Ripping it all Apart (Part 1? Major FF spoilers)

by Tomm Hulett 

If you're reading this rebuttal, I assume you've already read Josh Maciel's detailed editorial about the similarities between Final Fantasy 9 and the previous games in the series. I'm not going to argue his main point--he's right. I will, however, nitpick and bitch about the majority of the details he used to support this claim--because they were wrong.

I don't understand if the editorial was supposed to indicate these character similarities as being good, bad, or indifferent--but many people read "similarity" as boring. I don't feel the characters are as cut-and-pasted from previous games as Maciel indicates.

Let's start with Zidane. In the editorial, he's listed as a mix of Locke and Cloud. I'm not going to argue with Locke, because Zidane's a Locke ripoff. He also has completely different character development, a different past, and different aspirations. I will, however, dispute the Cloud claim. Zidane is created to be a catalyst in Gaia to bring about the triumph of Terra. Cloud THOUGHT he was any number of things, but when Tifa goes in and clears things up, we find out the truth. Cloud was a regular old grunt, who was injured and then taken into a laboratory. Zack helped him escape, and he ended up muddled in Midgar. Like the other experiments, he'd been brainwashed to go to Sephiroth. Cloud was not "created" nor was Sephiroth his "purpose". Zidane wasn't subconscously lead to his destiny. In fact, Zidane accidentally defied it all--Zidane didn't disrupt Gaia, nor care about Terra. Also, and I'll say this again later, Sephiroth is not Cloud's brother. Where'd that come from? Now, you could argue that Zidane was CECIL--what with being uber-virtuous and siblings with the fake main-villain.

Let's move on to Princess Garnet, or Dagger. I don't remember Rosa being a princess. I remember her being a healer and a mage, but never a Princess. In the Japanese version of FF4, in fact, Kain and Cecil were adopted by the King. If Rosa were Baron's princess, that'd be akin to incest, sorta. Rosa also wasn't a caller, and she loved the protagonist from the very beginning. I'll argue that being magical and wanted doesn't make her like Terra--it makes her like nearly every magic-wielding main character in any story where magic (in this case summons) is a lost/powerful art.

And no, Vivi doesn't remind me of Rydia...not at all. Rydia didn't use fire because it destroyed her village. Vivi doesn't use magic at first because it causes pain--which the "evil" mages use, and Vivi doesn't want to be like them. After 3 hours of gameplay, he sheds this belief, though, and it's all good. Comparing Vivi and Squall nearly made my head hurt...they have nearly nothing in common. Vivi isn't lonely in the same sense that Squall was. Squall was rejected and ignored by peers. Vivi wanted to learn about his people and heritage and purpose in life. Vivi had friends from the start of the game, with Puck, Zidane, and going on up. Squall never developed and taught others lessons in life...Squall hardly developed.

Quina is exactly like Umaro, Yuffie, Strago, Relm, and Gau in the respect that all but a select few will find her utterly useless. You can't say she's like Gau because she gains enemy abilities--that's a FF character concept called Blue Mage. Making that assumption is like saying Cid (FF7) is the same character as Kain or Freya because he can jump and throw his spear.

How is Steiner like Seifer again? Does he injure Zidane? Is he the main motivation in Zidane's actions? Does he betray Zidane and go to the bad side? Does he kill Odin (heh)? Steiner is, in fact, like the big general from the FF anime, though. No argument there. He also has none of the plot similarities that Barrett had, and I think "flying off the handle" is an unfair comparison. Any game has a character that flies off the handle...but that's a later point. Onward!

Beatrix. Mr. Maciel isn't the first to compare her to General Leo...she uses Shock for goodness sake. But she doesn't die, as he notes. She also makes a change in her loyalties to fight on your side--General Leo didn't. Beatrix isn't blonde by any stretch of MY imagination, and she looks more like Lina Inverse than Celes. How is Steiner/Beatrix' relationship similar to that of Leo and Celes? Leo and Celes had no relationship! Celes was loco for Locke, and if Leo loved anybody, it was Terra.

Freya I won't argue about...he brings up points that my main point will argue. So yeah.

Ditto for Eiko.

If Amarant is anyone, it's Seifer; considering he's the moral opposite to the main character. However, his innate similarities to Zidane make it impossible to compare him to the other characters. Never does he leave a life behind (Shadow), act muscle-headed and strong (Sabin), sacrifice himself (Yang), and ...maybe Kiros.

Kuja didn't go mad during an experiment. Kuja didn't want to be a puppet. Instead of accepting a new role in life, he felt the need to destroy his old role--and then the world. His only motivation in this struggle was to validate his own existence. He only remotely wanted to be a god (Kefka), and hated his reason for being on this planet (Sephiroth trying to complete Jenova's purpose). "Not all that bad"? Like hell! Well okay, he repented...but there's a line between being brainwashed and being "CrAzY!!!". And lastly...again...Sephiroth was not Cloud's brother!

What's the point to all this? Are we arguing over minute points that don't matter? Sure the specifics I brought up ARE different...but the main concepts (loneliness, last of kind, wanted for power, etc) are just like Josh said! Sure, but using this logic, I could compare any two characters from any form of entertainment. In Star Wars, Harrison Ford plays Han Solo, a loveable rake who gambles and flies things and people from place to place. Is Setzer a Han ripoff? Well no, because Setzer was into opera divas, wears a trenchcoat, and plays cards--he's obviously a Gambit ripoff (heh). Seriously, though, Setzer had a past that includes a lost love who raced airships with him. He learns you can't depend on luck for all your life. The DETAILS are what make character X different from character Y. Find me an RPG with a cast of 8 character that DOESN'T have a character who's lonely, or related to someone else in the plot, or struggling to find themself...and I'll show you an RPG without much character development.

Also, I think people might read Josh's editorial and think "Geez, FF9 is rehash city. Thanks for saving me forty-bucks, man!" This isn't the case. FF9, while sharing several elements of previous games, has a beautiful story that should please old and new gamers alike (no, really...it's not hype. It really will). When FF7 came out, I think a lot of people were disappointed because what they were expecting was FF6 in 3D. Sort of a "remake" of the same emotions and feelings they got from the previous games. This is what FF9 is. I won't spoil them, incase you read through this entire thing and ruined the game for yourself--because these moments are some of the best in gaming. When Square said PSX could do things in RPGs we'd only dreamed of--FF9 is what they were talking about.

Sure, elements and character archetypes have been grabbed from other games and melded into one. But it was done well, and it's what we wanted all these years. Gamers bitched when FF got different--now FF is back to "old style"...let's not bitch again.

I really do look forward to the rest of Josh's series--it's very interesting to read--and hope he releases them soon. I just hope some of the facts are more carefully considered (Sephiroth is not Cloud's brother!).

-Tomm

PS. As a final picky spot...Sakaguchi didn't make the decision to put all these past things in. He had hardly any role in FF9 at all besides producing it; meaning he said "make it what those whiny gamers want"...and they did. Shinji something or other did, that is. All Sakaguchi had to say was "hey, this is good!"....he was too busy making Summer 2k1's money machine.