Voice acting killed Final Fantasy

[Snarky Username]

I've always thought text gives video games a more realistic touch. Zelda is a perfect example. Also, with voice acting comes he chance of bad voice acting.

 

[dark-amon]

I think that it was making it too much like a japaneese TV-series. After FF IX there is a huge develope in the debt, story and persone of the characters in the games, the sad part is that the develope wasn't for the better. They became more blend yet goofy, wich made some of the strongpoints from previous title's story lacking as they where dependent on the characters and their personal development through each game.
The voice acting was just an annoying extra to the to-be-destroyed franchise.

 

[old account]

I wonder if my viewpoint will offend you. I hope not, but I just don't see why you didn't like 8 for it's plot devices even though they were explained, and 7 for it's popularity and fan fiction (which now 6 is involved in, due to Dissida. Seriously, photobucket it, your jaw will drop faster then Ultros before the Floating Continent.) or why it bothers you so much in the first place. Since it's someone else's taste of personal fiction, what they want to see happen... I really feel bad for you if it bothers you that much.

First off let me say, sorry for editing your message down, it was getting to long (that's what she said)
Second: In no way did you offend me. You are a rational thinker, who used points to back supporting statements during a debate. For that I applaud you, congratulate you, and bow down to you because you are one of the only FF fans that actually picked out and counter attacked my opinions rather then saying 'fuck you' and then leaving the coffee shop crying.
And I'm not going to say that you are completely wrong about FF8. It could have explained everything. It could have answered my questions. It just got to the point when I was on the second disc, and everything was randomly happening in such a chaotic state, and there were to many unanswered questions, that I just called my losses and moved on. It is funny though, everyone of my friends as well say that FF8 is their second favorite. (their first is either 6 or 9)
I don't think you understood what I was trying to mean when I attacked FF7. (this is going to be hard to explain over a forum) It wasn't, or it isn't that there are pictures and fan fiction wrapped around the characters. It is that there is an abundance of these works, much more then any other game I can think of.
I could explain more, it is just that I'm not good wording some of my rants or opinions for a forum.

p.s You are freaking amazing! Be my friend. ^^

 

[Daedalus1942]

M-M-M MULTISNIP!!!

]
Why, praytell did Final Fantasy XII suck? You're entitled to your opinion, but just saying it sucked isn't good enough. What are your specific reasons for hating it? It's one of the better games in the series in my opinion, especially with the innovative and new ATB gauge battle system. The gambits were a genius idea.
So... I ask you, why did "it suck"?

[quote\]I hated the story for not making that much sense, and i dident like the battle system all that much either, it was OK at best, the only real fun i had with it was Hell Wyrm and the other hidden bosses.
[/quote]
You hate the story, okay... granted the story itself wasn't all that great, but at no time did it ever stop making sense. The battle system was original, innovative and for me refreshing.
Most of the characters were extremely likeable. The relationship between Balthier and Fran is what kep me playing. Easily my two favourite characters.
But as I said, the plot made perfect sense, it just wasn't that great a writing we've come to know and love from previous FF's.

 

[RnAoDm]

There were some annoying voices and i'll admit i did look in the settings for alternative language options + subtitles on FFXIII in the first hour but didnt see one. I wouldn't say voice acting ruins a game for me though.

 

[Velocity Eleven]

am I the only person who doesn't care about voice acting? people are way too picky about it, I mean Last Rebellion, I can tell that has bad voice acting, but with FF I dont see the problem

and even with Last Rebellion the voice acting is really bad, its still a very very small issue when judging the game as a game

 

[RJ Dalton]

No, bad writing killed Final Fantasy. The bad writing was brought on by the staff relying more on visual effects to tell the story, so, indirectly, graphics are responsible for the downfall of FF. Six was as good as it ever got, storywise (at least of all the one's I've seen all the way through). When 7 rolled around, it was basically a rehash of 6's themes with emphasis placed on visual effects. I never played 8 very far, so I have no comment. 9 was where I really sensed the series starting to go wrong. The story just seemed like a flimsy pretext to show off their graphical advancements and the characters, while varied, lacked depth. 10 was the first game I truly despised in the series and I haven't played anything in the series after. What I've read merely serves to confirm my suspicions about where Squenix is going with the series and I have no intention of buying any more of their games.
The fact that the companies responsible for releasing it in America hired voice actors from the list of people who have been lobotomized certainly didn't help them, though.

