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FFXII OG director Yasumi Matsuno shoots down Basch was supposed to be the lead
- Thread starter Go_Ly_Dow
- Start date
Werewolf Jones
Gold Member
Maybe he can clarify the entire development process for XII now? If that's true.
German Hops
GAF's Nicest Lunch Thief
wait, he's not the lead?
ChorizoPicozo
Member
it wasn't frame that way in the game....explain that.
Astral Dog
Member
DonkeyPunchJr
World’s Biggest Weeb
Vaan looked kinda stupid and he was sort of bland, but he worked well enough as the eyes and ears of the player. He’s a war orphan, the empire killed his brother, and he had the balls to sneak into the palace and steal the Dawn shard from underneath Vayne’s nose, so it makes sense that Balthier would mentor him.
I’ll take Vaan over a loud mouthed, annoying douche who constantly draws attention to his stupidity and makes every scene about himself (Tidus)
I’ll take Vaan over a loud mouthed, annoying douche who constantly draws attention to his stupidity and makes every scene about himself (Tidus)
Captain Toad
Banned
No. Balthier was. He says so throughout the game.
Fuz
Banned
And every one of the is bidimensional and amount to nothing.
thatsafakewebsitebro
Member
My mans never left my party. Balthier is GOATED.
Touch fuzZy. get BizZay
Member
So Matsuno quit the long and troubled development due to poor health and not creative differences with Squeenix
Cert.in.Death
Member
Basch should have been the lead. Way better character than Vaan, not sorry.
Go_Ly_Dow
Member
FFXII is a massive game with many novel ideas and insane production values for PS2. I think it took 6-7 years to develop?
That team hadn't made anything like it before. I believe the engine needed a lot of work and to get that all up and running on PS2 must have been a big challenge. Remember FFX still used pre-rendered backgrounds and they moved from that to create one of the most detailed games of that era in a fully 3d world.
My guess is he overworked himself to the point of mental and physical exhausition, as we see often in the industry and in Japan. Probably had a breakdown due to all of the above.
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Naked Lunch
Member
People have been armchair quarterbacking FFXII for years - all because Matsuno left well into development. By that point the core scenario was long since finished.
Im a fan of the entire game start to finish - the story never fell apart in my eyes - and goes inline the endgame craziness of both Vagrant Story and FFT.
I would also say that there is no real 'main' protagonist in FFXII. It was never in the same mold as the other FF games.
Im happy to see Matsuno sticking up for the game all these years later.
Im a fan of the entire game start to finish - the story never fell apart in my eyes - and goes inline the endgame craziness of both Vagrant Story and FFT.
I would also say that there is no real 'main' protagonist in FFXII. It was never in the same mold as the other FF games.
Im happy to see Matsuno sticking up for the game all these years later.
a multicultural team of v
Member
I think the idea was playing the game through the eyes of a fish out of water protagonist, and a lot of the main story is driven by cooler, more bad ass characters surrounding you, sort of like in a looking up to big brother kind of way.
MGS2 is structured similarly for the Big Shell.
MGS2 is structured similarly for the Big Shell.
Fuz
Banned
No, Vaan is officially the main character.
jshackles
Gentlemen, we can rebuild it. We have the capability to make the world's first enhanced store. Steam will be that store. Better than it was before.
George Lucas confirms that main protagonist of the original Star Wars wasn't Obi-Wan.
Seriously, this game is Star Wars (Episode IV if you're being technical, but none of the sequels or spin-offs). It works so well because you have a nobody / fish out of water character that the audience can relate to (Luke). You're seeing the actions of the people in your orbit through the lens of naivety.
Penelo = Droids
Balthier and Fran are Han and Chewy
Ashe is Leia
Gabranth is Vader
etc etc etc
There are tons of narrative and tonal parallels here. So many so that it's obviously not a coincidence, and I wouldn't believe it if you told me that anyone other than Luke (Vaan) was always meant to be the main character.
Seriously, this game is Star Wars (Episode IV if you're being technical, but none of the sequels or spin-offs). It works so well because you have a nobody / fish out of water character that the audience can relate to (Luke). You're seeing the actions of the people in your orbit through the lens of naivety.
Penelo = Droids
Balthier and Fran are Han and Chewy
Ashe is Leia
Gabranth is Vader
etc etc etc
There are tons of narrative and tonal parallels here. So many so that it's obviously not a coincidence, and I wouldn't believe it if you told me that anyone other than Luke (Vaan) was always meant to be the main character.
adamsapple
Or is it just one of Phil's balls in my throat?
Of course, it was and is Balthier.
Im playing through it now but it feels like Ashe is more the main character lol, or at least the main parts of the story revolve around her.... I dont even use Balthier or Basch. I really like it though... its much more enjoyable playing zodiac version than trying to slog through the launch version which I barely played.... FF15 next after this one and then ill have played 7-15 minus 11
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april6e
Member
That answer just makes it worse. It confirms that FF12 story is godawful. I've argued with fanboys over the years about this and this story validates that their crappy opinions were wrong.
Even an elementary school kid would understand when writing a story that the main character should have importance to the overall story.
Even an elementary school kid would understand when writing a story that the main character should have importance to the overall story.
Kev Kev
Member
I really enjoyed each individual character in FF12, especially the ‘old guard’ characters. The whole dynamic of starting off with the younger characters only to meet the older characters and discover a deeper history was one of my favorite parts about 12.
Basch and the ‘old guard’ felt like role models Vaan was trying to live up to, and that story component was at the heart of FF12’s message, for me. Being the young character was crucial and I love how they did it.
Basch and the ‘old guard’ felt like role models Vaan was trying to live up to, and that story component was at the heart of FF12’s message, for me. Being the young character was crucial and I love how they did it.
mortal
Gold Member
Classic
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IFireflyl
Gold Member
March Climber
Member
Wouldn’t it be a more creative concept if a video game announced a clear protagonist, and then you were only able to play as their side character?
I know this currently doesn’t apply to FFXII, but it definitely interesting to me at least. Maybe another FF can do it.
I know this currently doesn’t apply to FFXII, but it definitely interesting to me at least. Maybe another FF can do it.
DonkeyPunchJr
World’s Biggest Weeb
Hard disagree. Best thing about Vaan is he actually shuts the hell up and lets the other, better characters have the spotlight. Wish some other JRPGs would learn from this example.
pleaseinsertdisctwo
Member
Vaan is the least of the game’s problems.
Balthier is pretty much the only party member with any charisma, and the story is extremely bland, no matter how many XII fans try to tell you that “Balthier looking to the left nervously in one cutscene signifies how he yearns to be free from the shackles of his guilt of his past as a judge; beneath his cocky veneer, his quiet desperation is what drives him, quite literally, to be a sky pirate.” Seriously, every XII stan writes crap like that in order to convince us, or themselves, that XII’s story isn’t the blandest thing in the universe.
I like XII overall (mostly due to its production values + art direction + QoL of remaster), but… yeah.
Balthier is pretty much the only party member with any charisma, and the story is extremely bland, no matter how many XII fans try to tell you that “Balthier looking to the left nervously in one cutscene signifies how he yearns to be free from the shackles of his guilt of his past as a judge; beneath his cocky veneer, his quiet desperation is what drives him, quite literally, to be a sky pirate.” Seriously, every XII stan writes crap like that in order to convince us, or themselves, that XII’s story isn’t the blandest thing in the universe.
I like XII overall (mostly due to its production values + art direction + QoL of remaster), but… yeah.
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