Here is some clarification regarding my previous statement that Final Fantasy has been ruined by Nomura's inability to deviate from androgynous Harajuku-styled characters who look like every other vapid teenager with a Hot Topic gift card.
I'm just disgusted with the whole "EVERYONE IS ATTRACTIVE IN THIS WORLD" trope that both Eastern and Western games seem to be employing these days. Last night I was watching a video review for a game called The Last Story on Wii, and it looked indistinguishable from a modern Final Fantasy. I absolutely *hate* this kind of character design, to me it feels so cookie-cutter, bland, and uninspired WHILE being obnoxious, embarrassing, and stupid.
Yeah, so you've got the main character, who is almost ALWAYS this skinny, shaggy-haired pretty boy with leather jacket and fur collar. The leather jacket is replete with rivets, buckles, and straps. He's wearing a belt and form-fitting jeans that manage to hang loosely; more rivets, buckles, and straps. He's probably carrying some elaborate, over-sized sword that looks like a can-opener or something.
Now look at his RAG-TAG party... I'm so sick of hearing this word to describe RPG parties: RAG-TAG. Since when has an RPG character cast NOT been rag-tag? Do we even have to acknowledge this anymore? But the problem with the so-called "diversity" between characters in RPG parties you see today is that they aren't quite so diverse. For example, take the side-kick; you may have the cheeky, sporty, more muscular and slightly-tanned dude with the squinty eyes and pointy hair... So superficially he might look different from the main character (different eyes, different hair, different clothes) but fundamentally he's the same; an attractive dude who buys the latest fashions and spends way too much time on his hair every morning.
Where are the quirky, eccentric, and wild characters? Where are talking yet not physically anthropomorphic dogs with fire on their tails? Where are the grizzled technology-fearing Tom-Selleck-looking samurais who speak like they've stepped out of the 16th century? Where are the girls with green hair and mist dragons? The children draped in monster hides? In fact, when is the last time a child or older adult was even a member of your party in one of these RPGs? Where are the swearing, cigarette-smoking pilots? Worst of all, where are the bad-ass Dark Knights and Dragoons clad in full-plate armor?
Instead, we get this:
I actually had to Google "final fantasy 12 main character" because Vaan was so easily forgettable (don't even ask me to tell you who else was in that game). I know what the fanboys and fangirls are screaming right about now; they're screaming that these characters are different in appearance and personality, they boast qualities and stories that widely separate them from one another. I disagree, because here's what I see on all three leading characters:
Long, shaggy hair? Check.
Physically attractive faces with effeminate features? Check.
All in the same age group of about 18 years old? Check.
Decked out in clothing that is more fashionable than functional? Check.
Same skin color/tone, same arch to their eyebrows, same nose shape, same facial structure, all adhering to the "Caucasian standard of beauty"... And people slam Toriyama for being unoriginal?? This is just scratching the surface, and I'm not even going to get into the fact that all of these characters have the same teenage love story drama as the focal point of their character development. It's a joke.
Who can relate to this standard of physical perfection? Is this all just some wet dream for nerds to aspire towards? Of all the gamers out there, the hardcore RPG nerds I've met have been some of the most physically unattractive, so if anything they should be outraged that none of these characters that they're role-playing represent them. Oh, but it's a role-playing game, you're not *supposed* to be playing as yourself, right? Maybe true, but I'd personally rather play a scruffy 30-year-old dude with a chip on his shoulder than some bright-eyed teen who's completely absorbed into keeping up with the latest fashion trends.
One might think my bitterness towards the current marketing trends of the jRPG industry denote that I've outgrown the jRPG model entirely. Then how does that account for my love of the classics that put more emphasis on exploration, variety, and the stories and personalities of the characters, rather than their design? Sure, nostalgia could be blamed for this, had I not recently played the DS remake of Dragon Quest VI. Here is a game I had never played before. I wasn't sure that I'd like it since I thought it might be out of dates by today's standards. Instead, it turned out to be a breath of fresh air in my gaming experience over the past decade.
I guess I can stand replaying all of the old classics again and again while everyone else keeps affirming the direction (decline?) of Final Fantasy by buying the latest titles while the old fans wring their hands. But I guess I'm saying all of this as a message in a bottle from where I'm stranded, hoping that maybe this message will eventually reach the people who can do something about this. I believe it is possible to keep the series fresh and marketable to today's demographics, while still having something for the millions of fans that funded the company before it became what it is today. At least, one old fan can only hope...
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