07-28-2010, 04:04 PM
They "deal with it and move on." Ok. Cecil deals with the fact that he was a dark knight and moves on. Terra and Celes deal with the fact that they were used by the Empire and they move on. Cyan deals with the deaths of his family and moves on. Locke realizes Rachel's death is not his fault and moves on. Squall deals with abandonment and moves on (eventually). Zidane and Vivi realize they were created to be tools of war and they move on. There is literally nothing revolutionary about FF7's characters "dealing and moving on." It's character growth and it happens in every RPG ever. But you know what else happens in every RPG ever? Plots of convenience.
I can admit that Yang's "death" is a cop-out, but that doesn't mean that Cait Sith's isn't. Yes, FF4's plot can get superficial, mostly due to the limitations of the time. They needed reasons to get rid of some characters so that others could come in. It's messy, but necessary. It's, as was said before, prototypical. FF7 does exactly the same thing with the Cait Sith scenario, but there is no reason for it, both plotwise and technically. The buildup to Cait Sith's death is complete crap. It's tossed in for no reason. Cait Sith's sacrifice is a ploy for the characters (and player) to get over his spy status more quickly and nothing more, just like Yang's death is a ploy to free up a space in your party. They're both lazy writing, but only one can claim to be the product of technical limitation. If the temple hadn't imploded the plot wouldn't have changed at all. They would have walked out with the Materia and said "ok, what next?" and Cait Sith would have still been taking up a spot in your party. I'm perfectly willing to admit that FF4 could have been handled better (even FF6 handled its plot better just a couple years later), had the game come out ten years later.
I can admit that Yang's "death" is a cop-out, but that doesn't mean that Cait Sith's isn't. Yes, FF4's plot can get superficial, mostly due to the limitations of the time. They needed reasons to get rid of some characters so that others could come in. It's messy, but necessary. It's, as was said before, prototypical. FF7 does exactly the same thing with the Cait Sith scenario, but there is no reason for it, both plotwise and technically. The buildup to Cait Sith's death is complete crap. It's tossed in for no reason. Cait Sith's sacrifice is a ploy for the characters (and player) to get over his spy status more quickly and nothing more, just like Yang's death is a ploy to free up a space in your party. They're both lazy writing, but only one can claim to be the product of technical limitation. If the temple hadn't imploded the plot wouldn't have changed at all. They would have walked out with the Materia and said "ok, what next?" and Cait Sith would have still been taking up a spot in your party. I'm perfectly willing to admit that FF4 could have been handled better (even FF6 handled its plot better just a couple years later), had the game come out ten years later.