FF Discussion Ruts

[Aztec Triogal]

I've been around a lot of different Final Fantasy forum in my gaming career. Year after year, everywhere I go, all the topics seem to be the same for certain topics. I can't figure out why. Maybe each game has such a specific style that it only encourages certain types of conversations but I'm not sure. All the Final Fantasy's are deep, even the ones I don't like as much. It's not the quality of the poster, so don't take any of this personally. One forum doesn't produce "better" topics than another, just very different topics.

Final Fantasy VII, as much as I love it, doesn't seem to encourage a lot of deep conversations. The majority of FFVII topics are comparison topics. They're not usually deep or analytical. It may be because the game does a good job of explaining everything and not leaving many plot gaps but I'm really not sure. Examples: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6...

Final Fantasy VIII inspires a little more analytical and varied topics. Although a lot are still comparison topics, there are a lot more that analyse and diagnose the plot and characters. Honestly, I think part of it is because there is some serious confusion about the plot of the game. Comparison Examples: 1, 2, 3... Analytical Examples: 4, 5, 6...

I really feel bad for Final Fantasy IX. I have yet to see almost any topics about the plot or its complexities. There's not even a lot of character comparison topics. The most interesting FFIX topic I've ever read was "I like Burmencia, how bout you?". It just doesn't ever seem to have any good topics about anything deep. The majority are about minor sidequests or irrelevant additions to the game. Examples: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6...

Final Fantasy X is probably the best out of all of them. It is always filled with lots of analytical topics trying to diagnose exactly what happened during the course of the game and over the last thousand years. On occassion there are character comparison topics, typically comparing Auron to any other character. For the most part though, it is one of the best for having very deep meaty topics. I think it's because the story is so deep but so much is left for speculation. Examples: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6...

Thoughts? Agree? Disagree?

 

[Davey Gaga]

I think I'd agree with all of them except VII, which is quite the opposite. Your general nubs will discuss comparisons alone but your average member will be more interested in discussing the ending, the Jenova Project, Aerith's role, etc, though admittedly less-so than most others.

IX doesn't really have a lot of room for discussion because, really...it's a much more simple plot to grasp. It's a great one but not really complicated to understand.

 

[ACardAttack]

I think I'd agree with all of them except VII, which is quite the opposite. Your general nubs will discuss comparisons alone but your average member will be more interested in discussing the ending, the Jenova Project, Aerith's role, etc, though admittedly less-so than most others.

IX doesn't really have a lot of room for discussion because, really...it's a much more simple plot to grasp. It's a great one but not really complicated to understand.

I agree yes and no with what you say on IX, while the story isnt too deep, when you dwell on the characters and their actions (or actions they could have performed ) there can be a lot. There are some very good themes such as loyalty, existence, duty to your "people", etc.

 

[Davey Gaga]

Good themes, yes. Complex themes, no. We have a manipulative man who's been deceived himself, we have destruction, an obvious love story, a knight whose loyalties waver, a mage who questions everything, a rat who's lost her love, a thief with a grudge and a chef. Eiko's the only "complex" character, and it's more to do with how she skews the story ever so slightly.

On the other hand, I daresay it'll be possible to simplify any story as I have just done. I just don't personally see much room for discussion with IX - what you saw was what you got, it was explained clearly, what is there to ask?