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[PedroPanache]

Unfortunately, subtlety, deep character and plot evolution get trampled by the myopic "let's make it more accessible == instant huge sales" belief some people seem to have. I do not have problem with accessibility per se, just that when this ruins the original artistic vision...

I hate that we've lost games such as Valkyrie Profile to the likes of Star Ocean 4. A game devoid of any sense of pathos or melancholy; qualities that are massively underrated in the older JRPG's. It's so bizarre that the writing has reverted so far backwards in comparison to the burgeoning of the genre on the PS1. However, with games such as Brothers and the like scratching that itch, it doesn't matter that so many JRPG's have lost the plot. For all the faults of the early games, they, at the very least, didn't try to smash the player over the head with mindless cut-scenes and dialogue.

Still rocking these three little memory cards from X-2. Really cool memory cards that served me well back in the day. Looking at my PS1 collection, it's basically a shrine to Squaresoft, with their games, and JRPG's in general, dominating the game count.

 

[Dark_castle]

I hate that we've lost games such as Valkyrie Profile to the likes of Star Ocean 4. A game devoid of any sense of pathos or melancholy; qualities that are massively underrated in the older JRPG's. It's so bizarre that the writing has reverted so far backwards in comparison to the burgeoning of the genre on the PS1. However, with games such as Brothers and the like scratching that itch, it doesn't matter that so many JRPG's have lost the plot. For all the faults of the early games, they, at the very least, didn't try to smash the player over the head with mindless cut-scenes and dialogue.



Still rocking these three little memory cards from X-2. Really cool memory cards that served me well back in the day. Looking at my PS1 collection, it's basically a shrine to Squaresoft, with their games, and JRPG's in general, dominating the game count.

Dude, you just need to look harder. There're still good JRPG being put out there. Off the top of my head, there's:

Bravely Default
Tales of Xillia 1,2
Tales of Graces f
Shin Megami Tensei IV
Lost Odyssey
The Last Story
Xenoblade Chronicles
Drakengard 3
Radiant Historia
Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky
The World Ends With You
The Last Remnant

...and the list goes on.

 

[gundamkyoukai]

Just read the updates in the OP WTF SE way to ruin X-2 ending .
Man this company just can't seem to do anything right anymore .

 

[DarknessTear]

What? What? Just.. I, I don't even... how...? I can't even...

 

[Replicant]

LOL.

This is a glorious trainwreck. I think I found some scans of the novel pages. Tidus' uh...unfortunate fate 2 days after being revived by Yuna?

Spoiler

The reviewer's weren't kidding about the gore. Tidus sees a ball roughly the size of a blitz ball, and comes to the conclusion that that's what it exactly is. So he proceeds to run and kick it... explodes. It was a bomb. Yuna gets thrown back by the explosion.... along with Tidus' head which promptly lands by Yuna with his expression frozen with surprise. She promptly passes out.

Yuna resurrects him using pyreflies, however it seems that if Tidus realizes what he is, he'll disappear (whether that means off to the Farplane, or from existence I'm not sure). It seems overall this explaination wasn't explained too well so it could be off the mark. This could explain though why she's seeming cold towards him in the audio drama.

I kinda want X-3 now just to see how far Square will go in their insanity.

A lot of the Japanese readers seem more upset that it was such an opposite tone to what the perfect ending in X-2 was, and the aformentioned gore and sexuality present.

I just read this. WTF? AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA~!

Now I understand the meaning of some of the GIFs a few pages earlier. Come to think of it, Tidus does look a bit like Tatsuya Fujiwara, the actor from Battle Royale, a film known for the infamous

Spoiler

exploding neck bracelet. But even in that film, no head got decapitated from bomb explosion

. WTF Square? LOL.

 

[Jazz-ism]

Dude, you just need to look harder. There're still good JRPG being put out there. Off the top of my head, there's:

Bravely Default
Tales of Xillia 1,2
Tales of Graces f
Shin Megami Tensei IV
Lost Odyssey
The Last Story
Xenoblade Chronicles
Drakengard 3
Radiant Historia
Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky
The World Ends With You
The Last Remnant

...and the list goes on.

thumbs up

 

[Forkball]

I love how Lightning is so protected and revered by Square, but they will just decapitate Tidus at a whim.

