Comments | eva_kasumi: That FFXIII game again: villains, character arc, and plot.

eva_kasumi

That FFXIII game again: villains, character arc, and plot.

Jul 09, 2010 19:48

I was talking to my brother about FFXIII last night, and he mentioned how knowing that there's only two chapters left in the plot makes the incredibly speedy deaths of two of the main "villians" a lot more understandable. But that made me realize that part of the problem with XIII is that it doesn't really have villains.

( The following discussion contains spoilers only if you have a very limited imagination. )

video game discussion, final fantasy xiii

Comments 12

urbanberber July 9 2010, 18:34:04 UTC

Okay before I touch your review--"Clearly, this is to show that Yaag is a bad-ass. Also, he’s apparently trying to call Otacon with the Codec."

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHIASJDKKJASHD

And now that that's out of my system...

This game makes Shadow Hearts: Covenant and Quest 64 sound like masterpieces. God damn.

eva_kasumi July 9 2010, 19:39:15 UTC

I KNOW RIGHT. And the fact that these two articles are from before the game was even released just backs up my point: these characters were promoted as relevant and important and yet they were completely insignificant in the course of the game. What the shit.

It really does. At least Shadow Hearts has an understanding of the basic rules of storytelling. And I've never played Quest 64 but I'm going to assume there's a quest involved, which means it has a more propelling plot than this game.

urbanberber July 9 2010, 19:41:45 UTC

Wow, that's even...worse, yeah. Wow wow wow, Square.

Yeah, it's sad that a game like SH does a better job at storytelling than an FF, but. Also I'm not entirely sure what Quest 64 was about anyway--something about a mage and a princess and a thing. But even without knowing it sounds like it just makes a whole lot more sense than XIII.

eva_kasumi July 9 2010, 21:00:28 UTC

And at least SH is tongue-in-cheek.

I don't even know what to think of XIII anymore. It's frustrating, but it's also profoundly sad, because damnit, it could have/should have been good. There was nothing stopping them from making this a good game--they just did basically everything wrong. But it was all decisions that they consciously made in the writing/production process, that they decided this direction would be better than another, and that's just so depressing to me.

r_amythest July 9 2010, 21:26:39 UTC

In FFXIII, there's the Pope-dude, who makes one or two press releases and whom you fight, uh, once--and it's not like you didn't see that coming anyway, because even if he weren't obviously evil, I'd like you to name me a single JRPG in which there's an organized religion that isn't evil and in which you don't fight the Pope.

Screw that. In Fire Emblem, the gods are evil and you take it right to them.

JRPGs really enjoy sticking it to religion, though. I love it.

eva_kasumi July 9 2010, 21:35:33 UTC

Tell me about it. How many games have you just work your way up the spiritual food chain? I bet there's a TV Tropes page about it. JRPGs really hate organized religion.

(In ToS the angels had snazzy sneakers, though.)

r_amythest July 9 2010, 22:47:04 UTC

(ToS has the best Complicated Evil Religion. ♥)

vyctori July 9 2010, 22:21:37 UTC

I have never played this game and have no idea what's going on, but is it just me or does Jihl really look like a sex-swapped Jade Curtiss?

/overwhelmingly relevent observation

eva_kasumi July 9 2010, 22:59:56 UTC

She does. Also like Quistis. Also like a variety of other vague "sexy librarian villains," as the article put it. Also she has the absolute most obnoxious shirt I've ever seen. What is it, painted on? SHIRTS AND BOOBS DO NOT WORK LIKE THAT.

vyctori July 10 2010, 00:00:46 UTC

I went to look up what Quistis looked like, and now I'm thinking Nephy. *not obsessed with Tales of the Abyss at allllll...*

Yeah, idk about that shirt, man. But then again, realistic costumes in a videogame?

miffedplatypus July 9 2010, 22:51:24 UTC

First off: I love you! You have pretty much put into words what I haven't yet. While I do like the game, there is just so much wrong with it ( ... )

eva_kasumi July 9 2010, 22:57:47 UTC

Yeaaah. Jihl was... a completely inconsistent and poorly realized character. For the two scenes that they gave her. Didn't the Edgeworth-looking dude die already too? I'm pretty sure he died. He was pretty useless.

Oh, Square. Didn't you already do the nature vs machine commentary with Final Fantasy X?

Popes in JRPGs are like lions in bad action movies: you gotta fight 'em.

Thanks for avoiding the spoilers, though. There are so few plot twists that I must milk each one for every last scrap of enjoyment, if I can.