Angst does not a deep character make

[eowynjedi]

When it comes to favorite games, people often list IV and VI, but skip over FFV. It is often held to be a step backwards in terms of its plot and characters... being "another save the crystals" game with characters that are "undeveloped." I'm not disputing that save-the-crystals has been done before or will be done again, and while I still love FFV

Comments

[carbonatedh2o]

! <3

That was great! FFV is so underrated, and that makes me sad. D:

If you were to add more, I'd suggest writing why Exdeath is the most kickass villain ever, better than Kefka and Sephiroth and all those people.

[paperclipchains]

I'd be interested to read it.

[eowynjedi]

That would be another fun one to write... although this one took me around a year to finish (and I can still see errors in it). I shall give that one a crack after I finish writing my anti-Locke/Celes essay. XD

[morgan303]

Wow. Thanks for that. I haven't played FFV, and now I want to.:)

[eowynjedi]

Glad to hear it! ^_^ FFV is an excellent game.

[paperclipchains]

My issue with this is that.. Well, I mean, if you can't make an argument without putting down the other games, it isn't a very strong argument. Obviously that's an issue with Bartz's section... My other problem is it that it just plain isn't accurate! Cloud and Squall were brooding and grumpy, true, but both Tidus and Zidane are similarly optimistic. I'd still say that Bartz is unique because he's sort of an everyman. "I'm just a boy with my chocobo!" is a romantic ideal in its own way.

ALSO WHERE IS BOCO'S SECTION?

I like what you wrote for Faris though. I didn't realize that anybody over the age of 14 bashed her?

[eowynjedi]

Tidus can be a serious downer in his narration, and he has serious issues with his father that tend to come up a lot--also a lot of his optimism seems (to me) to stem from his ignorance of how Spira works (his persistance in talking about what they're going to do "after" Yuna's pilgirmage). He also had a pretty privileged life before landing in "real" Spira, where life is a lot rougher, and the reality of things can really grind him down. When the truth is revealed to him, he pretty much flips his lid. So I would say he doesn't have the same sort of optimism that Bartz and Zidane do... he just expresses his emotional issues differently than Cecil and Squall do

[paperclipchains]

He can, that's true - but he doesn't fit in the same mold as Squall and Tidus, at any rate. This is sort of precisely my problem - you talk about the brooding and angst of the other characters when in reality, there are only two other characters who are even arguably solid brooding and angst. It wouldn't even so so much like bashing if it weren't for the deviantart link lambasting Cloud as ~*emo*~. I don't know - when you're trying to balk stereotypes and shed light on a character, isn't it a little strange to simulataneously embrace the negative stereotypes about his/her peers?

[eowynjedi]

The link to the DA piece was intended to be lighthearted facetiousness (as is the comic itself). If you read the majority of what I wrote for Bartz, it's not so much saying "this is how he is BETTER" as "he is not flat and here is why." The Bartz section and some of the Galuf is really the only place where I draw direct comparisons between the FFV characters and the characters in other games.

And of the FFs where the characters have set personalities, most of the leads do seem to have Issues that come up in a big way... it might not be brooding, no, but Tidus, Vaan, and Locke (who tend to come off at first glace as optimistic folks) all end up having game focus on them and their problem at some point. Also, I think Terra and her emotional issues could be called similar to Cecil and Squall's definite brooding... she seriously questions whether or not she's fit to be a part of the Returners, loses the will to fight at a later point, etc.

[laughinghyena]

I'm actually playing Final Fantasy Anthology's Final Fantasy V at the moment, I'm around world three dealing with Easterly Falls

[eowynjedi]

No need to apologize for rambling! XD The essay itself is pretty wordy

[laughinghyena]

Yeah, on X-Death. However, he's much better certainly conning the characters. He's a smart asshole to be sure

[first_seventhe]

I really like this; thanks for compiling it! When I first played FFV I thought the characters were stale and boring (but loved the job system enough to not give up on it). After playing FFV Advance, however, I really feel that the new translation lets these things shine through. I would honestly recommend FFV:Advance to anyone who may have played an emulator translation -- it pretty much knocks the 'boring character' concept out fo the water.

[eowynjedi]

Thanks for reading! (I'm really surprised so many people have read and replied to this, haha.) Yeah, when I first read the emulator script years ago, I really didn't find any of them interesting or stand-outs either. But the Advance translation is really excellent, particularly for NPCs like Ghido.