littlewisp said:
I cannot understand pretending everything is okay and by the power of your own rainbow hued will things will magically get better.
Yes, that is quite stupid. It is not something I remember snow
ever doing however. He never pretended that everything was okay. In fact, he repeats the dreaded situation they're in quite often. He wasn't delusional in the sense that he perceived the situation in an incorrect manner at all, he was only arguably delusional in believing that most things, particularly Serah's state, can be fixed with enough effort from the party. I do agree that he was overly optimistic, but I simply disagree that it's any worse than being overly pessimistic. It simply doesn't bother me as much as it bothers you.
Don't get me wrong. I agree that creating a warped, overly positive image of reality in such a way is irresponsible and often annoying, but this is not exactly the case with Snow as you're saying (at least not in severity). They all suffer from what you've just said, only in a different matter.
littlewisp said:
in the beginning at least, if she acts that way throughout the whole game which I'm guessing is a yes then by the end I'd be majorly sick of her too
She's basically the same character for quite a huge section of the game and shows very little to no change during this time. She does slowly become a better character much later on, but her initial attitude was condescending and ridiculous to an insane degree and the entire process of her "character development" is painfully predictable for anyone who has ever seen, read or played anything ever.
littlewisp said:
Not being able to admit that something is wrong, and seriously taking steps and making plans to make it better is not a strength, it's yet another glaring weakness.
But trying to paint a veneer of hero over the top of a whining, cringing, deluded man who is incapable of making good decisions or putting his foot down in any meaningful manner?
He does admit it, as soon as convincing evidence shows up that what he's trying to accomplish is impossible (later in the game). There was never a single decisive shred of evidence that what he was trying to do was impossible up until that point, which is why he kept believing in it. I've never seen snow act as if everything is completely fine as it is, I've only seen snow keep his chin up and try to find a way to fix current issues. Yes, he fails miserably, but that's a different subject. He is the one that says that they can still make things better if they plan and take action. It is lightning that refused this line of thought (When Snow says that Serah can still be saved if they take action, Lightning violently refuses). Yes, he isn't a bright character, but he isn't indecisive nor passive. In fact, I'd say he's a bit too active and rash.
I haven't really seen him whining or cringing often either, as that was mostly done by Lightning and Hope. And while you are right about not being able to make good decisions, the same could be said about practically every other character in the game. And he was the only character that put his foot down from the very start. Whereas the rest were completely insecure about everything that had just happened and about what the future held in store for them, he was the one that tried to move forward.
Don't get me wrong now, I'm not trying to defend Snow. Most of FF13's cast is horrible, including Snow, and I appreciate you writing out your own interpretation of his actions and behavior. I simply see him in a somewhat different light and disagree. Hell, I don't even completely disagree with your opinion of Snow, but I simply hate Lightning (see previous posts), Vanille and Hope so much more.
Lightning basically is Snow for half of the game, only with gleeful optimism swapped for extreme pessimism and respectful and selfless swapped for condescending and egocentric. You may find it an improvement because you find it funny (its realism is debatable), whereas I found it aggravating.
Your complaints of Snow actually fit perfectly with Vanille, which is practically all that needs to be said. Unfortunately, I didn't make the jump from unbearable character to hilarious. It went from unbearable to "I need to press the mute button whenever she talks if I want to get through this game"
littlewisp said:
That spot where he almost shoots Vanille (that's what happened right? it was awhile ago), was probably the best emotional connection I had to any of the characters in the bit I played.
Same here, except that this best emotional connection was an incredibly weak one. The only reason I find Sazh (and his actions) to stand out is because the rest of them are just so horrible. He is not a well-written character however.
tl;dr
He does stupid things and he sometimes loses touch with reality. But the only reason I can tolerate Snow more than most other FF13 characters aside from Sazh is because of the fact that while everyone else suffers from the same problem, he does not just give up on trying to fix things. He never thought that everything was all right, he only said that things can be made better if they at least try and he actually does things that he believes should be done in order to achieve said goal.