 

[PedroPanache]

Dude, you just need to look harder. There're still good JRPG being put out there. Off the top of my head, there's:

Bravely Default
Tales of Xillia 1,2
Tales of Graces f
Shin Megami Tensei IV
Lost Odyssey
The Last Story
Xenoblade Chronicles
Drakengard 3
Radiant Historia
Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky
The World Ends With You
The Last Remnant

...and the list goes on.

It's not about looking harder, it's more that my interest in the genre has been worn down by mediocre games. I've played a few of them you mention. Tales of Graces F is terrible and not a good example of a great JRPG; the writing made me stop playing it. Lost Odyssey was OK, but retread all too familiar ground. The Last Remnant, I just could not get into that at all. Only Xenoblade evolved the concept of the genre. I do want to play Radiant Historia at one point, of all the JRPG's I've not played, that's the most intriguing and, unfortunately, one of the most expensive.

Tales of Graces F, in particular, represents all that is wrong with the modern JRPG. I began to despise the characters and their innate stupidity and inability to comprehend the incredibly simple plot. For as much as I enjoyed the battle system, the writing just wore me down to the point where I didn't want to play it anymore. I'm simply not willing to play average JRPG's anymore, which is what most of that list represents to me.

The best JRPG I've played in recent years was a port of a PS2 game, Persona 4 : Golden. It had its faults; the mystery being far more interesting than the pay-off, lacklustre dungeons, but the characters of that game shone through, and I really wanted to see it to the conclusion. I'm looking forward to doing a New Game+, as I deliberately held off from completing the game properly. I still have the best ending to look forward to when I play it again.

EDIT: Actually, I bought Bravely Default over Christmas. I've had a little go of it and absolutely adore the look of the game. It looks like a lost PS1 game, mixing Final Fantasy IX with Saga Frontier and The Legend of Mana. I hope it lives up to my expectations, because on the art style alone, I love it already. Please don't be terrible. Please don't be terrible.

 

[Valnen]

I'm simply not willing to play average JRPG's anymore, which is what most of that list represents to me.

This comes off as so sickeningly snobbish that just...wow.

 

[Cyrano]

It's not about looking harder, it's more that my interest in the genre has been worn down by mediocre games. I've played a few of them you mention. Tales of Graces F is terrible and not a good example of a great JRPG; the writing made me stop playing it. Lost Odyssey was OK, but retread all too familiar ground. The Last Remnant, I just could not get into that at all. Only Xenoblade evolved the concept of the genre. I do want to play Radiant Historia at one point, of all the JRPG's I've not played, that's the most intriguing and, unfortunately, one of the most expensive.

Tales of Graces F, in particular, represents all that is wrong with the modern JRPG. I began to despise the characters and their innate stupidity and inability to comprehend the incredibly simple plot. For as much as I enjoyed the battle system, the writing just wore me down to the point where I didn't want to play it anymore. I'm simply not willing to play average JRPG's anymore, which is what most of that list represents to me.

The best JRPG I've played in recent years was a port of a PS2 game, Persona 4 : Golden. It had its faults; the mystery being far more interesting than the pay-off, lacklustre dungeons, but the characters of that game shone through, and I really wanted to see it to the conclusion. I'm looking forward to doing a New Game+, as I deliberately held off from completing the game properly. I still have the best ending to look forward to when I play it again.

EDIT: Actually, I bought Bravely Default over Christmas. I've had a little go of it and absolutely adore the look of the game. It looks like a lost PS1 game, mixing Final Fantasy IX with Saga Frontier and The Legend of Mana. I hope it lives up to my expectations, because on the art style alone, I love it already. Please don't be terrible. Please don't be terrible.

I would say out of those I would recommend Bravely Default, TWEWY, and Radiant Historia. Just an opinion, but I would say the rest are skippable.

My primary problem with SMTIV is basically that it's not Nocturne. And uh... yeah, nothing is like Nocturne but it frustrates me generally that a corpus of work never seems to be cohesive in Japan. Which is actually a central complaint about Final Fantasy and SMT and Persona... etc. None of them have a cohesive narrative, they are just franchise names with the most generic of substance (again, like Star Wars).

tl;dr http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fwgPBWQS6kM

 

[YAWN]

The state of this thread. The state of this story. The state of this series

 

[MogCakes]

The state of this thread. The state of this story. The state of this series

I think XIII/XIII-2 were pretty alright. XII is awesome. X was great. X-2 not so much. XV looks promising. The series is far from a catatonic state. That said this plot is horrifying and should never see the light of day. Eugh

 

[Teddified]

You think if there is enough backlash they'll just say that the novel's were/are non-canon and scrap whatever they had planned?

