Bah. (Second impressions of FFX-2)

[auronlu]

I'm finally stumbling across some glimmers of depth and plot at the beginning of Chapter 3, but UGH, ugh, ugh, the world is totally populated by annoying, arrogant, political, greedy, and/or asinine characters.


I much prefer less realistic games where one's opponents tend to be dastardly, malevolent, evil, and/or so inhuman that they stomp people like bugs.

I don't really like the Gullwings when they're being the Gullwings. I'm not really sure I like Nooj. I know LeBlanc and friends need to be dropped off a cliff. So do all the opportunists taking advantage of Zanarkand and the Calm Lands. My old buddy Rin... oh, Rin, I liked you, but I always had the feeling you weren't just gouging us to make a quick gil, you actually were supporting your own people! Isaaru's even stranger.

And...um... Lulu?

I know you don't wanna risk being zapped by a flan or something while you're pregnant, but could you please sneak out and zap that horrid Beclam person? He looks like Yojimbo, just to make matters worse. I don'tk now why, but those bird-masks creep the heck out of me.


At least Buddy's cool. My brief glimpse of Baralai before we beat the snot out of him made him seem like a good fellow (I'm a sucker for good voices). I just want to kill Brother. A lot.

I sense there will be enough plot to satisfy me sooner or later, but unfortunately it promises to include a lot of politics. Politics in RL annoys me enough without having to face it in a game. If I want it, I just have to turn on the news, drop by my local online community, or faculty lounge. Babylon 5 is the only fictional game, series, or story whose politics I found interesting.

Comments

[auronlu.livejournal.com]

I actually want to like the game, so I appreciate the debate.

I can see what you mean about Yuna being a spoiled brat in some ways. It's interesting how one can see her as a selfless hero, or an egotistical and selfish one, either way. And yes, she could've had a talk with Isaaru explaining what she thought should be done -- he would've listened.

You also have a very big point about a society that's lost its religious and cultural underpinnings. Goodness knows America slides this way, and we haven't had anything more traumatic than 9/11 (which was terribly sad, but did not change our way of life). It's realistic. I miss fantasy.

I have an unfortunate prejudice against the stereotype of girls-clothes-tits-and-ass which makes it hard for me to appreciate LeBlanc. Then again, I finally became amused by Dona towards the end of FFX. For that matter, I overcame my "oh come ON!" reaction to Lulu's victory move in FFX fairly early. ;)

[mneme-forgets.livejournal.com]

It's an understandable prejudice and I find her taste in clothing regrettable as well - she looks like a sexy circus tent, to be honest. But she's just so absolutely nuts and 'The LeBlanc Syndicate' itself is so insane that I end up being amused by her antics rather than annoyed.

Heh, I am not going to touch the fantasy/technology final fantasy debate with a tenf foot pole. I can see how heated that one gets . . .

But Final Fantasy X was always a world full of technology even when the follows of Yevon were kidding themselves about it. I mean, how the heck does Luca Stadium even work?

[auronlu.livejournal.com]

Oh, I don't mean Fantasy/technology; I love FF8, and weird combinations of ancient and modern tech appeal to me.

I just mean that I play games as a form of escapism from the dreary realities of our world -- not something I'm proud of -- so I enjoy stories that explore more mythic, epic themes, fantasy situations, and explorations of interesting people, places, and worlds, as opposed to the challenges of racial/religious prejudice and politics. The less it resembles modern American society the more I usually enjoy it. *sheepish grin*

[mneme-forgets.livejournal.com]

I guess I still don't fully understand. I hope you know I am not trying to criticize your opinion or anything, but I think that racial/religious prejudice and politics are pretty universal themes that find their ways into most fantasy worlds and most epic myths. I guess what I am trying to say is that I never found that fantasy *WAS* escapism, so much as giving everyday life a twist - changing the dreary realities into something new, yes, but not being able to escape the framework of the real world because that's where all of us (even highly imaginative fantasy writers) live.

Take LOTR, the first thing most people think of when they think of fantasy - the dwarves and the elves just don't get along, the hobbits distrust the big people and some of the hobbits make bids for power over each other. Bilbo's relations are materialistic, so are the dwarves. Many people have made productive parallels between various real world events and the story itself and even though Tolkien himself discouraged a too simplistic comparison in that vein, I am sure he couldn't have argued that real world events didn't influence him at all.

I hope you don't mind that I keep sort of arguing with you, like I said, I really don't want to offend. :)