Trabia Garden

I've been replaying Bravely Default on and off, and I really enjoy the closeness between the party members. It builds gradually, but the party really feel like friends by the end of the game. I can easily envision them remaining close friends long into the future.

This led to a thought: once the world has been saved and the dust has settled, would the parties of other RPGs I've played stay in touch?


RPG parties: do they remain friends after canon?

Bravely Default, Bravely Default II: yes, absolutely. One of my favourite things about these games is how intensely the parties bond over the course of their adventure.

Persona 3/4/5: I think these all fall into the category 'the group stays in touch, but some characters are closer than others'.

Final Fantasy VI: there are so many characters! A few will probably drop out of contact, but I think Locke, Terra, Sabin, Edgar and Celes will remain friends, and Sabin might stay in touch with Cyan and Gau.

Final Fantasy VII: I think the two party members I'm most confident will stay in touch are actually Barret and Tifa, but you can probably add Cloud to that. I'm less sure about the others.

Final Fantasy VIII: I think the whole party might manage to remain friends in this one! At some point Selphie and Irvine are going to have a breakup that seems at first like it's going to be really messy. In the event, though, Selphie just pouts for two days and then decides that they're friends again.

Final Fantasy IX: Zidane and Steiner will definitely stay close to Garnet and, by extension, will see a lot of each other. I think the party as a whole will get together occasionally, rather than being a consistently large part of each other's lives.

Final Fantasy X: I think the party will remain friends, largely because they all gravitate around Yuna. Kimahri might spend a lot of time off doing his own thing, though. Paine would stay friends with Yuna and Rikku, but I don't know if she'd bond with the others.

Final Fantasy XII: not really. The party will split off into the Ashe-Basch, Balthier-Fran, Vaan-Penelo pairs, two of which already existed before the party was actually formed. This is part of the reason XII ranks relatively low in the series for me; I never felt like the party really bonded, and I think that's a shame!

Final Fantasy XIII: maybe! I mean, if you ignore the sequel making half the characters disappear. These guys bonded pretty strongly over the course of their journey; they wouldn't all necessarily be the closest people in each other's lives, but I think they'd probably stay friends.

Final Fantasy XV: yes. Yes, obviously. Yes.


Compiling this list, I notice that my favourite Final Fantasy games - VIII, X, XIII, XV - are the ones that lean more towards 'the bonds of the party are strong enough for it to be easy to imagine that they'll all remain friends afterwards'. It's evidently a good way to win me over!

If you have your own thoughts on whether the party of a particular game would remain friends after canon - or whether the central characters of your favourite canon would stay in touch, videogame or not - I'd be interested to hear them! And, of course, feel free to argue against any of my thoughts.

A question for the Final Fantasy players among you: what's your preferred party for the games you've played that let you choose your own party? Did you choose that party for gameplay reasons, are they characters you like, or do you want particular characters in the party because you think that makes most sense for the story? Or do you not have a usual party; do you switch it up on different playthroughs, or swap members in and out throughout the game?

Here are my answers:


Final Fantasy VI: This game has too many characters! My usual team is Celes, Sabin, Edgar and Locke. Celes and Sabin are my favourite characters; I like Locke a solid amount; I'm not particularly into Edgar as a character, but I find his Tools function useful in battle, and, as Sabin is already on my team, it seems fitting to include his brother.

Final Fantasy VII: My first playthrough was Cloud, Cid and Vincent, but nowadays Cloud and Yuffie are always in my party. Cloud's compulsory, of course, but I like him a lot, so I'd probably have him in my party anyway. Yuffie's fun, and her ability to attack from a distance is extremely useful.

I don't really have an established third member. If I were using my favourite characters, it would be Aerith, but on a practical level she's not an ideal party member. I used Red XIII on a recent playthrough, and I thought he was a solid member of the team; I think I might stick with Cloud, Yuffie and Red XIII.

Final Fantasy VIII: Squall, Zell, Rinoa. This is simple enough: they're the characters I like the most.