 

[YAWN]

I think XIII/XIII-2 were pretty alright. XII is awesome. X was great. X-2 not so much. XV looks promising. The series is far from a catatonic state. That said this plot is horrifying and should never see the light of day. Eugh

The last decent mainline entry came out almost 7 years ago. Square need to get their shit together. Big time.

 

[MogCakes]

The last decent mainline entry came out almost 7 years ago. Square need to get their shit together. Big time.

Your opinion yo. I don't outright hate modern square like a lot of people do.

 

[Dark_castle]

I think XIII/XIII-2 were pretty alright. XII is awesome. X was great. X-2 not so much. XV looks promising. The series is far from a catatonic state. That said this plot is horrifying and should never see the light of day. Eugh

If you guys calm down and just refer to the audio drama, the quality isn't masterpiece, but is at the very least still serviceable.

I think the amount of malice stems from knowing when/how Tidus died, and the apparent change in Yuna's behavior. Mind you, ALL of that wasn't fully known through an official or full fan translation of the novella yet, but people are jumping straight to the conclusion.

Now before somebody quoting my post as free PR for SE, fucking NO, I am not doing that. Square deserves criticism if they have done stupid shit. But before we go all and ridicule the company, shouldn't we know the full picture before doing that?

Like when this thread was first created, all we got was light summary for the drama that sounded like complete disaster. Comes the full audio, we know it isn't really that bad, and there's some serious, interesting plot elements that can be explored.

Again, I am NOT saying -Will- is amazing or anything, but it's not completely atrocious. They even rehire the same voice actors and kept all characters true to their personality, including Wakka's lines.

As for the novella, we simply needs to know more before we should judge the whole thing by ourselves, not the fucking Japanese readers.

 

[Unknown One]

FFX-3 might just be an excuse to reuse assets just like the 13 series. They made new models and all. Took them longer to remaster the game than to make it. SE is a joke.

 

[ash_ag]

Here is what they wrote:

Spoiler

There's a lot of comments about how much they feel bad for Tidus, and that Yuna acts really cold towards him. There's a few saying they hate Yuna in the novel. There's apparently a lot of sexual stuff in it. There's a scan of one page in which Tidus tells Yuna if they get into battle he might lose his fighting spirit because he's distracted by how sexy she is. And apparently Tidus gets his head blown off by a bomb and dies (and only 2 days after getting resurrected), but he comes back to life again because he's made of Pyreflies, and Yuna has control over him.

I can't believe this is the same person that wrote the FFX, FFVII, Crisis Core and Kingdom Hearts plot. This sounds like a genuinely insane thing to produce off the FFX series.

 

[MogCakes]

If you guys calm down and just refer to the audio drama, the quality isn't masterpiece, but is at the very least still serviceable.

(...)

Now before somebody quoting my post as free PR for SE, fucking NO, I am not doing Again, I am NOT saying -Will- is amazing or anything, but it's not completely atrocious. They even rehire the same voice actors and kept all characters true to their personality, including Wakka's lines.

As for the novella, we simply needs to know more before we should judge the whole thing by ourselves, not the fucking Japanese readers.

It may not be as terrible as it sounds, but it is incredibly baffling and reads badly in the summary translation.

 

[Dark_castle]

It may not be as terrible as it sounds, but it is incredibly baffling and reads badly in the summary translation.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JJd3Tfu5ulY

Watch the thing by yourself and don't let other people's initial impression through summary affect you.

But I guess it's too late now. The shit was already embedded into your mind as a piece of crap, so whether or not the actual thing is a crap doesn't really matter at the end of day.

 

[Dunan]

From the OP:

Spoiler

Tidus gets his head blown off by a bomb and dies (and only 2 days after getting resurrected), but he comes back to life again because he's made of Pyreflies, and Yuna has control over him.

What the--

I can't--

My God, SE. How much lower can you sink?

Time to fire up FFXII and play it again before post-2008 SE gets its hands on it and retroactively ruins a wonderful experience.

 

[Erigu]

when this thread was first created, all we got was light summary for the drama that sounded like complete disaster.

