February 3, 2013

Random RPG Rant




So, only being behind by a couple of years, I've finally finished Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep. First of all, it was awesome. Definitely was worth playing. Now I've officially played all the Kingdom Hearts games. I've beaten almost every one except Chain of Memories, but then again, I've always been terrible with card-based battle systems. Phantasy Star Online Episode 3 was terribly disappointing for me, as you could imagine.

I remember first hearing Simple and Clean in the commercials for the first Kingdom Hearts, and being a boy who was trying to prove to everyone that he wasn't some weird nerdy kid, I scoffed out loud at the very premise of Kingdom Hearts. But I knew that deep down, I was going to thoroughly enjoy that game. And I did. I beat the hell out of that game. Just never beat Sephiroth, but then again, he was nigh impossible to beat.

Using that as a springboard to segue into the topic I want to talk about, which is Final Fantasy, I'll start with what bugs me: the characters in Kingdom Hearts.

First of all, it's tragic to see Zack in Birth By Sleep. He's looking forward to the world, becoming a hero and all that. But every time I start to feel happy for him I remember how he's inevitably going to end up. Dead. It's like watching Romeo and Juliet, only they die years apart.

"Promise to die a tragic death if I do?"
Second is Sephiroth who, for some reason, is perpetually in some weird mixture of normal and Safer Sephiroth. Safer Sephiroth looked more monstrous and Sephiroth normally looked pretty bishi with a long sword. His character in Final Fantasy VII itself  wasn't quite the embodiment of evil that subsequent portrayals would make him out to be. Remember, for a large part of his life, Cloud wanted to be great like Sephiroth. He just snapped one day after discovering the truth about his origins and then wanted to destroy the world. Hell, I feel like that if someone cuts me off on my way to work. Much less if I discovered that my entire existence was a lie.

But most importantly is the portrayal of Cloud. Everything you see Cloud in after Final Fantasy VII has him as an angst ridden loner who is bitterly torn up about... well, something. I'm not entirely sure what. Either the mind-f*** of his past or the fact that Aerith died. I'm still not clear on why he's moping around so much. But the fact of the matter is he simply isn't like that in his own game. I'm playing Kingdom Hearts Re:Coded and there's a part where you try to get Cloud's help in the Colosseum and he refuses because he can't help anybody or somesuch. He just mopes around and wanders aimlessly like he's about to cry. And all I can think is, 'Is this supposed to be the same guy who cross-dressed to save Tifa from some lecherous thug?'

The part where Cloud was morose in Final Fantasy VII were pretty short compared to the rest of the game. There's a small issue when Aerith dies, since he feels somehow responsible for that. And the fact that he might have been created to be a backup Sephiroth or something. But the feeling in the end of the game is that what happened in the past happened in the past and what happens now is the most important thing of all. He saved the world for a reason and he was feeling pretty damn good about it.
And why the hell wouldn't he? Tifa totally is diggin' on the Cloud.
 For some reason, Cloud has lost all motivation after Final Fantasy VII and has become the most irritatingly angsty character that has ever been created. And it's a damn shame since when I was replaying Final Fantasy VII, I came to realize how much I actually liked Cloud's character. He was pretty gung-ho about everything and handled terrible circumstances surprisingly well. He was upbeat and kind of snarky, in fact.

If he wants to have a reason to be angsty, he should've been in Final Fantasy VI. Then at least he could complain that he didn't save the world.

That's the masterpiece for me as far as Final Fantasies are concerned. Kefka's destruction of the world of order in Final Fantasy VI. Honestly, there was none of this, heroes swoop in at the last minute and save the world thing. No, they're too underpowered and show up just a touch too late and therefore have to defeat the big bad about a year after he's destroyed the world. Kefka is probably the best villain since he actually won. Though I'll admit he had little character depth. When you can describe the entirety of his motivation with three words, "Hate", "Hate", and "HATE" you've made a pretty shallow character. But at least he consistent. He's a mental psychopath who dresses like a clown and is the embodiment of hate and chaos.
...No... The other guy...





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