TERIN'S PROFILE

YummyDrumsticks,

It's not about Red being naive necessarily. It was the kind of character he played. The genre. If you look at him from what he is (and not who) you would say "He's young for his race and tries to act older and get more respect. Also, he seriously lacked a lot of understanding about how things were in his world -- for example being caught by Hojo, not knowing the truth of his father, not relating other key things." Red was a great character, don't get me wrong. My point is that he's a thinker. As is Vivi. They both served as characters who learned something (and acted as foils for it) to the other characters.

And yes, Zidane was a vibrant character compared to Cloud. But you have to keep in mind the things go on with the characters. Cloud and Zidane are basically kind of womanizers. Cloud less obviously so, but when you're given responses in the game for him, they're always along the lines of "How did you sleep last night? >Next to Tifa, who wouldn't sleep great!!??" (totally true, by the way, I wouldn't even need pillows) His attitude is very "just pay me and I'll do what I need to." Zidane always looked out for his brothers, but in the same way, Cloud was a part of AVALANCHE. When the people die in Sector 7, he's trying to ease them "Hey, take it easy, don't say anything more." "I thought you weren't so soft, Cloud..." Cloud is the equivalent of Zidane before he joined Tantalus. Character design-wise, look at the drawings of Zidane and Cloud that Amano did side-by-side. They look really similar. Look at Tidus mixed in there. Now you should be kind of saying "WTF" because from a very non-artsy/unappreciative-of-Amano-viewpoint, they look more or less the same with different clothes and sometimes one guy may have more gel in his hair. That's about it. (Do I need to also mention that all three of those lead characters are not related to anyone else in their world; Cloud = Special type of Soldier who got more Mako; Zidane = Not from Gaia; Tidus = Don't make me spoil the HAPPY ENDING IN FFX for anyone who hasn't played it)

My point is that the characters aren't as dissimilar as you think. They fit into very easily-cast classes. The main character for FF7, 9, 10 all can't remember things about their past, have to come to grips with their very making and founding core morals, and then ultimately face down the thing which ends up being the antithesis of that. Cloud's was Sephiroth and the lies in it all (but also the truth); Zidane's was who he was and what he was, in addition to Kuja his brother; Tidus's was his father and his issues with that and where he was, and he ultimately had to face down Sin, who was Jecht. You see what I'm saying here? Vivi, Wakka, and Red XIII play naive characters. The characters who learn a lot about things. Vivi learns about the world and how it really is; Red pretty much the same, but elements about his race, father, the planet; Wakka is arguably the most naive in FFX, but the same could be said for everyone in it since they all find out "omg the cycle of Sin can be averted and omg we killed Yunalesca and omg ancient war and omg Al Behd aren't so bad after all."

The characters all are very identifiable. I loved FF12 because they didn't follow these patterns the same. Vaan, Ashe, and Penelo are the naive characters. Basch, Balthier, and Fran are not. Vaan isn't overly colorful (save for minorly at the beginning), but the story shifts around all the characters at some point in time or another (except for Penelo -- so close though!) where they all get their lime-light. It was similar to FF6 in that regard that at first it's Terra, then Locke, then Sabin, then Terra/Banon, then Locke/Edgar, then ... Do I need to go on? Seriously, each character had some time in the spotlight! Even Mog got a pretty nice cameo at the beginning (and at the Esper in Narshe later, right? Can't remember).

That's my point. Trends of characters.

Whoever quoted me earlier about IV, that was someone else's comment. I loved FFIV, and it's probably one of my favorite.

FFIX is probably one of the best games that is related to the main "Final Fantasy" series -- and by that, I mean related to FF1. I can't think of anything else in that "series" so to say... I know there are a few others, but it's not coming to mind.

