REBUTTAL TO: Journey's End
SPOILERS FOR: Final Fantasy VI & VIII
I do not agree with Cidolfa’s “[RPGs] fail to take advantage of something that both movies and books do - weaving several plots into one” statement. I also think he has not played enough RPGs because he thinks in most of them you can only control one main character and that’s totally wrong. Let me explain you:
To begin with, SEVERAL RPG’s aside from Xenosaga and BOF have more than one main character. The first game than comes to my mind is Square’s 16-bit masterpiece: Final Fantasy VI. This is one of my favorite games of all time, and one of the best of the series because it’s unique approach and the fact that THERE IS NO MAIN CHARACTER. It’s a whole story where there are lots of characters equally important, with different backgrounds, problems, thoughts, etc. Yeah, you could say Terra begins as the main character in the game, but later, she leaves the party and reunites near the end. Some may say the main characters are Celes and Locke, but hey, then, what about Terra???
Here we find another interesting point. In FF6 many different stories weave into one, contrary to what Cidolfa says. In FF6 we have Terra struggling for finding herself, being half human and half esper; Locke falling in love with Imperial General Celes, Shadow living in mystery (you can learn more about him in his dreams), the story of the 2 Figaro brothers, where only one could be heir to the throne; and other minor stories like Gau’s, Setzer’s, Relm’s and her grandpa, Cyan’s lost love and many others. All those stories come together when all the characters meet and join forces to fight the empire and then ultimately Kefka.
Ohhh my!!!…remembering that charming story almost brings me tears of joy!!!
To me this RPG has one of the richest stories of all time, and it was totally ahead of its time.
And it’s not only the wide selection of characters there; you can actually control them all. You can BE them…you can choose your party. At some point after the party meets the Returners the charming story splits into 3 branches, featuring different characters and parties. You can even choose the order you play the different paths!! And finally the characters reunite and all the plots become one. Wow!!! That’s mastery at storytelling meeting videogames.
Beside FF6 other games feature different main characters and parties you can control along the game. I’ll keep it short because I have written too much about FF6 already.
a) In Phantasy Star 3: Generations of Doom you control 3 different generations to get to the end, and you actually make decisions that change the outcome of the game, resulting in 4 different endings.
b) In FF8 there’s a point when the story splits having Squall and some guys on one party while the second party travels to the missile facility to try to stop the attack to Trabia Garden
c) In FF8 the main character is Squall and the story is around him and Rinoa, but, there are some points when another pseudo “main character” is thrown. I’m talking about Laguna Loire and his adventures in the past with his friends…and in the end his story and Squall’s become into one. As a matter of fact, Laguna is Squall’s father!!!!
RPG’s have given us very unique, great and complex stories, not limited to one main character or one main plot. And I think this is going to get better with time as technology improves and more work and resources are put on making great games. Mix that with innovation and we have a very bright future ahead.
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