{"id":306,"date":"2013-07-31T00:48:28","date_gmt":"2013-07-31T04:48:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.chaoticblue.com\/blog\/?p=306"},"modified":"2013-07-31T00:48:28","modified_gmt":"2013-07-31T04:48:28","slug":"you-knew-this-was-coming-if-you-were-paying-any-attention","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.chaoticblue.com\/blog\/2013\/07\/you-knew-this-was-coming-if-you-were-paying-any-attention\/","title":{"rendered":"You Knew This Was Coming If You Were Paying Any Attention"},"content":{"rendered":"

Right, I’ve about had it.<\/p>\n

Let me set some context for this blog post: I’m listening to\u00a0“Blinded by Light” — aka\u00a0Final Fantasy XIII<\/em>‘s default battle music and riff on Lightning’s character theme — on loop while I write it. So, you know.<\/p>\n

Strap in.<\/p>\n

So this happened:<\/p>\n

\"FF13:LR<\/a>
FF13:LR — Light in mi’qote outfit<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

To be more literal about it: ever since Final Fantasy XIII-2<\/em> introduced DLC costumes and such to the franchise for the first time in a flagship title, you must have known this sort of thing was coming. This picture, if you don’t know, is promo for Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII<\/i>, but is also cross-promotion for the upcoming\u00a0Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn<\/em>. Specifically, that outfit she’s wearing is the default racial costume for mi’qote female characters when they start the game. Lightning happens to be wearing it. There’s also going to be a reverse promotion, by the way, for\u00a0FF14:ARR<\/em> characters to wear Lightning’s\u00a0FF13<\/em> Guardian Corps default outfit, Snow’s outfit, etc. as well.<\/p>\n

So I’m going to give a little context here but if you just want to see me tear into Chris Kohler’s article, scroll down to “Or so I thought.”<\/p>\n

Now, I loved FF13\u00a0<\/em>and\u00a0Lightning is, perhaps second only to Yuna, one of my favorite characters across any game. It’d be fair to say that if Yuna represents the person I think I am, Lightning represents the person I want to be, and that person is in charge of her life, in control, confident and strong, but (if you observe the arc of her character) struggling not to give up her personhood to do it. I respect that. I recently had a conversation with Maddy Myers<\/a>\u00a0where we both agreed Lightning’s default outfit in\u00a0FF13<\/em> would be better with pants but wasn’t\u00a0so<\/em> bad.<\/p>\n

So I get it when people see this picture and go “STOP WHAT YOU’RE DOING.” I’m behind that, mostly. I don’t think this sexy pose or the painfully ridiculous mi’qote outfit fit what I love about the character. Practical, focused Lightning would never wear this nonsense and so it offends those of us who like that about her to see her in it. A tiny part of me, however, is saying: it’s a promo thing. I’m annoyed by it, I wish it didn’t exist, but it’s not built in<\/em>. You’re not forced to see this on her if you don’t want to. And that does create a different rhetorical space. I am much more inclined to get angrier at this sort of thing when it’s\u00a0required<\/em>. I still don’t like it, but I can handle it. Plus like, she’s got that Cloud’s outfit costume too? I mean I hate Cloud but she looks great in the outfit, and it’s practical and\u00a0makes sense<\/em> so, you know, there’s that.<\/p>\n

Then this shit happened.<\/a><\/p>\n

Now everyone’s furious and I don’t blame them and I think the major reason I am upset about this is that it is\u00a0not even remotely called for, necessary, or even<\/em> interesting<\/em><\/strong>. I cannot say it more plainly. Lightning didn’t need her breasts enlarged to be sexier, she didn’t need them to jiggle (seriously,\u00a0what is up with Japanese pop culture and breast jiggling<\/em>?! Have you ever played a Super Robot Wars<\/em> game? “Zero gravity” doesn’t even begin to describe the problems). This game is supposedly about Lightning being the savior, a detective\/warrior\/paladin who’s out to make sure everyone leaves the doomed world for something better. She is functionally a divine avatar. So what the fuck purpose does boob jiggling++ serve other than to please an audience that never asked for it, which I am going to say\u00a0mostly<\/em> exists in some marketing department’s head? I know this is Squenix Japan on this one, but it’s the not first or most recent “imagined hetero male audience” problem they’ve had recently, either. Remember this\u00a0Hitman: Absolution<\/em>\u00a0Facebook app nonsense<\/a>?<\/p>\n

