Board 8 > SEAFOOD SOUP [Playthrough Topic] [Ultros] [Uncle Ulty] [Original Trollface]

(+) Yeah! (+)

PartOfYourWorld posted...
Gogo
Alright, show of hands. If ANYONE recruited this guy/girl without a strategy guy, FAQ, or friend's help of any kind, please raise your hand.

*raises hand*

I was pretty obsessed with FFVI in my younger days and I talked to EVERYONE and went EVERYWHERE. Somewhere was an NPC that mentioned a triangle island and a strange monster. I don't remember if that NPC mentioned having to get sucked up by it, but the point is the NPC brought the monster to my attention. That means it must have been important. Their sucking skill was a curiosity to me so I saved my game and decided to see if getting the whole party sucked in would result in a game over.

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Heh, awesome. Are you from the FFVI board, by any chance?

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Watch and you'll see... someday I'll be... part of your world!

Terra in the top 2? huh

I mean, I don't hate her, but she's pretty bland - definitely behind the more interesting Shadow/Cyan, and the entertaining Edgar/Locke/Sabin, and of course the wonderful Celes

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I'm just a lurker. I've lurked various boards in my time on GameFAQs. Though I've started posting more often as of late. Who knows, maybe someday I'll be a regular.

But when I first joined this site, I spent a lot of my time on the SNES FFIII board. That and the FFT board were my main haunts.

Also, good list. FFVI has one of my favorite casts of any game. Yeah, there are some guys near the bottom that I don't care about, but the sheer number of characters I DO like cancel out those that I don't.

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Celes-X-Terra posted...
Terra in the top 2? huh

I mean, I don't hate her, but she's pretty bland - definitely behind the more interesting Shadow/Cyan, and the entertaining Edgar/Locke/Sabin, and of course the wonderful Celes

This. I cared from her more for a gameplay perspective. She was a great character, but she was also really drowned out by the rest of the cast. Being in an ensemble cast gives you massive problems.

I actually think I'll like Cloud more than any of FFVI's good guys.

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How can you think that LMS? What do you even know about Cloud?

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Hey all this is Bartz btw.

I just have that feeling.

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The Force is strong in his family. Link has it. Mario has it. His... Samus... has it.

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I got Gogo without a guide too... same identical scenario as Eerieka.

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Ditto about Gogo.

LMS has no reason to believe anything other than what other people say. Cloud is generally more popular than anyone else in FFVI, therefore, he expects to like Cloud better.

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LeonhartFour posted...
LMS has no reason to believe anything other than what other people say. Cloud is generally more popular than anyone else in FFVI, therefore, he expects to like Cloud better.

Not more than Kefka though! And I do not have such high hopes for the rest of FFVII's cast.

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Because that's what you've heard.

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Cloud gets a lot of unwarranted hate but is pretty good, Barrett is a walking stereotype, Tifa is awful, Aeris is deeper than people give her credit for, Red XIII doesn't really do a whole hell of a lot, Yuffie is good, Cait Sith is bad, Vincent doesn't really do a whole hell of a lot, Cid is good. There you go

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Cloud's pretty Terra-tier bland. I mean I don't hate the guy, but he's got no personality to him. Motorcycle scene was a highlight, though.


Really don't care the rest of FF7's cast. Tifa's pretty bad, despite how much I wanted to like her, Aeris is alright, Red is boring, Cait Sith is meh, Vincent has as much input as Gogo. Cid's pretty entertaining, though I never really noticed him that much, but Barrett and Yuffie were good.

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Cloud is a lot of things, but bland he is not. I've never understood people who say that about him.

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Cloud's not even remotely bland. Definitely don't agree!

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Since the top two are clear, let me write about them both before posting the final rankings.

Final Fantasy VI features the largest and most eclectic playable cast I’ve ever seen in an RPG. With characters that range from comical to tragic, young to old, and human to Moogle, it has something for everyone. It’s no wonder that many fans cite the supporting cast as their favorites, but for me, it was the two female leads that carried this game and stole the show. I’m a big fan of both for reasons both similar and different.

