It is a HATE story.Originally Posted by Christmas
The lack of LOVE is perfect.
It is a HATE story.The lack of LOVE is perfect.
The first 20 hours were something of a bore for me also, but it does progress and becomes quite an enjoyable trip. You know that feeling when you actually start caring about the book you are reading or the movie your are viewing? That happens around this point in time.
At least that was how it was with me.
As for the love story, I don't believe it would have fit the storyline, seeing as it is steeped in politics and mystery rather than the focus being on the introspective storytelling of the characters' emotional makeup and relations.
...
I like the gameplay and doing all the sidequests was fun, but without good developed characters, which this game does not have, with the exception of Balthier, it's not that great. To me, the story didn't go anywhere and I'm at the end of the game right before going to (SPOILER)Bahamut.
Last edited by Omni-Odin; 11-20-2006 at 08:36 PM.
Final Fantasies defeated
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When you say that the story starts getting interesting around the 20 hour mark, where exactly in the story is that? I've clocked about 50 hours and I don't feel engaged in the story at all yet (but I love the game anyway), and I just got to Mt. Bur-Omisace (I think I am going through it slowly, so play time as an indication of a certain part of the story is not necessarily useful).
なんだかずっと夢を見ていたようだ
I'd say the story starts picking up after, say, Raithwall. It picks up a little more after Mt. Bur-Omisace. But yeah, it's still not great.
I'm not looking for a huge twist or insanely complex, but this game is a huge amount of filler. Things start off well, then you run 50 hours of errands, and then things end well. It suffers from Kingdom Hearts II syndrome where very few things of importance are sprinkled in the center. There's a lot of talking but nothing actually happens. It wasn't until I was about 35 hours in my first time that I realized not very much had occured.
When I beat it and reflected upon the whole game, all I could think was that the fluid translation had completely hidden the fact that the plot and characters didn't go very far.
Now don't get me wrong, I do like the plot. Really, it probly doesn't seem like it, but I do. It's different and totally Matsuno, and he's about nations and not characters so whatever. The characters are likable, and I wish I got to see more of them, but I'm not gonna get it and I suck it up. But that doesn't change the fact this stuff feels like it's over a decade old. In fact, I think FFVI had better things going for it and it really is a decade old.
Shadow Hearts: Covenant is also about going from point to point with a group that assembles for little reason and barely speaks with one another, it also has a very shallow overall story when analyzed from afar, and it still managed to pull off a plot I consider to be great. It's not like I have unrealistic expectations from the story simply because the name Final Fantasy is on the box. It doesn't take that much to please me, and I think things turned out nicely, but I also had a part of me that was left rather unsatisfied by the whole thing. That's just how I feel, folks.
FFXII has memorable moments in it and I enjoy it, but it's nothing grand. FFXIII probably will go back to the way VII,VIII, and X is, and also include a huge love story, I don't know... I actually hope so, because I think they have better stories. But since Nomura and Toriyama are attached to them, many people are going to hate it before they play it anyway.
(SPOILER)I don't see how each has their reason to be there. 5 of the 6 characters could not even exist and it would make little difference whatsoever.
Vaan openly admits he's "Just along for the ride," and Balthier eventually says "I'm only here to see the way the story plays out..."
Well, Penelo is there because Vaan is (and does appromixately 0% important activity), and Fran is there because Balthier is. Basch is there because he feels as a knight he's honor-bound to his Queen. This means that 5 of the 6 characters are along for the journey because they were bored and had nothing better to do with their time. Eventually, Balthier becomes committed because of Dr. Cid's involvement, but that's not until later in the game, and that still leaves the other four, not to mention the supposed main character Vaan who is nothing but extra baggage that Ashe allows to be dragged around after her.
Last edited by LunarWeaver; 11-20-2006 at 11:02 PM.
I agree with everything LunarWeaver just said; that perfectly expressed my sentiments. Although I hope FFXIII isn't like VIII or X.
Well that all sums it up I suppose.
~RIP owen~
I hate love story because it's sad. I like a happy story like FFXII. Love story made me sick.
Lunar (SPOILER)Basch feel responsible for Dalmascan defeat and decided to help Ashe, remove him from the bored party.
