Shades of Gray

by Montie Magree 

A huge majority of my friends, including myself, did not understand the conclusion to either Final Fantasy 7 or Final Fantasy Tactics. I think the problem may be in what we, the American public, expects rather than massive translation problems or an incomplete, rushed, or shoddily done ending. Square has always pushed the boundaries of what RPG's stand for, especially in story content. I think that American gamers should take a long, hard look at themselves before criticizing the writers, the translators, and Square in general.

In this age of ever increasing sophistication, maybe, just maybe the American gamer has fallen behind. The endings of both of the recent, oft debated FF games, I think, are symbolic rather than realistic in nature. It was not meant to be the traditional game where they wrapped everything up in a nice little bow for the 6 year old to be able to understand. No, they created a rich tapestry that the gamer must interpret for himself. The games that Square creates now are to be thought about and reasoned through, not spoon fed to an over eager public wanting mindless, drooling entertainment. Many in the US have expressed their discontent over Square not bringing over all its RPG's, the current crisis being over Xenogears, yet when they do send over a title the gamers moan that it did not make sense to them or it wasn't clear enough or any number of complaints. People, these are games of high fantasy, not realistic portrayals of actual events. Turn on your imagination and think about what you see on the screen. The end of FFT is, in my opinion, a metaphor for even after all the sacrifice, the death, and the trimuph, nothing changed. Hero’s come and hero's go, evil may be defeated in one form, but humanity stays the same. The sacrifice made did not change the world, but it changed a person's mind, and what more can a hero try and accomplish?

Don't look for straight answers and easy resolutions. Square has moved beyond the sword and sorcery genre; they have moved into maturity, something American gamers say they crave, but bemoan when they get. Square is no longer black and white, it is now shades of gray.