Favorite FF

[Aleema]

Really, I hardly believe some 17 years old teenager would really care about fate of the world. They still in the age of seeking adventure, fun, and love.

In this day and age, in this realm of reality, that's 100% true. But we're talking about fantasy genres (at least, I think we are), and I think blankd hit the nail on the head about the average lifespan being shorter, etc. You basically find the love of your life by, like, age 16. You're probably in war at that age, too. But, it's not so much worrying about the fate of the world as your own skin. Also, they might misunderstand the depth of their adventure, but cross a threshold where its too far to go back. The thing about stories is that we rarely write one about someone who's lame and just gives up on their quest halfway through. We wanna hear the tales about the magically-amazing-super-kid who saved the world against all odds.

Any world that involves magic is exempt from making any sense whatsoever because we can blame absolutely everything on magic!

[dott.Piergiorgio]

being an "older, mature, pondering adult" I'll put a perspective whose seems a bit understimated by under 35 or so: that many adults and nearly all the elders tend to think, even too much, about the past. I don't know the nationality of everyone, but, for example, talking with a WWII vet (and for US of A, a 'Nam Vet) will be rather interesting and full of interesting anedoctes....

Now, Aleema's opinion can't explain why the SMT franchise, especially the Persona sub-franchise, has success with adults, more so in Japan; the explanation is rather surprising: these people tend to relive their youth.....

I'm confident that in the next decade will be a larger percentage of games with 1970s or 1980s setting....

it's the classical "If back then i have done so and so" musing of the adults in their 40s and the elders.

Best regards from Italy,
Dott. Piergiorgio.

[Aleema]

Now, Aleema's opinion can't explain why the SMT franchise, especially the Persona sub-franchise, has success with adults, more so in Japan; the explanation is rather surprising: these people tend to relive their youth.....

You're right, because I'm on-topic! I'm talking about Final Fantasy/JRPGs.

SMT and other dark games aren't aimed towards children to begin with.

[lordcloudx]

Interesting meta-discussion.

I don't think the age matters as much as how the writers develop the characters. Sure, they might generally be too young to "saaaave the world" but the same could be said for anyone from any age group. Personality defines a character more than age. Tender age is just a factor that theoretically makes a person more vulnerable, but it's not like adults are totally immune.

I find that in most late SNES and PS1 to present era jrpgs, that the protagonists aren't necessarily just there to "saaave the world." (Legend of Zelda is an exception) Often, the adventure just starts as one motivated by a personal motive, vendetta or thrill-seeking. Is that so hard to believe for a kid? Then, circumstances usually propel them to go on their "world-saving spree." Mostly, it's still motivated by personal reasons and saving the world just happens to be a necessary consequence of accomplishing a more personal end. Sure, it's sometimes absurd how someone that young could possibly persevere through such a journey, but most jrpg stories equip them with an equalizer anyway. It could be a unique ability, character trait, support from friends or any number of other factors.

I find jrpgs more enjoyable than gritty D&D inspired stories. They're aesthetically idealistic and it works that way.

Also, these characters do break down sometimes and I find that it's in how they overcome the odds that makes their characters more appealing - more fitting to be the hero that saves the world (Cloud, Luke)

If you really want your characters to be older, there's always Saga Frontier II where some of the characters reach their 70s in some scenarios (Old enough for ya?)

@dott.Piergiorgio: Umm... but that's assuming that everyone in the industry and the target audience is in the same age group as you, though.

I think P3 and P4 are bad examples though. They both have silent protagonists and all the other party members are high school students who act too much like adults. In most jrpgs, there's usually a hardened veteran in their 30s to 40s or two in the party.

As a conclusion, any mention of tvtropes.org leaves a bad taste in my mouth, but I like my jrpgs with a little bit of these http://project-apollo.net/text/rpg.html

[blankd]

@dott.Piergiorgio

Because they're entertaining? I can't think of many JRPGS where you shoot yourself in the head or jump into TVs to save the world from creatures existing on the fringe of reality and are combated with pieces of the human psyche. The other SMT games are pretty self-explanatory in their appeal though. 8P

@lordcloudx

I disagree that the P4 cast acts like adults, barring Naoto who has reasons for that. But eh, opinion is opinion so we'll leave it like that.

Namatame and Adachi were disturbing adult foils. D8

>Back on topic?
Out of curiosity LVUER, what would the "supernatural" characters with absurd ages but young bodies and minds be? Disgaea's supernatural characters are all hundreds/thousands of years older but uh, certainly don't behave that way. 8S

[LVUER]

Immortals tend to be brat since they couldn't dead... or because they are still children, considering their lifespan (we adults when we reach about 20-30% of our lifespan, so if you're immortals when will you become an adult?)