Terra carries the main plot. She’s the focus of both the game’s intro and ending, and it is the mystery surrounding her which progresses the game’s story. Conversely, Celes carries the party. She builds the game’s closest interpersonal relationship with Locke, and as the first playable character in the World of Ruin, she leads the charge in finding and recruiting everyone else.

They both face challenges and shoulder immense responsibilities. During the World of Balance, Celes struggles with the realization that her newfound friends still distrust her due to her old allegiance with the Empire (Terra, who was literally a mind-controlled slave with no memory, does not face this hardship). Crushed, she risks her own wellbeing to help them escape from a bind, and only slowly opens up and forgives them later on. Of course, there is also the famous opera scene, where the hardened general steps out of her comfort zone and sings her heart out to progress the party’s plans. It’s the scene where I was one over as a fan.

However, most probably consider the attempted suicide as her most powerful moment. Waking bewildered and alone in a destroyed world, and then losing her only caretaker to sickness, Celes loses her will to live. In casting herself off that cliff face, she staked a place for herself in the hearts of gamers the world over. By surviving, gaining renewed confidence and zeal for life, and leading the search for her old friends, her status only grew.

Celes’s heroism is well documented, but I’ve come to think that Terra’s is too often (unfairly) unrewarded. While Celes defected from the Empire, Terra spent her entire life as an unwilling, unknowing prisoner. With her mind ensnared, she spent the purest years of a person’s life unable to feel or love. After being freed at the beginning of the game, she takes up the fight against those who so cruelly wronged her in the hopes that they are never able to harm another person again. Despite being little more than a machine her whole life with no concept of good or evil, the liberated Terra wields her sword for good.

In the World of Ruin, her heart feels its first pangs of love – the love of children who see her as a mother. She is overcome with this rush of new feelings, and as such, no longer wishes to fight, opting to spend the rest of her days caring for her newfound family. Despite her diminished powers and unwillingness to fight, she still challenges the powerful Phunbaba (lol) twice, willing to sacrifice herself for the children without thought. I thought this was incredibly admirable and one (or two) of Terra’s greatest moments.

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Near the game’s ending, the entire party realizes that due to her half-Esper parentage, Terra may not survive the destruction of Kefka’s Tower. The party is hesitant to act, but the Terra insists that the attack must go on. Kefka must be defeated, evil must be destroyed, and if her life must be sacrificed in the process, so be it. Please remember that this is after she had felt her first real emotions and realized that the first 18 years of her life were stolen from her. Despite a lifetime of memories and feelings to make up, the young hero is willing to give up her own life for the future and happiness of others. In making this decision, Terra distinguishes herself, in my opinion, as the game’s most heroic character.

Terra has my favorite theme, but Celes’s clocks in right after at #2. Celes has the much better sprite – the game’s best – but Terra has the cooler and more useful special command. Celes has some incredibly memorable scenes, but I think some of Terra’s are underrated and wonderful as well. It’s really tough to pick one over the other.

Revelation: I seem to really like female jRPG characters. Of the four traditional ones I’ve played (FFVI, VII, X, and CT), each has a female character at the top of my personal rankings.

I realized something else when I finished playing. The video game industry is the butt of many jokes for many reasons. One of the more prevalent ones is its presentation of female characters, and far be it for me to call it completely unjustified. Female characters are often oversexualized to the point of absurdity and serve as little more than a means to an end – usually as motivation for the male lead to fight on. However, there are instances where this couldn’t be further from the truth.

Final Fantasy VI was hyped at release. It has sold millions, it has been tremendously well received, and it carries one of the biggest brand names in the industry on its shoulders. It is, by every reasonable criteria, a blockbuster game. Now, I ask you: how often do blockbuster movies present female characters as compelling, developed, and tastefully done as Terra and Celes? How often do the female characters in these huge movies show real heroism or struggle with burdens APART from the men in their lives? It’s just not that common.

