Staples of the Fantasy

eisprinz

eisprinz

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What aspects of Final Fantasy do you believe to be staples of the series? What about things that aren't necessarily staples, but simply recurring themes, or symbols?

Here is an obvious one:

Crystals


Here is a not so obvious one:

Case of Identity: I can't think of any hero, except for Firion, who doesn't go through a complete identity crisis. It seems like an integral part of Final Fantasy to me - even as Kingdom Hearts started to gain more FF aspects, it included identity as a major theme. It goes beyond the typical internal conflict that is essential to any plot and burrows much deeper into the core of the hero.

FFI - Class change (lol)
FFIV -
Cecil's Dark Knight to Paladin transformation
FFVI -
Terra/Tina' amnesia, realizing she's half-Esper
FFVII -
Cloud's inheriting Zack's persona
FFVIII - Squall's emotional transformation
FFIX -
Zidane finding out he's a Genome
FFX -
Tidus finding out he is only a dream of the fayth
FFXII -
Basch being punished as his twin brother, Ashe unable to reclaim her title
Kingdom Hearts II - the concept of a Nobody, esp. Roxas

edit: Thanks to Tetra Master for correcting me. I've fixed it.
 
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You know, you're right. In fact, I think there may even be an identity crisis in FF2,
Leon switching sides from being the Dark Knight to joining the main party.
This is a really interesting point.
 
one thing I observed that's really persistent in the whole series, is that leading characters are always orphans. since Firion up to Vaan. I won't be surprised if Lightning from FFXIII is one as well.

and also the amnesia thingy. Galuf, Terra, Squall and company who later discovered their pasts are
connected
and so on..
and now it's said that Lightning also does.

edit: einsprinz it's not Celes.
 
You're right, Tetra Master, I never thought about that before. The main characters are always orphans. Except for Cloud...
you do meet his mother in a Nibelheim flashback...or the woman who is "supposedly" his mother.

I think that's a good cliche, for the most part. The less the character knows about him/herself in the beginning of the game, the easier it is to get to know them as they "find" themselves.
 
its far more interesting to watch a character figure out who they are for themselves in my opinion. it keeps you more on the edge of your seat, rather then you knowing whats going to happen.
 
thanks. right it's more fun to see it actually than by story being told imo. Lightning from FFXIII seems interesting judging from the news I've had so far. She forgets her identity and calls herself that codename and the answers will be left for the plot of the game.
 
I don't think it's necessarily better for a character to have to learn about their past as the game progresses, but it just happens to to be easier to write without having to go through a complex reason to have exposition.

The same goes for FFX, with Tidus not knowing anything about Spira; because he was learning about the world the same time players did, it didn't make random exposition seem strange storywise the way it did in other games.

Frankly, while it's a good way to avoid having to explain things the characters should already know, it's a lazy way to write if used too frequently. While it's not as easy to exposit when the characters are already supposed to know certain info, it's not impossible.

For example, in FFVIII, Squall has lived in Balamb Garden all his life and knows where everything is located, but of course new players won't know this info. Storywise, Squall shouldn't have to ask anybody where his dorm is - however, a new player wouldn't know this. However, players are able to learn about where things are in Balamb Garden when Squall gives Selphie a tour at the beginning of the game, thus keeping with the storyline, but still giving exposition.
 
yah, there should be a way that main characters make a player familiarize things. Squall touring Selphie like you said. It gives the player a more realistic interaction with the game as they don't know the backstories the first time they play it. that's the real essence of RPGs right.


hmm I have something more to share but I'm not that sure if this qualifies.. a recurring feature I guess?

It's about I notice leading ladies of every consecutive FFs(usually 3) having the same look or hairstyle rather. for example the first obvious set is Tifa, Rinoa and Garnet. they all have long, black hairstyles like a typical Japanese. and then there's Yuna, Ashe and even the Female Hume given as prototype(see FFXI wallpapers). they have same hairlengths and are brunettes. and also lastly, even Rosa, Lenna and Terra are similar. Lenna in Amano's original sketch. they all have blonde, wavy European hairstyles. that's about it.
 
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+ Until recently, the musical talent of Nobuo Uematsu. (My eyes have yet to dry since he left Square-Enix). :'(

+ Tifa Lockheart :monster:
 
All of the main characters seem to have Blue eyes. ^.^
Don't they?
 
Rhea said:
All of the main characters seem to have Blue eyes. ^.^
Don't they?
Click to expand...
that's familiar. heard that from a different forum.:rolleyes: even Bartz and Edgar have blue eyes if you like at their sprite closely. yeah it somewhat seems to be because FF is european-based and Europeans in Asia are noted for their blue eyes.



another one. though many noticed this already..
every FF has a cute young girl as a playable character. Krile from FFV, Relm, Yuffie, Selphie and so on up to Penelo. there also other types of character in the party like the quiet and mysterious type, etc.
 
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