#FFXII Revenant Wings

[kiloude-city]

Balthier in Revenant Wings really looked at everyone who complained that Vaan wasn't really the protagonist of the first game and said: No, he is the leading man and im the supporting character and also I love them both so much.

[pennilesswithannds]

This had ivalice and juges in it. I essentially consider ffxii to be a lesser known spin off of the final fantasy tactics franchise.

[ethernalium]

[katkeyboardmastah]

Gee I wonder what Fran meant by this-

[ritunn]

A Short Tangent on Nu Mou and Cu Sith in Final Fantasy XII

I always found it strange how close in appearance FFXII: Revenant Wings' cu sith summon/character is to the nu mou.

The nu mou were introduced in Final Fantasy Tactics Advance and reappeared in FFTA2: Grimoire of the Rift, FFXII, and FFXIV: Shadowbringers. They are identified by a few common traits in the series:

Dog-like

Long floppy ears

Short stature

Specialized in magic

You could honestly think of them as weird looking magical dogs if you really wanted. Overall though, they are one of the main species in Ivalice with the like of bangaa, seeq, and viera to name a few others.

In FFXII: Revenant Wings you can get the cu sith summon, a well-known fearsome dog-like beast from Irish mythology who's howl meant death to those who heard it. In Revenant Wings, he's just a funny little earth summon who can bind enemies. Not as scary.

There's also Cu Sith the character. She's a smith and a corporeal cu sith who helps your party out as a non-playable NPC. Both have the following traits apperance wise however:

Literally just dogs now

Long floppy ears

Short stature

Adorable

In the end however, the cu sith are also cute short magical dogs with long floppy ears. This begs the question: are the two related? There's none, if barely any nu mou in FFXII: Revenant Wings despite making appearances in FFXII. So, it's quite possible they were added fulfill their role. Mind you, Revenant Wings wasn't originally meant to be a sequel nor part of the Ivalice setting. This was changed later. But it's still strange there's two dog people with strangely similar appearances. The big two differences are the longer snouts and fatter tails of nu mou. Thus, I have a theory.

Nu mou and cu sith are actually related. Once the same species, but one diverted to become a summon and the other chose to keep their corporeal form. We do know cu sith can become permanently corporeal if they choose because of Cu Sith, so it's entirely possible the two species are related, distantly if so. But, this is just a silly theory. No evidence for it at all, but it's fun to analyze the similarities between the two cute creatures.

[oveliagirlhaditright]

Kingdom Hearts 4 Challenge Day 2: A Character You'd Want to Cameo

Llyud from Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings

To be honest, while I love Llyud, he's probably not one of my top Square Enix picks at all. In fact, I sort of made another post with those already. ^_^'

So why am I mentioning him here, then? Well, I won't lie: one, because I know no one else will, so I'll be original with this.

But the main reason is because his story would tie in so well with the Nobodies', and I would love to see something done with that. It'll never happen, but we can dream. And Nomura did say that there would be more Nobodies in the future of the KH series (and I think he meant the humanoid ones, like Organization XIII, and not just the mook ones).

Basically, like the Nobodies (or how they start out, anyway, if they don't grow hearts), Llyud's race (known as the aegyl) can't feel emotion (though this is because of the Big Bad's actions. And there's a whole story there in RW). But Llyud really starts to develop and challenge things.

In a perfect world, Llyud would have been in Days. But, like I said, since we're apparently not done with the Nobodies in the series, I certainly wouldn't mind him in a future game:)

[mostfuckableffvillain]

Round 1

Barbariccia: fucken wimdy

Feolthaos: Never need to by feather pillows again

[shaziplays]

Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings

Main Story - Complete

[tarnishedxknight]

FFXII Week ~ Day 3 Prompt: Favorite Ship

{out of dalmasca} Disclaimer: This post may include canon-divergent interpretations of canon characters, info about OCs featured on this blog, and AUs that may not align with the canon plot/characters of FFXII and/or may contain triggering material.

- - - - - - - - - -

Oh, you can't ask me for my favorite ship in this game when there are sooo many good ones to choose from! So you're getting my top three instead, heh. Let's dive into these great ships! =)

1st Place OTP: Basch & Ashelia

Listen. I understand there's a significant age gap. I do. BUT. First of all, I will die on this hill and you can pry this ship from my cold dead fingers, haha. Second, this ship works so well in some ways, sadly enough, because it never happened. Third, it also works because of the kind of person Basch is. We all know he is a decent, moral, caring, honorable, protective, and completely non-creepy guy. Because we know he would never have any bad intentions with Ashe, the ship works despite the age gap.

