Likibiki wrote:
And since when have SE *not* used stereotypes for their characters?
Just off the top of my head:
Barret - Mr T
Kimahri - angry wolf guy
Wakka - Feel da riddim, feel da ride, git on up it's blitzball time
Squall - Emo kid
Steiner - Dumb but loyal knight
If I thought about it I could come up with more, but it's not like we haven't seen it before.
And by the end, you found out the stereotypes were, in part, your own fault. First impressions and all that.
Personally, I hated Fang at the start. But by the end she was my favourite character. I think the only person I never actually warmed to was Hope, and that was solely because I hated his name...
Is this a response to me?
Right, SE isn't very good at characterization. There are a lot of examples. That doesn't absolve the awful characterizations in FFXIII, does it?
I should add that I do think this brings up a good point. I did find FFXIII's characters to be more grating than those other examples, and I think that has something to do with context. I think that as graphics improve, and the characters become fully voiced, they become more "real". Then, when their characterization is done so unrealistically, the contrast harms the effect.
Take Steiner, for example. His dialogue is all expressed via text. He's also, aesthetically, a cartoon character. It seems more natural for him to behave like one. It also fits the game's more cutesy, childlike style. FFXIII tried to deal with some very serious, dark themes. But it did so with the
completely wrong approach.
This all ties in to the way that the standards are changing. We're expecting more from video games, and more specifically, characterizations, than we did back when FF7 came out. Your Heavy Rains, Uncharteds, and Mass Effects are doing it better; they're the cutting edge on those fronts. Final Fantasy? It's looking a bit like a relic.
Edited, Aug 1st 2011 2:25pm by Eske