I've experimented with different parties in Final Fantasy VIII. Squall and Zell are always in my party, but I've done Squall-Zell-Selphie and Squall-Zell-Quistis playthroughs, because Rinoa is unusable for a large portion of the story and I thought I shouldn't get used to having her as a member. (In my first playthrough, I started out with Squall-Zell-Rinoa and then used Irvine in Rinoa's absence, just because he had the highest level.) Eventually, though, I decided I wasn't going to let Rinoa's patchy availability prevent me from using my favourite party; I use Rinoa whenever she's around. When she's not an option, my third member is usually Selphie.

Final Fantasy IX: On previous playthroughs, it's been Zidane, Garnet, Freya and Amarant. I like Zidane, Garnet and Freya; I'm not that interested in Amarant, but my Chocobo Hot and Cold addiction always makes him into a powerhouse, so he's too practically useful to give up! On my most recent playthrough, though, I developed an unexpected fondness for Steiner and swapped Freya out for him.

Final Fantasy X: Yuna, Auron and Rikku. Yuna and Auron are my favourite characters, but, honestly, that's largely coincidental; the main reason I use these three as my party is because they're the three characters I can get the Celestial Weapons for. All the others are impossible! Yuna, Auron and Rikku are manageable, which means they end up doing ridiculous amounts of damage while everyone else is capped at 9999. I level everyone up pretty evenly until I reach the point at which I can get the Celestial Weapons, at which point I start focusing exclusively on these three.

Final Fantasy XII: I actually don't have a party for this game. Because the 'you can switch characters out mid-battle' mechanic means it's beneficial to have strong backups, I level up all the characters evenly, constantly swapping them out, like they're a Pokémon team. On a practical level, all the XII characters are pretty much the same, so I suppose I'd use my favourites if you made me pick a party: Balthier, Fran and Ashe.

Final Fantasy XIII: Lightning, Sazh and Fang. This party doesn't have a great medic, which is a slight gameplay drawback, but overall it has a good balance of roles, and I like the characters a lot. If I were just using my favourites, it might be Lightning, Sazh and Snow, but I think Snow is best in small doses (even if I'm very fond of him), and I don't want to give up Fang's ludicrously high Strength stat.


BONUS QUESTION: how do you feel about your favoured party as an OT3/OT4/OTX? Let's see if I'd ship mine.

Celes/Sabin/Edgar/Locke: I could go for this? I could go for this. The sibling incest might complicate things, but honestly that's the main thing making me go 'this could be interesting?' rather than 'no, get Edgar out of there'.

Cloud/Yuffie/Red XIII: n-no. I do not ship these guys in any combination. The mercenary made entirely of psychological problems, the bratty sixteen-year-old and the lion? I don't think that would work, and it wouldn't even explode in a fun way; it would just be confusing for everyone involved.

Squall/Zell/Rinoa: yes, absolutely! This is a ship I've actually contemplated before. Squall/Zell is my favourite Final Fantasy VIII pairing; Squall/Rinoa is canon; Zell/Rinoa would be extremely cute; Squall/Zell/Rinoa would be great, although Squall would occasionally need to lie down in a quiet room to recover.

Zidane/Garnet/Steiner/Amarant: this is fine until you get to Amarant. Remove Amarant and then we'll talk. Steiner being confused and alarmed by this EXTREMELY IMPROPER arrangement would be great.

Yuna/Auron/Rikku: ooh, I could go for this. Yuna/Auron could be fascinating. I think Yuna/Auron is the main draw for me here, and I'd probably prefer the pairing on its own, but adding Rikku doesn't ruin it. (I don't imagine relationships between cousins would be considered incestuous on Spira; it's relatively rare for them to be considered incestuous on Earth.)

Balthier/Fran/Ashe: this is a great idea, yes! The only problem is that I feel this threesome carries a risk of ballooning Balthier's ego to dangerous levels.

Lightning/Sazh/Fang: huh! Hadn't occurred to me, but I'd be up for it. Maybe a V-shaped arrangement focused on Lightning; I think I'm inclined towards interpreting Fang as a lesbian, so I can see Lightning/Sazh and Lightning/Fang more easily than I can see Sazh/Fang.


If you'd like to, feel free to answer the 'what's your usual party and would you ship them together?' questions for other party-based games, not just Final Fantasy!

The final boss of Final Fantasy VI was a nightmare. He kept killing people in one hit! He kept muting my entire party, and I was quickly running out of items to cure it! (It's possible I didn't prepare very well.) I was convinced for a while that I was going to lose, and I'd have to fight through that entire sequence of pre-final-boss bosses again. But I made it! If the fight had gone on for a couple more minutes, I'd have been doomed.

