Is it all politics??

[SapphireStar]

I was thinking about this before, not just for the Final Fantasy series, but games in general. Alot are focused on politics, mainly RPGS. But I guess war games fall into this also as wars are caused over politics are they not? Im not sure, try not to get tangled up in politics too much. Makes my blood boil.

Anywhoo, what do you think? Do you mind playing a game that has alot of politics involved. Stuff like FF12, Dragon Age Origins, Magna Carta 2 is full of politics and whom is in charge, etc. Does it put you off? Or do you fight through it? I got so confused with 12's politics I stopped caring lol.

 

[Summoner Yuna]

This is a very interesting topic, because I've noticed that RPGs can be divided into two categories depending on the focus of the story: political and metaphysical. Games like Xenosaga and FFX are heavy on the mataphysical part of the story, however they have a little bit of political themes. Games like Suikoden and FFXII are on the other side of the spectrum. They embrace political themes of war, oppression, etc., but with some metaphysics involved. By metaphysics I mean things like magic or ancient science or forces beyond the physical world (like the Occuria or the True Runes.)

I really don't mind a political story at all, if it's well done and it's easier to assimilate because politics is something most of us have some grasp about. To fully understand a story like Xenosaga's, you have to pay extremely close attention to every detail. This is because it contains a lot of bizarre concepts that are grounded on science-fiction which are more difficult to grasp than a political intrigue. However, political intrigues with a lot of ramifications can be difficult to keep a track off if there are a lot of names and events to remember to get the whole picture.

In the end, it's really how the story of the game is told and how much it crams in its intended length.

I can appreciate both kinds of stories because having only one or the other would get boring soon. It's good to have variety and options to choose from.

 

[blakstang98]

Oh yeah, there were definitely political aspects to FF games, or at least the ones im familiar with. I think FFX showed the best example of this. It had Yevon, which I sort of associate as religious more than political, but sort of like the old school churches when they controlled the laws. And oddly enough, that ended up being corrupt as well. And to boot, FFX did have that older style feel, like a church running the show and people lived in villages (due to church restriction of civilizing).

But the other FF's certainly show a sort of political aspect. FFXII had the war between the Archades and Dalmasca, which was like feuding nations with a different political view. FFVII had Shinra and a sort of corporate controlled law, but they essentially ran the show Midgar, but it didn't really span further than that. FFVIII had the Gardens which trained mercenaries to battle the political leaders, President Deling and the Sorceress. FFIX had the kingdoms of Alexandria, Lindblum and Burmecia, but again, that stayed constricted to the Mist Continent. Even FFX-2 with the 3 major groups of New Yevon, Youth League and Machine Faction sort of ran the show, but laws weren't implied so much.

I think the these FF's and any future FF's have to have this, considering it's a game that you essentially explore the world, and the world has to be controlled somehow. So I guess the realism it has with having a world and key locations, you almost have to have some form of politics.

 

[Ayumi Hamasaki]

Games and movies are how I first learned about politics. I remember watching Star Wars Episode 1, and being like, wow that's amazing. I love hte political side of things, I think it adds a level behind the whole explore and fight thing.

Xenosaga had politcal themes, well with it's walmart like Vector, and the whole concil thing throughout. FF-10 did too, with Maesters and the spiral of death. FF-12's politics are very in depth, and cofusing, but can't be denied.

The thing I always notice is that most politicians in video games aren't shown in a very good light. Look at ff-10's Maesters, they were evil.

 

[Mitsuki]

Generally I don't like the political side of things in any game, but I know it will typically be part of the gaming industry nowadays. I suppose I don't mind a small portion in the games that I play as long as it has an interesting and clever plot brewing and doesn't sound too realistically political - if that makes any sense. Intelligent conversations are one thing, but overly use of fashionably political sentence after sentence can get absolutely boring. Not only that, but politics world does not interest me personally, so that probably explains why I don't pay too much attention to any of the political side of things in a story. The unfortunate thing is that with the lack of interest comes the lack of knowledge of the plot until you lose interest in the game altogether. But that's not always true is most cases - just speaking from experience. So just a small dose of politics is enough for me.

 

[Martel]

I love the political aspect to games, it adds intrigue to the story and depth to the setting in general. I find it very easy to relate to and absolutely fascinating...not to mention quite funny sometimes, as well. Its something to focus on besides the characters, and I think the setting in an RPG is just as important in determining the story. After all, there are forces beyond the main characters at play, and its nice to see what these forces are up to, because they are just as important, if not more so, than the characters themselves. After all, if it wasn't for corruption in the political system, would the main characters have a purpose for fighting? A lot of the time, they wouldn't. So its nice to understand what is going on in its entirety, I think.