Last edited by Dell; 11-21-2006 at 01:01 PM.
The Late Owen Macwere Production.
FFX's plot twist was great I thought. I love that Tidus hides the fact that he's gonna die until the end. All the PS FFs were very satisfying for me
I am at the point right before you head for the final battles, and I don't even feel like finishing the game at this point. I will do other stuff like hunts and find espers, and eventually I will beat the last boss, but there isn't really any urgency to anything (storyline wise).
Since most 'love' love stories are extremely horrible to me I am very glad that a love story was not included. (FFX offered for the first time the innovation of me being able to leave the room for the overtly sappy parts.)
And yes, I most certainly noticed that quite a few characters are just along for the ride, and I can't say I'm pleased as to the implications on the story.
I think your generalizing the whole situation too much LunarWeaver. When I really look at the characters personalities. The fact just comes down that they are all really just normal people and what can really be said about normal people when placed on the greater backdrop of the world crisis.
Vaan and Penelo are just two people who got drawn into the whole mess and decide to stick around to see how it will finish. But it could also be looked as two people who dreamed of helping Dalmasca finally having a real opportunity to make a difference. Sure they can't do much since their basically children compared to everyone else but at least they are trying to do more than "play" Robin Hood or sucking up to the Imperials in order to calm their anger caused by said robin hood wanna-be's. It's their chance to finally do something and hey, they get to see the world while their at it. Bonus!
Ashe is princess mourning the death of her husband and father and trying to revive her fallen kingdom. The real conflict with her is (SPOILER)her choice between doing what is right for her people and what she wants to do. She wants to punish Archades with the Nethicite but she realizes that her own kingdom may be once again be drawn into the conflict as well as the obvious fact that punishing Archades would not really help her kingdom.
Basch wishes to correct the mistake his failure has caused, I don't see how that's "just along for the ride"
Balthier has his own past but mainly joined for the money (Is it wrong for a rogue to join a group only for the money?) (SPOILER)Though I expect he really joined to watch Lady Ashe and see if Nethicite would corrupt her like his father. Spectavely speaking, perhaps his true intention is to better understand his father who abandoned everything to know the secrets of Nethicite.
Your correct about Fran though, but that doesn't mean every character has to have a real personal reason to be there. Besides, we should be thankful we have a Viera helping out. Not like the entire race really gives a damn about Ivalice.I throw her into the FF tradition (Since FFVI and only skipped in FFVIII unless you count Zell...) of "token non-human". Sadly, all characters that fall into this tradition have never had a really good reason for helping out let alone a well developed personality.
Ultimately, with the exceptions of Ashe, Balthier, and perhaps Basch, everyone else is basically normal people. They may not have real trauma and issues to fight throughout the story cause their is nothing there yet. Fran has her past secrets but she seems really content with her decision and thus storywise there is no point to really dwell on it and evaluate the reasoning behind it. Mostly cause we can see the logic of why she chose that path and that's just it. Vaan, Penelo, Fran, and Basch basically come on the stage and say "Here I am, this is what I'm all about. You can either accept it or not."
Vaan matures quite a bit from what I've seen. It's not spelled out for you, but it's only something you begin to slowly notice. It's because that's how it is in real life. People change slowly and gradually. It's why we wake up one day and realize we've changed after all these years. We just never really notice I guess.
If you really think about it. Not counting FFI-III and FFVIII. All the FF's are filled with people who are only involved because they got caught up in the "grand struggle" that unfolds during the story. We could easily evalute that all but the few I've mentioned, has a few people who had no real business being with your party for longer than they had to be.
True beauty exists in things that last only for a moment.
Current Mood: And it's been a long December and there's reason to believe. Maybe this year will be better than the last. I can't remember all the times I tried to tell myself. To hold on to these moments as they pass...
I'm pretty glad that there aren't a million really sappy cutscenes. I enjoy the love story aspect of past games, but this one is more...I don't know, a little more epic-movie-like, and I'm enjoying it.
there's really not much of a plot... i'm not sure if the bad guy is even bad, but it's a great game. not sure where to place it in the rankings of all final fantasies... i feel like it didn't live up to it's hype and reviews.
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