To me Van was a support character. He was the idealistic young man with big dreams tagging along with the grim and determined older characters that had seen a lot more hardship the he and Penilo did. He wasn't the leader or even the catalyst for change. However I did like him for that innocent hyper exuberent drive for life.
Squall was weird for me. I hated him at first because he was a conceited arrogant elitist snot but then as the game progressed further he grew past his pettiness and became a good person that gave a damn about others. It was an interesting metamorphosis from a negative extreme into a better opposite extreme.
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Logged nightsavior has 156 Posts (+10/-0 Karma) |
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Squall was weird for me. I hated him at first because he was a conceited arrogant elitist snot but then as the game progressed further he grew past his pettiness and became a good person that gave a damn about others. It was an interesting metamorphosis from a negative extreme into a better opposite extreme.
That's exactly what I loved about him. He had a complete character change and the love-story between him and Rinoa touches me everytime I play it. I suppose that's why I don't like Vaan much as well - he doesn't go through much or any change. His "journey" is crudely symbolised by the airship he gains at the end and I don't feel he gains much out of the journey.
Each to their own I guess.
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Logged Lycanthroat has 128 Posts (+10/-0 Karma) |
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I agree Van didn't grow much. He went through so much but yet nothing changed him. I found that a bit unrealistic. I thought the other characters were a hell of a lot more interesting. (including Penelo.) I confess Fran stayed in my party a lot. But that was more for kinky aesthetic value. lol. Not to say Fran didn't have depth. I thought the Viera were a great race even if it never explained why most if not all of them were female. I think it was because they were born from the forest itself.(Very Celtic/Druidic vibe going there.)
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Logged nightsavior has 156 Posts (+10/-0 Karma) |
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I don't know though...
After playing ( and beating ) FFXII the charaters don't seem to have matured....or for a better word "change" much at all...
Vaan Whilst energenic doesn't gain any more depth of that...and it would seem at points the game even makes FUN of this!
Basch: So...Why are you still here?
Vaan: ...I....Umm...Err.....
Tell the truth...It would seem as if my true enjoyment with this cast was watching the responces they all gave to a situation then seeing each one of there backstorys...^_^;;
Also...I had always hoped that you could get at least one other sub-human other then fran...like a bangaa or something....but I guess thats why FFTA is around...So insted of all these different races trying to restore the origonal status qoe, we have alot of humans and a verra for the ride....v_v;
Not to say the game was bad...no....It just comes off feeling by the end of the day FFXI with FFTA's world layered on top of it...Witch I think could have ended up much more in depth then what we have now...>_>;
But theres FFXIII right?...=p
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Logged lipucd has 16 Posts (+10/-0 Karma) |
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I think for now 12 is as high as I'm playing. I confess ff 12 is almost my favorite in the entire series but that does not mean I cannot admit to its short-comings.
Really this is how it boiled down..
Ashe: The resourceful sharp tongued capable princess that should have been the lead but wasn't. Face it most of the plot revolved around "her" not Van.
Basch: I actually liked his back story and the torture he endured just because people thought he was his brother. There was depth to him even if he didn't say much. The tension Van felt around him was another good plot direction. But they resolved that issue way too fast with no effort.
Penelo: I just liked her. So helpful,kind hearted, and pretty. She's like that girl I wish I would have paid attention to in high school but didn't because I was stupid and horny.
Van: If you removed Van I doubt much of the plot would have suffered. His personality was great and I liked the "throw back" nostalgic factor of the bright eyed adventurous youth but as Lycan says no hardship EVER changes him or makes him mature. A lovable sap but still a sap.
Fran: I hate to say this but though Fran has potential to be an awesome character she is simply eye candy for the fellas. Despite her intelligence and battle prowess all she is going to end up being known for is "Rpg slut desperate male gamers want to tap the most." Poor Tifa suffered a similar degrading rep. Still because I'm a guy...I liked having a nice ass to look at. I know I'm awful. This was the type of girl I did pay attention to in HS. Sadly though they looked hot like Fran they weren't as helpful or nice as Fran.
Balthier: Balthier is awesome for the same reason Han solo and James Bond are. He's that suave,calm, dashing rogue that gets by most things unscathed. Every guy wants to be Balthier admit it. Having an air-ship would be cool too.
It's obvious the character roster could have been better and I agree more demi-human heroes would have fleshed out the party more.
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Logged nightsavior has 156 Posts (+10/-0 Karma) |
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FFXII is my last FF for now. Decent swan song.
Funny I actually saw Ashe and Balthier as the leads. It was hard for me to place Van in the role of the "lead hero" though I know that is what the designers intended.
Actually, FFXII is like FFVI in that, there IS no main character. They said this in interviews, if I recall. So while the story is told from Vaan's eyes, it's not really about him, just like FFVI isn't about Terra.
« Last Edit: August 12, 2007, 12:15:22 AM by Himuro »
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Logged Himuro has 151 Posts (+10/-0 Karma) |
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...True...but at least in FFVI Terra was a central point of the story....Unlike Vaan thats just kinda there because he can be...
...On the subject of FFVI...we need more ninja dogs...peroid...
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Logged lipucd has 16 Posts (+10/-0 Karma) |
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Fran: I hate to say this but though Fran has potential to be an awesome character she is simply eye candy for the fellas. Despite her intelligence and battle prowess all she is going to end up being known for is "Rpg slut desperate male gamers want to tap the most." Poor Tifa suffered a similar degrading rep. Still because I'm a guy...I liked having a nice ass to look at. I know I'm awful. This was the type of girl I did pay attention to in HS. Sadly though they looked hot like Fran they weren't as helpful or nice as Fran.
I agree. I admit it - Vaan, Balthier and Fran were my party members for the whole game. Vaan because I thought I should, Balthier because he's suave and Fran because I liked her weapon stances.
Fran was possibly the most interestingly designed character, but she is a walking otaku fetish. She's a bunny girl (hell, why didn't they make her a neko-girl) about 6ft tall with very tight, black bikini armour and she holds her weapons in her mouth as her victory stance. She's cool, but it's painfully obvious what she actually is.
She also was the most disappointing in terms of development - when Vaan asked her "How old are you?" in Eruyt Village it would've been so cool if she explained more about herself. The fact that she stamped off was a poor narrative choice on SE's part. I could've cried when I watched that scene (she was my favourite character up until that point).
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Logged Lycanthroat has 128 Posts (+10/-0 Karma) |
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I agree Lycanthroat. I really wanted Fran to be fleshed out too because I thought she was so enigmatic and intriguing. She had a wise yet tortured aura to her personality. She reminded me a lot of Rose from Legend of Dragoon only unlike Rose she wasn't explained as much. Just because a girl is a sexy bombshell doesn't mean it justifies not going into her history and the things that shaped her personality. To me Fran was more then an otaku fetish and I felt sorta bad she got treated like one.
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Logged nightsavior has 156 Posts (+10/-0 Karma) |
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I agree. I admit it - Vaan, Balthier and Fran were my party members for the whole game. Vaan because I thought I should, Balthier because he's suave and Fran because I liked her weapon stances.
My team was Basch, Balthier, and Fran.
Basch because he's badass. Balthier because he's badass. Fran because she has a nice ass.
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Logged Himuro has 151 Posts (+10/-0 Karma) |
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