Artyoan
Arbiter
- Joined
- Jan 16, 2017
- Messages
- 631
Okay, so I just got done with this game and thought I would spew some hindsight/random thoughts about it. Some of these might have answers and I missed it, mostly just speculation or musing on my part:
*Spoilers obviously*
-Hades was originally supposed to be the final boss according to concept art and his in-game model has the Terra eye symbolism all over it. From a visual standpoint he's a much better final boss than Necron. Why would they change this?
-Blank has his eyes covered, Beatrix is missing an eye, a summoners horn is like a third mind's eye. What is the eye symbolism supposed to represent for Terra and the bottom of the Invincible? What about the triangle 'tri-force'?
-Necron makes more sense if he were just some optional boss somewhere. He's fought at the bottom of a coliseum shaped arena which would seem appropriate if he were to be at the bottom of Ipsen's castle. Why? Because it would fit the shape of the building and Ipsen's Castle was also all about perverse backwards logic. Shit weapons are better, the castle is upside down, and Necron's logic is that life wants death and to live is to die.
-The point at which Zidane and company move to the Outer continent is when the game goes downhill. There should have been a separate adventure going on with Freya, Steiner, and Beatrix just as the early parts of FF9 had Steiner/Garnet going back to Alexandria while Zidane and company were going to Burmecia and Cleyra. Splitting up the parties with concurrent events was great.
-Kuja's redemption arc seemed out of place or at least needed to be way more obvious in-game. When Zidane says that Kuja 'gave them hope' and had teleported them out of Memoria, I must have missed that. They did get out but I don't recall a direct link of that being Kuja's influence until its just asserted after the fact.
-Garland seems to fear the eidolons but has the Invincible which had no problem assimilating Bahamut and destroying Alexander. What was there to fear?
-The covering of mist of the entire world on Disc 4 is not only horrible for exploration purposes but I'm unclear on what caused that? Was it Terra souls spreading out over Gaia because Kuja destroyed it? Or were Gaia souls being jettisoned out of the Iifa tree?
-Speaking of the Iifa tree, we kill the boss tree even though it says it does not die on that day. It does, but Garland makes it clear that there is a non-physical component of the tree that lives. Makes sense. So why have a physical component of the tree at all if its still working? Why does the mist shut off for a while?
-Only having one boss fight when you split into four groups for the elemental shrines is obvious cut content. The bosses even all show up in the final dungeon for some reason. So the models were finished but the shrines weren't.
-Beatrix was woefully under developed and disappears multiple times with no explanation. Steiner banging her was great though.
-Cut Amarant out entirely.
What I would change:
-Make Hades the final boss but change his story. Terra represents life trying to live but devoid of purpose. This contrasts with Gaia in which it's people are living with a purpose. Terra kills its own crystal by not giving it new memory and a soul cycle. Gaia has a flourishing soul cycle and new memories. Have Hades be some entity that has attached itself to Terra's crystal and which devours not only Terra but whatever Terra assimilates. Or he could even be the Terra crystal itself after despairing regarding its own fate and impending death. So its like a constant 'despair and death' that is spread by a people who no longer have a purpose. It would be thematically appropriate and requires just dialogue changes so as to foreshadow it and a final boss switcheroo.
I'm sure I'll think of more while I parse my thoughts. Decent game and I wholly respect anyone's opinion if they regard it as the best Final Fantasy, but similar to FF8 I'd like to know how much was cut in the end and how it ended up as it did development wise.
*Spoilers obviously*
-Hades was originally supposed to be the final boss according to concept art and his in-game model has the Terra eye symbolism all over it. From a visual standpoint he's a much better final boss than Necron. Why would they change this?
-Blank has his eyes covered, Beatrix is missing an eye, a summoners horn is like a third mind's eye. What is the eye symbolism supposed to represent for Terra and the bottom of the Invincible? What about the triangle 'tri-force'?
-Necron makes more sense if he were just some optional boss somewhere. He's fought at the bottom of a coliseum shaped arena which would seem appropriate if he were to be at the bottom of Ipsen's castle. Why? Because it would fit the shape of the building and Ipsen's Castle was also all about perverse backwards logic. Shit weapons are better, the castle is upside down, and Necron's logic is that life wants death and to live is to die.
-The point at which Zidane and company move to the Outer continent is when the game goes downhill. There should have been a separate adventure going on with Freya, Steiner, and Beatrix just as the early parts of FF9 had Steiner/Garnet going back to Alexandria while Zidane and company were going to Burmecia and Cleyra. Splitting up the parties with concurrent events was great.
-Kuja's redemption arc seemed out of place or at least needed to be way more obvious in-game. When Zidane says that Kuja 'gave them hope' and had teleported them out of Memoria, I must have missed that. They did get out but I don't recall a direct link of that being Kuja's influence until its just asserted after the fact.
-Garland seems to fear the eidolons but has the Invincible which had no problem assimilating Bahamut and destroying Alexander. What was there to fear?
-The covering of mist of the entire world on Disc 4 is not only horrible for exploration purposes but I'm unclear on what caused that? Was it Terra souls spreading out over Gaia because Kuja destroyed it? Or were Gaia souls being jettisoned out of the Iifa tree?
-Speaking of the Iifa tree, we kill the boss tree even though it says it does not die on that day. It does, but Garland makes it clear that there is a non-physical component of the tree that lives. Makes sense. So why have a physical component of the tree at all if its still working? Why does the mist shut off for a while?
-Only having one boss fight when you split into four groups for the elemental shrines is obvious cut content. The bosses even all show up in the final dungeon for some reason. So the models were finished but the shrines weren't.
-Beatrix was woefully under developed and disappears multiple times with no explanation. Steiner banging her was great though.
-Cut Amarant out entirely.
What I would change:
-Make Hades the final boss but change his story. Terra represents life trying to live but devoid of purpose. This contrasts with Gaia in which it's people are living with a purpose. Terra kills its own crystal by not giving it new memory and a soul cycle. Gaia has a flourishing soul cycle and new memories. Have Hades be some entity that has attached itself to Terra's crystal and which devours not only Terra but whatever Terra assimilates. Or he could even be the Terra crystal itself after despairing regarding its own fate and impending death. So its like a constant 'despair and death' that is spread by a people who no longer have a purpose. It would be thematically appropriate and requires just dialogue changes so as to foreshadow it and a final boss switcheroo.
I'm sure I'll think of more while I parse my thoughts. Decent game and I wholly respect anyone's opinion if they regard it as the best Final Fantasy, but similar to FF8 I'd like to know how much was cut in the end and how it ended up as it did development wise.
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