The ultimate FFV debate: THE STORY

[LocoColt04]

Okay, so you all seemed to agree that the job system didn't bring FFV down. A lot of you also seemed to blame the story, or lack thereof, for this game's demise in the States.

So debate it.
Make references, talk about stories, and talk about FFV.

I only ask one thing of you:
Be civilized.

Stupidity and needless bitching won't be tolerated. This is a debate, not a brawl. A pre-warning comes via negative reputation points, and your next will be an official one. For those of you who already have an official warning, take this to heart. You will be banned from TFF after three warnings.




Though it may not seem like it, the following quote which mentions Tales of Symphonia and FFVI actually is relevant. I'm just putting the important piece in context.

Originally Posted by AIM convo

LocoColt04: ToS was HUGE as far as I'm concerned... it bumped FFVI off of the top of my RPG list
Sean: O_o;
LocoColt04: I don't know if BK can bump ToS, but it's a different style of game, too
Sean: I havn't beaten Tales of Symphonia yet, so I can't comment.
LocoColt04: How far are you?
LocoColt04: Because unless you're on the second disc, then no, it's just a good game
Sean: Only 24 hours in when I got stuck at the lightning shrine in Tethe'alla
LocoColt04: Once you're into the second disc, the story will have you by the throat, and it'll literally hurt to stop playing, because you want to know what's next
LocoColt04: It's so suspenseful
LocoColt04: And it proves that story can truly make or break a game

Well, how about it? Can a story REALLY make or break the game? How does this relate to FFV? And where do you stand on this issue?

There's no denying that the story in FFV doesn't really compare to that in FFIV or FFVI. But was it bad? I didn't think so. Perhaps it's not the roller-coaster of storylines that games like Tales of Symphonia have, but it certainly wasn't one of those "let's go kill shit because we have swords" storylines either.

Yeah, I believe that a story really can make or break a game. And while FFV was fun and interesting, I couldn't really get completely immersed in the story. Not to say that I didn't enjoy the game or anything. In fact, as far as I'm concerned, the replay value is really high, mostly because of the vast number of ways you can work with your characters.

With FFVI, I can play it 14 times and not be tired of it, because the story is good. But with FFV, I can't play it for the same reasons. The story is just a story. It's not exceptionally good, but it definitely isn't bad. It's about on par, really. Middle-of-the-line. Compelling, but not intriguing. Decent.

I play FFV because it's a really good game. It didn't need a gorgeous storyline to act as a saving grace for a sub-par game. It can stand on its own feet as far as I'm concerned, and even though the American crowd never really accepted it upon its Playstation release (possibly because of the story? no one knows for certain), that doesn't mean that this American doesn't like it.

[ToroMor]

Yep, a bad story can break a game. At least for me. And FFV did it. I try to tell you why.
First, at no time in the game there was any mystery to explore, no secret to discover, nothing. X-Death tries to destroy the world, you are the chosen ones so stop him. Urgh.
Second, all the characters were so plain and simple, it was unbelievable. The good guys and the bad guys. A stupid childish world where no one has a realistic motivation. I wonder if Nintendo wrote the storyline. Sorry to all Nintendo fans.
Third and most, there was this absolutely unbearable "Light Warrior" thing. Since I am the Dark Knight this is impudence. I hate the game just for that.
Some day I will take revenge and write a game where you play X-Death and smash all these hero bastards.
Sorry for the polemics but reading the title gave me an adrenaline rush and could not hold back. I hope the following posters will be more intelligent.

[Brotherhood]

You know I don't really think the story was bad in this game, I liked it alot. I like all the Final Fantasy stories equally except FFX-2's. There were a few things bad about FFV's story like the fact that they never explained WHY X-Death wanted the crystals, but hell every story has its flaws.

Originally Posted by LocoColt04

There's no denying that the story in FFV doesn't really compare to that in FFIV or FFVI.

You know this could actually be described as fanboyism, because it sounds like the posts that say "FFVIII'S story was terrible compaired to the awesomeness of FVII's story, don't you dare deny it!!!" Now I know your not trolling because your an intelligent user but you say "there's no denying". well actually there is, because some people like myself liked this games story just as much as FFIV and VI stories. Well actually I liked FFIV's story a bit better, but this games story was awesome anyway.

With FFVI, I can play it 14 times and not be tired of it, because the story is good. But with FFV, I can't play it for the same reasons. The story is just a story. It's not exceptionally good, but it definitely isn't bad. It's about on par, really. Middle-of-the-line. Compelling, but not intriguing. Decent.

I know what you mean, I only beat this game once, though I beat FFIV twice. Still havn't beaten FFVI yet.

Originally Posted by ToroMor

Third and most, there was this absolutely unbearable "Light Warrior" thing. Since I am the Dark Knight this is impudence. I hate the game just for that.

