About FF 12 *spoiler*

[Gestapo Hunter]

im playing FF-12 right now and i just realized that the story doesn't seem to revolve around the character you play. Im mostly talking about Vaan, even thou hes the first character you control he dosent seem play a major role other then "just being there". Like his role in the game seem to be a narrator of a sort. After you get Ashe and Basch in your group theyre the one leading the team and making all the decisions. Its a bit like how the story was told in FF-10 but without the flash back. Now i have to ask have you ever played a game where the story dosent revolve around the person you control?

 

[Beowulf DW]

Tales of Symphonia.

The story/mission isn't about you; it's about the flat-chested girl you fall in love with.

Wait a minute...Flat-chested?...In a Japanese game?

 

[Retoru]

One could argue that Final Fantasy VI didn't even have a main character for the story to revolve around. Though, I think most people tend to look at Terra and Locke as the main characters.

I personally enjoy games where a team of characters are on their mission without the story having to revolve totally around one guy who's been ordained by the powers that be as the savior of the universe.

 

[Retoru]

The only thing I even remember about ToS is that one kid who's name rhymed with penis. Genis, was it?

 

[windfish]

Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess. It's all about Midna.

 

[windfish]

One could argue that Final Fantasy VI didn't even have a main character for the story to revolve around. Though, I think most people tend to look at Terra and Locke as the main characters.

My mind was tempted to believe the same thing when I played it for the first time, but maybe that's just our instinct - to think that the first two characters introduced are the main characters? Ignoring the fact that they are introduced first, there is little to suggest that they are any more important than any of the others.

Sorry for the double post.

 

[Gestapo Hunter]

It does seem when your witnessing other peoples struggle or journey that the story becomes a bit more interesting ( sorry to come off as poetic)

 

[Beowulf DW]

Tales of Symphonia.

The story/mission isn't about you; it's about the flat-chested girl you fall in love with.

Wait a minute...Flat-chested?...In a Japanese game?

Maybe its a dude, its hard to tell sometimes in Japanese games.

She really is a girl actually. I know it can be hard to tell sometimes, but everything in the game and all other material relating to the game says, "Girl."

 

[Supernovajake]

im playing FF-12 right now and i just realized that the story doesn't seem to revolve around the character you play. Im mostly talking about Vaan, even thou hes the first character you control he dosent seem play a major role other then "just being there". Like his role in the game seem to be a narrator of a sort. After you get Ashe and Basch in your group theyre the one leading the team and making all the decisions. Its a bit like how the story was told in FF-10 but without the flash back. Now i have to ask have you ever played a game where the story dosent revolve around the person you control?

I heard that Vaan and Penelo were both last minute additions to FF12 and it's storyline, looking back I can see how this is probably true.

 

[Jolly Madness]

Any of the BF games, there's no "I" in team, heh.

 

[GloatingSwine]

Now i have to ask have you ever played a game where the story dosent revolve around the person you control?

I think the best example of this is Ace Combat 4. The story is told from the perspective of a boy in a country under foreign occupation, who eventually falls in and follows around the ace fighter squadron of the occupation forces. The player, by contrast, is part of the liberating army, so that whilst your actions drive everything that happens in the story, the player character is never actually even present in the story being told by the cutscenes.

It's actually very effective, having a videogame story which observes the enemies in the game not the player.

 

[Melaisis]

im playing FF-12 right now and i just realized that the story doesn't seem to revolve around the character you play. Im mostly talking about Vaan, even thou hes the first character you control he dosent seem play a major role other then "just being there". Like his role in the game seem to be a narrator of a sort. After you get Ashe and Basch in your group theyre the one leading the team and making all the decisions. Its a bit like how the story was told in FF-10 but without the flash back. Now i have to ask have you ever played a game where the story dosent revolve around the person you control?

I heard that Vaan and Penelo were both last minute additions to FF12 and it's storyline, looking back I can see how this is probably true.

Balthier was originally set to be the main character.

Anyway, this topic is built around an old narrative idea of the 'perspective character'. Just like real life, there's no real protagonist in a quest, because they're helped out and their overall goals may be dwarfed by those who are helping them. FFX is a bad example of this, because although the motivation is getting Yuna to destroy Sinn, the bigger arc is that Tidus wants to go home. To Yuna, destroying Sinn is the end, whereas to Tidus its a byproduct of his own adventure; a means to get to his ends. Thus the example of Tidus being a 'prospective character' is actually rather wrong. Its flipped around in FF12 because Vann gets caught up in something pretty big, but he is always given the option to opt out of participating. Its only the likes of Asche and Balthier who really seem to have purpose in the entire thing, and know exactly what to do and where it go.

 

[MStrauss]

Tales of Symphonia.

The story/mission isn't about you; it's about the flat-chested girl you fall in love with.

Wait a minute...Flat-chested?...In a Japanese game?

Thats not truth, have you finished the game? SPOILER ALERT Lloyd was part of Kratos plan to be the human to wield the Eternal Sword and unite the worlds again, all the fuss abt the chosen and stuff is just a myth, a way to manipulate the people, wasnt it? END OF SPOILER

And yeah to the guy a few posts above me , FFVI has the best story, every character had a background and a motivation (pre and post apocalype), and each part of the game ull think theres a different protagonist. I still think Terra and Celes are the main ones though.