I am such a sucker for the whole "knight & princess" shipping trope, so let's just get that out of the way. But I've also developed these two a lot, beyond what is shown in the game. Basch was around for Ashelia's whole life, and she grew up with him being a source of guidance, protecting, mentoring, and structure when her mother was dead, eventually all her brothers were too, her father was largely absent, and she didn't really have any friends. There was Rasler, but she saw him very infrequently. So Basch was a constant and a source of stability in her life, which is why his "betrayal" hurt her so badly. But I love the slow burn of this ship-that-never-was, with Ashe relying on Basch and growing to have feelings for him and Basch realizing after years that he felt more for her than just friendship.

In my interpretation of him, Basch first realized that he loved Ashelia beyond just a knight protecting his king's daughter when he saw her marry Rasler. He was surprised by an overwhelming feeling of loss and sadness that permeated the otherwise hopeful and joyous tone of the wedding. He was happy for her, to be sure, but a part of him felt he was losing something or someone he couldn't live without. That's when it occurred to him that he was in love with her, and he realized what he was feeling was the beginnings of a broken heart.

Now, in the FFXII main game (and in Revenant Wings, if you consider that canon, I do not), Basch never confesses his feelings to her, for a multitude of reasons. I'll list them (from his own point of view, so the truth of these may be biased in that way) to save space so I don't ramble on forever:

He's too old for her

He's not of Dalmascan blood

He's not of Dynast King lineage

He's half-Archadian, and Ashelia hates the Empire

He was a lesser noble in Landis and only a knight in Dalmasca, hardly fit for a princess

The timing to tell her was never appropriate

He could clearly see she loved Rasler, and developed a crush on Balthier

She needs to marry royalty, or at least someone more elevated than he

She needs to seriously choose carefully who is going to father her heirs

She's never shown any interest in him beyond a professional relationship and friendship

So for all these reasons, Basch never confessed his love to Ashelia. In canon, for most of us, he never ever did. If you take the storyboards for Fortress into account, Basch finally confesses that he loves her, ten years after the end of the FFXII main game, and Ashelia promptly says she doesn't feel the same. While it was good to get some loosely-canon-ish confirmation on Basch's end, there's a lot about Fortress that was problematic, and Ashelia's characterization (as well as Zargabaath's and Larsa's) was horrible in it, so... I take that with a grain of salt. But anyway, the upshot is that, for Basch, this ship never got past achingly pining away for a woman he believes he can never have... and maybe he's right.

For Ashelia, she didn't realize she had feelings for Basch beyond just valuing him as a former knight and a mentor to her... until it was already too late and he was in Archadia. Impersonating his brother, Basch was supposed to be dead. He also couldn't very well return to her when he had Larsa to protect. She found herself missing Basch, as Penelo wrote in her letter at the end of the game, and feeling a little jealous of Larsa for having Basch with him.

Just like Basch, Ashelia has a list of reasons why she can't be with him, though hers are from a bit different of a point of view. Whereas Basch's points are all about him falling short of what she deserves or needs, or about her not wanting to be with him, Ashelia's have to do more with the logistics and optics of how to be with Basch, given his duties in Archadia. Here are her reasons why she doesn't think she could ever be with him:

Usually royalty are arranged, and any choice of hers would have to be approved by her counsel

Her counsel will never approve a man convicted of killing her father to be her king consort

Basch is supposed to be dead

He's hated by a large portion of the Dalmascan public, so the optics of it would look very bad to her people

Even if Basch were to be accepted by Dalmascans again, he's half-Archadian, something they and her counsel will surely think is inappropriate for the production of future heirs

If Basch remained "Gabranth" and visited Ashelia, the optics of that would look even worse

And really, the logistics of him spending enough time in Dalmasca to be a husband to her, a father to any children that would have, and a partner to her both politically and emotionally... just doesn't work with him having to remain with Larsa in Archadia

And so, sadly enough, this is the greatest ship that will just never be, heh. But hey, there's always fics and rps, right? I've made it happen on my own blog in a few different ways, and there is always the idea of Basch maybe being free to return to Ashe at some point in the future, after the events of the main game... right? Just nod. XD

I love this ship, though. The dynamic they had with each other, the way he supported and wanted the best for her, the way they both care about Dalmasca, Ashe's home and Basch's adopted home... I think they could be such a power couple if life and they themselves could have just given them a chance.