So, yes, I finished Final Fantasy VI! I'm fairly certain I snapped this game up when it first became available in the UK, back in early 2002, so it took me, er, fifteen years and two copies. But I got there! And I wrote a fic, so revisiting this game was a highly successful endeavour. Even if it landed me with a new rarepair.

(At the ending, on the airship, there's a bit where Edgar tries to flirt with Celes, and she walks off to stand next to Sabin instead. I'M JUST SAYING.)

I'm starting to spot a pattern in some of my pairings: two people are part of the same group of friends. They're not close friends - they don't necessarily spend time alone together - but they move in the same circles. The group goes through some major, traumatic experiences. These two find themselves isolated, with only each other, having lost contact with the rest of their friends. I start 'shipping it immediately. It happened with Celes/Sabin, and with Mike/Sam in Until Dawn. I think my fondness for Hope/Serah in Final Fantasy XIII-2 comes from the same place; they're not alone, but they've lost touch with everyone who really knows what they've been through.

Even if Celes/Sabin is what really caught my attention on this playthrough, I also have a slight fondness for Celes/Locke, and Celes/Terra, and Leo/Terra, and everyone just cuddling in a big pile, including the yeti.

I've criticised some aspects of this game, but it has a huge amount of charm. The cast is delightful, and the tiny sprites are surprisingly expressive, and the battle system is one of the best from the ATB era; all the different battle abilities do mean that characters have wildly varying levels of usefulness, but they also make things varied and fun!

My preferred team was Celes, Locke, Edgar and Sabin, although I'd have swapped Edgar out for Terra if I wanted it to be a team of my four favourite characters. The Tools function was too useful to give up! Plus I liked the idea of the brothers fighting side by side.

Celes is the best. I wouldn't have stood a chance without her in the final battle.

If I were in charge of a remake of Final Fantasy VI, I'd cut the playable cast down substantially. I like the playable characters, but there are just too many of them for the plot to feel focused. The story of Final Fantasy VI would work perfectly well with just Terra, Locke, Celes, Edgar and Sabin in the party. And possibly Setzer, for the airship. And - and General Leo. Look, I'm in charge and General Leo is the best. I'd forgotten how much I liked him.

I can see that you sort of need a huge number of playable characters for the World of Ruin to work, though. If there are too few party members, it'll become tricky for the player to find enough to assemble a viable party.

I'd also make big changes to the feeding-fish-to-Cid bit. It admirably conveys the misery and monotony of being trapped on a tiny post-apocalyptic island, I suppose, but it's horrendous game design on about six different levels. (I saved Cid this time! The first time, I had no idea what I was doing and ended up running back and forth for what felt like a thousand years, catching fish indiscriminately and going 'when is this fishing going to end?' until he eventually died of food poisoning.) And I'd reduce the game's ridiculous encounter rate. I was so happy when I finally got a relic to bring it down.

Okay, that's enough nitpicking, because there's a lot I like about this game as well!

When I started this replay, I thought 'maybe I'll finally establish whether Celes or Sabin is my favourite character!' and instead I've ended up torn between three favourite characters: Celes, Sabin and Leo. Although Sabin definitely earned strong points with his 'Did you think a little thing like the end of the world was gonna do me in?' line; it was a timely reminder that life and hope and humour can be found in the darkest of situations, and it made me smile.

I was so happy that Sabin was the first person I found in the World of Ruin. CELES AND SABIN: THE PERFECT PARTY. It's just as well I love these two, because it's taking me a while to track down anyone else. Inevitably, I now want fanfiction about Celes and Sabin slipping into a strange, sad physical relationship while they cross the ruined world in search of others.

I can't say Celes/Sabin is a pairing that's ever occurred to me before, but maybe the fact it's not an obvious pairing is what makes the concept interesting. It appeals to me in the same way Sam/Mike from Until Dawn does: under normal circumstances, they'd never look at each other in that way, but the circumstances are so far from normal. It's another living, breathing person, and that's suddenly become so precious.

We're on the verge of a new main-series Final Fantasy release! It's been a while.

