Aheehehee this made my morning, though! I could ramble for hours about Nel and her place in Star Ocean, but I'll try to keep that to a minimum.
JRPG as a genre is plagued by the same character archetypes happening over and over again. SO3 was no exception (young teenaged boy undergoing the Hero's Journey, damsel-in-distress Sophia, battle lolita, etc etc), but when I played for the first time I was struck by this competent, level-headed female character. She saw people for what they were and not how they appeared. She didn't spout random unprovoked misandry, and she was there to do her job and do it right, come hell or high water. She was religious, but not overbearingly, and didn't try to use it to justify war or killing, even though she did both of those things. She wasn't a caricature of extremes. Nel was military, but not heartless. She'd do what needed to be done but nobody got left behind as long as she could lift a dagger. Other people came before her own personal well-being, something that I loved and hated about her when it turned out to be to her detriment.
I love her moderate position and her loyal/defender 'tude and her character design. The long scarf is a bit silly, but it could be much worse-- she doesn't have a bajillion useless belts, and her hair is in a military-practical bob.
Basically, Nel was the first strong woman I found in a media that wasn't novel-based (I was raised on Tamora Pierce, haha). She had a huge impact on me and what I wanted to see more in common media-- not clones of Nel, but women who existed to be sufficient unto themselves without being flawless.
Right now in her current game she's in a bit of a rough spot-- almost broken, but not quite. I'm going to build her up again over time and all will be well.
Aheehehee this made my morning, though! I could ramble for hours about Nel and her place in Star Ocean, but I'll try to keep that to a minimum.
JRPG as a genre is plagued by the same character archetypes happening over and over again. SO3 was no exception (young teenaged boy undergoing the Hero's Journey, damsel-in-distress Sophia, battle lolita, etc etc), but when I played for the first time I was struck by this competent, level-headed female character. She saw people for what they were and not how they appeared. She didn't spout random unprovoked misandry, and she was there to do her job and do it right, come hell or high water. She was religious, but not overbearingly, and didn't try to use it to justify war or killing, even though she did both of those things. She wasn't a caricature of extremes. Nel was military, but not heartless. She'd do what needed to be done but nobody got left behind as long as she could lift a dagger. Other people came before her own personal well-being, something that I loved and hated about her when it turned out to be to her detriment.
I love her moderate position and her loyal/defender 'tude and her character design. The long scarf is a bit silly, but it could be much worse-- she doesn't have a bajillion useless belts, and her hair is in a military-practical bob.
Basically, Nel was the first strong woman I found in a media that wasn't novel-based (I was raised on Tamora Pierce, haha). She had a huge impact on me and what I wanted to see more in common media-- not clones of Nel, but women who existed to be sufficient unto themselves without being flawless.
Right now in her current game she's in a bit of a rough spot-- almost broken, but not quite. I'm going to build her up again over time and all will be well.
Thank you! (for letting me ramble, too, hur hur)
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