Unlike LocoColt's post your post is actually True Fanboyism, you're saying you hate the game because you prefere bad guys or Darkness over Light, thats not really a valid reason, just immaturity...I mean come on, can't you at least give the game some credit, its not like FFX-2 which was just a game that was overated because of the word "Final Fantasy".

[ToroMor]

Yea I know my post was shitty. But it's really what I think about it. So for my penance I will try to figure out some good points.

characters:
- Both chocobos and moogles showed up and were cute
- I kinda liked the pirates
- I found Yaris interesting cause she is a bit eccentric and I really love her look in pricess clothes
- Gilgamesh was funny

story/settings:
- The mixed-up world parts in the N-Zone were fairly interesting and a bit spooky
- the sidequests were less annoying than in most of the other FFs. I liked the piano playing and especially the dancing scenes.

After all, the main story is really terrible imo. It is the main reason why I would rate FFV as one of the weakest of all FFs.

[Brotherhood]

- Gilgamesh was funny

True, I thought he was one of the best FF villians ever though, I thought it was really cool when he returned in FFVIII.

- I found Yaris interesting cause she is a bit eccentric and I really love her look in pricess clothes

The only thing I didnt like about her was the whole transvestite thing. But other than that she was a good character IMO.

As for the chocobos and moogles, I really liked it, the trademark chocobos and moogles is what make the game/sidequests better really. Thats one of the only bad things about FFIV, the absence of the moogles.

[Sean]

If you had posted the next line of our convo, you'd see my dumbed down thoughts.

Yes, story can make or break a game, but it's only in conjunction with other features in the game.

For FFV for me what made the game was the battle system and job system, however, I don't feel the story was that bad it just wasn't compelling.

As Cesar said, in ToS the story makes you wanna cry when you stop playing (Taking his word, havn't gotten that far) but the same applies to FFVI and FFVII to me, especially in VI once you first get to the World of Ruin and you're all "WTF WAS THAT SHIT!?" for the first time, or in VII during the reentering of Midgar via the Highwind (Don't ask, I just found that to be uber badass)


And how is Faris a transvesite? She didn't have a sex change, in fact, she never said she was a he. It was more of a joke of how they couldn't tell if she was male or female until the main character (Butz? That's his name on my ROM, I've heard others, though) saw her in the inn that one night. A transvestite is pretty much only a guy who gets a sex change to a woman. Girls never get sex changes to my knowledge.

[Brotherhood]

Originally Posted by Sean

the main character (Butz? That's his name on my ROM, I've heard others, though)

My Instructions manual says this:

There's Faris, a Pirate who felt the impending disaster of the wind,
Galuf, a mysterious old soldier who has lost his memory due to the force of the fallen meteor,
Reina, a girl who has left Tycoon castle in search of her father and
Bartz, a lone traveler

Though I've heard alot of people refer to the main character as "Butz".

[LocoColt04]

Well, in reference to that, it depends upon the translation. "Butz" and "Bartz" are both just rough translations, but consider the fact that this is America, and we couldn't possibly have a character named after a body part. Bartz is the name they tossed onto the disc for Playstation release, but Butz is the name you'll see in all the emulations. Either way, same guy.

[Brotherhood]

couldn't possibly have a character named after a body part.

Lmao, I've heard rumors about them naming him "Butz" then finding out what that ment in the english language so they asked for it to be changed. Anyway Bartz sounds alot cooler IMO.

[Jin]

I believe that transvestite is someone who dresses in cloths generally meant for the opposite sex and does this because they want to look like the opposite sex, so Faris would fit into that catagory. The story was fine, but the problem is that a story such as that has been done time and time again. It reminded me of a saturday morning cartoon kind of. Not necisarilly bad but just not origional. Then again I didn't play it until it came onto the psx version so perhaps when it came out it was a fairly origional story, or at least origional enough to keep the masses happy. But I really don't think that the story ruined the game, it just would have made it better if it had a better one.

[LocoColt04]

No, actually, a transvestite is someone with both male and female reproductive organs.

Faris was a crossdresser.


But I like your opinion, nonetheless. You're not the first person I've seen who's related it to morning cartoons, and the more I think about it, the more that seems to fit. Not that it was a bad story, not by any means, but it does seem kinda cartoonish I suppose.

[Mistress Sheena]

Just to straighten everyone out, Transvestites are indeed Crossdressers, and people with both male and female organs are Hermaphodites. Transexuals are males/females who get their sex changed.

But anyway, onto FFV. I agree that the story is cartoonish if anything. It's not really compelling, and it doesn't grab me. I still haven't beaten it. I'm still at the beginning, lol.

Though the reason Cesar says that "There's no denying..." is because literally the large, mass of the general public didn't like FFV. Now, there are people who may think FFV's story was just as good as VI or IV. (I don't see *how*, but I guess it's possible.)

I can't really say much, cause you know...I didn't go very far with the game.