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[Alex_Mexico]

I get what Tabata was trying to convey but this is totally going to get interpreted the wrong way. I'm guessing the wording was lost in translation or is just a culture thing.

Look, Tabata, you don't need to keep giving excuses. It's your choice to have an all male cast and that's that. We'll be the judge if we like or not your game.

It's not like FF has had a lack of strong female cast members, this ain't CoD or GTA. We're fresh arriving from a XIII trilogy that centered around one woman and her little sister! We already had an all girl game with X-2! With exception of FF1 this is the very first FF game that it's main cast is all men and I'm fine with that.

 

[Alienous]

FFXV presents a scenario that wouldn't work nearly as well contextually without an all male cast.

"But it isn't set in the real world". Of course, but by that logic it doesn't matter that it is an all male cast. It isn't the real world, and it doesn't say something about reality one way or the other.

 

[Jarate]

Played the demo, hated them.

Yes, the demo that showed so much back story and depth and allowed me to comprehend the characters beyond battle lingo

Where can I find this demo of which you speak

 

[SerTapTap]

Were there many vocal complaints at the time about the all-female FFX-2 cast?

Considering the ridiculous outfits and "gotta save muh boyfriendz" plot FFX-2 is not exactly a good game to bring up in the name of gender equality. Plus it wasn't a mainline game anyway, FFX had the same gender balance most FF games do, equal.

 

[Mr. RHC]

Its funny how in FF the female characters have been consistently better than their male counterparts more recently.

I think Garnet,Yuna,Ashe,Lightning,Fang etc completely outshine the male characters in their games.

FF has a history of doing females a lot better ,but maybe FFXV will finally put together a good male cast.

Lol, Lightning really does outshine the male characters XIII, especially at night.
It's true, Final Fantasy has great female characters but saying it has a history of doing one gender better than the other is an exaggeration.

It's like telling us you didn't care for the male characters in previous games.

 

[Jawmuncher]

For the story they want to tell it makes sense. Plus they did say there would be additional party members for parts of the game. Maybe with XV-2 we can have a all female cast.

 

[Mesoian]

That is a long and elaborate way to say you can't right female characters for shit.

Irony

FFXV presents a scenario that wouldn't work nearly as well contextually without an all male cast.

"But it isn't set in the real world". Of course, but by that logic it doesn't matter that it is an all male cast. It isn't the real world, and it doesn't say something about reality one way or the other.

I mean, It would, it would just be different, much in the same way that Lord of the Flies would be fundamentally different if there were also little girls on the Island.

 

[Muzicfreq]

Whatever they're going for, it failed completely with me. I've never seen a less appealing cast of characters for a Final Fantasy game. Puts me off buying it entirely quite frankly.

In the same boat for this game
I loved the females in the Final Fantasy games that were strong
But an all male cast...

 

[TheChillyAcademic]

Irony

BAHAHA

 

[Jarmel]

That is a long and elaborate way to say you can't right female characters for shit.

Well considering the last few games, they can't write male characters for shit either.

 

[BibiMaghoo]

LOL, it doesn't. The bubblehead is just a guy this time.

God damn Squeenix. Please.

 

[SolidSnakex]

Considering the ridiculous outfits and "gotta save muh boyfriendz" plot FFX-2 is not exactly a good game to bring up in the name of gender equality. Plus it wasn't a mainline game anyway, FFX had the same gender balance most FF games do, equal.

This didn't start out as a mainline game either. It's only mainline now because its development took so long. But one of Nomura's core concepts for the game was for it to be very different from a standard FF game. They'd have to scratch the entire game to change what he was originally going for.

 

[psylah]

Shipping charts when?

 

[Mesoian]

God damn Squeenix. Please.

Real talk, the final game BETTER be dual audio, because the localization in the demo is SOMETHING FUCKING ELSE.

Shipping charts when?

Shipping charts 3 months ago.

 

[KarmaCow]

I can see the argument but I generally find it weak when someone uses assumed real world dynamics to justify things in fiction. He's answering a question that's probably been asked a lot of him so I can sympathize with trying to justify it outside of "I want to" but just make the game you want to make. If it's about the camaraderie of a bunch of teenage boys on a road trip, fine. This reasoning just kinda reminds me of the typical argument against female warriors or tanks in games.

 

[Listonosh]

You have a British Sounding man servant that can cook, a crazy younger kid with guns, a hulking goodball with a 6 foot sword, and a batman sounding Prince on the run...

This made me laugh so hard. Great description

 

[vocab]

Irony


.

Oh man, a typo. BETTER GO IN

 

[Jarate]

Considering the ridiculous outfits and "gotta save muh boyfriendz" plot FFX-2 is not exactly a good game to bring up in the name of gender equality. Plus it wasn't a mainline game anyway, FFX had the same gender balance most FF games do, equal.