Plus, they both deserve happiness, don't they? Basch has suffered so much and been so alone. I want to see him happy and loved, with cute babies. My version of Basch on this blog wants to be a father so badly, but doesn't think he's the sort of person who should be having kids or who would make a good father. Prove him wrong, Ashe! And on Ashe's side of things, her last marriage was decided for her for political reasons. I would love to see her fall in love organically, as she did with Basch with my versions of the characters, and choose her own king consort.

2nd Place OTP: Gabranth & Drace

I love these two so much, your honor. I also write these two character on this blog, and I've developed them far beyond the game. I won't go into a lot of it, because my Dark!Ivalice AU contains a lot of potentially triggering themes, but these two have a longstanding history of supporting each other and being close friends and lovers.

Drace was the one who first took notice of Noah, who helped him get into the military from living in Old Archades with his mother when he first arrived from Landis, and who pointed him out to Emperor Gramis. She later sponsored him for the rank of Judge Magister, a rank he would go on to achieve and break her record of "youngest person to attain the rank" by a few months. He has defended her against misogyny in their rank and elsewhere, supported her ideas politically, and valued her advice. She has helped comfort him through numerous traumas, loves and respects him, but also realizes that he's not to be held too tightly. They've kept grave secrets for each other, vouches for each other, and protected each other from various threats both domestic and foreign. Over the years, they have developed and unspoken understanding with each other, a deep love, and a emotional support system that has become critical to both of them.

This post said it perfectly, and it describes Gabranth's and Drace's dynamic so well. They could not be open with their relationship because of how it might come back to bite one or both of them in their cutthroat rank and political system. They had to be very careful, discreet, and restrained, which honestly for me only made their relationship more achingly sweet and poignant.

But... it also makes Gabranth being ordered to execute her even more painful, I realize, but... I am a glutton for angst, heh. But you better believe that not only Basch's betrayal, but losing Drace by his own hand, had Gabranth emotionally flailing at the Pharos and again on the Bahamut. Losing Basch broke a piece of him, and losing Drace broke an equally big piece. That combined with the nethicite poisoning screwing with his mind... and you have the emotionally volatile Gabranth we saw at the Pharos.

Another side note, combining some things from the manga and my own headcanons, Drace sought Basch out at the Battle of Nalbina Fortress in defense of Noah. Yes, there was an attempt to occupy the Dalmascan Knights to keep them away from the fortress, but Drace could have targeted anyone... and she chose Basch. Why? She's heard for years from Noah about the pain Basch's abandonment caused him and their mother. Being dedicated to both Noah and her own family, she could not let such injustice stand. Her emotional attacks against Basch were here undoing in that duel, however, and Basch was able to significantly injure her arm, causing her to need to retreat. She was just defending her man! =)

But anyway, I adore these two for their silent understanding and loving acceptance of each other just the way they are. They don't try to change each other, but rather work with what's already there to build something really special between them. I wish we had gotten to see more of them, particularly Drace. =(

3rd Place: Fran & Balthier

I don't write either of these characters myself, although I have dabbled a wee bit with Fran as a guest muse. But I just... *sigh* These two are completely adorable, totally bonkers, and an absolute hoot.

My favorite moment of theirs was when Balthier was trying not to show just how concerned he was for Fran having been cracked on the head by falling debris on the Bahamut. He goes to pick her up, princess-style, and carry her out, and he'd just told Ashelia over the radio that he's, of course, "...the leading man." To which Fran replies, "I'd say you're in more of a... supporting role." Balthier simply deadpans with, "Fran, please." I love it so much. I love the way they tease each other, and the way they effortlessly play off of one another.

I also love how neither Fran nor Balthier ever places labels on their relationship beyond... "partner." Is that... a business partner? A partner in crime? A romantic partner? A sexual one? Any? All? We don't know, because they never tell us, because it's none of our damn business. And that's great, honestly. They're so secure in their relationship dynamic that they just let it be what it will and they don't need to explain it to anyone else.

Plus they're exciting, funny, daring, interesting, and they break a lot of traditional story tropes. Gotta love a ship that can do all that. =)

[zexainias-doodles]

Vaan

I love the color scheme of his clothes. Also, I've never actually played Final Fantasy 12. I only found out years after I played FFXII Revenant Wings that it wasn't the same game.

[kiloude-city]

What the hell is the Empire feeding Larsa to make him like Penelo's cooking???

[disillusionedjudge]

If there are multiple adaptions/If they are part of a multi-part franchise, which ones would your character appear in?

