In response to Problems (gasp!) with recent Final Fantasies

by R. Ringer

Like Lord Bahamut's, this editorial may contain Final Fantasy 6, 7 and 8 spoilers, so read at your own discretion.

In his editorial, Lord Bahamut observed the lack of a leader in Final Fantasy 6, and pointed out that this detracted from the game. However, this is simply his opinion, and personally, I believe that the lack of a leader is part of what made Final Fantasy 6 what it is. Because of the lack of a main character, Final Fantasy 6 was able to focus on the individual storylines and personalities of the entire cast of 14 characters, and not simply follow the storyline of one character while slowly revealing subtle details about the other characters.

As far as Kefka goes, I could not agree more. He was ridiculously weak, especially for someone who had supposedly attained the "ultimate" power. The Atma and The Statues were more difficult to defeat than he was. In fact, most of the bosses in his tower were tougher. I suppose the battle with the huge tower of beings (which I have dubbed "The Giant", "The Collage of Evil", and "The Beauties") was supposed to account for Kefka's lack of strength, but it was, in the end, very anti-climactic for this final villain with kickass battle music to be be killed with only a few hits, especially considering that the player has been waiting the entire game to kill Kefka because of all of the attrocities he commits. (He literally destroys the world, for crying out loud!)

Final Fantasy 7 was not a game I enjoyed seeing critiqued so harshly, mostly because it is, in my opinion, the greatest game ever made, just as it says on the back cover. Yes, Cloud starts out cold, and acts pretty much like Squall in Final Fantasy 8, but then does a complete turn-around and acts like Locke in Final Fantasy 6. This reveals something interesting about this character. Cloud is not a bad guy; he just puts up a tough exterior because of his traumatic past that he wishes to bury inside a cold shell. But the moment he meets Aeris, her own brand of simple human purity breaks through his tough exterior, and he finds himself completely unable to be cold towards her.

And I suppose that, because Cloud thought he was Zack, that makes him a "wussy", or so says Lord Bahamut. Cloud had a horrendous past. He saw his role model go insane and kill his best friend and leave Tifa near-dead inside the reactor. (I don't want to say he burnt the town, because I'm not sure that he did. That is one of the story elements I do not completely understand.) He then manages to get a lucky blow in to stab Sephiroth before his carnage can continue, and as a result of their fight, Sephiroth ends up in the Lifestream (more on that later) and Cloud is left nearly dead. At this point, he is taken to Hojo's lab, where he is subject to terrible tests with Jenova cells, as are all of the other victims of Sephiroth's rampage. (Except for Tifa, who was saved by Zangan.) But before Hojo can finish destroying his memories, he is rescued, which leaves him in a screwed-up state with no memory of his true past, believing that he is Zack. How does this make him a wussy, I ask?

As Lord Bahamut did, I will outline each character separately.

Barret: Much like Cloud, Barret has a hardness to him that is a result of his past. His wife was killed and he was blamed for the destruction of his home, all because of Shinra. He sets out on a personal mission of vengeance, but that does not mean that he does not care about things such as the planet's survival, and even a daughter that isn't even his.

Tifa: She was simply being a good friend by not revealing Cloud's past to him. She may have even been in denial herself (a traumatic experience like the one they were involved in can really mess up one's mind.) But even if she wasn't, she knew that telling Cloud would result in his mental collapse (which it does.)

Aeris: She is on a mission to find out who she is, and when she visits the Temple of the Ancients, she finally does. Finally realizing who she is and what her power is, she goes off to save the planet, knowing that her Holy materia is the only thing that can save it. This adds so much to her death scene. Not only is the scene a tear-jerker, but it adds to the hopelessness of everything, as she was supposed to be the last hope.

Red XIII: Not everyone has to be be a cold-hearted beast because they can be. Red XIII is fierce on the battlefield, but he does have a heart, mind and soul. After all, that's what separates a beast from a sentient being, correct?

