Lack of Closeness

[Gaige]

Do you feel that the characters in this game had a lack of chemistry with one another? Did you find it hard to believe they were really close.
I found it a little difficult to believe that they were travelling as anything more than victims of circumstance.

Don't get me wrong, the gameplay, plot and battle system I all loved, but I just thought that the rare casual conversations the group had were forced and a little cold. Ashe was a bitch to everyone, Basch was too formal, and the rest didn't have many conversations.

 

[Caedus]

I can't say that Penelo and Vaan seemed to be in love; more like best friends for life with with potential benefits, imho. They lacked the connection that Balthier and Fran had.

About that, I thought it was somewhat of a secret relationship, although it was obvious to the players. I think that a charming gun wielder such as Balthier and a gorgeous Viera like Fran constantly adventuring together most definitely resulted in some beastiality, if Vieras indeed constitute as animals in any aspect. But yeah, I agree with you, Mitsuru.

[/view]

 

[King Sean]

I find the chemistry between Balthier and Fran real, but thats it. Ashe was being a bitch, especially when some of them didnt really have to help her with her problem. Some of the personalties seem to have just been thrown onto certain characters to show the kind of situation they were in. Like penelo was kinda carefree cause she is kinda like an add-on to the team

 

[Rydia]

I find the chemistry between Balthier and Fran real, but thats it. Ashe was being a bitch, especially when some of them didnt really have to help her with her problem. Some of the personalties seem to have just been thrown onto certain characters to show the kind of situation they were in. Like penelo was kinda carefree cause she is kinda like an add-on to the team

This.

In fact the only people that had to help Ashe was Basche. Balthier, Fran, Vaan, and Penelo should have just left her in that death star thingy or kicked her off the side of the air ship.

Honestly, the way the cast interacted, you'd think they hardly knew each other, when in reality, when people go life changing adventures, they typically become very close. Think of soldiers in war.

 

[Hayate]

I felt the same. It seemed as if they HAD to travel together. Balthier and Fran seemed the most connected throughout the game.

Everyone just had their own ideas and ways. Just didn't see many conversations like in X. You could tell they connected and were better friends after everything.

 

[DarkClaymore]

I guess that how it is. They weren't really "friends" or something.
Each has it's own reasons to help. A realstic relationship which perfectly fits the realstic characters and the plot which has a lot political themes.

Think about it. What is really the chance that in real life, 6 strangers (some of them knew each other before, but don't mind) become great friends only because their goals cross each other for a short while? (even though it wasn't that short in the end)
That happens in games/anime, but not in real life.

From what I recall (I think I forgot most of it...):


Ashe - Don't remember what was her goal (it seems as it changed each time).
But lets say returning peace to Dalmasca.
Basch - Helping Ashe because she is the princess
Balthier - Just wanted treasures. If I recall correctly, most of the time he came because Vaan had a treasure which he wanted.
Fran - Balthier's partner...
Vaan - Just wants to help and seeks adventures
Penelo - Cares for Vaan and came along

How can they become great friends when each one of them is either self centered or cares only about one other person?

I liked this kind of thing. While the characters didn't have much depth, the fact they act so realisticly, makes them quite great. Even though many other FFs have better characters, I probably like the party of FFXII the most.

 

[Ilyena]

I guess that how it is. They weren't really "friends" or something.
Each has it's own reasons to help. A realstic relationship which perfectly fits the realstic characters and the plot which has a lot political themes.

Think about it. What is really the chance that in real life, 6 strangers (some of them knew each other before, but don't mind) become great friends only because their goals cross each other for a short while? (even though it wasn't that short in the end)
That happens in games/anime, but not in real life.

From what I recall (I think I forgot most of it...):

How can they become great friends when each one of them is either self centered or cares only about one other person?

I liked this kind of thing. While the characters didn't have much depth, the fact they act so realisticly, makes them quite great. Even though many other FFs have better characters, I probably like the party of FFXII the most.

I don't see how the characters in this game were realistic in any way. It's like they stole the characters from Star Wars and stripped them of all of the qualities that made them interesting in the first place.

And realistically, why would Vaan and Penelo be allowed to tag along? Neither of them have any real skills that would assist the party in any way.

To me, the fact that none of them had much depth or emotion is what makes them unrealistic. I'm not saying they had to become great friends. I wouldn't even care if they all ended up hating each other. It's just that they seemed to have no emotional reaction to one another whatsoever. They just sort of wandered around spouting lines. If you spend that much time traveling with someone, you're going to have some sort of feeling/reaction/emotion to the other person; whether you're annoyed by them, can't stand them, sort of like them, etc.

Character interaction and development is part of what makes any story great. You can have the most amazing plot in the world and without believable characters, the story still fails. The main characters in FFXII just didn't have enough interaction and development, imo.