Besides your face/voiceclaim, who do you think would be cast as your character?

Is your character the subject of ‘imagines’ or ‘x reader’ style blogs?

What is the quote between your character and their love interest/whoever they might be shipped with that their fans would latch onto?

What’s the discourse surrounding your ship?

META ASKS: If Your OC Was Canon.

If there are multiple adaptions/If they are part of a multi-part franchise, which ones would your character appear in?

other than ffxii/ffxii zodiac age, she would've appeared in ffxii fortress! I'm not sure about revenant wings? but probably not. I could see her having her own card in the ff card games, since I know a few ffxii characters have cards, but I don't know much else about the ff franchise as a whole and all its spinoff games and whatnot to know where else Gylfie could squeeze into, heh.

Besides your face/voiceclaim, who do you think would be cast as your character?

I did consider using Alba Flores as a fc! I've used her as a fc before for a previous oc (Niko my beloved) but I ended up going with Anya Chalotra after I saw a screenshot of Yen on pinterest (the one that's my icon) and immediately felt that a perfect fit for Gylfie, heh. So... I guess maybe Alba Flores just because I did consider her? Otherwise... hmm. Maybe Indira Varma?

Is your character the subject of ‘imagines’ or ‘x reader’ style blogs?

I don't think she'd ever get her own blog focusing on that sort of thing, but I think she would show up in imagines and x reader posts, heh. I did my fair share of scrolling through kinda blogs when I first got into the mcu, so I know how this works sdgfjdf

What is the quote between your character and their love interest/whoever they might be shipped with that their fans would latch onto?

ooh, man, okay, that's a great question dfjhds - I poked around the threads I have with Gylfie's ships, so I'm gonna pluck quotes from them to match with each ship that I could see being latched onto!

for her ship with Luciana ( @notyourdumblonde ), I think the quote "I will not let anything hurt you, Luci. You are safe with me, I promise." would be latched onto not just because of Luciana's history with Everard, but also because of Gylfie's nature. She's deceptive, she's violent, she's a loyal hound to the Empire, and she's killed her blood family, so to have her say that and mean it would stand out, I think. Plus, I could see that quote being the first time a softer side of Gylfie has been seen, so I think it'd stand out for that alone, heh.

for her ship with Thor (also @notyourdumblonde ), I think the quote "To deal with Archadia’s politics is to deal with vipers, and I do not wish to see you bit. Please, my love, just… just trust me in this. Trust that I know what I am doing." would be latched onto. Funnily enough, this is from Gylfie's corruption au, but, this absolutely fits in her regular au as well! Her wanting to protect Thor, not just because she's queen and it's Gylfie's duty to do so, but because she loves her, but she's keeping Thor at a distance by hiding things from her to protect her is just... oh, I can absolutely see fans running with that, heh. Especially with the things Gylfie ends up doing to save Archadia, in both her main and corruption verses.

and for her ship with Caelen ( @tarnishedxknight ), I think the quote "I wish more people were like you." would be latched onto. Like... okay, is it the most romantic thing she's said to him? No, not exactly, heh, and it might be a bit odd compared to the quotes I chose for her ships with Luciana and Thor, but... here me out. This quote means... a lot coming from Gylfie. Like I mentioned in the point with Luciana, Gylfie is deceptive, violent, more a loyal hound than a person, and she's killed her blood family. She is... not a good person, though I'll argue she's not necessarily a bad person either, but I digress lol. But she knows she's not a good person, and she's surrounded by people who aren't good, either, though not necessarily bad. Some of them definitely are, but not all of them. Caelen... is absolutely not one of those people, heh. He's gentle and kind and loving - really, everything Gylfie is not, or at least she believes she's not - and... when she says she wishes more people were like him, she's including herself. She wishes more people were like him because she's tired from war and she thinks if more people were like him, war would be scarce. If more people were like him, the world would be a better place. If she was more like him, she would be a better person. Honestly, she... doesn't necessarily feel like she deserves him sometimes, and that would be why.

edit: I forgot Myriel lol, so my bad, but I... don't have a quote at the ready for them, heh, so that worked out anyway.

What’s the discourse surrounding your ship?