In that sense, the FFVI’s female leads are pretty special. They are leaders. The entire party depends on them for reasons other than their looks or affection. They struggle with the pressures of immense responsibilities related not only to love, but fear, mistrust, and the very lives of their friends. They have both faced low points, but in triumphing above them, have emerged as not only my two favorite characters in this game, but possibly my two favorite characters in any RPG, ever. And now I have to pick my favorite.


14. Strago Magus
13. Gau
12. Relm Arrowny
11. Umaro
10. Gogo
9. Setzer Gabbiani
8. Shadow
7. Mog
6. Cyan Garamonde
5. Locke Cole
4. Edgar Figaro
3. Sabin Figaro
























































1. Terra Branford/Celes Chere (TIE)

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Cop out.

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cop out indeed. nice writeups though, really enjoyed this topic. are your thoughts on CT documented anywhere, btw? this topic got me interested since both FFVI and CT are top 5 games for me (and my favorite 2 square rpgs)

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Also, I'm surprised you're not a bigger fan of Terra's sprite since she practically flashes everyone during her victory animation.

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excellent write up sir

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LeonhartFour posted...
Also, I'm surprised you're not a bigger fan of Terra's sprite since she practically flashes everyone during her victory animation.

she seriously lacked booty though. that's one area where FFVI characters were sadly lacking, save for possibly the figaro bros

hell, relm was beating out our magically endowed friends on that front

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Given the sprite graphics and character design style, I honestly didn't notice any of that stuff. Maybe that's why Square had to make their female characters awesome; they couldn't just boob em up and be done with it.

Anyway, thanks for the kind words, and yes, it's a cop out, but it's too hard to choose. I had Terra at first, then I switched to Celes, then I wanted to switch back to Terra while doing the write-up, and I'm sure I'll switch to Celes again if I re-listen to the opera theme or check out that hottie doing her cosplay up there. A tie is the most fair.

From: Pianist | #471
are your thoughts on CT documented anywhere, btw?

I saved the topic (it spanned from May-July, IIRC). I think I can email it to you as an HTML file, but be warned: it doesn't look nearly as good as it would on GameFAQs. Will probably be hard and ugly to read.

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Who's the main character, yoblazer?

I will not let you cop out on this!

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i did notice said topic(s) but was pretty busy with not caring about the board at the time. couldn't resist with work slowing down and more free time when i saw FFVI.

[email protected]

thanks broski!

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Terra a leader? definitely don't see that in her at all

and the WoB write-up doesn't really make sense to me at all - she wasn't fighting for good from the start, she was being dragged along in a war she didn't understand. I mean Locke drags her over to the returners where she's completely clueless, when she hears what's going on she doesn't even know if she wants to fight, then they have to run away so she gets dragged to Narshe, where she goes Esper-berserk for ages

then when you want to find her in WoR, she still doesn't want to fight.



leadership and desire to fight against Kefka is where Celes shines, that's what gives her Main Character credibility. Also her being the love-interest character, and being the character with the biggest opposition to the antagonist Kefka.

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She voluntarily chooses to fight with you when she returns to normal in Zozo.

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Who is the main character?

Here it is, possibly the biggest debate of this generation. Book have been written. Debate teams have gone to war. Intellectuals have argued it on television. The French have rioted. Ken Burns' documentary on the subject won three Emmy awards just last year. The presidential candidate with the balls to clearly answer this question will get my vote, and the votes of millions more. Despite it all, the fire burns still.

Who is the main character of Final Fantasy VI?

The guys at Square themselves have gone on record saying they purposely designed this game "without a main character." Rather, they wanted to focus on the entire group, all of their struggles, and all of their interrelationships. To their credit, I think they did an excellent job. FFVI certainly has a large number of fleshed out and wonderful characters. However, it's hard to keep a lead from emerging, and the big guys here can't help but pull ahead of the pack. And now it's time to name the lead. It's time for me, your REIGNING DEFENDING USER OF THE YEAR MEANING MY OPINION IS THE VERY GRAVITY THAT BINDS THE STARS, to name the main character and end this once and for all.