 

[RagnorakTres]

Here's my breakdown of the ones I've played.

FF5: AWESOME. Jobs system allowed for decent customization, interesting story, great characters.

FF6(playing): Great, almost as good as 5. Kefka kicks ass.

FFX (got to the last boss...and just didn't care enough to finish): I cried. I cried out my soul. How could something this pretty (at the time) be so bad?

FFX-2(couldn't make myself finish): OH SWEET MERCIFUL GOD WHY. *dies*

FFXII (haven't beaten): Decent. Vaan's vest could stand to be a little less camp, but the story was alright. I'd like to finish it, particularly with the various bosses and hunts I have left to finish. The Quickening system was great. My only real complaint would be how easy it is to spam for license points and just fill out the entire thing for everyone. Oh, and the lack of explanation on why Penelo and Vaan stick around with Basch and them, but I'd like to believe that that's just me not having finished the game yet.

I haven't played 13 yet, but my understanding is that the story doesn't get good til twenty hours in? Unacceptable, especially in a JRPG.

 

[LeonLethality]

7-9 are 3 of my favorite games ever

12 had the most boring one dimentional charactors ever, with an equily dull story to boot. They added some nice extra bits, and it wasn't as linear as 10, but I just didn't care. Without a compelling story or charactors it felt so empty.

BWUH?! You liked VII but you say XII had one dimensional characters?! how?! Why does XII get so much hate? It is the second best in the series!
You say XII had one dimensional characters but have you really played VII? The characters in it lack any personality at all! maybe a voice would have given them a bit more of a personality but by god man they have no personality at all!(yes I repeated it I need to nail this fact in to your head)

On topic: The voices add more to the characters to make them feel more human. I don't think voice acting has had any negative effects on FF at all. In fact only positive.

 

[Kagim]

Spoiler

Well, except for the actor they gave Yuna i think, and still do think, the voice acting in FFX was pretty good. I played this game back when i first bought a PS2 and I am playing it again now. The laughing scene is pretty bad, yeah. Its not a game breaker in the slightest. Hours of good gameplay nullified by a two minute fmv. That's not stupid at all. Linearity? Yeah, because having tons of extra side quests, secret weapons, aeons, dungeons, and upgrades is linear. You have to look for the extra content in X instead of having them hand it to you.

People say the older games have more depth of characters.

No, not really.

FFVI:

Gau: Hes a guy who's dad threw him out cause he thought he was a monster.
Locke: Is thief stealing stuff to save his dying wife. So he is Mr.Freeze essentially.
Terra: Is a half god. She has magic. She was enslaved to fight for emperor. Now she fights for rebellion.
Cyan: Is a samurai who's castle got wiped out. Now he fights for rebellion.
Celes: Captain who betrays the emperor. Now she fights for Rebellion. She sees Cid as a daddy.
Edgar: Is a king who secretly fights for rebellion. Then overtly fights for rebellion.
Sabin: "whoa, i know kung fu"
Shadow: HIS.NAME.IS.SHADOW. SHADOW. Don't worry hes a assassin with a heart of gold who loves his dog and little girls.... Wait what?
Setzer: He is a gambler who is stalking an opera singer. Okay seriously? He is a pervert. What the hell.
Strago: Is old.
Relm: Is a little girl who paints and has a fascination with ultros.
Mog: Is a moogle.
Umaro: is a yeti.
GoGo: Is a secret, faceless character with no backstory.


4-6 and 9 and 10 had CONTENT. There was lots of FUN things to do in them. That's why they are awesome. Seven i don't really like anymore and eight i didn't get through so no comment on those.6 was good not because of its depth but because of its massive amount of side quests for each character. There was always something to do to power up each of your hero's without grinding. THAT'S why it was good. It has nothing to do with storyline and voice acting. Hell by that time the storyline had been bled out by the last 5 games. It was just fun to play. That's why X is really good. There are tons of player specific side quests to do. Hunting down the pieces of there ultimate weapons. Seeking out the temples for the most powerful aeons. A combat system that made you rely on all of your characters in a fight. So much to do. Its why i loved it so much and still love it.