*rubs temples* I think the main thing would Gylfie being wildly misunderstood and fans painting her as being manipulative, if not abusive, to her ships. I could see it being said she's taking advantage of Luciana, she's manipulating Thor, using Caelen, and generally just getting villainized. I mean, I've seen genuinely wholesome ships where one character will get that treatment, especially if it gets in the way of another popular ship, canon or not. I have a very specific fandom in mind but I'm not about to name it because I don't feel like swinging at a hornet's nest sdgfkhjfsd

otherwise... hmm. I'm gonna go outta order with how I've listed her ships because I'm just thinking out loud at this point, heh, and I do wanna try to branch out more than "she's not good for them". With Caelen specifically, I think the biggest discourse would be surrounding the fact, in their main verses, they're both hiding their true identities from each other. He's hiding the fact he's technically the last living Prince of Dalmasca, though she does know he's Dalmascan at least, and she's hiding the fact she's a Judge and knows that he's Dalmascan. Then there's the issue that she's reporting back to Gabranth about Caelen, because that was the primary reason for her visits in the beginning (before she began visiting just because she wanted to spend time with him). I can see it being said she doesn't actually love him, that she's just using him, yada-yada, things like that.

with Thor, I think the most discourse would stem from Gylfie's corruption verse for... obvious reasons, heh. Manipulation is the biggest issue I can see coming up, because Gylfie is actively lying to her about a lot in regards to what she's doing and Archadia. This goes for both verses, because Gylfie isn't honest to Thor about what she's planning to try and lead Archadia to a better future, and in her corruption verse, when she's grieving the death of Silas, that would easily be taken as "Gylfie isn't mourning him, she's just putting up an act to manipulate Thor into staying!", even though... it's not an act. Yes, Gylfie killed him, but she does mourn him because, despite their issues, she did love him, and she wishes she didn't "have" to do it. I mean, she didn't. at all. because she doesn't care about House Solidor in her corruption au and her loyalty to Larsa is more fickle until she knows he's genuine in wanting a better future. Her main verse, it could be maybe seen as Gylfie trying to manipulate Thor so Archadia gets control over Asgard? but that feels like a reach, though... that's not exactly unusual, rip.

with Luciana, I really think the biggest discourse would be Gylfie "taking advantage" of her, or, depending on verse, her not actually caring about her because she didn't do anything to help her with Everard. An issue I see in general with abuse is that people... don't realize how hard it is for someone to leave their abuser? so not only is it difficult for Luciana to leave, but Gylfie can't really do anything because she doesn't want to make things worse for Luciana. So discourse would be she doesn't actually care about Luciana, and then with Everard out of the picture and bringing Gylfie's nature back into focus, it could be said she doesn't actually love her, and is just going along with the fact that Luciana loves her because it benefits her somehow.

and also for all three ships, I could see discourse surrounding power imbalance being a thing? Since Gylfie has power over Caelen and Luciana for being a Judge (I include Caelen because, while he's technically Dalmasca's Prince, he's hiding that identity), and then Thor has power over Gylfie since she's Queen. But! at least the age gap discourse... no, I can't even say that because I could see the age gap discourse existing for Gylfie and Thor fgjkhfdgskjhfsd

edit: I do feel like there would be some discourse about her ship with Myriel, even though they're no longer a couple and haven't been for some time. I feel like some might try and make Myriel out to be a bad person because she didn't stick around for Gylfie and didn't communicate her issues to her, even though... Myriel had every right to leave, and she did try to communicate her issues with her. Was it done well? No, not necessarily, but Myriel stuck around with her through a lot, she felt like she was a second thought, and she and Gylfie simply began to grow in different directions. Their ship was never going to last because they became different people than the girls they once had been, and that happens. Not every childhood sweetheart works out, no big deal. But, yeah, I can see Myriel getting villainized in this case, and then obviously Gylfie getting villainized as well. I can see people saying Gylfie didn't care about Myriel, that she was just stringing her along, and that she didn't actually love her and was just using her. It's gonna be similar patterns to the discourse I mentioned with her other ships, because those are the biggest issues I can see arising. With Gylfie and Myriel, I think discourse would stem from people just... not seeing they had legitimate reasons they wouldn't work out, but neither of them are bad. They're hume, they messed up, and they were young.

[autopotion]

*These are not official groupings, just mine.

EARLY (1987-1993)

Mainline games released: I, II, III, IV, V.

Other notable releases: the Legend series, Mystic Quest

Established the formula & series mainstays--job classes, summons, chocobos & moogles, etc.

These games were relatively simple at first, but soon became trailblazers for epic storytelling in RPGs--especially IV (or initially II in North America).

Pixel guys.

Mostly known by their many (many, many) remasters and remakes.