Ridiculous outfits and "save muh x" are pretty standard for final fantasy

 

[Mr. RHC]

Considering the ridiculous outfits and "gotta save muh boyfriendz" plot FFX-2 is not exactly a good game to bring up in the name of gender equality. Plus it wasn't a mainline game anyway, FFX had the same gender balance most FF games do, equal.

Now that's quite the spin, looks like we now have two definitions of gender equality.
So to you a main cast of only female characters does not qualify for gender equality?


Idon'twanttoliveonthisplanetanymore.jpg

 

[Pandora012]

I understand what he is trying saying, but it could have been said better.

 

[HeelPower]

It's true, Final Fantasy has great female characters but saying it has a history of doing one gender better than the other is an exaggeration.

It's like telling us you didn't care for the male characters in previous games.

I just think over the recent years ,the good characters happened to be the female ones.

There had been good males too.

Yes,Its an opinion after all ,and by no means a fact.

 

[sensui-tomo]

Real talk, the final game BETTER be dual audio, because the localization in the demo is SOMETHING FUCKING ELSE.

My issue with the dub, noct sounds at least 20 years older than the Japanese dub, nothing else but I hear Bale's bat man out of noct.

 

[Mesoian]

Oh man, a typo. BETTER GO IN

Come on, you have to admit that particular typo was fucking comedy.

 

[Heartfyre]

This is sadly true in most real world situations...but you're not writing the real world. Why not have a group of "bros" that respect each other not to let stupid shit like gender color their interactions with each other? Why not write a world that's past that sort of bullshit? Also as a guy a "boys will be boys" story is actually pretty damn unappealing. My industry (programming) has enough problems with bros will be bros.

Yet fiction doesn't have to represent the ideal. Most fiction doesn't. Just because it's a "fantasy" doesn't mean it has to avoid verisimilitude. The best fantasies reflect reality, after all.

I'd have a problem with Tabata's statements if he was saying this is how the series would be moving forward, or was saying previous games were lesser for it. But he's not. They're telling a once-off story about four dudes on a journey. Why aren't they allowed to do that? It's not like there's no women in the story at all, anyway. The extent of the presence or lack of presence of women in the game will be unknown until the game is available and complete. So let's wait and see?

 

[Dinda]

Yes, the demo that showed so much back story and depth and allowed me to comprehend the characters beyond battle lingo

Where can I find this demo of which you speak

Do you think i will play every game, watch every movie and read every book that makes a bad impression on me just because it could ...eventually turn out good in the end....maybe? This boy group stuff, just doesn't interest me, and i don't need to play 40 hours to be sure of that.

 

[Muzicfreq]

Real talk, the final game BETTER be dual audio, because the localization in the demo is SOMETHING FUCKING ELSE.

Cidney: "Howdy yall! Like mah poor texan accent?"
ugh

 

[ThreePiMatt]

Why would you be ashamed? lol

Given the prevailing attitudes of the internet I feel that outright enjoyment of an all-male case can tend to draw a lot of passive-aggressive, condescending remarks about gender representation in video games. I mean, another poster here said he was "boycotting" the game because of the all-male case. It wasn't just a matter of being not interested, it was an acknowledged boycott which implies like a political or social revulsion to the game.

 

[Doukou]

"The world might be ready to see the curtain lifted on what boys do when girls aren't around"

I already know this information, at least I think I should.

 

[AkuMifune]

I certainly find all-male parties much more approachable too. Heyooo.

 

[Netherscourge]

sigh...

Developers need to stop making up stupid reasons to justify gender decisions in games.

Developers have no obligation to lean one way or the other or to be 100% balanced.

If a game is built around a specific story, with specific characters of a specific gender, then so be it.

Making it homogenous (aka allowing a choice of male or female leads) would result in a *placeholder* plot where there is no real emotional link between characters in a story.

Maybe they just wanted to make a game that focused on the relationship between a group of male leads? So what?

The developer is an idiot for even engaging the topic, IMO. They brought it on themselves for even trying to defend or justify it.

Just say "this is the story we wrote, these are the characters we created and this is how we're going to make the game." THE END.

 

[Infinite]

I get what he's trying to say but it comes across bad

 

[adixon]

"More approachable" really has an awful ring to it. It implies they're mainly concerned with making the game for one audience to identify with, a male one. Which would be a huge shame for a game series which seems to appeal just as much to my female friends who've tried it as it does to my male friends.

Would be better to focus on the male comradery they've never done before that they want to capture with this cast, and not talk about how this is better for their audience -- that's ultimately something the audience gets to decide for themselves, after all.

 

[Mesoian]

Do you think i will play every game, watch every movie and read every book that makes a bad impression on me just because it could ...eventually turn out good in the end....maybe? This boy group stuff, just doesn't interest me, and i don't need to play 40 hours to be sure of that.

