I've been replaying old PS1/PS2 era JRPGs that I loved as a teenager (and trying not to think about how long ago that was). As I did, I thought about some of the design characteristics that gave some of those series a distinct throughline even when the stories were very different. Even apart from consistent mechanics and naming conventions, Final Fantasy games all feel distinctly like Final Fantasy.
Final Fantasy usually aims for a high fantasy grand adventure where the central quest; young hero saves world from mega evil, is wrapped up in international politics, corporate interests and forces beyond the hero's grasp. All of those elements generally serve the game's greater themes. For example, FF7 explores environmentalism, capitalism and personal identity through Shinra, the Cetra and Cloud, but the "main plot" of Sephiroth trying to destroy the planet with a meteor seems... incidental. FFX (probably my favorite) did that too with Sin exploring our relationship with our planet and Tidus exploring our concept of self. Seymore and Yu Yevon explore politics, religion and the pursuit of power. FF games feel like if you're just playing through the main quest, you're missing the story.
But my favorite JRPG series by far is Breath of Fire, particularly 3 and 4. By comparison to Final Fantasy, the stories in BoF are small. Ryu just wants to find his friends or help Nina find her sister. The politics and whatnot that Final Fantasy is so fond of are there, but they aren't the point. The big quest to confront the big bad feels like it's happening to or around Ryu. Mostly, you're travelling through the world, learning about it and the people in it. Then, at the end, the game asks you a simple yet difficult question; "Is humanity worth it?" In BoF3, you are constantly faced with power and pursuit of power. How do people seek out power? What do they do with it? Should they have it? Then you arrive in the northern lands which are a vast and uninhabitable desert. You learn that humanity once developed incredible technologies, but in their lust for greater power nearly destroyed the world. If the goddess Myria hadn't intervened, the whole world would now be consumed by the desert. In BoF4, you are confronted with similar problems. You see the worst humanity can be. You see the torture of innocents, sacrificing of lives for petty political squabbles, arrogance, hubris, and greed. And in the final confrontation with the big bad, the game just straight up asks you if Humanity is worth it. Yes or no? And if you say yes, are you willing to fight for it? Should humanity live under Myria's protection or be allowed to live with the consequences of its mistakes? Can humanity be better than its worst parts or should Fou-Lu destroy it all. And at no point during the game are you told that you're expected to judge humanity until the very end. The theme doesn't come together until that question comes up on the screen in a simple text box. You're just allowed to observe.
I'll be honest, the first time I played those games, the answer was simple. Of course humanity is worth it. You say yes. You fight the final boss. You feel good about it. But lately, that question has been harder and harder to answer. We've known about climate change for at least half a century. And now that scientists think we have just about one decade left to avert global disaster, we're still fighting about it instead of fixing it. Slavery officially ended in the United States in 1865, but de facto slavery existed through vagrancy laws and convict leasing until 1942. Arguably, it still hasn't truly ended since prison labor still exists. And we're still dealing with institutional racism, sexism, and LGBTQ+ rights. And they're the same damn arguments we've been having for decades if not longer. I'm not convinced that society is actually getting better.
Ultimately, I'm really sad that BoF didn't capture a place in our culture like FF did. FF7 alone sold more copies than the entire BoF series combined. But that one question, "Is humanity worth fighting for?"... that has stuck with me and weighed more heavily on me than anything Final Fantasy ever did. The themes in FF games are good and important and the stories are amazing, but it never really confronts you with the problems is brings up. Final Fantasy just seems to say "Yup. Humanity is pretty bad sometimes." Breath of Fire asks "Humanity is pretty bad sometimes, so what are you going to do about it?"
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Topic: What Games Have You Been Playing Recently (Read 96683 times)