ShiroiHikari wrote:Why is it so fricking wrong for fictional characters to grieve and be sad and unhappy?
It isn't wrong. However, there's a few problems. One is that video games are an inherently different medium than movies or books. Let's go with Philadelphia, a very popular movie that is pretty sad.
There is no evil empire in Philadelphia. The characters aren't fighting. They're not solving any mysteries. It's a story about a guy's life. This would not fly in a video game. Video games need some involvement on the part of the player, and some sort of "evil" to confront. Even Heavy Rain, as much like a movie as it is, has an antagonist. There's no fighting, no encounters, but there's still someone to go after, there's puzzles to solve, something.
Put quite simply, it IS unrealistic to have characters be whiny and mopey when they're supposed to be fighting the bad guys. I've been in the military, okay? When your dad dies and you're overseas, or your best friend gets shot in the face right beside you in a firefight, you don't have time to be weepy and emotional. You don't have the luxury of being able to throw down your gun and yell "WHAT AM I FIGHTING FOR?!" You're a soldier, you do your job. Don't like it? Shouldn't have signed up for the military.
And even MORE so if you're a criminal, or at least falsely accused of being a criminal like the characters are in XIII (I GUESS, I don't know I have no interest in it). If you're on the run from DA LAW and your friend is hurt you can't sit there and mope about it or you're going to screw up or get caught. You don't have time to be emotional if you're a fugitive.
It's at this point we get into the whole realism thing in games. Final Fantasy isn't realistic obviously, so should its characters be expected to act realistically? Maybe it's okay for them to be whiny and emo and annoying but that doesn't change the fact that most people aren't going to like them. Especially because Japan and America have different cultures. This is why so many Americans hate Raiden from MGS2, whereas Japan was pretty okay with him. Likewise, you don't see a whole lot of WRPGs that have the type of melodrama that most JRPGs have. Compare say, Mass Effect to Star Ocean. Big difference there in the mood and feeling of the storyline. It's just how the cultures are.
I think another problem is the fact that FFXIII has voice acting. The cast doesn't include say, Tom Hanks, star of Philadelphia, who is experienced and excellent at acting. They're just whoever can get hired. Remember how everyone hated Tidus from FFX and as a result, now hate James Arnold Taylor? And Tidus wasn't even emo!
I don't know if this is the case, since I haven't seen any cutscenes of FFXIII (nor do I even want to) but I have a feeling that whiny emo Hope and annoying loser Snow might not have the best voice acting. I can see how, especially in Hope's case, he might come off as histrionic as hell, and that would be horribly irritating. It's a fault of voice-acting, perhaps if it was text-only like the first 9 games, he would be better received (again, assuming his voice acting is bad, I don't know, I'm just producing a theory).
It also could be the younger characters, and thus, a younger audience involved. See, I was 19 when FF8 came out. I was in the Navy, already through boot camp, and so on. I'd grown up, matured a bit. So naturally, I thought Squall was a pathetic, whiny, stupid, annoying emo git. However, a lot of people who played FF8 were maybe 14-16. These people were in the midst of puberty and confusion and social outcasts, so they identified with Squall. "Hey, he's afraid of girls, JUST LIKE I AM! He's really bad at conversation, JUST LIKE I AM!" They latched on to him because they were exactly like him minus the whole weapons and fighting thing. I was over that part of my life, so I saw him for the stupid worthless crapsack he was. Actually all the characters in 8 were like that with the exception of Seifer...who was a bad guy.
And so, Hope probably comes off as whiny and emo to those of us older because we can't identify with him. Those who are younger and listen to Hawthorne Heights and Escape the Fate and God knows what else, probably love Hope to death and think he's the best character ever because they're in the target age group.
I think a big problem is, as JRPGs have evolved, those of us who are fans were hoping that the storytelling and presentation would mature along with it. I like IX the best of all the numbered FF games, but I have yet to see any post-SNES Final Fantasy game match or exceed the storylines of 4-6. I think part of the reason is that the games have become more character-based than story-based, with the exception of 12, in which the characters were just kind of observers to the greater events going on around them. I also think that part of the reason is that older people have jobs, lives, and the like, and don't have the time or desire to spend on these kinds of games anymore. This inevitably means that Squenix is forced to try to appeal to the younger audiences who have that kind of free time. And as they are a company trying to turn a profit, I really can't blame them for that business strategy. Especially since 12 wasn't as well-received as the other games, and I think part of that is due to it being directed at a more mature audience, with all the political intrigue and stuff. So, they release a game appealing to the teeny-bopper crowd along with the obligatory cute ditzy character to attract the moe crowd, and they have a hit on their hands.
And it isn't their fault. Like I said, they have to make money. But it is a bit disappointing to those of us who wanted more from the next generations of JRPGs.
Oh and also AI controlled characters and non-turn based combat can burn. So there's that too. However that's just my personal preference, as I realize people will say that turn-based combat is boring and uninteresting. Still, if FFXIII had been more like X or the SNES/PS1 era games combat-wise, I probably could forgive it of its other faults.