Yuffie: Regardless of popular opinion, I think Yuffie adds some much-needed comedy to the story. In a cast of characters with dark, disturbing and sometimes gruesome pasts, she is quite the relief. And the whole Corneo quest allows for a chance to reveal more about the Turks' characters. She reminds me of the spunky little girl that is present in many anime (Japanese animation... but you knew that, right?) movies and shows that never seems to go away, no matter how annoying she can be, and how much the other characters may dislike her.

Vincent: Not significant? Aside from simply being one of the coolest characters in the game, Vincent plays a key role in the overall storyline. It is because of him that the details about the Lucrecia/Hojo/Vincent love triangle can be seen, and the secret of Sephiroth's true mother is revealed. Not attaining Vincent is a big mistake, as it detracts so much from the storyline. And he was a former Turk who's been genetically mutated and imprisoned. He wears red and black with a red cape. He turns into monsters and uses handguns. How can you not love him?

Cid: I agree that the swearing shouldn't have been censored (nothing should be censored, ever, for any reason, damn it!) and I agree wholeheartedly that he runs like he has a stick up his ass. That is kind of... weird.

The Turks: They aren't evil, they just do their jobs. It's just that their jobs require them to be sneaky, underhanded sons of bitches from time to time. Reno is a party animal, Rude is a quiet alcoholic, (along with drinking buddy Reno), Tseng is a slick professional, and Elena is akin to an "executive assistant" trying her hardest to please her boss so that she can get a promotion (and a date. She has a thing for Mr. Tseng. Too bad he'd prefer Aeris. Ah, the beauty and sorrow of love triangles.)

And Sephiroth... well, he's far from a pushover. It took me about 15 to 20 minutes just to beat Safer Sephiroth. Certainly a lot longer than the 5 it took me to beat Kefka. And Sephiroth's whole backstory is so interesting. His connection to Jenova, how he is pushed into the lifestream so that all of the Sephiroths we see (even Safer) are simply clones. (That's why Cloud fights him one last time at the end. He's fighting the REAL one.)

I agree, Final Fantasy 8 had some lows. It had a lot of lows frankly, but I did not see is in the same negativity as many do. I played through it, and was quite satisfied. I realized and accepted that Square would never be able to make a better game than Final Fantasy 7, and accepted 8 for what it was; an above-average RPG.

Squall has the whole "cold shoulder" thing going because of his past. He lived in an orphanage and his matron was the person he's fighting. His big "sister" disappeared... I won't try to remember much about Final Fantasy 8, as I haven't played through it in a long while. But anyway, Squall is very unlike Cloud because meeting a pure-hearted young girl does not change his attitudes. I'm suprised she sticks with him for as long as she does, but she obviously sees something in him. It takes something bad happening to her for him to actually realize how much he cares for her. This is a common human trait. We take things for granted and don't care about them until they are taken away from us. This is exactly what happens in this case. And your opinions on Seifer are yours, not mine.

If you really want a good rant, I suggest playing Final Fantasy 9. It is one of the worst games Square has released in a long time. The characters are relatively two dimensional (he's a good guy, he's a bad guy, she's the lovely princess, etc.) and the only character I find really interesting is Vivi. The storyline is quite weak, the music is one of Nobuo Uematsu's worst scores (not even coming close to the greatness of his scores for 6, 7 and 8, and even 4 and 5) and apart from Kuja's various themes, and some scattered themes here and there (like the Black Mage Village theme) I'd say it really isn't deserving of the name Final Fantasy. Overall, I'd say that 9 is one of the worst Final Fantasy games in the series, definately worse than 8. (And 8 wasn't even that bad.)

All games have their flaws, but as I have pointed out, some flaws can be reasoned with and cannot be considered flaws at all, but rather enhancements of the game.

"This guy are sick." --Aeris

Yes, the folks at Square Quality Control were dozing when they read that, weren't they? That's some nice grammar.

R. Ringer
-Drop me a line if you agree strongly and want to praise me (please), or you disagree and want to rebut, or if you hate me for some reason and want to respond with a childish flame that will end up in the trash folder. ^_^

Original Editorial: Problems (gasp!) with recent Final Fantasies