Long story short, yet another story of “male-dominated dev culture” + “imagined gamer audience” + “zero checks in place for this stuff” = “awful decision that will alienate more people than it convinces.”<\/p>\n

And then what happens the next day? I see this:<\/p>\n

\"FF13:LR<\/a>
FF13:LR Yuna Outfit<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Lightning\u00a0wearing a Yuna costume<\/em>. Holy fuck, talk about fanboy whiplash. One minute I am seething with fury, the next I practically catpaw’ed my monitor off the desk with joy. Two great tastes, together! And can I say Yuna’s yukata is one of my favorite\u00a0FF<\/em> heroine outfits? It isn’t necessarily practical but it’s mostly full coverage, it’s simple, elegant, tasteful,\u00a0and<\/em> reflects her character! I love it so much I made it as an\u00a0Animal Crossing New Leaf<\/em> design<\/a>!<\/p>\n

So I dunno, man. I’m up, I’m down. I’m still super interested in this game, because I feel like a lot of the gameplay elements it’s going to use hearken back to\u00a0Final Fantasy X-2<\/em>, which is unquestionably my favorite JRPG, or RPG, or possibly even\u00a0game<\/em> of all time. Clothes are power! Fun jokes and neat locales! A bit of the old and a bit of the new! After\u00a0FF13-2<\/em> which I liked but didn’t love, I super want\u00a0FF13:LR<\/em> to be good. So Lightbreastnado<\/a>\u00a0is seriously chapping my Chocobo hide but I’m going to try and power through unless something else titanic and\u00a0awful<\/em> happens.<\/p>\n

Or so I thought.<\/p>\n

Then this happened<\/a>.<\/p>\n

I read this and can only describe my reaction as\u00a0flipped the fuck<\/strong> out<\/strong><\/em>.<\/p>\n

Like, okay. I gotta break this down but first I’m gonna tell you that I loved\u00a0FF13<\/em> and I know some people didn’t and that’s fine, because it had some flaws, some important ones. They were flaws that I was willing to ignore in favor of the parts of the game that I came to really enjoy and be engrossed in. So if your plan is to roll up in here and argue about\u00a0FF13<\/em> I suggest you kindly don’t, because we’re not gonna convince each other, but I will feel compelled to start arguing about all the hypocritical, illogical bullshit that many people trot out to “explain” why\u00a0FF13<\/em> is “bad” that very frequently have no basis in, say, reality.<\/p>\n

Just wanted to get that out of the way.<\/p>\n

But seriously, this article of Kohler’s is basically my problem with gaming culture and nostalgia,\u00a0especially<\/em> as it relates to “beloved” franchises, in text form. Kohler claims that\u00a0FF<\/em> is “dead” because there was a press conference where they talked about Lightning’s breast size, and it used to be the pinnacle of console gaming’s vision of Re<\/span>sp<\/span>ec<\/span>ta<\/span>bi<\/span>li<\/span>ty<\/span>\u2122<\/b>. I mean, take a look at this paragraph from the article:<\/p>\n

