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necrophilia) wrote2024-03-31 12:22 pm
necrophilia) wrote2024-03-31 12:22 pm
what's my sword called?
Assume there will be full Final Fantasy XVI spoilers below the cut.
A few minutes ago I finished fighting Ultima and was halfway through the post-Ultima cutscene when the power in my house flickered for a millisecond, my PS5 shut off, and when it finally rebooted? I have to do that whole part from the very beginning—including the pre-battle expository speechifying.
Needless to say, I threw my controller into the sea (metaphorically) and started writing this entry instead.
Here's the problem with FFXVI in a nutshell:
The locations, too, are unmemorable. The backgrounds are very grey and brown and stoney, and quite a few scenes are too dark to see. (The only exception is Dhalmekia, which is presently sandy, but I'll get there in a sec.) I have trouble figuring out where Clive is going most of the time because each area looks the same; I was so very reliant on Torgal to keep me from getting turned around in what are very linearly-structured environments. If I came from left and need to go right but can't remember which way is left and which is right after thirty seconds of combat, you've failed to make the environment interesting and mappable.
Dhalmekia is extra uncomfortable for me by making it quite Arabic-coded... except when it comes to characters, language, accents, culture, or names. Or leadership. Hi, looking at you, Hugo.
Like, I don't have a source for this but a friend mentioned reading something about how Square Enix higher ups don't see much point in putting people of colour in a fantasy game series. If true, I find that incredibly disappointing! So the laziness about Dhalmekia puts an even worst taste in my mouth.
Most of the antagonists were quite bland. Benedikta's motivation was the men in her life, nothing more, and then served to have her body mutilated to further the enmity of male characters. Hugo was built up as this cunning spymaster but demonstrated none of that, instead spiraling in destructive waves of passion until he finally died. I still don't understand Barnabas's motivation and making him look so much like Clive was a character design fumble, honestly. Ultima talks and talks and talks and talks and I do not care.
So much of the worldbuilding was given either through several minutes of dialogue from characters who know more than you or What's-Her-Name legitimately stopping all gameplay to tell you about other characters. And it hasn't even worked, because I still don't know what the fuck they mean when they say Ash or The Twins. Is Ash a country? Who the fuck names a country Ash? Is Valisthea the planet or the continent? If Barnabas came from across the sea and conquered Ash at age fourteen or whatever, why does he have the same accent everyone else in Ash has? Why does Anabella look ten years younger than her son when we meet her after the last timeskip? How does Dion not trip on his (admittedly exquisite) coat?
... sorry, I got carried away.
Here's the thing, though: I think this story would make an excellent (if traditional) fantasy novel. If the time listening to these characters talk was instead spent inside their narration, you could have a solid, competent work of fiction on your hands. Supporting characters only getting one or two awesome moments works in that format.
Instead it's made into a game with repetitive sidequests, incredibly expository dialogue, and crowded combat.
Speaking of the combat: I never knew what was happening on the screen at least half the time, because Clive's attack effects were so bombastic they hid both Clive and whoever/whatever I was fighting.
Here's the worst part, though: every time I think I've become too bored to continue, the game does something awesome. Like Jill becoming Shiva to eviscerate Imreann or Typhos crawling out of a hell portal or Barnabas losing his mind or that time the sea was parted by Odin's sword and we fought on the ocean floor or Clive and Joshua pushing back Behemoth's meteor together. And then—for a few minutes, anyway—I'm invested! But it doesn't bother to keep up the momentum. Each awesome thing is a reward for making it through three plus hours of tedium and bewildering story telling. That's not why I play video games.
Anyway, Ben Starr (the voice of Clive) is an absolute treasure. Here's a clip of him performing a skit... I think.
A few minutes ago I finished fighting Ultima and was halfway through the post-Ultima cutscene when the power in my house flickered for a millisecond, my PS5 shut off, and when it finally rebooted? I have to do that whole part from the very beginning—including the pre-battle expository speechifying.
Needless to say, I threw my controller into the sea (metaphorically) and started writing this entry instead.
Here's the problem with FFXVI in a nutshell:
Random character: Hey, Dorys is missing! I'm super concerned about Dorys! Clive, please embark on this very formulaic sidequest to find Dorys by killing a bunch of things.I said previously that this game is conceptually very competent but the execution is meandering, dismal, and dull. The characters meant to flesh out the world are, for the most part, unmemorable. Characters like Sir Wade and Martha and Isabelle and that one random squire that does nothing and then is told to go to Eastpool and then doesn't and continues to do nothing, the characters populating the hideaway for the most part... To me, they're all interchangeable. They're all soft voiced and if you gave Otto's dialogue to Blackthorne and Blackthorne's dialogue to Otto, I can promise you I wouldn't notice a thing. That's not solid character building.