I'm not sure why people were so outraged back then, actually...
"Ohnoes, Auron's daughter? What's this shit? And they break up? Whaah?" -> "Oh, wait, it looks like there might be more to it after all!" Well, duh.
The worst might have been when Yuna mentioned a dream and we got pages and pages of "wait, so the second game never happened?" How do you even...

Now, that being said, there is some stuff that I find iffy, like the Yevoners (from the term itself to the strange feeling of déjà vu), Sin being back (even if it ends up disappearing right after that, I'd still consider that a faux pas, a priori... been there, done that, let's not zombify and cheapen the thing), or Yuna's character seemingly regressing.
And the actual writing isn't exactly stellar, especially when it comes to Chuami (the voice actress certainly doesn't help either).

But the novel... Now, from what I've seen, that's considerably worse. Possibly in part simply because there's more of it, meaning Nojima got a lot more opportunities to fuck things up...

As for the novella, we simply needs to know more before we should judge the whole thing by ourselves, not the fucking Japanese readers.

Not sure why the reception would be drastically different...

Watch the thing by yourself and don't let other people's initial impression through summary affect you.
But I guess it's too late now. The shit was already embedded into your mind as a piece of crap, so whether or not the actual thing is a crap doesn't really matter at the end of day.

You just sound condescending, there...

 

[Wazzy]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JJd3Tfu5ulY

Watch the thing by yourself and don't let other people's initial impression through summary affect you.

But I guess it's too late now. The shit was already embedded into your mind as a piece of crap, so whether or not the actual thing is a crap doesn't really matter at the end of day.

The audio drama is fine. I actually like it a lot more than I thought I would.

That doesn't change the fact the god awful novel exists. I mean, it's already stupid that he dies two days later but the way his death is handled is the most insulting.

 

[Dark_castle]

Now, that being said, there is some stuff that I find iffy, like the Yevoners (from the term itself to the strange feeling of déjà vu), Sin being back (even if it ends up disappearing right after that, I'd still consider that a faux pas, a priori... been there, done that, let's not zombify and cheapen the thing), or Yuna's character seemingly regressing.
And the actual writing isn't exactly stellar, especially when it comes to Chuami (the voice actress certainly doesn't help either).

Don't necessarily disagree with your concern there. The delivery certainly could have been a lot better, with a better POV, but it's the potential story element that could be explored for another journey.

You just sound condescending, there..

Well I'm sorry then.

The audio drama is fine. I actually like it a lot more than I thought I would.

That doesn't change the fact the god awful novel exists. I mean, it's already stupid that he dies two days later but the way his death is handled is the most insulting.

I'm expecting Square to retcon the events in X-2.5 if there's ever X-3. The game will keep the Teen rating, and these kind of madness won't make it there.

 

[Finalow]

Spoiler

I'm so sorry

 

[PedroPanache]

I would say out of those I would recommend Bravely Default, TWEWY, and Radiant Historia. Just an opinion, but I would say the rest are skippable.

My primary problem with SMTIV is basically that it's not Nocturne. And uh... yeah, nothing is like Nocturne but it frustrates me generally that a corpus of work never seems to be cohesive in Japan. Which is actually a central complaint about Final Fantasy and SMT and Persona... etc. None of them have a cohesive narrative, they are just franchise names with the most generic of substance (again, like Star Wars).

tl;dr http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fwgPBWQS6kM

Forgot about The World Ends With You, so I duly bought it on the iPad since it was reduced. Two down and one to go. I'll probably get Radiant Historia in a few months, already spent a small fortune on video games this xmas, so that one can wait.

 

[Erigu]

I'm expecting Square to retcon the events in X-2.5 if there's ever X-3.

I doubt they had that in mind when they published the book, and that was just a few days ago!
But yeah, they might decide to try and sweep it under the carpet in the end.

And we might all be better off.

I mean, did they really need to briefly kill Tidus off in order to write something about his existence being precarious? He was made of Pyreflies to begin with, after all. Isn't that enough? Couldn't they find a better way to kill him? Are they not bothered at all by the whole "Tidus's head suddenly flies off in front of Yuna" thing? Are they so desperate to replicate other people's successes (Madoka Magica? NieR?) that they don't see or care about how much of a tonal shift that represents for this franchise? Is that really something you want to cover in-between games? Isn't that death a bit too major an event for a bridge novel (that might not even leave Japan)? And two freaking days after the good ending? Seriously? How did that sound like a good idea? It's really some geostigma-level BS, right there.

