Re: Final Fantasy Thread

[Krubixcube]

That's a very good articulation of the characters in later FF games/JRPGs in general. There's so much dialogue in an attempt to say: "THIS IS WHO THE CHARACTER IS. HE IS SAD BECAUSE OF A TRAGEDY BUT HE IS ALSO UPBEAT" blahblahblah, when they can just easily bring it across in how they dress, their stance in battle, their incidental dialogue...etc etc.

[pspiddy]

Is that the result of the narrative culture in Japan or that there's such a disconnect between eastern and western thought? That's an honest question since I know fuck all about anything other than North, Middle, and South America.

Hell, we could throw this conversation to the movie thread and it would apply.

[Krubixcube]

I would say it's a symptom of lazy Japanese writing as of late. You're a movie buff, you've seen Seven Samurai. Do those characters come across in only what they say? Hells naw, how the dress, how they hold themselves, what roles they fill are all key to their characters and that's a film as Japanese as Japanese can get.

I honestly think a lot of Japanese writers just don't bother studying the classics, they're enamored with what's being made now and so they're not revisiting other storytelling forms with new technology. I mean, how many 3DS RPGs do the floating heads talking to each other instead of actually showing characters moving around and doing things? That's a step backward, but not inherent to "eastern" thought I guess.

Think back to game examples too: Chrono Trigger is a great character-driven game thatyeah, has a lot of talking but the characters have certain poses, master certain techniques based on their personalities and they all inform you about who that character is. Costume WAS indicative of a character's actual...character until Japan decided they would design their character outfits by firing clothing cannons at them.

I mean, the cuts go both ways, there's plenty of things in western storytelling too (like in most games the utter LACK of any characters whatsoever).

[pspiddy]

I understand and agree with your points. What I don't get is how, starting with 7, shit got off the rails. And it's not like it's centralized; MGS is another great example of it.

I'm not hating on these games, was just more curious about cultures.

[Krubixcube]

So am I. It buggers me to this day, buddy. I walk around and see this...horrible crap, in a country that has produced some of my favorite films and games and go "WHAT HAPPENED?!"

That said: I still like 7. It's got more personality than most modern JRPGs have in its little finger. Except Cait Sith. That was just a bad idea from day 1.

[pspiddy]

To everyone here on the forums that reads this thread,

I'm breaking up with T-wolf unless he admits Cait Sith is awesome in concept and execution. I'm going back to Kay, whom never did me wrong.

[Krubixcube]

FINE! You never satisfied me anyway.

I faked it.

[pspiddy]

FINE! You never satisfied me anyway.

I faked it.

I was thinking of your sister each time.

[Krubixcube]

  

[pspiddy]

Say you dig Cait Sith and I'll apologize.

@Kay: what's the secret for Zanmato. My Yojimbo must have some Toshiro Mifune in his ass because he does it almost every time.

[Miraculous Kaydybug]

Theres an affinity rating that goes up everytime you use him based on the power of the attack he uses.

It goes down if he uses the dog, dies, or gets dismissed. Theres a chart somewhere in this thread.

[SanAndreasX]

To everyone here on the forums that reads this thread,

I'm breaking up with T-wolf unless he admits Cait Sith is awesome in concept and execution. I'm going back to Kay, whom never did me wrong.

Cait Sith is an interesting character, and one of Square's more unique designs (yeah, I know he was an Esper in FFVI). Too bad you can't use his slot machine more often.

[chocobot]

I'm really sad I wasn't here when everyone was playing FFX. I really missed out D:

And what's wrong with Cait Sith?

[A Roguish Ham]

I found him to be pretty useless in combat, but interesting otherwise. I think a lot of what makes people really despise him is that the translation for FF VII is so friggin bad.
I know it's cool to hate on the idea of an FF VII remake right now, but I'd really love to see it at least re-translated so it's easier to understand and follow. I have a hard time going back to that game now despite how much I loved it in high school...

[BretBaber]

I very much agree, Ham. To this day the translation is the thing I always say that doesn't hold up. I'll still always play the game because it's my favorite, but it has a horrible translation when compared with other Square games like Final Fantasy IX, Chrono Cross, Brave Fencer Musashi, Final Fantasy VIII, Xenogears, etc....

I don't need a remake, because honestly they'll just fuck the game up in so many different ways, just improve the resolution, make the character models better looking like the ones in IX, and fix the translation. Other than that, don't touch a thing.

[BretBaber]

So I've attempted beating that dark aeon 6 or 7 times now and no zanmato or whatever it's called. If I go around and just get in random battles and pay him money will that improve my chances?

[pspiddy]

Try upping his pay in small increments. What works best for me is odd numbers like 251,101 gil. Kay will probably have a better answer. I know I haven't used him much so I don't put much faith in the affinity (or whatever) thing.

