So.
I was reading the latest Extra Punctuation last night, and was somewhat disappointed to see that Yahtzee had, despite talking a little about a few games that he liked, essentially confirmed yet again his loathing for a genre that is well known for having more than a little of the 'Marmite Factor' about it.
There's been a lot of talk about Final Fantasy XIII at the moment hasn't there? Now I've not played the game, but I've looked through the discussions about it, and occasionally commented when I could. I've noticed one thing in common with the people who champion it though, and this is that they often seem to be heavily defensive, even evasive, as if they're trying to explain away the embarrassment of a bookshelf stacked with Team Knight Rider DVDs and back issues of Playboy on the first visit of a new girlfriend.
That's not happened to me of course... ahem.
Anyway, I think it's high time to stop the defensive action and say what we actually LIKE about JRPGs. Or more specifically, say what we like in more precise terms than "'cos the story and gameplay and that are really good". I'm not going to say why I disagree with Yahtzee's points - rather, I just think it would be really nice to see people's different opinions, what we each get out of the games, and why we love them and are committed to defending them even in the face of the kind of frothing hate we've had recently.
For my part in this article, I'm going to be talking about Final Fantasy, which forms the majority of my JRPG experience. For the record, I've played numbers VII, VIII, X, XII, and I'm currently working my way through IV. All of them have, in my eyes, been excellent games (though XII was excellent in different ways to the others). There'll be few spoilers in here, I'm afraid, but they'll all be very small. I'm not going to give away that Aeris... oh, you know.
For me, Final Fantasy has always been about storytelling. Storytelling through plot and dialogue - the 'traditional' methods, if you like - but also storytelling through character development, the design of the game world, even the music, and it's in this area where the games are like no other. The key thing here is TONE.
There's this incredible feeling of sadness and melancholy hanging over the worlds Square creates. It's in the characters, the towns, the music. It's wistful and thoughtful, and is a million miles away from many western releases. For example, there's a bit in Final Fantasy VII where you go to a village called Gongaga, which is suffering after a nearby reactor has exploded. There you meet a couple who say that they have a son, Zack, who left to become a soldier, and who they have not seen for years. They say that although they miss him, they are glad that he has followed his heart, and they hope that he's safe and is enjoying himself. Later, Zack becomes a more prominent figure in the story, his death - told in flashback - being a catalyst for many of the events in the game. The tragedy here is that, while you know this, you also know that Zack's parents will never learn of his death, and will always be there in their house in Gongaga, waiting for their son to come home... It's these smaller moments that have always stuck with me, and I think they help to build a compelling game world, often even more so than the big set-pieces.
I also like the exploration aspect of these games, possibly more than in any other. There's no feeling quite like strolling around on the world map, and seeing some point of interest come homing into view over the horizon - in fact this is the one element I think is really missing in the games from X onward. One of the most memorable examples of this, for me, was being somewhere in the southern part of the world of FFVIII and coming across an interesting structure - a cross between a tower, a radar array and an oil rig towering above the surrounding scrubland and rock desert. As I approached the tower, called the Centra Ruins, a timer began counting down from twenty minutes, and as I got to the foot of the structure, the words "I am Odin..." appeared in the air. What happens after that isn't important, the thing is that this is the joy of exploration in Final Fantasy - everywhere you go there are these perfectly crafted little adventures and mysteries for you to discover and solve.
The biggest thing I love about these games though is the characters. I've heard all manner of stuff about how people hate the way that "it's all about angsty teenagers", but goddamit I like that. I was pretty angsty and emotional as a teenager myself, and now a few years later I probably still am. I loved the characters of Cloud and Squall, and I really felt for them and their stories, more so than any other game protagonists I've encountered. Although JRPGs get flak for including these kind of characters, I say it's very hypocritical considering the amount of burly marines, maverick cops, space captains, secret agents and scientists with an unusual aptitude for marksmanship considering their career choices that there are in other games. What Final Fantasy does is imbue its characters with the kind of emotions that real people feel, or might feel in the kind of extraordinary situations that take place in the games. Whether it's Tifa's unrequited love, Tidus' issues with his father or Cid Highwind's quest to go into space, all the characters' stories are told in a subtle and gentle way which is by turns joyful and sad, and always undeniably human.
There are other things I love about the games, of course, but I'd like to leave it to other people now. I'd love to know what everyone else gets out of these games, what makes you anticipate a new release, and why you keep coming back to the old ones years later. If you don't like the games, and are capable of expressing your opinion in a reasonably intelligent way, then your post is very welcome too, it's always nice to hear other opinions. However, please don't turn this into a JRPG flame war if at all possible, there's plenty of that on the Zero Punctuation FFXIII comments if that's what you're after.
So, what pushes your buttons about JRPGs (particularly the more contentious, divisive ones)? Is it the characters? The art style? The gameplay? Or maybe the fact that it's just something quite different from what is produced in the west? Perhaps you have some specific examples you'd like to share? I imagine that it varies from series to series and title to title, but that's ok, let's have 'em all!
As a final note, my apologies to those who don't like these kind of games if this article seems to be the most disgusting type of self-congratulatory backslapping (I could have put another word instead of 'backslapping' of course, but elected to keep it at least a bit tasteful), but in these dark times I reckon it's sometimes needed. Now, let's dust down our Square-shaped flags and fly them high!
...