And holy shit at what they did to Yuna's character... We spend hours playing a game where she's absolutely inconsolable over Tidus's absence, she gets a break at the eleventh hour (a bona fide deus ex machina, really)... and now, we find out that she immediately started bitching? Tidus is basically acting like an overjoyed puppy, and Yuna's all "oh, it's like he doesn't understand me at all", "now he's getting on my nerves", "how childish of him", etc. And Tidus has to keep freaking apologizing. Gah.
Look, if you want to write something about how there's no "they lived happily ever after" or ask "would the Prince and the Princess really get along? do they really have much in common after all?", fine, go ahead (although you might be overestimating the demand for gritty "this is real life, and it mostly sucks" in something called "Final Fantasy"), but you have Yuna act like that just a few hours in? Seriously? Again, how did that sound like a good idea?

The game will keep the Teen rating, and these kind of madness won't make it there.

That might actually somewhat explain why Nojima went nuts on the gore and sexual trances: "it's a novel: no CERO rating, weee!" Still stupidly jarring though.

 

[Dark_castle]

Eriyu, did you read (and understand) the novel yourself or you go by other's impression?

 

[Erigu]

I've read a bunch of excerpts, quotes and impressions.

 

[Dark_castle]

Do you have some links?

 

[Cyrano]

If you guys calm down and just refer to the audio drama, the quality isn't masterpiece, but is at the very least still serviceable.

This kind of statement kind of feels like you're giving them a gold star or an "A" for effort.

Given the amount of money Square has, and their clear ability to make things that are above the quality of "serviceable," I think it's fair to be disappointed when serviceable seems to be what fans now frequently get.

 

[Erigu]

Do you have some links?

There would be the 2ch thread, naturally. Other than that, I believe people have already pointed out the Amazon reviews. Also, some blogs, but it's not like I bookmarked them, so...

 

[Dark_castle]

This kind of statement kind of feels like you're giving them a gold star or an "A" for effort.

Given the amount of money Square has, and their clear ability to make things that are above the quality of "serviceable," I think it's fair to be disappointed when serviceable seems to be what fans now frequently get.

If you read my whole post, you would know that I never reward Square with a gold star or "A" for that.

Your comment about how much money Square has corelates to the quality of a story in a freaking audio drama doesn't make much sense, when story is a subjective thing to begin with.

Like, Sony has so much money, how did they make a disappointing game like Knack, when they used to make Crash Bandicoot?

 

[Cyrano]

If you read my whole post, you would know that I never reward Square with a gold star or "A" for that.

Your comment about how much money Square has corelates to the quality of a story in a freaking audio drama doesn't make much sense, when story is a subjective thing to begin with.

Sure, but it certainly doesn't hurt their chances. Or at least it shouldn't.

Like, Sony has so much money, how did they make a disappointing game like Knack, when they used to make Crash Bandicoot?

This isn't an unfair question to ask. It's certainly the question I would be asking if I was a creative director at Sony (not the exact question, mind, but a question like it).

 

[PedroPanache]

I doubt they had that in mind when they published the book, and that was just a few days ago!
But yeah, they might decide to try and sweep it under the carpet in the end.

And we might all be better off.

I mean, did they really need to briefly kill Tidus off in order to write something about his existence being precarious? He was made of Pyreflies to begin with, after all. Isn't that enough? Couldn't they find a better way to kill him? Are they not bothered at all by the whole "Tidus's suddenly head flies off in front of Yuna" thing? Are they so desperate to replicate other people's successes (Madoka Magica? NieR?) that they don't see or care about how much a tonal shift that represents for that franchise? Is that really something you want to cover in-between games? Isn't that death a bit too major an event for a bridge novel (that might not even leave Japan)? And two freaking days after the good ending? Seriously? How did that sound like a good idea? It's really some geostigma-level BS, right there.

And holy shit at what they did to Yuna's character... We spend hours playing a game where she's absolutely inconsolable over Tidus's absence, she gets a break at the eleventh hour (a bona fide deus ex machina, really)... and now, we find out that she immediately started bitching? Tidus is basically acting like an overjoyed puppy, and Yuna's all "oh, it's like he doesn't understand me at all", "now he's getting on my nerves", "how childish of him", etc. And Tidus has to keep freaking apologizing. Gah.
Look, if you want to write something about how there's no "they lived happily ever after" or ask "would the Prince and the Princess really get along? do they really have much in common after all?", fine, go ahead (although you might be overestimating the demand for gritty "this is real life, and it mostly sucks" in something called "Final Fantasy"), but you have Yuna act like that just a few hours in? Seriously? Again, how did that sound like a good idea?

