Final Fantasy Meta: The experience of (role)playing characters

One huge change in Final Fantasy games is that characters became more and more complex, with preset backstories, lines of dialogue and character development within the game. Increasingly, we become observers, puppetmasters, and/or passive participants, discovering what makes characters tick as individuals and coming to know them as fictional characters while (at the same time) seeing their worlds and acting out their adventures in their shoes.

 

( Somewhat incoherent ramble about preset characters and Roleplaying... )