I was reading the latest Extra Punctuation last night, and was somewhat disappointed to see that Yahtzee had, despite talking a little about a few games that he liked, essentially confirmed yet again his loathing for a genre that is well known for having more than a little of the 'Marmite Factor' about it.
There's been a lot of talk about Final Fantasy XIII at the moment hasn't there? Now I've not played the game, but I've looked through the discussions about it, and occasionally commented when I could. I've noticed one thing in common with the people who champion it though, and this is that they often seem to be heavily defensive, even evasive, as if they're trying to explain away the embarrassment of a bookshelf stacked with Team Knight Rider DVDs and back issues of Playboy on the first visit of a new girlfriend.
That's not happened to me of course... ahem.
Anyway, I think it's high time to stop the defensive action and say what we actually LIKE about JRPGs. Or more specifically, say what we like in more precise terms than "'cos the story and gameplay and that are really good". I'm not going to say why I disagree with Yahtzee's points - rather, I just think it would be really nice to see people's different opinions, what we each get out of the games, and why we love them and are committed to defending them even in the face of the kind of frothing hate we've had recently.
For my part in this article, I'm going to be talking about Final Fantasy, which forms the majority of my JRPG experience. For the record, I've played numbers VII, VIII, X, XII, and I'm currently working my way through IV. All of them have, in my eyes, been excellent games (though XII was excellent in different ways to the others). There'll be few spoilers in here, I'm afraid, but they'll all be very small. I'm not going to give away that Aeris... oh, you know.
For me, Final Fantasy has always been about storytelling. Storytelling through plot and dialogue - the 'traditional' methods, if you like - but also storytelling through character development, the design of the game world, even the music, and it's in this area where the games are like no other. The key thing here is TONE.
There's this incredible feeling of sadness and melancholy hanging over the worlds Square creates. It's in the characters, the towns, the music. It's wistful and thoughtful, and is a million miles away from many western releases. For example, there's a bit in Final Fantasy VII where you go to a village called Gongaga, which is suffering after a nearby reactor has exploded. There you meet a couple who say that they have a son, Zack, who left to become a soldier, and who they have not seen for years. They say that although they miss him, they are glad that he has followed his heart, and they hope that he's safe and is enjoying himself. Later, Zack becomes a more prominent figure in the story, his death - told in flashback - being a catalyst for many of the events in the game. The tragedy here is that, while you know this, you also know that Zack's parents will never learn of his death, and will always be there in their house in Gongaga, waiting for their son to come home... It's these smaller moments that have always stuck with me, and I think they help to build a compelling game world, often even more so than the big set-pieces.
I also like the exploration aspect of these games, possibly more than in any other. There's no feeling quite like strolling around on the world map, and seeing some point of interest come homing into view over the horizon - in fact this is the one element I think is really missing in the games from X onward. One of the most memorable examples of this, for me, was being somewhere in the southern part of the world of FFVIII and coming across an interesting structure - a cross between a tower, a radar array and an oil rig towering above the surrounding scrubland and rock desert. As I approached the tower, called the Centra Ruins, a timer began counting down from twenty minutes, and as I got to the foot of the structure, the words "I am Odin..." appeared in the air. What happens after that isn't important, the thing is that this is the joy of exploration in Final Fantasy - everywhere you go there are these perfectly crafted little adventures and mysteries for you to discover and solve.
The biggest thing I love about these games though is the characters. I've heard all manner of stuff about how people hate the way that "it's all about angsty teenagers", but goddamit I like that. I was pretty angsty and emotional as a teenager myself, and now a few years later I probably still am. I loved the characters of Cloud and Squall, and I really felt for them and their stories, more so than any other game protagonists I've encountered. Although JRPGs get flak for including these kind of characters, I say it's very hypocritical considering the amount of burly marines, maverick cops, space captains, secret agents and scientists with an unusual aptitude for marksmanship considering their career choices that there are in other games. What Final Fantasy does is imbue its characters with the kind of emotions that real people feel, or might feel in the kind of extraordinary situations that take place in the games. Whether it's Tifa's unrequited love, Tidus' issues with his father or Cid Highwind's quest to go into space, all the characters' stories are told in a subtle and gentle way which is by turns joyful and sad, and always undeniably human.
There are other things I love about the games, of course, but I'd like to leave it to other people now. I'd love to know what everyone else gets out of these games, what makes you anticipate a new release, and why you keep coming back to the old ones years later. If you don't like the games, and are capable of expressing your opinion in a reasonably intelligent way, then your post is very welcome too, it's always nice to hear other opinions. However, please don't turn this into a JRPG flame war if at all possible, there's plenty of that on the Zero Punctuation FFXIII comments if that's what you're after.
So, what pushes your buttons about JRPGs (particularly the more contentious, divisive ones)? Is it the characters? The art style? The gameplay? Or maybe the fact that it's just something quite different from what is produced in the west? Perhaps you have some specific examples you'd like to share? I imagine that it varies from series to series and title to title, but that's ok, let's have 'em all!
As a final note, my apologies to those who don't like these kind of games if this article seems to be the most disgusting type of self-congratulatory backslapping (I could have put another word instead of 'backslapping' of course, but elected to keep it at least a bit tasteful), but in these dark times I reckon it's sometimes needed. Now, let's dust down our Square-shaped flags and fly them high!
...
Find lore, see why things are floating... what's the dealio with magic this time. And :O What summoning thing is gonna go down xD