X-2's perfect ending felt like a surreal, almost innocent, romantic fairy tale. So when you undermine it with all this silliness, it suggests that they neither understand nor appreciate what they created before. With the novel, they stumble into metachlorians territory attempting to deconstruct the nature of Tidus' existence. We really don't need to know anymore, really.


MY PERFECT ENDING - a fan-fiction by PedroPanache

Yuna : Look, I'm really sorry I brought you back, but, hey, it's not you, it's me. I think we should break up. I thought I wanted that holiday romance thing we had, but to be honest Tidus, you're really boring. And your head explodes. It actually explodes. That's a dealbreaker, right there.

Tidus : This is the exact fucking opposite of "cherish me, Yuna!". You're not cherishing me, Yuna,

Yuna : Yeeeahhh, that whole "cherish me" thing is kind of needy, and, look, the sex is really, really weird. Not that I'm complaining, but technically you're kind of dead...and I really want children and you're shooting blank pyrefiles. The truth is I didn't think any of this through when I brought you back. We really should break up.

Tidus : But...but...what if I disappear?

Yuna : Well, there's always that swimming pool the Fayth built you.

Tidus : Oh yeah, it's the one you dragged me away from when you decided to bring me back.

Yuna : Oh, right, sorry, I'm so sorry. You know maybe we can do the whole friends with benefits thing. I get horny, I summon you. We have sex. I send you. That could work.

Tidus : I..just....TWO DAYS YUNA! OUR RELATIONSHIP FELL APART AFTER TWO DAYS!! HEY, WAIT WHAT ARE YOU DOING?

Yuna : I'm not doing anything.

Tidus : You are, you...you're...YOU'RE SENDING ME...YOU'RE ACTUALLY TRYING TO SEND ME!!

Yuna : Brother got me pregnant!

Tidus.. MOTHERFUC........

 

[DiipuSurotu]

Years ago, APZoneRunner asked him about FFX HD in an interview. I forget what he suggested in his question, but O. Smith dodged it.

He's probably the one that translated the audio drama for SE.

Doesn't seem like it. Alexander O. Smith doesn't appear in the special credits unless I missed it and the people credited as English translators are Robin Kodaira, Steven Reinhart and Neil Broadley.

To be fair, Square only brings the original writer to work on their sequels. Tell me you don't want Tactics 2 by Yasumi Matsuno?

They don't always do. World of Mana, Revenant Wings and 3rd Birthday come to mind.

 

[Jinko]

I mean, Yuna with massive boobs and an icy demeanor? Lecherous humpty dumptidus? Teens with boob envy? Holy crap.

So they turned her into Lightning .. :S

 

[Jennipeg]

All this time I have pictured Tidus running up to a bomb, as in the bright red enemy bomb, it suddenly occured to me that he ran and kicked a bomb bomb, like a land mine. I don't know which is worse, or more stupid.

The audio drama by itself isn't too bad, it's not particularly well written and has some dodgy dialogue, but it isn't offensive. The issues come from this novel, which may not be as terrible as it sounds, though i'm not expecting much.

 

[Dark_castle]

They don't always do. World of Mana, Revenant Wings and 3rd Birthday come to mind.

Right. *shrug*

 

[Finalow]

Your opinion yo. I don't outright hate modern square like a lot of people do.

sure, opinions, but there is a reason because people do that. you might like and enjoy the whole FFXIII saga but it doesn't change the fact that it's awful.

also, I'm not sure why some of you are surprised if most of the people here were like "fuck this shit", that summary and the whole way to announce this weren't exactly promising and well, it's a sequel of FFX and X-2, not FFVI.

 

[Jinko]

Heh yea having an opinion is one thing, liking something that is so bad there are no words to describe it, is something completely different.

 

[Sir British]

Heh yea having an opinion is one thing, liking something that is so bad there are no words to describe it, is something completely different.

It's not bad. It's a comedy. I'm in firm belief that Final Fantasy X is a comedy series. Because I don't think any sane rational person actually liked FFX for its stellar storyline.