Now, I haven't read too much FFVI discussion before tackling the game, but over the years, I've heard at least some talk about handing "lead status" to Locke or one of the Figaro brothers. This is sad on so many levels, and wreaks of such transparent misogyny, that I ****ing weep for my fellow male gamers. I weep and vomit at the same time. No, the main character ain't a dude. It's one of the two female leads, and there's no arguing around it. Still, which one? Two is more than one, and



And that one main character is...


























Terra Branford

Celes is amazing; we all love her. But she's not the main. Despite the developers' best attempts not to give this game a Cloud or Sora, they can't help but drop hints that point to Terra being the central character. In the night snow being accompanied by Vicks (oh god he returns) and Wedge, the game begins with her. As the focus of that Titanic-esque final shot (James Cameron ripped that **** off so hard), the game ends with her. Her theme scores the overworld for most of the game. She drives the main plot. She is the focal point of the game's biggest mysteries. She is the only character that emerges during the ending even if un-recruited.

Yes, I understand that Celes gets more playtime. Yes, I even understand that you can do the entire World of Ruin without even recruiting Terra, but hey - HEY YOU - are we gonna be canonical or are we gonna be canonical? If we're to follow the actual story, it's clear that Terra (and everyone else, really) gets recruited in the World of Ruin. If you wanna break canon, the entire WoR can probably be done in under three hours, making Celes's portion a heck of a lot less epic than it's meant to be. If you wanna break canon, you can go through the entire WoR without even seeing Locke, the single biggest reason Celes ginned up and decided to live and fight on. Heck, if you wanna break canon, you can have Cid survive and completely eliminate Celes's most powerful moment in the game. Let's stick with the canon.

It's not all about playtime (heck, Barret might have more playtime than Cloud). Celes does have a history with the Empire, sure, but Terra has one as well and, unlike any other character in the game, actually has a hugely important history with the Espers. She starts the game. She ends the game. Even when not playable, she remains a focal point. Her theme is heard more than any other. The main plot is all her's. The party talks more about her than anyone else.

Terra Branford is our main, everyone - and you can take that check to the bank! (it's worth 30% on Dante!)

Yoblazer with the correct answer!

Good for you!

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From: LeonhartFour | Posted: 9/5/2011 1:20:32 AM | #479
She voluntarily chooses to fight with you when she returns to normal in Zozo.

She still doesn't hold the fight in high regard at all - it especially shows on the ship ride to Thamasa, she's much more concerned on What is Love?

From: PartOfYourWorld | Posted: 9/5/2011 1:30:00 AM | #480
Celes does have a history with the Empire, sure, but Terra has one as well

Difference is Celes has a connection with Kefka. Most importantly, the scene at Vector, and the Celes-Kefka moment on Floating Island

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From: GuessMyUserName | #482
What is Love?

Baby don't hurt me

Don't hurt me

No more

(Can't resist)

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From: GuessMyUserName | #482
She still doesn't hold the fight in high regard at all - it especially shows on the ship ride to Thamasa, she's much more concerned on What is Love?

Yeah, but Terra hadn't felt an emotion in her entire life. I think we can cut her a break; to do what she did despite the circumstances of her past is incredibly heroic.

Difference is Celes has a connection with Kefka. Most importantly, the scene at Vector, and the Celes-Kefka moment on Floating Island

Can't argue with that, but I don't think it makes Celes the main. Terra just has too much firepower for this debate imo. Plus, she has a history with Gestahl, who personally plucked her infant self from the Esper world. It's... something, I guess!

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Watch and you'll see... someday I'll be... part of your world!

From: PartOfYourWorld | Posted: 9/5/2011 1:45:20 AM | #484
Yeah, but Terra hadn't felt an emotion in her entire life. I think we can cut her a break; to do what she did despite the circumstances of her past is incredibly heroic.

meh, she's still not a leader, and really didn't care to fight until way too late for me

Can't argue with that, but I don't think it makes Celes the main. Terra just has too much firepower for this debate imo. Plus, she has a history with Gestahl, who personally plucked her infant self from the Esper world. It's... something, I guess!