In its heyday,\u00a0Final Fantasy<\/cite>\u00a0was the\u00a0ne plus ultra<\/em>\u00a0of console videogames based around strong, relatable characters and epic storylines. Sure, the games had their moments of levity, but mostly took themselves seriously enough to attempt to tackle subtle, complex themes on platforms that were largely dominated by paper-thin plots and cartoon characters. They pushed the boundaries, if imperfectly; despite what I may have believed in high school the writing was not exactly Shakespeare. But the ideas of\u00a0orchestras playing the games\u2019 amazing musical scores<\/a>\u00a0or of\u00a0art galleries displaying the design work of Yoshitaka Amano<\/a>\u00a0were not out of the question. And surely today\u2019s game designers, the people making games like\u00a0BioShock Infinite<\/cite>\u00a0or\u00a0The Last of Us<\/cite>, were inspired in part by early\u00a0Final Fantasy<\/cite>.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

You have\u00a0got to be kidding me<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Seriously can we get past this high art\/low art nonsense that plagues every mass medium, ever? Well video games sure are respectable when there’s ORCHESTRAS and ART GALLERY SHOWINGS but not when there are JIGGLY TITTIES. Then they are mere mass entertainment! Never mind that I find the invocation of\u00a0The Last of Us<\/em>, a game I cannot imagine being inspired in\u00a0any<\/em> way by\u00a0any\u00a0<\/strong>Final Fantasy<\/em> game except in the concept of zombies or fungus or fungus zombies as enemies. But really, the invocation of\u00a0Bioshock Infinite<\/em> and\u00a0The Last of Us<\/em> is purposeful: they are the two most recent games that try to be High Art rather than Mass Entertainment because they cover Very Serious Themes like “What It’s Like To Be A White Dad With A Spunky Daughter Sidekick Also Some Firearms.”<\/a>\u00a0I have said my piece about\u00a0Bioshock Infinite<\/em> already<\/a>\u00a0so ref that for my thoughts, and I can’t comment much on\u00a0The Last of Us<\/em> as an actual GAME because I don’t have any interest in playing it (I made it about 45 minutes in before giving up). So I guess what Kohler is saying is that\u00a0Final Fantasy<\/em> represented the\u00a0Masterpiece Theatre<\/em> of games and because they were Just So Goddamned Classy and Sehr Deep, we can thank them for inspiring the Seriously Important You Guys games about guys shooting people we enjoy today in the West.
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

I’ve played them all, guys. I didn’t spent a lot of time with 2 and 3 (like, Japanese 2 and 3), but I’ve played them all since the very first\u00a0FF<\/em>.\u00a0And let me tell you something: I loved most of them, but they are not what your imagination is telling you.\u00a0FF1<\/em>\u00a0has ciphers for characters, as does\u00a0FF3<\/em>. The heroes of\u00a0FF2<\/em> are not exactly the greatest or deepest, and while some storytelling finally seems to emerge in\u00a0FF4<\/em>\u00a0(which I am currently replaying on the PSP) those characters are pretty thin. They don’t explore anything like “depth” in the “fine literature” sense. Same for\u00a0FF5<\/em> which was more about the job system than deep, meaningful narrative.\u00a0FF6<\/em> seems to be the shining star for most of us who played it as\u00a0FF3US<\/em> back in the day, and I admit it’s one of the best\u00a0FF<\/em>s but it’s hardly ORCHESTRAS and ART GALLERY SHOWINGS. Don’t even get me started on\u00a0FF7<\/em> (which I like less the farther I get from it) and\u00a0FF8<\/em> (which I loved but is basically\u00a0Final Fantasy: the Teen Drama Game<\/em>).\u00a0What did the\u00a0FF<\/em>s of the 80s, 90s, and even early 00s push in terms of boundaries? Am I supposed to think they were groundbreaking because they killed off Aerith? That’s nonsense.<\/p>\n