What made X-2 suck was it was clearly pandering. "lets have three girls run around skimpily dressed!" The voice acting in THAT one i will agree was bad. The plot was vapor thin. It WAS a bad game. Which is sad because the battle system was awesome.

12 was just... slow. Empty and large with no reason to be so big. Spending twenty minutes walking from point a to point b with no real rewards to exploring outside of leveling up.

Fuck you square.

The problem with 12 is the extra content was mostly those damn missions. The dungeons were huge and open but in a bad way. Instead of lots in them they were mostly just horribly long hallways. You could cut almost every hallway in half and miss NOTHING.

That's the way i see the series declining. XII and XIII have a tendency to take to long to get to anything good. Padding out the game. X has maybe half an hour to an hour tops of intro crap. After that its a really fun game. XII has about 10 hours before you finally get your little party together and start doing anything important. Its pretty much watching a movie. A dull movie.

I haven't played XIII. I heard it takes 30 hours to get to the real part of the game. What, the, fuck. Normally if i only hear it from one source i disregard it. But From four? (PA, ZP, Friend and a family member) i start to worry.

I need to stop ranting....

You can sum up even the most advanced and deep characters in a single sentence like that, from any media. What makes for better characterization is including backstory, motivation and other details throughout the game rather then just random infodumps like most FF in 7 and up like to give. Lets take "shadow" for example, that isn't his real name he just calls himself that because he doesn't like himself any more and doesn't want to be associated with the man he used to be. As for liking little girls, that girl is actually his daughter, something the game strongly implies without actually shoving it down your throat like any post 7 game would do. And he's one of the lesser developed non-secret (mog, umaro and gogo) characters of the game. Gogo by the way is a reference to 5.

That doesn't really make him any deeper, and yes i realized shadow isn't his real name. If i make a character named Darkness is it cliched or justified by the fact his real name is Chad?
Shadow is a stereotypical "tough guy" character. Hard outside with a soft inside. He is an assassin with a heart of gold. That's not deep, its done.

Most of the cast are like that. They have very flat basic personalities that don't amount to a lot. The characters aren't that deep.

I'm not saying the game was bad just that the characters are no where near the tangled webs of master storytelling everyone makes them out to be. Take Locke. That pretty much is ALL there is to him. He is a thief who is looking for something to cure his dying wife. His only other motivation in the game is to kill the bad guys.

Most of the information about the characters are, as you call them, infodumps. The difference between six and ten is the dumps must be found first while all important information is told to you by the main story. Would FFX be a better told story if the fact...

Spoiler

Summoners and one of there bodyguards must die in order to summon the final aeon was announced subtly. There was tons of foreshadowing and lead up. It wasn't random or sprung and many of the characters actions and motivation were because of it.

Hell The fact Auron is dead is forshadowed through the entire game but never directly told until he dies. Sin is Jecht was required to be known to give Tidus some sort of direction, As well the fact Yu Yevon is actually the prick resummoning sin over and over isn't reveled till very late in the game but it is hinted at very subtly till that point.

The fact that Tidus is technically an Aeon is hinted at constantly. Never directly said until the reveal.

Yes we knew the al bhed were kidnapping the summoners. The game told us that much, the why was hinted at but never actually spoken until the time Home blew up.

The game starts you clouded in mystery while things are slowly chipped away.

Is FFVI a bad game because of this? Hell no. FFVI is one of my favorites in the series and i would much rather see that game re made over seven like everyone is crying for. I just realize that the characters are very flat and static.

Flat and static by the way are not insults. A character can be flat and static and still be good. They just can't be deep by definition.

 

[Wounded Melody]

and 7 for it's popularity and fan fiction (which now 6 is involved in, due to Dissida. Seriously, photobucket it, your jaw will drop faster then Ultros before the Floating Continent.)

You probably came across my Photobucket then ^^;;;

 

[Wounded Melody]

Take Locke. That pretty much is ALL there is to him. He is a thief who is looking for something to cure his dying wife. His only other motivation in the game is to kill the bad guys.