To be fair, I have finished longer games hoping that they turn around and pull it together in the end. Star Ocean 4 is probably the best example of a game I kept plugging away at, hoping that the story would start to make sense. It never does.

It never does.

 

[HeelPower]

"The world might be ready to see the curtain lifted on what boys do when girls aren't around"

I already know this information, at least I think I should.

The sexy all male love that no body knows about ?

 

[Dunkley]

I admit I am kinda hoping for a homosexual element to this due to that setting.

Mostly because it would be interesting to see it would be pulled off by Square if they ever decided anything along the lines.

I doubt it will happen tho.

 

[Alienous]

This being even slightly controversial doesn't make sense to me.

Is it a case of women not wanting to play as an all male cast? Heck, I say the cast would appeal to women as much as men, if not more (1/4 of the group is a masculine power fantasy character).

Or is it because not having a woman as part of the main cast might make a woman think she... couldn't go on a magical Final Fantasy road-trip?

I'm not sure what the core of the issue here is, or if it's just general 'No, that's bad'.

 

[Linkark07]

Not interested in an all male group. Besides, didn't like the design of some of the characters.

 

[TheChillyAcademic]

I certainly find all-male parties much more approachable too. Heyooo.

;D

 

[sensui-tomo]

To be fair, I have finished longer games hoping that they turn around and pull it together in the end. Star Ocean 4 is probably the best example of a game I kept plugging away at, hoping that the story would start to make sense. It never does.

It never does.

Kay
I want my time back from that garbage story I endured for the good gameplay.

 

[Ray Down]

Whatever they're going for, it failed completely with me. I've never seen a less appealing cast of characters for a Final Fantasy game. Puts me off buying it entirely quite frankly.

That's just silly.

 

[Dinda]

To be fair, I have finished longer games hoping that they turn around and pull it together in the end. Star Ocean 4 is probably the best example of a game I kept plugging away at, hoping that the story would start to make sense. It never does.

It never does.

Haha, yeah, i quit that after like 10 hours. A shame, since i liked Star Ocean, and now it's probably dead.

 

[KarmaCow]

"More approachable" really has an awful ring to it. It implies they're mainly concerned with making the game for one audience to identify with, a male one. Which would be a huge shame for a game series which seems to appeal just as much to my female friends who've tried it as it does to my male friends.

Would be better to focus on the male comradery they've never done before that they want to capture with this cast, and not talk about how this is better for their audience -- that's ultimately something the audience gets to decide for themselves, after all.

I don't think he's even saying that. He's saying that adding a female character but keeping the group dynamic the same would seem unnatural, to any audience.

 

[Jarate]

On neogaf, where we talk about word semantics a native Japanese speaker said

 

[Kagari]

You have a British Sounding man servant that can cook, a crazy younger kid with guns, a hulking goodball with a 6 foot sword, and a batman sounding Prince on the run...

Find a boyband in that for me. Please.

Sounds like a bad anime dub cast. :0

 

[Mesoian]

I admit I am kinda hoping for a homosexual element to this due to that setting.

Mostly because it would be interesting to see it would be pulled off by Square if they ever decided anything along the lines.

I doubt it will happen tho.

I would be shocked. I think there's a better chance of the 3 other guys finding love interests along the way with Noctis' princess at the end of the road than anything homosexual actually occuring.

 

[DNAbro]

I admit I am kinda hoping for a homosexual element to this due to that setting.

Mostly because it would be interesting to see it would be pulled off by Square if they ever decided anything along the lines.

I doubt it will happen tho.

It seemed like 2 of them were fawning over Cindy so I doubt it.

 

[funkystudent]

Maybe they should continue the bro roadtrip team and have one of the gang be that guy who shows up with their annoying girlfriend without telling anyone?



Final Fantasy is probably the most inclusive AAA franchise around. They have always had strong female characters and heck... they just had a trilogy of games with a female lead in each game. I think they have earned a little slack and are not just doing the normal AAA "all games have generic male leads because its what the focus groups want" thing. I see thing game as the opposite of FFX-2. Heck it was probably pitched as that as well when it was meant to be a companion to 13.

They just need to be a bit more careful trying to talk about it because Jesus H Christ......

 

[Frankensteiner]

Never got in their way before, so I don't see why they can't.

 

[Mesoian]

Sounds like a bad anime dub cast. :0

Sounds like an anime dub from 1991. As if the preson directing the VO had literally never seen an anime, a live action dub or an american cartoon before.

It's some He-man shit.

Haha, yeah, i quit that after like 10 hours. A shame, since i liked Star Ocean, and now it's probably dead.

It's not coming back.

 

[Charles Alan Ratliff]

I really like what they're doing with the cast. I completed Episode Duscae (in Japanese) recently and felt they pulled off the camaraderie between the characters well. I'm extra excited for the full game now and seeing how they build upon the relationships.