Modern audiences might find their stories rote and their gameplay unnecessarily difficult, but they still enjoy a tiny, vocal fanbase.

GOLDEN (1994-2001)

Mainline games released: VI**, VII, VIII, IX, X.

Other notable releases: Tactics, Chocobo's Mystery Dungeon, Anthology, Chronicles

With the formula established & with the more powerful hardware of fifth- (and later sixth-) generation consoles, FF pushed boundaries and graphical limitations to produce their most ambitious games (and marketing campaigns) yet. You might say they succeeded, for better or worse; Final Fantasy VII is generally considered to be the very first AAA video game.

The era that the majority of the FF fanbase on the Internet is most nostalgic for, a fact that might inspire either your own misty-eyed recollection of the good ol' days, or an overwhelming desire to snap the rose-tinted glasses. Or both.

Saw the first of many (many, many) ports across different systems--in part to give English-speaking audiences access to the early games they missed, but also as blatant cash-grabs.

Modern audiences who have no nostalgia for this era often voice that they find stylized 3D polygons much more difficult to acclimate to than the pixel guys.

**FFVI could arguably fall under the early era. If I'd made this poll fifteen years ago, when the division of fans between VI and VII was much more stark, that's where I would have put it. However, this poll is also about how modern audiences tend to think about their favorite FF games, and FFVI enjoys a nostalgic fanbase on par with those of the other games of the golden era. Search for it on any "best FF games of all time" list and you'll see what I mean.

COMPILATION (2002-2008)

Mainline games released: XI, XII.

Other notable releases: Crystal Chronicles, X-2, Compilation of FFVII (Before Crisis, Crisis Core, Dirge of Cerberus, etc.), FFXII: Revenant Wings, the Tactics Advance series & the War of the Lions remake of the original Tactics, the DS remakes of III & IV, the first Dissidia. (Also of note, though not directly beneath the FF umbrella, was the introduction of Kingdom Hearts.)

The era of sequels, remakes, remasters, crossovers, and extended universes, shepherded by the Square Enix merger. Only two mainline games were released in this period, and the one that was not an MMO was an entry in the newly-formed "Ivalice Alliance" (contrary to the desires of one of XII's principal developers, Yasumi Matsuno, who left the project before it was finished).

While of course we've seen plenty of sequels & remakes since, this era went all-in on expanding Final Fantasy to the behemoth it is now. FFVII, its golden child, was showered with prequels and sequels. Crossovers were all the rage. Even games that were not strictly "Final Fantasy" games were retroactively roped into one of the existing canon masses, i.e. Vagrant Story into the Ivalice Alliance.

This was also the boom of handhelds, like the PSP and the beloved DS. Mainline games were saved for the heavyweight home consoles, while other titles were dispersed across the smaller systems.

Very few "new" worlds with no preexisting ties to the other games (outside of the shared banner of Final Fantasy) were created in this time, XI and Crystal Chronicles being the few exceptions.

If you enjoyed seeing the games you loved from the 90s getting more content, this era was a delight. If you'd rather the original entries were left alone, it was a painful sign of things to come.

EXPERIMENTAL (2009-2015)

Mainline games released: XIII, XIV (twice)

Other notable releases: XIII-2 & Lightning Returns, Type-0 (also a member of XIII's Fabula Nova Crystallis series), Dissidia 012, the Theatrhythm series, the first expansion for XIV (Heavensward), Record Keeper, Brave Exvius

FF's darkest era. XIII was the first time FF tried something new since XI--brand new world, female protagonist, fresh spin on the old ATB formula--and it fell just short of catastrophic. XIII and its sequels were not well-received (though whether this negative backlash was "deserved" is another story). The game that would later become XV was originally intended to be Versus XIII, an entry in Fabula Nova Crystallis. Between XIII's poor reception and Versus XIII's fraught development, this didn't happen.

The initial release of XIV, on the other hand, was catastrophic. It was so bad that the entire thing had to be rebooted.

The good news is XIV's reboot, A Realm Reborn, did so well that XIV is widely considered one of the best MMOs of all time. The reboot is also one of the earliest examples of video game "rehabilitation," in that a dramatic change or update to the original game transforms a negative experience into a positive one, and thus scrapes back the good will of the player. (No Man's Sky is a non-FF example.)

The virulent criticism of XIII has softened over the years, and it enjoys a small, dedicated fanbase.

You started to see FF dip into mobile games at this point, too.