One of the things that fascinates me about the Final Fantasy series is the way it reinvents itself with every new game. Every entry in the series tries new things; every entry has its own set of strengths and weaknesses.

Here, for no particular reason, is my list of pros and cons of the main-series games I've played extensively (I haven't played the online entries, and VI is the only 2D release I've played for a substantial amount of time). Direct sequels and spin-offs aren't included. I've tried to avoid very subjective judgements, which is why 'the characters are the beeeeest' doesn't appear under VIII and XIII. Please imagine that 'music' appears on the 'pros' list for all of these games except XII (sorry, XII).


Final Fantasy VI:
Pros: Still looks good twenty years later. Characters all have distinct battle abilities. You can suplex a train.
Cons: Feels a bit unfocused on account of having too many characters and a non-linear second half.

Final Fantasy VII:
Pros: Materia system allows for interesting setups. Midgar is a great setting. Fascinating storyline.
Cons: Graphics have aged badly. Awkward translation. These two things, combined with oddly out-of-the-way backstory cutscenes, make the fascinating storyline very difficult to grasp. It's sometimes hard to tell how you're supposed to progress. (The upcoming remake may well resolve some or all of these issues.)

Final Fantasy VIII:
Pros: Actively rewards not getting experience, so it's great if you prefer exploring and progressing the storyline to fighting random encounters. Triple Triad!
Cons: Confusing stat system, making it easy to screw up your playthrough if you don't know what you're doing. Revolves very, very strongly around Squall, which is great news if you like Squall but may make things tricky if you don't. Story falls apart at disc 3.

Final Fantasy IX:
Pros: Fun and cute! Doesn't take itself too seriously, on the whole, despite dealing with some bleak themes. Contains Chocobo Hot & Cold, the greatest minigame ever made.
Cons: Slow battle system. You will eventually finish the Chocobo Hot & Cold sidequest and be sad that there are no more Chocographs to find.

Final Fantasy X:
Pros: Nicely strategic battle system. Excellent levelling system; the Sphere Grid defines initial roles for the party members but allows for customisation. Strong, reasonably coherent storyline (this is very rare in a Final Fantasy game), although things get weird as you approach the end (this, by contrast, is very common). Probably the most accessible game in the series for newcomers.
Cons: Very linear. Awkward voice acting. A bit too cutscene-heavy. The European release likes to drop murderous superbosses in your face when you're innocently trying to revisit previous locations.

Final Fantasy XII:
Pros: Great translation; a lot of thought has gone into the way different characters would speak. Intricate world. No random encounters.
Cons: Poorly paced; long segments without any story advancement make it hard to follow the plot. Although the voice acting is good, the sound quality (on the PS2 version, at least) is poor. Boss battles tend to be a bit of a slog.

Final Fantasy XIII:
Pros: Good pacing, great battle system, gorgeous. Extensively explores the relationships between the party members. Rarely demands grinding.
Cons: Very linear; no sense of exploration. Writing occasionally lacks subtlety. No gameplay variety; there are battles and there are cutscenes, but that's your lot.


I've no doubt that Final Fantasy XV will also get some things right and some things very wrong, and I'm looking forward to seeing what those things are. Going by this lovely piano-and-violin piece from the Episode Duscae demo (and the fact that the composer is Yoko Shimomura), 'music' seems likely to be one of its successes.

If you'd offer different upsides or downsides for any of these games, I'd be interested to hear about them!

Rinoa can imagine Squall taking someone to fight monsters in the training centre on the first date! Hee! He would. And he explains that you need to be quick if you want hotdogs absolutely seriously!

Also, I said 'no, just showing her around' when Dr Kadowaki asked whether Rinoa was my girlfriend, because it was true and I thought it unlikely for Squall to say otherwise, but then I became curious and looked up a script (other discs: one, three, four) to find out what would have happened had I said 'yes'. I am now regretting not having said it, because the exchange would apparently have been as follows:

Dr Kadowaki: Hi there, Squall! Oh, my... it's not everyday I see you walk around with a girl! Is she your girlfriend?
Squall: Yes.
Rinoa: Are you serious?! Squall?! I'm gonna take it seriously.
Squall: I'm serious.
Rinoa: Woo. I'm speechless.
Squall: I'm seriously joking.

