for the same reasons. Hell, even what I said about Persona 4 is due to the fact that I love the "world" of Inaba for reminding me of farming sims. Might go with Skyblade and cast my vote towards the world being the most important element.
    Last edited by Edge7; 11-16-2017 at 06:53 PM.
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  4. #19
    *permanent smite* Spuuky's Avatar
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    I agree with Skyblade - the most important for me is neither of these, but the game world and the world-building. I can get by with boring characters in a fascinating world just fine. I can even get by with a boring story in a fascinating world. I want the world to be interesting and compelling and explorable and discoverable. This really gets to the heart of why I hated FF13, really, even though the subject is overdiscussed to death. I didn't mind Lightning, kinda liked Sazh, the story had some interesting moments, but the world was just not THERE.

  5. #20

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    I'd say the characters. I sometimes forget the story half way through.

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