MODERN (2016-2023)

Mainline games released: XV, XVI

Other notable releases: World of Final Fantasy, Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age, Dissidia NT, Dissidia Opera Omnia, Final Fantasy VII Remake, the pixel remasters of I-VI, Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Reunion, Crisis Core: Reunion, a slew of expansions for XIV

The long-anticipated release of XV heralded a new age (as well as a movie and an anime). In contrast to XIII, XV was very popular, and put FF back on the map. People loved the boys' road trip.

XIV is still going strong. I don't play MMOs but I'm happy for them.

The remakes & remasters are back, and looking more realistic than ever (if you're into that sort of thing). Look at how many individual pores you can see on your old favorites' faces! The most successful of these is the Final Fantasy VII Remake, which is not a remake as much as it's a conversation with the original game, a move that both drew in a new audience and softened (some of) the diehard og-VII fans who disliked the rest of the Compilation.

Stranger of Paradise is an odd duck attempting to evoke the uncanny valley weirdness of the PS3 era. YMMV on if it worked.

The modern FF games step further out of the boundaries of what an FF game is, dropping ATB combat in favor of real-time action that's all the rage these days. In a first, XVI doesn't have any party members. For the folks who've grown tired of ATB and crave the fast-paced action of the modern day, XVI was a hit (though, I've heard, it failed to deliver on the story).

The endless conversation about whether FF ought to be evolving this far outside of its "formula" (whatever one believes that to be) might feel tired to the average FF fan. But, going forward, it's worth talking about the ways in which FF has neglected to evolve, or even gone backwards: such as the dev team of XV stating that the inclusion of women would cause their core bros to act unnaturally, thus why there are no female party members in the game, or the dev team of XVI deliberately not including a diverse cast because their fantasy game is inspired by medieval Europe.

Tell me which era you voted for in the tags, and what your personal favorite FF game is!

[madpawws]

Esta semana me ha dado por: Final Fantasy XII

Lo primero de todo, ¡Hola! Es mi primera entrada en Tumblr así que poneos comodes para leer las tonterias que me ocurren o me pasan por la cabeza.

Desde hace bastante tiempo tengo este videojuego pendiente, buscando juegos de segunda mano post cuarentena me encontré con una copia de FFXII para PS2, pero entre el motion sickness, enchufar la consola a un televisor moderno y que la resolución de PS2 es lo mas parecido a tener cataratas pues no ha ayudado mucho a poder darle un intento.

(Imagen del Prologo del juego, sin spoilers)

Continuando con lo que os decía, el mes pasado me quedé sin PC, la fuente de alimentación explotó de un momento para otro (realmente no, pero soy una exagerada) y debido a que me quedé sin PC pues he tenido que desempolvar alguna de las consolas que he tenido guardadas por años. Y bueno, la Playstation 2 Slim y el Final Fantasy XII han sido de las cosas que han salido de aquel cajón.

Entre carros y carretas, me di un paseo por el reddit del juego por que se que en la versión original del juego no se pueden cambiar los trabajos de los personajes, y enfrentarme a un JRPG de +100h con una sinergia de mierda pues mira, no me apetece.

En esta investigación sobre los jobs y demás casi caigo en la tentación de jugar la saga entera de Ivalice (FF12, Tactics, Vagrant, A2, Advance, Revenant Wings). Gracias a dios después de probar Vagrant Story se me quitaron las ganas de empezar a pasarme todos estos juegos y seguí con la idea inicial de solo jugar XII.

Después de la informada que me metí en 24h decidí intentar emular el juego en PS3 pero en su versión IZSJ (International Zodiac Sistem Job) Que básicamente es una revisión de este titulo que si no me equivoco salió en Japón y no se si en US. En esta versión te permite cambiar de Jobs llegado a cierto punto de la historia, entonces me pareció buena idea perder un par de días en configurar el CFW de la consola para poder jugar a este juego y dropearlo al cabo de un par de horas por que me daba error y no pude avanzar de las primeras horas de juego. (Sí, soy gilipollas, la ps2 estaba ahí con el juego lista para jugar pero me como la cabeza en hacerlo difícil)

(Imagen de Vaan, uno de los protagonistas del juego)

Después de pasar toda la semana informándome sobre el juego, las estrategias y demases , acabé no jugándolo (para variar).

El plot twist viene cuando consigo arreglar mi PC, y con esto se abre la ultima oportunidad de jugar este juego:

FINAL FANTASY XII THE ZODIAC AGE

Sí, he acabado volviendo a descargar el mismo juego, para otra plataforma, pero esta ocasión con el objetivo de pasarlo de una maldita vez (no se si ocurrirá lmao). Así que esta semana que entra estaré jugándolo tranquilamente rezando por que no me dé hiperfijación otra cosa y lo abandone después de 50 horas.

