Shadowman wrote:Counterpunch wrote:FF13 is probably the best example I can think of.
Which is amazing, considering that 13 is pretty bad in terms of storytelling. Not the worst (1 and 2 had little more than an excuse plot, and X-2 just plain sucked) but pretty far behind every other game in the series.
I am well beyond over hearing 13 derided as being a bad game, having a poor story, etc etc.
The number of people I can identify as having recited the litany of FF13 bashing and having actually gone far enough into the game to have an opinion on it I can count on one hand. Was it a mass consumption Final Fantasy? Yes. Big F'ing deal. Every FF has been different from the beginning and each game provides a completely different feel. I question people every time they say 13 isn't a "True" FF game because the series can't even correctly or consistently define itself.
FF13 had character development, showed emotional build up, employed a good amount of careful, NOT heavy handed foreshadowing (looking at you X), and placed characters in a final situation where there was no right answer. It wasn't clean and it wasn't neat and at the end, things were lost. The setting and tone, scope and evolution of the story was well plotted even if the gameplay was linear (I don't think the story could have evolved on a group of fugitives if it had been open-world). The music framed the whole thing well.
So, no. It's not "amazing" that I would find the game and story to be something worthwhile. From Snow's false bravado proving to be something he's actually thought out, to Lightning showing regret and reconnecting to her humanity, to Sazh breaking down into a suicidal wreck, Hope being a terrible whiny emo baby and being forced to grow up, and Vanille being a really bad person hiding behind a smile; all of the characters contribute to a worthwhile story.
Honestly, the only one who's kind of off is Fang and the whole thing there is that she doesn't know who she is and as a result consistently makes bad decisions regarding people who should be her friends.
If you did somehow meant in your response that I am unable to recognize good story telling or that I haven’t played enough or varied games to know better, then take the pseudo intellectualism and shove it.
However,
I'm not entirely sure you meant to be snide in your response to me. If you didn’t, then consider this simply a response to your statement and no hard feelings.