That said, I did enjoy the villains and the supporting characters a great deal.

 

[blakstang98]

Before I go into character analysis, I'll say that I think the game put such emphasis on the battle system and the storyline, that they almost forgot, or didn't have time to work on the characters. I've beaten this game and enjoy it very much, but like any FF game, it has it's flaws, and I think the characters were the flaws in this one.

As everyone else has already said, I did see a severe lack of chemistry with this group of characters. The fact that you actually saw and moved with your active party, there was never really a lead character (like when you play FFVII, VIII or X, you would only see the lead character when moving around the map, but the party was there). With that said, Vaan had an even smaller role as he could essentially be swapped out of the party and never used again in battle.

Now, as far as the storyline goes, it has a great story, but this is the time when you should see the characters bond and see the chemistry form. To be truthful, there really weren't a lot a scenes where you saw a major personality trait present itself. And it seemed like the group would split into 2 everytime there was small talk. Like there was a point where Fran, Penelo and Basch were talking and the girls were cheerfully making fun of Basch's properness and the fact that he was out-of-touch a little from being a prisoner. Another I remember is on Phon Coast when Balthier reveals his past involvement with Archades to Ashe. Then there was always the random banter with Vaan and Balthier talking about being sky pirates and such. And I almost forgot, but at Eruyt Village when Vaan asks Fran how old she is, which was controversial.

But even with these scenes, there was a lack of depth in the characters. Like I said, the story was good, but it seemed like the focus was more on the story when the game was created and the added depth to character development took a major hit because of this and the battle system. I can overlook the lack of character depth though and just accept the game for what it is and enjoy it, but I can certainly understand why others would have an issue with loving the game.

 

[Midnight Memoire]

Almost every single character in this game lacked chemistry. For a second, Ashe WAS trying to bond with Vaan but I think she was just trying to not feel insane since she was seeing Rassler... She just wanted the comfort of someone else seeing him there as well. Other than that, the only characters who had any sort of connection were Balthier and Fran but they had a previous, rather close-knit, relationship with one another prior to the games beginning. One of the best aspects of most FF's is the relationship-building which this game totally lacked. I felt very unconnected with most of the characters in this game. Sure,

Spoiler

you discover things like Ashe's husband dying and Balthier being an ex-Judge

, but those details only tell you so much about the characters.

The developers were definitely more focused on the battle system than the storyline.

 

[Rydia]

I guess that how it is. They weren't really "friends" or something.
Each has it's own reasons to help. A realstic relationship which perfectly fits the realstic characters and the plot which has a lot political themes.

Think about it. What is really the chance that in real life, 6 strangers (some of them knew each other before, but don't mind) become great friends only because their goals cross each other for a short while? (even though it wasn't that short in the end)
That happens in games/anime, but not in real life.

From what I recall (I think I forgot most of it...):


Ashe - Don't remember what was her goal (it seems as it changed each time).
But lets say returning peace to Dalmasca.
Basch - Helping Ashe because she is the princess
Balthier - Just wanted treasures. If I recall correctly, most of the time he came because Vaan had a treasure which he wanted.
Fran - Balthier's partner...
Vaan - Just wants to help and seeks adventures
Penelo - Cares for Vaan and came along

How can they become great friends when each one of them is either self centered or cares only about one other person?

I liked this kind of thing. While the characters didn't have much depth, the fact they act so realisticly, makes them quite great. Even though many other FFs have better characters, I probably like the party of FFXII the most.

A lot actually. If you spend that much time with someone else, there is bound to be a relationship that forms, whether it be a friendship, a romance, hatred, annoyance, ect... With the characters in the game, you would think that they spent at most ten minutes with each other by the end of it.

I reallyd do not think these characters acted realistically either. Either that or I hang around a strange crowd of people who do not have bland and dull personalities.

 

[Noctis Lucis Caelum]

Vaan and penelo kinda showed it,cause she was always looking out for him,but the rest were jist,blank,its something they really didn't think out

 

[SpreadZero]

Lol obviously the connection between Gabranth and Larsa were the closest. ;D

No, actually I didn't think Vaan and Penelo were close in like a lovey-dovey sort of way I thought that they treated each other like a brother and sister kind of way. Balthier and Fran definitely showed a strong relationship throughout the game. Needless to say thats also what made them the most interesting characters.

 

[Ewan]

One of the main things that draws me to FF is the characters and their intertwining stories. There was very little in FF12 IMO, they just seemed to be lumped together without much thought, they didn't seem to care for each other like in other games.

 

[Platinum_Lies]

The lack of interaction and chemistry with these characters is what completely destroyed this game for me. The story was bare enough already, but having a party of characters that barely do anything together only made it far more obvious and far less interesting.

Why should I care about any of them? What makes them the heroes as compared to Vayne? Why are they there?

