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'An All-Male Party Makes Final Fantasy XV 'More Approachable', Says Director
- Thread starter HeelPower
- Start date
And we enjoy it, damnit.
Parhelion69
Member
So, was this decision made to please us western gamers, which we have that "dude-bro" stigma? (which isn't far from truth tbh)
Can't find a boyband, but can't find any diversity either.
Prototype Viktor
Member
#DiversityAndAcceptanceThroughUniformity
Yea the Cindy scene made it pretty clear that all of them are somewhat straight. One of them might be bisexual but the chances of that are infinitesimally small.
punkmaggit
Member
Man I miss Final Fantasy VI. Terra and Celes were amazing characters.
TheSpoiler
Member
Ashe is still one of the best characters of the series. Even made better when someone explained how
she was slowly moving to the dark side during the game.
Ninja Scooter
Member
The appeal to some "bros on a roadtrip" audience is kinda contradicted by the absolute shit character designs.
TheChillyAcademic
Member
Eh, you'd be surprised what closeted guys will do...
Ah, makes sense, bummer too.
No, back in 2006 it wasn't even a mainline game, and it was done for story reasons.
What I dislike about how Tabata answers this question is that it seems like he has to justify why it's an all-male cast when he doesn't have to justify anything. It's their game. They can do whatever they want with it.
Now imagine if she was still the main character instead of Van.
Oh FF12...you were so close. Why did you flinch in the end?
TheSpoiler
Member
Well, that is diversity. What you meant to say was "originality".
The sexy all male love that no body knows about ?
Oh so that's what friends do, no wonder I never had any friends.
TheChillyAcademic
Member
Kor of Memory
Member
Got any more on this? First I've heard of this, and I love me some FF theories.
I personally subscribe to the Rinoa=Ultemica theory.
It's true, but at the same time, an FF without estrogen just feels so wrong. The mixed-gender party was always a big part of the character dynamics in past games. I dunno if I want FF: Sausagefest Edition.
ShadowSoldier89
Member
I really dont care about the diversity and representation, I just care that the cast is shit and I like female characters. Bro Dynamic is fucking awful
sensui-tomo
Member
To appeal to some market group, hell, SE did it with nier.
Ashe was an awesome character.
How many games feature a strong woman fight back for her rightful role as a Queen/Ruler of a country ?
Maaan FFXII was so good.
Let's be real, it probably won't happen.
Slightly related but hoping for gay relationships in Persona 5.
Kai Dracon
Writing a dinosaur space opera symphony
Using the term "approachable" is a really bad choice as it easily sounds as if it's channeling the notion people don't want to play games with women in the lead group.
An irony of interpreting it that way however is that it seems to be the boy band aesthetic they've got going is likely to make the game very approachable indeed to quite a few women in the FF fanbase.
An irony of interpreting it that way however is that it seems to be the boy band aesthetic they've got going is likely to make the game very approachable indeed to quite a few women in the FF fanbase.
Messofanego
Banned
Yaoi?
cavemancolton
Unconfirmed Member
It's a game about Bros, guys. Why is this so hard to understand?
You know, as someone who doesn't like the cast of FFXV it would be a lot easier to accept if i would know that the next one with a typical diverse cast (male, female, young, old ....beast) is right around the corner. But the truth is that there probably won't be a another real numbered FF this generation. Maybe XV-2, but as seen in X2, XIII-2 an LR those have nowhere mear the production values of a main title.
The sexy all male love that no body knows about ?
Sh-shush! There might be a few girls here! THEY CANNOT KNOW
SE has some of the worst executive notes imaginable.
What about FFX-2?
ChosenPredator
Banned
just do your thang and go for your vision mister director
Yep. It's fine, whatever, but when people say stuff like it'd be more "approachable" with an all male cast, "boys will be boys" or that "if you want to play as a woman go dress up Lightning" (an actual gaffer said this) I do get put off from XV and the community. I freaking love LoTR and The Hobbit, even though the only female in the latter is a horse. The point is, if you want to do a male cast, cool, but do it in a way that doesn't enable boy's club behavior; don't defend your decision in a way that's gonna put off people who didn't care in the first place.
TheChillyAcademic
Member
Yeah >.< A guy can dream though I guess.
I'd just as soon have NONE in Persona 5 than any more soul crushing teases like Kanji
Its not a theory.
IIRC its something either Vayne , Cid or one of the Judge Magisters said when she was seeking the power of the magicite.
Ashe had to make a decision whether to use such aggressive powers to take back her throne.
NoctisVsStar
Member
I love the all male cast/bro dynamic and it's the story they wanted to tell since forever (Nomura). So I really don't see the drama besides it's always been known that it was going to be all male.
Paracelsus
Member
Weird, because usually in Japan when they do something with an all-male cast, they're cutting the male audience out.
slavesnyder
Member
I always liked to play female characters. female shepard, diablo amazone, dragon's dogma and so on. an only-male party is boring.
hope the game itself is fun.
hope the game itself is fun.
Haven't played it. Heard it sucks. Not really a mainline entry anyway.
The Horror the horror
Banned
Why not just add a female to the cast who's not treated differently by the rest of the group and who isn't subject to any romance angles?