Never mind that this is a vision of the past that reduces the\u00a0FF\u00a0<\/em>games to novels rather than being\u00a0games<\/strong>. I’ll be honest, a lot of what was satsifying about many of the\u00a0FF<\/em>s is their character design, and that they play pretty smooth for JRPGs, which can often be a clunky and unforgiving mass of confusing systems (sidenote: it’s important to have systemic depth, but\u00a0FF13<\/em> is evil for withholding some of that depth until later in the game so you get a handle on it\u00a0but<\/em> the combat is too confusing I guess? Because whatever,\u00a0FF13<\/em> critics don’t need logic). While I didn’t enjoy the gambit system of\u00a0FF12<\/em> I know a lot of people who found that very rewarding and fun, considerably more than any other part of the game. But that’s not what we remember them for, in this weird High Art public nostalgia. No, it’s all about the narrative moments and the stories which are just so deep, man. So, so deep.<\/p>\n

I might be sounding kind of hypocritical right now given my love of\u00a0FF13<\/em>, and maybe I am to a small extent. I’m not going to claim that the characters in that game are Sehr Deep You Know because they’re not, but I\u00a0will<\/em> say they had enough depth so that I found a way to engage with all of them. Someday I’m going to write about the parallels to queerness and feeling empowered by queer identity I see in the concept of l’Cie, for example. And that’s a personal thing and I know they’re not going to appeal to everyone and a few of them are, while fun, massively problematic stereotypes (looking at you, Sazh). Of course, strip off the serial numbers and I just described every\u00a0FF<\/em> cast from 4 onwards. So, you know, there’s that.<\/p>\n

Kohler goes on to talk about how the\u00a0Final Fantasy\u00a0<\/em>name has basically fallen from grace. He cites the failed\u00a0FF14<\/em> which bombed really hard, and then says of\u00a0FF14: A Realm Reborn<\/em>, the sequel that most agree is actually looking pretty fun (I was a beta tester and I enjoyed it), “even if it\u2019s good, it\u2019s still going to be an MMO with a monthly fee in an era dominated by the free-to-play model.” I… what? I know\u00a0WoW<\/em> is slipping in numbers but it’s still the biggest bloody MMO I can think of which works on a monthly fee and that seems to be working just fine for Blizzard, so… is the\u00a0Warcraft<\/em> name dead now too? Where are you going with this?<\/p>\n

Then he talks about\u00a0Final Fantasy X-2<\/em>, which “decided that what the series needed was to take all the female player characters,\u00a0give them skimpier outfits and make them into J-pop stars<\/a>.” Okay. So… what would have been better? A grimdark journey through Yuna’s inner turmoil where maybe her dad comes back and they journey to Nevada? I’m confused. Yeah,\u00a0Final Fantasy X-2<\/em> had a lot of elements that were new to the series. It was the first flagship\u00a0FF<\/em> sequel, for example, but it had magical girl transformation sequences and it started at a pop concert and the heroes were all girls in what probably are somewhat problematic outfits but it was also a great exploration of Spira as a world, a setting, and a culture. It was the first\u00a0FF<\/em> story that looked behind the happy ending to the problems that come after you’ve saved the world. And it featured one of the most amazing women protagonists any RPG has ever seen, even if she was in denim cutoffs. Never mind that it was a localization that focused on snappy, fun, witty dialogue rather than stentorious fantasy cliche speeches, which was also a first for FF<\/em>s. Never mind that it adapted\u00a0FFX<\/em>‘s battle system into one that wasn’t overly complex but felt fun, fast, and new compared to the game it was a sequel to while retaining familiarity.<\/p>\n

I think what that statement\u00a0really<\/em> says is “They tried something new but it wasn’t what I expected or wanted so it’s all wrong.” But claiming that the game is “about” putting the girls in hotpants and staying in for a pop song music night is a statement that suggests, to me, the speaker had already made up their mind about\u00a0FFX-2<\/em> because it was out of their comfort zone. To me,\u00a0FFX-2<\/em> represented the series’ first step into contemporary storytelling, moving out of the shadow of Endless World-Saving Fantasy Narratives. That was something\u00a0FF8\u00a0<\/em>tried with questionable success but I respected it for that, at least.<\/p>\n