If the supernatural beings are ghost, then I could understand them as ghost mind usually stop aging when they dead. So despite being 100 years old but if they died at young age, they have young mind (forever).

Anyway, I don't like any of Disgaea character (and I can't even appreciate most of the humor). And for Disgaea character, they certainly act that way... purposely. Disgaea doesn't have serious story ^_^ (despite being hard as hell)

[Ramidel]

Well, P3 is heavily deconstructionist in tone. (Can't speak for 4.)

Mitsuru acts like an adult because she's the Student Council President and because she never had a real childhood to begin with. (Yakuza ojou.) Ken acts like an adult because he's, what, eleven? (Which means he's far more mature than he would be as a teenager. ^_^ Seriously, that's how it often works out.) The MC is either a silent protagonist or else he's just Jesus. Everyone else on the team acts more or less their age. (Akihiko included, Shinjiro especially.)

[Freelancer]

Okay. I know I'm a little late in this game and I know I'm gonna catch a lot of flak for this but... While I agree with what LVUER (Or however you spell her name) was saying.

ALL THE FINAL FANTASY GAMES FEATURE YOUNG LEADS!!! In Dissidia it clearly states (Or maybe I read this on the wiki) that of all of the warriors of Cosmos, Cloud is the oldest, and since he (In Final Fantasy VII) is 21, that makes them all teenagers. Not to mention that all the party members in Final Fantasy 1 are completely how you see them. (The game not providing any details about the characters age, gender, name.) and in Final Fantasy 3 all the party members are actually Children. (Their starting job being Onion Kid)

I can think of a few games (Not Final Fantasy) That feature older party members and leads. The one most prevalent in my head right now is "Lost Odyssey" The main character being at least 1000 years old. and while he does have children with him that can be forgiven when you consider why they are there.

[Wintermoon]

RPGs tend to have teenage protagonists because leveling up is a metaphor for growing up. It doesn't make sense to start adults with years of learning and experience behind them at level 1.

[musical74]

The vast majority of FF games have teens for leads...but not ALL of them, FF4, Cecil and Kain are most likely in their mid-to-late 20s, and Edgar and Sabin from FF6 are late 20s. I think the reason that the final fantasy series liked teens as main leads is because they almost always start at level one, and, as Wintermoon said, it's odd for someone who is in the late 30s to start at level one.

[LVUER]

The vast majority of FF games have teens for leads...but not ALL of them, FF4, Cecil and Kain are most likely in their mid-to-late 20s, and Edgar and Sabin from FF6 are late 20s. I think the reason that the final fantasy series liked teens as main leads is because they almost always start at level one, and, as Wintermoon said, it's odd for someone who is in the late 30s to start at level one.

Just like I wrote before, earlier FF have older characters while newer have younger. That's why I think that older FF are more realistic.

[MaiMai]

Just like I wrote before, earlier FF have older characters while newer have younger. That's why I think that older FF are more realistic.

Can we honestly say FF is overall realistic? XD

[LVUER]

Just like I wrote before, earlier FF have older characters while newer have younger. That's why I think that older FF are more realistic.

Can we honestly say FF is overall realistic? XD

Hahaha, you right about that, but FF is surprisingly quite realistic (esp. FFVII and VIII). Not realistic in terms sci-fi, but rather some consistency and plausible explanation. Like how GF works and how people will lose some of their memories because of it.

[blankd]

Just like I wrote before, earlier FF have older characters while newer have younger. That's why I think that older FF are more realistic.

Can we honestly say FF is overall realistic? XD

Hahaha, you right about that, but FF is surprisingly quite realistic (esp. FFVII and VIII). Not realistic in terms sci-fi, but rather some consistency and plausible explanation. Like how GF works and how people will lose some of their memories because of it.

*OPINION!*
FF8 has more holes in how its universe functioned without collapsing on itself without so much as mentioning Time Compression and awkward teen romance. FF7 was alright-ish (most of the footwork for their universe seems to come from the fandom), but all the silly ret-cons they are adding on is straining its continuity.

FF12 had the strongest/most consistent setting but the weakest character-to-plot progression and development. (Actually most of the Ivalice-based works have an excellent and cohesive setting.)

[Freelancer]

I won't deny that the party members from the series are older. but as far as leads go,

Cloud, at twenty-one years of age, is presumably the oldest current Warrior of Cosmos, though the Warrior of Light - who has no explicit age - may be older than he is, and previous warriors Jecht and Shantotto were older when they aided Cosmos.

That is stated here http://finalfantasy.wikia.com/wiki/Clou ... e/Dissidia

(I think) That is all I was trying to say.