Heeee!

(Does anyone know what replaces the 'showing Rinoa around the Garden' pre-NORG sequence if one has sent Rinoa to the Missile Base?)

The script also taught me that, if you choose to send someone else up the dangerous-looking ladder on the MD level of Garden, Squall will think about the people he's with and then decide to go up himself instead. Bless you, Squall. I mean, yes, it's terribly railroading, but it is also adorable.

Squall is still my favourite protagonist of the main-series Final Fantasy games, without a doubt. He has plenty of problems, obviously, but I identify so much with him and I love hearing his thoughts. I love living inside his mind during the game. I love poor, confused, socially-inept, overly-serious, unable-to-let-himself-rely-on-others, afraid-of-being-relied-upon-in-case-he-fails Squall.

Ooh, here is a poll I have never made before! (If you're not familiar with the Final Fantasy games but would like to answer the second question, just skip the first.)


[Poll #1452748]


The protagonist of Final Fantasy VI is debateable, but I've always thought of it as Terra, so Terra it is. And I'm leaving out Final Fantasy XI largely because the protagonist is presumably You, The Player, which isn't terribly helpful when one is interested in finding out her flist's Final Fantasy character preferences.

Regarding the second question: I don't insist on it myself, but both my housemate and th_esaurus do, so I'm interested in finding out whether it's a particularly common habit.

In taking breaks from revision for the overly-weighted Literature exam that looms like a great terrifying monster in front of the summer holidays (all these lectures on postmodernism and I swear I still don't know what it means), I have started a new game of Kingdom Hearts II. Here are some thoughts on replaying the ridiculously long introduction!


KINGDOM HEARTS II: WHAT DID YOU DO TO SETZER? I don't remember the 'Setzer is a stereotypical vain dishonourable silver-haired villain' part of Final Fantasy VI! I have no idea why I didn't complain about his portrayal the first time I played the game!

(I do have a certain fondness for Hip Young Seifer and his posse, though. The Seifer of Final Fantasy VIII would probably run the Kingdom Hearts development team through if he knew how he'd been portrayed, but he is just so ridiculous that I can't dislike him. And he keeps his Final Fantasy VIII battle stance! Also, Young Fujin is terribly cute.

Something to ponder: in the Kingdom Hearts universe, where did Leon and Hip Young Seifer's scars come from?)


Hip Young Seifer: Why does looking at you always tick me off?
Roxas: I don't know. Maybe it's destiny?

Roxas, are you - are you flirting with Hip Young Seifer? Because I think Hip Young Seifer has made it fairly clear that he would not be interested in a relationship with you.

Actually, I'm quite interested in the relationship between Team Roxas and Team Hip Young Seifer. They insult each other and grumble about each other and fight, and yet the two groups seem to have an odd sort of friendship, or at least a potential friendship. Perhaps it's just the way Seifer keeps turning up to say HEY, I DON'T CARE ABOUT YOU GUYS but I just came over to say hi.

('That was undeniable proof that we totally owned you lamers' is still one of my favourite videogame lines ever. Oh, Hip Young Seifer.)


( And some slightly more spoilery things! Spoilers up to the end of the introduction. (Which takes four hours, by the way. I'm not joking when I say it's ridiculously long.) )

( In which Riona is excessively woeful about Doctor Who news. Major spoiler for the 2006 season. )

In other news: music! Tagged by the unspeakably evil draegonhawke. GLARE. GLARE, I SAY.

List ten songs that you're currently digging. It doesn't matter what genre they're from, whether they have words, or even if they're no good. They must be songs that you're really enjoying right now. Post these instructions, the ten songs and their artist(s), and then tag five other people to see what they're listening to.

( Be warned, for my taste in music is extremely questionable. )

I DO NOT TAG. HA.

Also, in case you're curious (although I can't imagine why you would be), my AS results: B for English, Maths and German (which is, frankly, unbelievable - I was sure I'd got an E); A for Classics. Not bad. Now, if only I had the slightest clue which university was which.

Finally, if villa agents would let people know that the villa rental has fallen through more than two days before they are due to arrive, the world would be a much happier place. Also, if said agents would pass the money on to the owners five months in advance when the holidaygoers gave it to them, perhaps it wouldn't fall through in the first place.

Gits.