Too many questions, no answers, and no spark of emotion to share between them ultimately doomed this cast of characters.

 

[Sabriel]

I do think it's realistic as different people have different ways to express their love and it's like that in FF 12, you can see the relationships between Vaan and Penelo, maybe part of Balthier / Fran, still if you watch how they act towards each other, the V/P relationship we understand more about but B/F relationship: sometimes we don't quite get it though, but they seem to understand each other.

 

[Summoner Yuna]

Allow me to play devil's advocate, but I'm gonna say that this cast indeed had chemistry. No more, no less than past FF's. People say that the characters don't have any emotion, but that's because they are so used to the overdone dialogue of past games (PS1 FFs are especially guilty of this). So, when the emotions are presented through dialogue that's more subdued, they feel like there's something missing. I don't have FFXII fresh in my mind because I played it about a year and a half ago, but I do recall feeling that the character's personalities were well-defined and that each of them brought something different to the table.

Here's just some afterthought to compliment my previous point.

I really like FFVII but it can't be denied that sometimes Cloud's dialogue and therefore his whole character was hokey as hell. Same goes for dear old Squall.

In Zidane's case he wasn't as hokey but I just didn't like how smug he was sometimes. And he pulls an emo moment on the level of Shinji Ikari of Evangelion when he discovers the truth about himself in Pandemonium.

Back to the party of FFXII, it was refreshing that none of them had terrible and hidden secret. They were just working for a common goal and I do think that made them good friends at the end, and the ending scene is good proof of that.

 

[GoldenMaster]

I didn't think that the characters suited or played off of each other very well. It seemed like that the characters got away from the creaters just a little bit. They didn't seem like they got along and they stayed to their own. Overall I thought that they just picked characters out of a hat and said, "We'll make them work".

 

[glow]

I agree. I didnt like Ashe from the very beginning
I thought Penelos behavior twords Vaan was believable
but Vaan could have acted at least a little more affectionate and familiar twords her. they are childhood friends after all.

Larsa probably had the most chemistry with the other characters
twords Penelo, vaan, and ashe

 

[FFAddict614]

I believe the supporting characters(such as Larsa and Reddas, even the Rozarrian dude) were very skillfully linked to the main party, but I agree that for the most part the main cast left something to be desired... In the ending scenes, Ashe displays a concern for Balthier that came completely out of the blue... It made no sense... I feel like the makers did a good job with all the changes made to Final Fantasy XII, but it felt like they tried to connect the main party too hastily... In previous FFs, like 7 or 10, you could see a gradual growth in the relationship between party members, but in 12 the dialogue was sparce and made me feel like there were conversations had that were not included in the game...

Penelo was familiar with Vaan, and almost showed an affection for him, but he showed almost no emotion in return, with the exception when she was kidnapped...

Balthier and Fran had an interesting relationship, although it seemed as though they could've just been co-workers as much as lovers...

When I first saw the opening sequence for the game, I thought Rassler was going to be the main character, until, of course, they killed him off... I think the game could have been better had he been the lead, although it obviously would have been a little different... Then they could developed some kind of love relationship between the characters, like it has been done in pretty much all prior FFs... I think they failed in that respect...

 

[Not of Rust]

What you had was essentialy 3 sub-groups all of whom had interdependencies and links:

*********Spoiler Alert*********

Ashe/Basch:
- Fallen Dalmascan elite looking for a way to restore their kingdom.
- Needed to work in relative anonymity amongst the general populace given the belief that both were dead.
- Bloodlines required to obtain the requisite power as well as direct blood ties into both the Empire and the Resistance. If they fail there's no hope.

Bathlier/Fran:
- Obviously profit-minded but also had a blood link to the Empire and the development of manufacted nethecite (Dr. Cid) with nethecite playing a leading role in the power struggle.
- Former Judge.
- Had an airship which is always a big deal in FF storylines.
- Embodiment of what Vaan dreamed of becoming and source of motivation.

Vaan/Penelo:
- Ties into Basch due to Reks' death.
- Similar initial motives as Bathlier/Fran and as I mentioned likely to pursue given dream of being a Sky Pirate.
- Very much on the level with Larsa who was seen as a glimmer of hope for the future - they in a way embodied this hope themselves.

Obviously no, there were no touchy feely relationships, which I thought was a refreshing change (it's not a friggin Michael Bay movie..). But when you look at the characters in those 3 groups, everyone was intertwined and needed someone else for various reasons, all germaine to the story and to a common goal (granted, it becomes obvious that Fran and probably Penelo, weren't exactly heavy hitting characters - more tag-a-longs- But - that's the way life works usually). The disparity in their backgrounds kept a buffer between them even though the goal was the same.

Although Basch did seem to have a genuine adoration for the kids.