[BretBaber]

Until she comes in like a White Knight I'm gonna be losing interest and maybe moving on to something else. Throw me a phoenix down, Kay, I need it bad.

[pspiddy]

If it weren't on Vita I'd have quit playing it by now. I've got 83 hours invested in it and there's a ton of stuff I'm still missing. Like I've said before though, Vita makes it too easy to sit and grind while watching baseball or when my wife wants to watch a Judd Apatow type movie.

Keep the dream of platinum alive, Bret! We'll probably both get it sitting next to each other in a nursing home, but still!

[Krubixcube]

Hold on, let me defend my dislike of Cait Sith:

So the concept of Cait Sith is that he's a robot being controlled by a Turk yes, initially to help Shinra but later he grows a conscious and all that, yes? I am genuinely asking because I don't remember 100%.

The reason I don't particularly like Caith Sith is as soon as you figure out he's just a robot who can be replaced, the physical stakes of danger for that character are nonexistent. He's not in danger.

Now, you might say, well it's cool because Cait Sith is like the mole and he can get inside information and whatnot, which he does, to their credit but doesn't do it too often and not to the extent they could have.

I don't know, call it personal preference or whatever I just didn't dig the idea of a remote controlled puppet. Also, I thought he was useless in combat as well, s i never used him for that reason either.

[volvocrusher]

I didn't like Cait Sith either, but I could see the merit in having him as a puppet. You think he's going to die, then he just comes back like everything's okay so when Aerith actually dies it hits much harder. Had something similar happen in Mass Effect 3.

[Miraculous Kaydybug]

I like the concept of Cait Sith but it was kind of executed a bit poorly. His back story was the best part. How he's spying for Shinra cause they have his family hostage, but i really just dont like his character maybe its the translation, or maybe how i read his lines.


Anyways Bret run around giving him 1000 gil for a few battles to up the affinity, and make sure you GRAND SUMMON him how full the overdrive gauge is makes a huge difference.

[pspiddy]

I'm going to try the overdrive thing. I'm having good success but I've only had 3 ribbon drops and 1 Excalibur drop I've kept. And that's with like, over 20 kills. I'd say I get Zanmato 1/3 of the time. If overdrive can up that I will be very happy.

I like Cait Sith as a design, could care less using him in battle outside of the aesthetics. I mean, I'm that guy who hates it when different equipment doesn't look different on the character. So outrageous design is something I always love. For example, Lulu is my favorite in X because she is sullen yet has a stuffed toy moogle. And don't get me started on X-2...

[pspiddy]

I'll keep using Grand Summon when I have it but I don't see a difference so far. This is using the pool of 3 tries that I didn't immediately do wakazashi so that's not a big enough sample to judge.

[chocobot]

I like Cait Sith as a character but I sure as hell never used him in battle.

I'm still going for the platinum in FFX myself but at the rate I'm going I'll be done by the time FFXV is released (ohoho). I'm still too scared to attempt dodging the lightning 200 times. I see myself screwing up at 199 and completely losing my mind.

[pspiddy]

Hey! Welcome back, choco^^

I've done more run throughs with Yojimbo and I can honestly say my experience is there is no discernable difference in grand summon or no overdrive. I did get an eternity bracelet with hp limit break and ribbon, but that was during a no overdrive defeat. /shrug

[chocobot]

Hey spiddy, good to see you again! （＾∇＾）

[chocobot]

So let me tell you all about this dream I had awhile ago. It's so bizarre I just have to share it.

I was at the beach with Rikku because apparently we were bestles, and then Seymour shows up. Him and Rikku began wrestling in the sand and they made me join them so we were all giggling and rolling around on the beach together. This isn't even the weirdest part unfortunately. After playing in the sand Seymour invited us to his fancy beach house and we spent the night there. The next morning Seymour was making breakfast while wearing nothing but a yellow speedo and he began dancing while holding a pan. He was really into it and began pelvic thrusting. I seriously can never erase this image from my head and hate myself for it.

After his horrifying dance and breakfast I guess he was driving me home. Well Seymour is a fucking awful driver and was driving in the wrong lanes and the police were after us and I was screaming at him to stop before he killed us both and he was just laughing the whole time. Then I think my dog was suddenly the driver and I woke up. The end.

Dreams are so weird. I have a feeling I'm going to regret sharing this now hahaha.. I'm going to bed.

[Krubixcube]

You should never take up Seymour on the invitation back his beach house. That's a bad situation involving illicit substances and bad decisions written all over it.

[pspiddy]

I've been farming in X so much I had a dream about chasing mice and was trying to capture them with my machete before my wife or Odo could kill them.

In context, I've recently found mice poo in my pantry and saw a mouse darting across the kitchen counter to the drapes. And I watch DS9 while falling asleep.

Anyone else have embarassing FF dreams? Not, like, Choco embarrassing but rational embarrassing. I mean, who the fuck gets into a car with Seymour?

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