I'm not trying to say that you're wrong for saying Terra is the main, I'm merely backing up the other option - they're both fine answers depending on what you want in a main character.

That being said, Gestahl's incredibly small time compared to Kefka!

But yeah, Terra's points to me don't make her a main character. She's important to the plot, but that doesn't make you a main character - she's more of a plot device than she is a main character to me. To me, the most important part of the protagonist is being someone who leads the party, and opposes the antagonist, and Celes fits that perfectly. Terra just really doesn't contribute to The Returners, and doesn't even care much about fighting Kefka.

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Alright, gotta make sure to do my little ending post before the topic closes. Fun game, fun topic!

Thanks to everyone for the opinions, the tips, and for reading along. A big thanks especially to the guys who posted a ton, including Jeff, Leon, GMUN, and Bartz, among others. In some way, I think doing these topics makes the games more special than they otherwise would have been. Despite its flaws (as I've said a bunch before, I wouldn't put this in the same tier as CT), I now consider FFVI a special game to me. Who knows if that woulda been the case had I not spent so much time analyzing the characters and chatting with longtime fans in this topic?

That said, this will probably be my last playthrough topic in a while. They eat up time, and I plan to be busy with other stuff. Plus, this holiday season is gonna be killer for new games, so those will likely preoccupy all of us. I kinda sorta considered doing the first Skyward Sword playthrough topic as soon as the game hit, but that kinda stinks of attention whoring, and an initial Zelda playthrough should be done in solitude and with reverence to the religious experience that it is.

But I'll probably see ya'll (ya'll in this case meaning Leon and maybe one other guy) in 2012, and almost certainly with another Square RPG. Who knew that I'd be slowly turning into such a big FF fan at this age!

Gfa ha ha!



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From: GuessMyUserName | #485
To me, the most important part of the protagonist is being someone who leads the party, and opposes the antagonist, and Celes fits that perfectly.

And yet they made Vaan the main character of FFXII!

I dunno, I can see where the Celes main character argument comes from, but Terra's at the crux of all the major themes of the story (which is why I guess you may consider her a "plot device" instead).

Plus, Square chose Terra for Dissidia lawl

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From: PartOfYourWorld | #486
But I'll probably see ya'll (ya'll in this case meaning Leon and maybe one other guy) in 2012, and almost certainly with another Square RPG. Who knew that I'd be slowly turning into such a big FF fan at this age!

Just don't make that Square RPG Secret of Mana, and we'll be okay!

Make it FFVIII and we'll be best buds forever

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"My freedom was forfeit long ago!"

I'm surprised to be thanked for my involvement after pointing out fast fish slow fish!


but 2012

next SquareSoft SNES RPG playthrough topic

Seiken Densetsu 3


definitely definitely definitely

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From: LeonhartFour | Posted: 9/5/2011 2:00:44 AM | #487
And yet they made Vaan the main character of FFXII!

you're just helping Celes's side! Ashe da true XII main...... or Balthier..... or Basch

dammit XII, three characters that are better main character candidates than your Vaan





actually, comparing Vaan to Terra is just being unfair to Terra, since she at least is important

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Except for Square explicitly saying Vaan is the main character. So whatever.

I think he's a terrible main character, but hey whaddya gonna do

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From: LeonhartFour | Posted: 9/5/2011 2:08:21 AM | #491
Except for Square explicitly saying Vaan is the main character. So whatever.

I think he's a terrible main character, but hey whaddya gonna do

that means nothing at all

they literally did just make him up incredibly late in the game's development

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And Basch was the designated main character before then.

Darn Square and their "Gamers can't relate to older men they relate to teen bishies."

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Another great playthrough topic. Even if it won't be for a while, I look forward to your next one.

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everybody knows that in order to be a main character you need silly putty abs

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But really, Balthier's the main character because he says he is.

And nobody argues with Balthier.

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I'm not letting you guys end 900+ posts with Final Fantasy XII sewage.




WHICH 10/10 THEME IS BETTER

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Themes:

Celes > Cyan > Locke > Terra > Shadow > The rest

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Play FFVIII

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Squall > Everyone

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