Seguiré posteando cosas del juego si veo que ocurre algo interesante.

[mayohigan-orange]

Also, before I head off, I just... Don't understand game companies sometimes.

I'm going to be talking about stuff that isn't recent. Even the point I'll get to isn't recent.

But, whatever, y'know?

So, there's this company called Square Enix, and they make a series called Final Fantasy. They don't often bother with actual sequels, they just move on to the next game.

There are a few exceptions to this, though.

First off, FF7. Absolutely massively popular game, although I think it's overrated to hell and back and is... about passable by today's standards. And that's me being generous.

But yeah, it spawned a bunch of extra stuff, like Advent Children (which was alright), Dirge of Cereberus (it wasn't actually that bad) and Crisis Core (best thing to come out of FF7, in my opinion) as well as a bunch of other stuff.

It made sense. FF7 was absolutely massive, with people claiming it to be the best game ever (it really isn't) so it made sense that Square would want to capitalise on that (even if it was like years later) to make more money.

Next, we have FFX. Which was the first PS2 Final Fantasy and was also pretty widely praised. It also has Lulu so it gets bonus points for that. I've never actually finished it but I've played a fair bit of it, and I can see why people like it. Let's just not talk about the laughing scene. I don't care if it was meant to come off the way it did for reasons, that doesn't make it any better.

But yeah, after that, Square decided that a sequel would be a good idea, so along came FFX-2. Which I've also played a good chunk of and... I'm not gonna say it's better than FFX, but I do think it's better than people give it credit for. Luckily, nowadays people seem to be a bit kinder to it.

So, what game would be next for a sequel?

...Well actually FFXII, but I actually kinda like that game, and ADORE Revenant Wings, so I'm not going to be talking about that game right now. I really should play through it again sometime.

No, I'm going to talk about FFXIII. A.K.A. MANY MANY HOURS OF CORRIDOR SIMULATOR BEFORE YOU GET TO ANYTHING GOOD.

Most people did not like FFXIII. For fairly obvious reasons. Lightning was basically an expy of Cloud and Squall, while having none of the spark that make either character likeable. And most of the characters apparently didn't come off much better because... if you talk to people about the FF games, they will generally be able to mention one or two characters that are really good. FF6 has Locke and Celes, FF7 has Tifa and Aerith, FF10 has Auron and Rikku...

I've never really heard anyone talk about the characters in FFXIII. And I have talked about it with people who played it, they just... didn't have anything to say about the characters. Which in itself is a huge issue.

If you're created characters so boring that people don't even want to talk about them to illustrate the character's bad points, you've SEVERELY fucked up. Like, I can only vaguely recall a couple of characters, like... Snow and Serah, I think? And I couldn't tell you a damn thing about them. And before I keep going, no, I haven't played FFXIII but I've watched a friend play part of it and I've seen part of a stream on it. Couldn't really stand to watch it for too long because of how boring it is.

Apparently EVENTUALLY it opens up into a open world thing but the fact you have to go through HOURS of Corridor Simulator kinda makes it feel like Square's just going 'fuck you, you want freedom? just 11 more hours to go until freedom, fucker!'

And honestly if you still want to play by the time it becomes a more open-world affair, you're a masochist.

So yeah. Most people did not like FFXIII. They didn't like the gameplay, they didn't like the story, they didn't like the characters.

So what did Square Enix do?

"LET'S MAKE TWO SEQUELS TO THIS GAME THAT ABSOLUTELY NOBODY LIKED."

Just... why? Apparently it has something to do with Lightning disappearing which, y'know, good riddance to a poor character. And then Lightning Returning which... why can't Square Enix do that with characters people actually like and want to see back. *points at Geno not being in Smash*

It's just... I don't get why Square decided making two sequels to FF game that nobody liked was a good idea. Especially when it seems to be centralized around an extremely boring character like Lightning. I've never really been able to get an answer about that, either. Even people who 'like' FFXIII haven't been able to give me a proper answer on why FFXIII-2 and Lightning Returns exist. I guess maybe FFXIII sold well, but it was a Final Fantasy game. It was going to sell well. They should have waited to see what the fans said about it and then decided "hmm maybe we should just move on, the opinion about this game is... 'mixed', at best."

Anyway, I guess the rants over now. XP