Um, no? One, Rachel is not his wife, two, she isn't dying, she is technically dead.

 

[Mr.Lucifer]

The laughing scene was intenionally horrible. The guywho placed wakka is the same exact man who voiced bender.

Really I get tired of people arguring when the final fantasy series jumped the shark. it depends one's personal opinion.

 

[Dragon Zero]

Y'know, I liked X-XIII.

I think it has more to do with when you were introduced to the series. Many people who liked VI the best thought the series went downhill from VII on, and now people who liked VII-IX are thinking the same thing about X.

So, I guess the "generations" of FF can be split up thus: I-VI, VII-IX, and X- whenever.

Yeah, I'm just kind of making assumptions here, but I don't think it's too far off.

I can see what you mean. Hell, MY first FF was X and I didn't see much wrong with it.

 

[Kagim]

Take Locke. That pretty much is ALL there is to him. He is a thief who is looking for something to cure his dying wife. His only other motivation in the game is to kill the bad guys.

Um, no? One, Rachel is not his wife, two, she isn't dying, she is technically dead.

Your splitting hairs. Whether its his wife or no that's still his motivation.

Same with what i said about Shadow. Regardless of whether Relm is his child or not his character is still the customary tough guy with a heart of gold character.

Regardless of whether Racheal is his wife or if shes dying or suspended in animation it doesn't change the motivation.

Take Locke. That pretty much is ALL there is to him. He is a thief who is looking for something to cure his dying wife. His only other motivation in the game is to kill the bad guys.

Um, no? One, Rachel is not his wife, two, she isn't dying, she is technically dead.

This pretty much. Also, his big motivation for Terra and later Celes is guilt. Rachel is the way she is because of a mistake Locke made, and now he feels he has to stay by Terra's side and Celes's side throughout the game. He does it a lot, and does it well. Also, his anger towards the empire changes just like everyone elses does as the story progesses. There is a lot more to Lock then what you said, Kagim.

P.S. I liked the fan fiction pictures. ^^

Alright. The point wasn't that every character in the game is a flat two dimensional character but that they are significantly less complex as people are building these characters up to be. More so that 4,5,9 and 10 are all pretty much on par for character depth.

The characters are not that deep. You say his big motivation towards Terra and Celes is based on guilt which clearly stems from Racheal. Meaning one single event guiding his actions. That's the opposite of deep. If there was a complex storyline behind why he thinks and feels these ways for different reasons creating different attitudes towards each character.... Thats deep. The point still is Racheal is a motivation for a lot that he does. A single thread. THIS IS NOT A BAD THING. Its just how it is.

I was more or less expressing my irritation at how People are building monuments to these games when they are not as huge as they are. As i have stated, numerous times, FFVI is one of my favorites if not the favorite of mine for the genre. I also don't want FFVI becoming another FFVII where people build it up so high that it can never reach the expectations laid out for it.

FFVI was a great game. An awesome game, and a game that any RPG lover should play.

Its just not this massive ball of entanglements and in depth story development people keep praising it for. Its a game with a horribly rocky start and character types who are mostly flat (Locke, Terra, Celes, Edgar, Cyan) Stereotypical (Shadow, Saban) or plain undeveloped (everyone else). They have a large chunk of characters and most of them might as well be props. I'm sure you can build a massive story ideal from things from the game but not any more then you could from 4,5,9,10.

I mean, whats the relationship between Gua and Umaro? How does Shadow feel hanging around with GoGo? Edgar and Strago? Relm and Setzer? Yeah there are four or five very delved into characters but that's offset by the lack of information about the other seven or eight.

Theirs a pile of characters on an epic quest together yet relationships between most of them are ill defined to non existent. Is that demanding to much from the game? YES. Does the lack of it constitute as lack of depth? Yes. Is constantly going on about how its a masterpiece set people up for a fall when the dry beginning and mess of unused characters slowly breaks there will from a fun game? Yes.

The depth of characters hasn't change. Hell i would be tempted to say X has more depth since you know where each characters stand with each of there traveling companions. You feel like they know each other personally. They all have something to say during cut scenes usually and they all speak to one another. You get the feeling that this is a party of friends working together. Not a large mess of people who don't really know each other that well.

Am i any more clear now?