GuttersnipeMav's forum posts
That being said, one of the things that made Final Fantasy VII so great was that it never pulled any punches. Each emotional twist and turn wrenched at the heart of the player. The obvious example is *SPOILER* Aeris *SPOILER END* This "hit" came not only as the emotional blow of losing one of Cloud's potential love interests, an integral part of the motley band of heroes, and the last remaining Ancient, but as a physical blow as well. Due to the leveling, only characters that actually participated in battle received Exp, AP and learned new Limit Breaks. Therefore, were you to spend a lot of time on Aeris in the first two discs, all of that work, experience, and limit break unlocking was gone. Done. For naught. Aeris's death is just one example of a way in which Final Fantasy VII got you invested in a character so deeply that you truly felt it when something bad happened to them.
This is also one of the reasons players became so attached to Cloud. He was not a Superman character. He had no messiah-complex. In fact, his past history and mental state were so damaged that he assumed the identity of his dead friend, denied what makes him unique, and truly lost faith in his ability to save his friends, his family, or himself.
Cloud's resurrection, physical (from wheelchair to defeating Sephiroth), mental (poignantly displayed in Tifa's final understanding of Cloud's true history through piecing his mind back together in the Mideel Lifestream), and spiritual (in finally harnessing not only his own personal power, but that of Aeris's strength and the Lifestream itself), is a cornerstone of what made FFVII so enjoyable an experience.
Crisis Core. Oh, Crisis Core. Such high hopes for you, I had. You delivered on them in the most part. You had a working, if not entirely fair or sensible, battle setup, and the poignant relationships between Zack and Cloud and between Aeris and Zack...but you tripped at the finish line.
By this, I don't mean specifically the End Game, although that also falls under the umbrella of "Tripping at the Finish Line." By "Tripping at the Finish Line," I mean this: Crisis Core was supposed to be dark. When I say dark, I mean BLACK. Bleak. Miserable. Hopeless.
This is NOT to say the entire game should be this way. A game with no hope is not worth playing. There are hints that Zack knows where he's headed towards the end of the game, but hope is NECESSARY to make the player want to see the game through to the end. Even with Crisis Core, where the end is already known by the vast majority of players playing it, there's a little bit of hope that maybe it will be "all right" in the end. This is a sharply recognizable feeling, one we all deal with at some point in our lives: we all must face our own ends, and hope that things will be "all right."
What I DO mean to say is that, in Zack's final chapter (in corporeal form, at least), life is very, very bleak. He's on the run from an enormous army of ShinRa soldiers. Cloud, his only companion, is on a mental bender and is completely useless, and possibly permanently damaged. He is far from home, unable to see his family, all of his former friends have turned on him, and he hasn't seen or heard from the girl he loves in 4 months. Add to all of this almost certain death. This is supposed to be a SAD story. This is supposed to be a BLACK moment. This is beyond discussion. Now, to the crux of my argument.
In the final moments of Crisis Core, a barely-aware Cloud approaches the shattered, broken body of his friend and savior, Zack. Zack's body is perforated, steam slowly rising from numerous bullet holes in his armor, the hot lead being cooled by the first drops of a fast-coming, drenching rain. He is bleeding profusely. Cloud is distraught. He now has no one in the world to help him, and his only friend has just been brutally murdered by the company that employs both of them. Zack is unperturbed, though, stoically accepting his fate and passing the blade that has represented so much to him, Angeal his mentor, and his entire legacy, to Cloud, confident that he will do it honor.
-CUE THE GIRLY JAPANESE POP MUSIC- Unnntzz Unntzz Uunntzzz! Bring the dance party! WHOOOO!!!
Do you see what I'm getting at? I have no problem with Zack dying with a smile on his face. Sure, he's going to die, but he's confident his death has not been in vain. It is painful, but what isn't in life? He can rest easy knowing Cloud is okay. I ALSO have no problem with him appearing happy with what lies in front of him: the Lifestream is a joining of his very being to that of the Planet, and every being that has ever existed. He's going "home."
What I DO have a problem with is the obscenely moronic direction of his death scene, and everything surrounding it. Girly Japanese Pop Music is not the correct score for a death scene. Neither is bright happy sunshine and an emotional feeling like I just finished a challenge in Kingdom Hearts. If you want a way to ruin a carefully, if not perfectly crafted mood, this should be a textbook case study.
I will also take issue here with something that crops up in MANY earlier parts of the game: the DIALOGUE. "Grasp your dream!" God, this isn't Weight Watchers. The dialogue in this game makes all those self-help books you find in the bargain bins in Borders look innocent of hyperbole. I won't spend too long on the idiocy of Genesis's repeated recitations of Loveless, which is poorly written in the first place, but I think we all know the lines coming out of Zack's mouth have the tendency to be EXTRA-cheesy. Not the bit about his legacy. I understand this completely. However, I can only stand hearing "Protect your SOLDIER honor! Chase your DREAMS! :) :) :) :)" so many times before it starts to wear thin.
