Alright then, if you gotta put it like that I'll take up the challenge.Originally Posted by Vyk
From my POV the point kinda defeats itself? You say you find the cast of FFX not likable or insufferable. That means they have actual human personality traits, that you dislike. They are written as human beings, rather than just to fulfill a role. And that in itself to me just shows that its writing is essentially "on a different level". Because you really can't even begin to dislike a lot of the earlier characters, because what is there to dislike? Nothing. Most of them are a fusion of backstory with simple but effective charming character traits; but that's no "personality", and certainly not human.
Final Fantasy VIII was really the first major departure from this with the infamous orphanage twist being IMO the perfect example of how character backstories are NOT used as substitute for personality in that game. It's jarring if you're used to that sort of thing I guess, but there's something charming to me about how little the orphanage twist matters, because they're not walking backstories, they're *people*. You can tell a line of dialogue Zell says is one of his because... he's Zell. He's fundamentally different from Squall, from Irvine, from Quistis, Selphie, Rinoa, Seifer, everyone else, because he's a *different person*. I'd say this also applies to the core cast of FF VII, but FF VIII is notable in how this feels like the writing behind every single cast member.
Now take a game from the SNES era. Most of these games have characters who are, as I mentioned before, a fusion of a backstory with simple but effective charming character traits. Some of these might hit or miss for you, I know some people find Bartz's denseness or Edward's cowardice or Edgar's womanizing grating even, but the principle is the same whether it works for you or not. But I can't call that human. I don't see how you could begin to actively dislike characters like them, they're really not defined enough to call forth that level of emotional response in any capacity to begin with. If you have a strong aversion to womanizing maybe you "dislike Edgar", but it's not like that trait of his is narratively relevant. It doesn't inform any of his decisions or feelings in any way that makes them uniquely "his" where someone else would've acted or felt differently. Of course he also only ever makes like 1 or 2 decisions of his own in the entire game. There's just really almost nothing to work with there.
I know this sounds like I'm ragging on the SNES games but I don't really hold this against them. They are from a different era, attempting actual human writing would have been awkward and simply not playing to their strengths at that point in time. They know what kind of characters they can portray effectively, and they stick to it. And I do find them charming, and a lot of them - like Kefka - are really well done. Plus, ultimately, they are also paving the way for future games to build on the groundwork they laid down. FFX could never have come directly after FFIII obviously. Rather, my point is that I feel like even comparing the characters of a game like FFX and FFIV/V/VI, even Chrono Trigger which is a game I adore, in terms of writing is "unfair", because they're on entirely different levels. Because FFX has the ambition of writing actual human beings. You may dislike them as people, or you may find them unconvincing as humans. The latter is a writing flaw (if accurate), but the former most certainly is not - it's what it *means* to write humans.
Take a character like Rikku for instance, and how both her environment and personality work together to form her character. She grows up among the Al Bhed, which are essentially archetypical "heroes" in Spira: people who will fight for what they feel is right even if the entire world is against them for it. As a consequence they keep their eyes mostly on doing actual good no matter how it makes them look, leading to them both "kidnapping summoners" while also "heroically guarding them with their lives" at once. Which is reflected differently in Rikku and her pops, because, well, their personalities are different. Cid is confrontative and also has just seen more trout so he has no patience for people's bullcrap, neither the Yevonites who want him dead and he can tell their justifications for it are garbage, nor someone like Tidus who he sure as hell won't trust the words of if his actions don't live up to them. Rikku on the other hand is not that confrontative, but she's not naive either, she doesn't buy people's bulltrout any more than her pops does, certainly not the idea of these pointless summoner sacrifices that ultimately just keep the wheel of death turning. To the point of trying to find a way to go against the party in the latter stages of the pilgrimage. But at the same time she's definitely not as experienced as her pops, as she seriously falters in the face of the impending doom at Zanarkand - she doesn't buy into it having some greater value, but that doesn't mean she has answers. She is also pretty empathetic and wants the people she cares about to be happy, while Cid and demonstrably most other Al Bhed would sooner keep them safe even against their wishes. The effect of Rikku's environment are keenly felt in everything about her, and Rikku and Cid and are parent and child after all, but the core differences in their personalities and experience makes it come out in different ways, resulting in different people. Who she is is even expressed in gameplay as her Steal, Use and Mix abilities has her firmly focused not on false morality or even any sort of physical or magical talent, but rather of making the most effective and creative use of whatever she can get her hands on without holding back, giving her serious combat value in spite of having horrible offense and defense on paper.
Freaking hell, that was *one* character who even I think the story ultimately did dirty by not including her enough in the later stages of the narrative, but these are observations on *how she acts and feels* and how it is reflective of both her environment as well as what sets *her* apart from others in it, creating an actual human being of a character. THAT'S the level of character writing FFX has, and I dare you to try to make even half that amount of observations and reads on characters in other games in the series, and you better believe I could keep going about Rikku alone for a while still. Hell, I don't even think it's that great in comparison to other RPG series, but it's head and shoulders above its series predecessors without a doubt in my mind.
I know I'm probably more passionate about FFX than even most of its fans seem to be, but I find that FFX rewards having that level of passion for its writing. I'm also passionate about FFV and a number of other games in the series, but just not for the same things. I think it has an amazing combat system and its story is full of charm and just plain fun. Chrono Trigger is an absolute masterpiece as well, playing to the era's strengths perfectly. And I don't think either of those two "suffer" from not having the kinds of qualities and ambitions FFX has. It's just a different kind of game they play at.
TL;DR you have your objective and subjective backwards. The cast of FFX is "objectively" written as incomparably more human, but of course you're under no obligation to like them for who they are, and a cast filled with people you don't like is not going to result in a great game experience. That is, however, what "subjective" means, not what "objective" means. At least own your own subjectivity against it and for other games rather than justifying it as objective. I don't hold it to anyone that they have to like FFX for any of what I just said after all, but if you're gonna put things like how you did, saying *I'm* the one with rose colored glasses lacking objective perspective, I will definitely defend its writing =P
And just as a side note, since you did go a bit more into the jarringness of Yuna's character, that's also just being human. Can confirm since my mother is exactly like that - absolutely hates confrontation but very obstinate about things important to her regardless. It's not a contradiction, it's writing humans.
Reply With Quote