TheChillyAcademic
Member
That can exist in a JRPG?
Unless she's a total tomboy and even Paine dressed like a whore lol
Speaking on a purely selfish note, I'm really looking forward to this game and a huge part of it is the all-male roadtrip bro feel of it. Three years ago, me and some friends had an incredibly stereotypical road trip and it's one of the best memories of my life. When I look at this game it just brings back the same feeling from back then, but with final fantasy monsters in the background. My friends who are normally not into JRPGs are looking forward to this for the same reason.
And while I definitely see why people would be upset about the lack of representation, I kind of like the all-bro tour here. Like, from a purely selfish note, this is really nice to me.
Kind of feel conflicted here in that regard, actually. I can see why people would be upset that the game has no female characters, but I'm really fond of the bro roadtrip vibe and would never want them to change that. I do wonder how selfish it makes me to enjoy that. Like I'm aware that the industry lacks representation in games and all, but I genuinely enjoy this specific cast because it brings back some nice memories and it's just a vibe I'm fond of.
Like I'm not sure if I'm making sense here--I almost feel guilty for enjoying this tone, but man. It's just this one game that I really want. Normally I'm all for adding female characters to everything, but this is one case where I totally understand why it would go against tone. I have some stupid memories of me and my friends clowning around somewhere in Alberta, a friend getting a call from his girlfriend and we all suddenly shutting the hell up and starting to behave and pretend we were not childish idiots tossing snowballs in an empty road.
It's like, guys are more willing to behave like bro dumbasses if girls aren't around, and even though most games have male-heavy cases, they usually emphasize the "grr everyone is a quiet badass" as opposed to friends hanging out on a road trip like this one. So I just kind of...appreciate this? I don't know if I'm making sense.
Point is: I'm a hypocrite who is all for female characters in games but I have 0 problems with the boy band road trip. In fact, I kind of love the tone they're going for.
And while I definitely see why people would be upset about the lack of representation, I kind of like the all-bro tour here. Like, from a purely selfish note, this is really nice to me.
Kind of feel conflicted here in that regard, actually. I can see why people would be upset that the game has no female characters, but I'm really fond of the bro roadtrip vibe and would never want them to change that. I do wonder how selfish it makes me to enjoy that. Like I'm aware that the industry lacks representation in games and all, but I genuinely enjoy this specific cast because it brings back some nice memories and it's just a vibe I'm fond of.
Like I'm not sure if I'm making sense here--I almost feel guilty for enjoying this tone, but man. It's just this one game that I really want. Normally I'm all for adding female characters to everything, but this is one case where I totally understand why it would go against tone. I have some stupid memories of me and my friends clowning around somewhere in Alberta, a friend getting a call from his girlfriend and we all suddenly shutting the hell up and starting to behave and pretend we were not childish idiots tossing snowballs in an empty road.
It's like, guys are more willing to behave like bro dumbasses if girls aren't around, and even though most games have male-heavy cases, they usually emphasize the "grr everyone is a quiet badass" as opposed to friends hanging out on a road trip like this one. So I just kind of...appreciate this? I don't know if I'm making sense.
Point is: I'm a hypocrite who is all for female characters in games but I have 0 problems with the boy band road trip. In fact, I kind of love the tone they're going for.
SolidSnakex
Member
Because he's keeping it as Nomura intended, which is for it to be a story about a group of four friends who happen to be guys.
This was originally Versus XIII, too.
Would that female member then sleep in the same tents as the male characters? There would be no references to her being female whatsoever in the interactions between the characters?
Why does there need to be a woman at all? Why add a token woman just because?
chrominance
Member
None of the promo materials I've seen for XV indicated to me that a female party member was likely, so it's not like this was a big surprise. I think the "more approachable" argument is a bit dumb--approachable to who? Personally all the roadtrips I've been on have been mixed gender and were no less a "roadtrip experience" for it. But I do understand that having an all-male cast changes the group dynamic, and if that's something they really want to explore then whatever. I think Tabata's been mostly upfront about wanting to explore this dynamic so this particular case doesn't bother me very much.
It does also mean, though, that I may find the game less interesting, just because "dudes on a roadtrip exploring their dude feelings" has never really resonated with me in fiction. I'm not saying XV has to cater to my interests (and I'm still interested in the game), but if the secret, behind-doors reason behind this move was to keep the game as "approachable" as possible, I think Tabata and co. should be more aware that some people may also be turned off the game as a result, and not just on principle either.
And also, beware the compulsion to stick to an all-male party because it's the "default" somehow.
It does also mean, though, that I may find the game less interesting, just because "dudes on a roadtrip exploring their dude feelings" has never really resonated with me in fiction. I'm not saying XV has to cater to my interests (and I'm still interested in the game), but if the secret, behind-doors reason behind this move was to keep the game as "approachable" as possible, I think Tabata and co. should be more aware that some people may also be turned off the game as a result, and not just on principle either.
And also, beware the compulsion to stick to an all-male party because it's the "default" somehow.
This wasn't supposed to be mainline either
They just made it because the people wanted the bro-down
Is this for little girls or for certain adults.