FFIX is mixed. It is very traditional to FF's. If you like FFVII, then you might as well like FFIX. They are more or less the same game. The only difference is the style. It's still "Gotta fight the big bad guy who is somehow related to the main character who can't remember where he's from and has a crush on the female lead, but that gets weird, but at least she doesn't die, but she does go mute and pointless for a whole FREAKING disc and disappears several times. Plus, he's aided by your stereotypical big guy who is very one-sided, supports his cause blindly, and all the like. Then you have the naive character who is very new to the world who is wise, but ultimately who is the philosopher of the group. The only difference is that things are inverted (Vivi vs. Red XIII). Red is old, but still technically young. Vivi is young, but his soul is basically super old (because it's from the other universe/stagnant old souls or whatever they were implying). You have the one character who uses a spear who is TOTALLY CAUGHT IN THE PAST (Freya vs. Cid, I mean come on), and that holds them back from trying new things. They all get closure somewhere in it about who they are the major events. The art/game style is different, but they follow the same cliches, same basic storyline, etc. Even the themes! FFVII - World is bad and I'm confined to this polluted mess, Wow and now I'm free and in the world and things are going good, and omg now meteor is coming. FFIX - World is polluted with evil mist and we know how bad it is, wow the mist is gone and things are better, omfg the mist is back and things are bad again with the imminent end of the world.

I could seriously go on tying the two together -- but they're PRACTICALLY the same game. I do like IX for what it is in the series. I don't care about how the graphics, etc, were so different. I don't care for the fact that it's so similar to FFVII.

FFVIII was so drastically different, and it was kind of "depressing" as the main theme (since Squall was a depressing tard), and he dealt with his problems slowly. It wasn't until the end that things were feeling great. But if you notice, lots of scenes are portrayed at sunset/night/twilight (think in the hidden empire, the missile crisis, technically the landing, entering Rinoa's hometown, memories with Laguna, etc). That makes everything feel depressing for me, for some reason. I guess since it's the "end" and I don't associate that twilight/sunset with a lot of positive things. So that wasn't great for me. And Squall's outlook shaped everything negatively.

FFX has Tidus, who although has a shitload of problems, is utterly optimistic and keeps looking forward for things being bright and good. He fights for it. Squall just doesn't care. That's what I hated about Squall and his character, although I got and understood the angst well because of my age/angst at the time. Tidus is much cooler.

FFXII was kind of stagnant with characters feelings coming through. They almost don't have them -- they have objectives. And there's that bizarre chemistry between Basch and Ashe that confused the hell out of me. The only good characters in that were Van and Penelo (brother/sister relationship -- if they introduced some love theme, I think I would've vomited) and Fran and Balthier (the love theme there was subtle, but they focused on WHY the couple worked out and what they did -- much better imo). It was fun and a good game; but definitely different. And a little bit dry. Revenge isn't the best theme to go off of.

So yeah, you should all be FF'd out now, haha.

Yeah, it was having to win the Chocobo race.

I spent about 25-30 hours on the main chunk of the game, and maybe 5-10 hours more on all the subquests, which I kind of did mostly during the game too. Most everyone had finished two sphere grids.

I thought FFX was a very refreshing RPG -- much different than the prior FF's. They kind of got away from the "We have to save the world and that's all we're after." They had some real character development -- I think Yuna was the only one with the "save the world" mentality, but even then, she was kind of trying to follow in her father's footsteps. Tidus was more along for the ride, aside from the fact that he wanted to know more about what happened to him, who he is, etc. Lulu and Wakka have this thing going on between them the entire game -- I really wish they would've kept it up. It felt like it died more or less after Lucca/The Crusader Annihilation. I really enjoyed that subplot, and it would've been nice to see them get a LITTLE closer. Kimarhi was kind of your "thrown in" character -- I think comparable to Cait Sith, Mog, Amarant, or Umaro -- kind of the "misc" character who has some story, but not a whole lot. And who could forget Auron, your stereotypical "wiser" character, but he does a nice job of really kind of letting everyone figure out, as opposed to reveal everything at some point in time later in the game. The characters all have some molds they kind of conform to, I think, but they really kind of shift from your standard definition of it. i.e. Auron not spilling all the beans, Wakka and Lulu kind of hush-hush about the romance that built, Kimarhi having subtle hints about his past all throughout the game, Tidus and has "along for the ride" mentality... Even Yuna's "I want to be like my dad and honor my family" theme.

It was really well developed. I hope FF13 can be at least almost as good as 10.

1) Taylor Jeude
2) 23
3) Houston, Texas
4) Blonde hair, brown facial hair, red chest hair, blonde body hair... All natural.
5) A team of Asian research assistants.

New Years Eve and slightly drunk...