RPG Discussion (Formerly; Earthbound or Chrono Trigger?)

[Ton]

oh gee god forbid somebody have existential issues about the nature and meaning of their existence stemming from the genuine conditions that gave birth to them
or for his reactions/struggles/problems to specifically represent and frame the antithesis of what the game itself is about


golbez is kind of a joke, honestly. i can't take final fantasy 4 seriously; no matter what it attempts to do, the whole of the game feels like such a random and meaningless assortment of events and things. the biggest issue with final fantasy 4 is just how prototypical it is.

"i was mad at you and he took control of me." is such an overdone trope.

I'm all for existentialism, and if it was just Sephiroth, it would be fine, but we get almost the same thing from Cloud through the whole game. The narrative gets so laden with mopey characters that it becomes a chore to get through. Good thing the gameplay is fun. In fact, FF7 seems like the opposite of FF8 in that respect. FF7 has great gameplay and a weak/trudging/rehashed story. FF8 has a great story and mediocre to bad gameplay.

EVERY Final Fantasy game is a meaningless assortment of events and things. FF7; snowboarding? Golden Saucer? Fort Condor?

I can't argue that FF4 isn't prototypical because that's exactly what it is. It's all so cliche because it's the game that began a lot of RPG cliches. You're absolutely right. I still enjoy it, personally. I can still enjoy the game for what it introduced to the genre and the story--as prototypical as it is.