The Hows and Whys of Pants in Ivalice
I have a peculiar habit when it comes to RPGs. I really enjoy them, and have been addicted to many a Final Fantasy, but if I get interrupted? I lose all that momentum and it's really hard to pick up where I left off. This is why I have a stack of RPGs sitting around half-finished. Love 'em, just can't get back into them. I put 125 hours ( ! ) into FFXII before the trip to Philly at the end of December, but the week off took me out of the mindset, and I wasn't able to really get into it for a month. I even played some other things (like renting and beating Bully, which is excellent) So, after a month and a half of stalling, I finally was able to get back into the game the other day, and deciding that I've waited long enough, skipped the rest of the marks and went straight for the ending. Hurrah! Lovely ending to a lovely game. Can't wait for Revenant Wings, despite the jarring art style.
I figured there wouldn't be anything particularly spoilery (except for the obvious things, like all of the Espers in the art section, etc.) on the Collector's Edition bonus DVD, but felt like waiting to watch it until after I had finished it anyway, just in case. No Matsuno interview (he wigged out got sick a couple of years ago, after all. Not around on the staff for an interview), but Alexander O. Smith and Joseph Reeder are on there talking about the translation! And the scenario writer on there makes some excellent points about none of the characters being entirely good or evil. Love shades of grey. Hitoshi Sakimoto prefers field music over cutscene music from the game, and of these, his favorite is Cerobi Steppe (nice song, but I think Sakimoto's strength is in his more exciting themes). Character designer Akihiko Yoshida's list of favorite artists includes Rembrandt, Katsuhiro Otomo, Millet, Whistler, and Moebius. His interview also has this absolutely awesome answer to "What are some of the tricks of the design trade?" that explains so much.
Akihiko Yoshida: "When I'm having trouble coming up with a design... or I'm otherwise stuck... I'll start working on the back or buttocks. Using these as starting points... the ideas seem to flow very smoothly for me. It's not something I really understand myself. The designs for many of the characters in this game started this way."
...bwahahahahaha. :D
I think
mullenkamp 's VS pants icon here illustrates some of this very well. And we can't forget talk of FFXII's battle wedgies (end of game spoiler at the end there, beware). (illustration borrowed from that site)
I figured there wouldn't be anything particularly spoilery (except for the obvious things, like all of the Espers in the art section, etc.) on the Collector's Edition bonus DVD, but felt like waiting to watch it until after I had finished it anyway, just in case. No Matsuno interview (he wigged out got sick a couple of years ago, after all. Not around on the staff for an interview), but Alexander O. Smith and Joseph Reeder are on there talking about the translation! And the scenario writer on there makes some excellent points about none of the characters being entirely good or evil. Love shades of grey. Hitoshi Sakimoto prefers field music over cutscene music from the game, and of these, his favorite is Cerobi Steppe (nice song, but I think Sakimoto's strength is in his more exciting themes). Character designer Akihiko Yoshida's list of favorite artists includes Rembrandt, Katsuhiro Otomo, Millet, Whistler, and Moebius. His interview also has this absolutely awesome answer to "What are some of the tricks of the design trade?" that explains so much.
Akihiko Yoshida: "When I'm having trouble coming up with a design... or I'm otherwise stuck... I'll start working on the back or buttocks. Using these as starting points... the ideas seem to flow very smoothly for me. It's not something I really understand myself. The designs for many of the characters in this game started this way."
...bwahahahahaha. :D
I think
mullenkamp 's VS pants icon here illustrates some of this very well. And we can't forget talk of FFXII's battle wedgies (end of game spoiler at the end there, beware). (illustration borrowed from that site)