To conclude: Zack's death is low point in the history of Final Fantasy VII. It is an emotional punch-to-the-sternum for Cloud. It is an event that requires dignity, honor and especially tact in depicting. It is finally a scene that demands emotional attachment, involvement, and most important, EMPATHY, from the player to function correctly. It seems, however, that Square-Enix was thinking about none of these things when it crafted Zack's final chapter. Instead, we get Girly-Japanese-Pop-Music that Squeenix was apparently VERY concerned about licensing, and everything that THAT entails.
Shame on you Square-Enix. Shame on you. You took one of the most potentially powerful moments in one of the most successful gaming franchises ever created, and BOTCHED it horribly. I wish I could completely rewrite MUCH of the dialogue in this game, including ALL of Genesis's lines, a TON of Zack and Angeals, and I wish I could COMPLETELY rewrite the entirety of the last scene. The most frustrating part is that, for a few minutes, Square-Enix GETS IT RIGHT! They're on the right track in the beginning! The first two-three minutes of Zack's death scene are BEAUTIFUL! They are captivating! Indeed, they are the beginning of a masterpiece. Unfortunately, no one pays for half a ticket. The ending left a sour taste in my mouth, but not because Zack died. I left this game with a sour taste in my mouth because Square-Enix killed him with Girly-Japanese-Pop-Music.
I hope some of you agree with me. If you don't, feel free to defend the presentation of Zack's death, and the dialogue throughout the game. I appreciate you taking the time to read this long argument, and hope it has made sense to you.
Unfortunately, and I hate to say this...but FS_Metal was right. He was right all along.
http://www.destructoid.com/more-detail-from-square-president-no-more-non-mainstream-games-allowed-87774.phtml
I love Final Fantasy, and I love Square-Enix...but restricting creativity is not the way to save a business. I really hope this doesn't spell disaster for the franchises that I know and love.
On another note, hi everybody! I've been a part of this union for a while, and I've posted a bit (some unfortunate drunk posts were moderated...oops!) over the years, and I'm trying to be more active. Welcome to all the newbies!
i got like 4 different copies of OOT on different systems....most def. my favorite game of all time right there!
diddyj
...how could you possibly own Ocarina of Time on different systems? It only came out on N64...and unless I'm mistaken, may be released over the Nintendo network for the Wii? Is that correct?
To reiterate, how could you possibly own OOT on multiple systems?
lol
is it important ? imo, that list is trash.
TheLegendKnight
Honestly, I think you're overlooking a valuable resource then. That list has been a pretty faithful guide for me over the last few years, and if GTAIV is really scoring this high...then maybe we should all believe the hype. The only way to figure it out, though, is to get it ourselves. :)
Hey folks. I was watching the few clips on the interwebs from the secret ending at the finale of KH:II and, as I've never seen them before, was completely blown away. Several questions have been floating around in my head. Oh, if you need a link, here it is:
(The First Part)
(The Second Part)
Clearly the armor that the three initial keyblade wielders is inspired by the Judge Magister armor from Final Fantasy 12, and originally Final Fantasy Tactics and Square's created world of Ivalice. My questions begin thusly: Who are the three wielders? The one frozen at the end is clearly Roxas, but the woman with the blue hair (possibly another member of Organization XIII?) and the man who doffs his helmet in the final seconds so that we might see his eyes change from blue to yellow (a spine-tingling effect I might add) remain unknown. Momentarily I considered that the man might be Sora, advancesytd in age, but his hair-type is completely different, and I just can't see Sora wearing armor, though I think it would be very cool if in the coming KH games the characters were seen to have aged slightly.
Also, who is this mysterious mage who also wields a keyblade and is apparently attempting to try to kill Roxas et. all? Why do the three keyblades, given up by Riku, Sora and (I think?) Mickey appear aged and abandoned? Why are they surrounded by thousands of other keyblades? Is the second assailant, wearing some form of exo-skeletal armor reminiscent of Riku's armor in KH:I, the evil mage's Nobody? His Heartless? Is he a completely seperate entity? (This seems less likely, as he forms out of the double image of the wizard.)
Thought I'd start the conversation off with questions, so we can all kick the ideas around. Have at it!
[QUOTE="fs_metal"][QUOTE="WSGRandomPerson"][QUOTE="fs_metal"]Ashe and Fran....oh wait...:P That would be hot though ?:P
WSGRandomPerson
That would be weird. Since Fran is already a bunny chick. Beastility. =[
Sora and Kairi's relationship seems to be the best..IMO
First off, it's bestiality, not beastiality. Second off, it wouldn't be bestiality. Fran is not an animal
Sorry for the typo. And how is Fran not half animal? She's half Moogle. Moogles seem to be pretty animal like to me.
Ewww....you are so, so wrong. Fran is a Viera, a race of taciturn and emotionally reserved forest-dwellers who keep to themselves and tend to shun the technological world growing around them, perhaps due to their sensitivity to mist. She's not part Moogle, and definitely not part animal.
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