Kohler talks about\u00a0Final Fantasy: All the Bravest<\/em> as a “naked gameplay-free cash grab.” I’ve never played\u00a0All the Bravest<\/em> but as far as I can tell “naked gameplay-free cash grab” is the mobile games market default, so I hardly see the issue. Interestingly\u00a0Crystal Defenders<\/em> didn’t come up, there. Wonder why.<\/p>\n

He closes out the article with this:<\/p>\n

Cash cows don\u2019t last forever. The declining sales of\u00a0Final Fantasy<\/cite>\u00a0games, following the\u00a0utter mess that was\u00a0Final Fantasy XIII<\/cite><\/a>, should indicate that. At this point, it\u2019s tough to see a path back to relevance forFinal Fantasy<\/cite>, if the caretakers of the series are spending their creative cycles thinking about the particulars of breast physics. That\u2019s not why the\u00a0Final Fantasy<\/cite>\u00a0brand still carries the cachet that it does, and the modern games are at this point living entirely off an inherited reputation.<\/p>\n

You had a good run,\u00a0Final Fantasy<\/cite>, and it was nice knowin\u2019 ya.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

That’s nonsense.<\/p>\n

I’m sorry, it is. The idea that\u00a0Final Fantasy<\/em> is now dead because it is now doing things that other games do boggles my mind. As infuriating as it is, breast — or ass, or whatever — jiggle physics in games aren’t exactly new. Yeah, I guess part of me hoped that\u00a0Final Fantasy<\/em> would be “above” that but like… considering plenty of massively successful AAA-space games also do it without killing off their franchises I hardly see it as a death knell. Don’t even get me started on the idea that\u00a0Final Fantasy X-2<\/em> represented the downslide into Pop Art Nonsense instead of High Art Fantasy Narrative that has now consumed the franchise because I will probably headbutt a wall until I shatter if you do.<\/p>\n

But you know, the truth is, I kind of hope that\u00a0Final Fantasy\u00a0<\/em>does die. Here’s how I put it on Twitter earlier today:<\/p>\n

\n
\n

Frankly if the FF games start distancing themselves from the MIST-SHROUDED MONOLITH of their own past I'd be THRILLED.<\/p>\n

— Euroboss Contest (@laevantine) July 30, 2013<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n

Because honestly, I don’t think it’s the series, or the name, or even the devs that are holding the baggage anymore. It’s the players and the critics.\u00a0I think they don’t even know what they want\u00a0FF<\/em> to be anymore and even if they did, it’s a fading thing that can’t be effectively articulated. So instead we make sweeping pronouncements of this sort. The idea that\u00a0FF<\/em> is some shining beacon of High Art that inspired our current crop of Games About Important Stuff that is now magically devalued because it tried to change over time, and in so doing stepped into a world of costume changes and pop art and DLC costumes? That’s\u00a0ludicrous<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Maybe\u00a0Final Fantasy<\/em> isn’t dead. Maybe it’s just not\u00a0for you<\/em> anymore. And you know what? Speaking as someone who has found great personal pleasure enjoying the last few games that you say are the series death knell?<\/p>\n

I’m fine with that.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Right, I’ve about had it. Let me set some context for this blog post: I’m listening to\u00a0“Blinded by Light” — aka\u00a0Final Fantasy XIII‘s default battle music and riff on Lightning’s character theme — on loop while I write it. So, you know. Strap in. So this happened:<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":341,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[12,29,81,52],"tags":[108,106,107,105],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.chaoticblue.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/ff13post_fi.png","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3NfdI-4W","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chaoticblue.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/306"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chaoticblue.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chaoticblue.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chaoticblue.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chaoticblue.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=306"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/www.chaoticblue.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/306\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":318,"href":"https:\/\/www.chaoticblue.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/306\/revisions\/318"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chaoticblue.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/341"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chaoticblue.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=306"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chaoticblue.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=306"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chaoticblue.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=306"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}