 

[Erigu]

X-2's perfect ending felt like a surreal, almost innocent, romantic fairy tale. So when you undermine it with all this silliness, it suggests that they neither understand nor appreciate what they created before.

Be it for that or Advent Children, it feels like Nojima basically went "okay, we obviously need drama, that is to say very bad things to happen, and it would be nice if it was directly linked to the previous installment so we could say "see? this is a True Sequel", so... Of course! Let's have the shit hit the fan right away! And let's make that extra heavy shit while we're at it: I hear that kind of stuff is popular, these days."

MY PERFECT ENDING - a fan-fiction by PedroPanache

Perfect, indeed.

 

[Dark_castle]

Alright taking a long break from this thread.

The amount of negativity and condescension starts to make me feel sick.

 

[Jennipeg]

I'm not sure why people were so outraged back then, actually...
"Ohnoes, Auron's daughter? What's this shit? And they break up? Whaah?" -> "Oh, wait, it looks like there might be more to it after all!" Well, duh.
The worst might have been when Yuna mentioned a dream and we got pages and pages of "wait, so the second game never happened?" How do you even...

Now, that being said, there is some stuff that I find iffy, like the Yevoners (from the term itself to the strange feeling of déjà vu), Sin being back (even if it ends up disappearing right after that, I'd still consider that a faux pas, a priori... been there, done that, let's not zombify and cheapen the thing), or Yuna's character seemingly regressing.
And the actual writing isn't exactly stellar, especially when it comes to Chuami (the voice actress certainly doesn't help either).

But the novel... Now, from what I've seen, that's considerably worse. Possibly in part simply because there's more of it, meaning Nojima got a lot more opportunities to fuck things up...

BIB I think when people said there must be more to it, they were hoping there would be a good reason to split them, at least I did. Then I read that the only reason we know so far is that Tidus' head pops off and Yuna has a personality transplant. I don't think that falls into the 'good' reason catagory. I'd be happier if Yuna just said, 'well it's been fun, but I've changed over the last 2 years and now that you're back, I realise we don't have anything in common anymore, so let's call it quits' I'm not particularly thrilled with them splitting at all (even if temporary), but I could go along with it if they came of with a legitmate reason for it.

I agree with everything you say regarding the iffy parts in the novel, I could write an essay on everything I don't like about it. Mostly Tidus' 2nd death, they could have explored his existance after being brought back by the fayth. I don't see why he had to die a 2nd time for them to do that.

 

[PedroPanache]

Alright taking a long break from this thread.

The amount of negativity and condescension starts to make me feel sick.

Really? Why on earth should you take this so personally. You can't change the way people are feeling about this. I admire your optimism, and as a huge fan of X and X-2, I wish I could share in it, but Square-Enix need to give me something where I can say "yes, that's a great starting point for a sequel." Sadly the novel nor the audio log seem to do that.

There are simply too many jarring juxtapositions, that it leaves me with little faith that a sequel to FFX and FFX-2 would do the originals justice. I simply can't get behind them bringing Sin back, as if it's no small thing. You basically undermine the entire point of X and X-2. The Eternal Calm should be sacrosanct. Create a new antagonist. FFX-2 did a good job of showing the aftermath of a suppressed society abusing its new found freedom. There's still so much to explore within that idea rather than "The Un-Eternal Calm Part Two : Sin Is Back. And This Time He's Pissed."

 

[Erigu]

BIB I think when people said there must be more to it, they were hoping there would be a good reason to split them, at least I did.

Well, the audio drama doesn't say why Yuna broke up with Tidus, but considering how it goes (more specifically, Yuna deciding to go to Bevelle upon hearing Tidus isn't well, and Lulu's Big Sis Advice Time), I think they might have as well have a neon sign spelling out "THINGS ARE NOT AS THEY SEEM".
As for the specifics, "buy the upcoming game to find out", basically...

 

[Finalow]

Alright taking a long break from this thread.

The amount of negativity and condescension starts to make me feel sick.

well, damn, I wonder why everyone isn't genuinely happy and optimistic for this.

 

[Rinoa]

I wonder who will brave translating the novel in full and manage to keep it sensical because the novels are always written bad/weird. Kamon "FFX: Midichlorians"

 

[Laughing Banana]

Holy shit.

The perfect end for FFX-2 was just that, *perfect*. Why would they ruin it with exploding bombs and shit? Holy shit Square.