Me: Sure, I'll do anything for EXP!
Me:
Me: Wait, who the fuck is Dorys?
Dorys: I was hidden away in this alley and was practically impossible to find because the minimap quest marker hates you. Anyway, here's my tragic, nuanced backstory told to you in super expository fashion. Are you feeling an emotion yet? ARE YOU?
Me: > runs down a path
> kills a bunch of things
Character Who Has A Backstory With Dorys: Let me tell you about my backstory with Dorys! We're nuanced!
Dorys: Thank you, Clive. Take this 800 EXP and this piece of random garbage that will sit in your inventory forever, along with another minute of slowly recited dialogue about my motivations. I'll be returning to the Hideaway to meet up with the other Cursebreakers.
Me: Wait, Dorys is a Cursebreaker?
Me:
Me: Didn't all the Cursebreakers die ten chapters ago?
Me: That... that did happen, right?
Me: I have no idea if that happened.
Me:
Me:
Me:
Me: Who are the Cursebreakers?
AND THEN DORYS IS NEVER SEEN AGAIN.
The locations, too, are unmemorable. The backgrounds are very grey and brown and stoney, and quite a few scenes are too dark to see. (The only exception is Dhalmekia, which is presently sandy, but I'll get there in a sec.) I have trouble figuring out where Clive is going most of the time because each area looks the same; I was so very reliant on Torgal to keep me from getting turned around in what are very linearly-structured environments. If I came from left and need to go right but can't remember which way is left and which is right after thirty seconds of combat, you've failed to make the environment interesting and mappable.
Dhalmekia is extra uncomfortable for me by making it quite Arabic-coded... except when it comes to characters, language, accents, culture, or names. Or leadership. Hi, looking at you, Hugo.
Like, I don't have a source for this but a friend mentioned reading something about how Square Enix higher ups don't see much point in putting people of colour in a fantasy game series. If true, I find that incredibly disappointing! So the laziness about Dhalmekia puts an even worst taste in my mouth.
Most of the antagonists were quite bland. Benedikta's motivation was the men in her life, nothing more, and then served to have her body mutilated to further the enmity of male characters. Hugo was built up as this cunning spymaster but demonstrated none of that, instead spiraling in destructive waves of passion until he finally died. I still don't understand Barnabas's motivation and making him look so much like Clive was a character design fumble, honestly. Ultima talks and talks and talks and talks and I do not care.
So much of the worldbuilding was given either through several minutes of dialogue from characters who know more than you or What's-Her-Name legitimately stopping all gameplay to tell you about other characters. And it hasn't even worked, because I still don't know what the fuck they mean when they say Ash or The Twins. Is Ash a country? Who the fuck names a country Ash? Is Valisthea the planet or the continent? If Barnabas came from across the sea and conquered Ash at age fourteen or whatever, why does he have the same accent everyone else in Ash has? Why does Anabella look ten years younger than her son when we meet her after the last timeskip? How does Dion not trip on his (admittedly exquisite) coat?
... sorry, I got carried away.
Here's the thing, though: I think this story would make an excellent (if traditional) fantasy novel. If the time listening to these characters talk was instead spent inside their narration, you could have a solid, competent work of fiction on your hands. Supporting characters only getting one or two awesome moments works in that format.
Instead it's made into a game with repetitive sidequests, incredibly expository dialogue, and crowded combat.
Speaking of the combat: I never knew what was happening on the screen at least half the time, because Clive's attack effects were so bombastic they hid both Clive and whoever/whatever I was fighting.
Here's the worst part, though: every time I think I've become too bored to continue, the game does something awesome. Like Jill becoming Shiva to eviscerate Imreann or Typhos crawling out of a hell portal or Barnabas losing his mind or that time the sea was parted by Odin's sword and we fought on the ocean floor or Clive and Joshua pushing back Behemoth's meteor together. And then—for a few minutes, anyway—I'm invested! But it doesn't bother to keep up the momentum. Each awesome thing is a reward for making it through three plus hours of tedium and bewildering story telling. That's not why I play video games.
Anyway, Ben Starr (the voice of Clive) is an absolute treasure. Here's a clip of him performing a skit... I think.
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I had exactly the same reaction to Dorys the first time I played. I honestly couldn't remember who she was!
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Clearly Anabella made a deal with Ultima to stay young, though.
Ben Starr is indisputably a treasure.
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