I joke about it sometimes, but the truth of the matter is I like playing RPGs with pretty boys as lead characters. I'd rather stare at a hot guy for 80 hours than a dude who looks like Rodney Dangerfield. Apparently Square-Enix sees the magic of the formula as well, if recent comments from The Last Remnant developer Yusuke Naora are to be believed:
“The format of the RPG lends itself well to having a teenage protagonist. Usually you’re playing for many hours, taking a character on a journey from a relatively weak state to one of power and maturity, a gameplay journey that mirrors that of a teenager moving into adulthood. That’s certainly one of the reasons it works well having young protagonists. We sometimes wonder what we’re doing dealing with such young protagonists in our games, characters who don’t necessarily speak to us as adults. There’s no pressure internally on how you have to make a character. But you do find that there’s an expectation of how a protagonist must look for Japanese gamers.”
Interesting, indeed. Obviously American RPG fans don't require a teenage protagonist in order to relate, but consider that Cloud Strife is one of the most beloved young male characters from any RPG, and it gets you thinking. Personally, I would love to see some other types of characters go through their own journeys -- I would have love a solo game where I played as Auron from Final Fantasy X, for instance. What say you?
[Via Softpedia]
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Contest:
5:40 PM on 01.27.2009
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I say I love you!
Do it, Square! Auron was the best.
And yeah, the formula seems to work pretty well. But i'm still waiting for a RPG where you can choose your viewpoint character, and make the game essencialy a different one depending on the character you're playing. Hey, I can dream.
Auron game would be incredibly bad-ass. I'd buy it at a high price.
Gender-ambiguous prettyboys need to go away.
I'm sick of the emo brat, and I blame it all on Tetsuya Normura.
I can relate to that a lot more than some 20 year old with a giant sword who's sad all the time.
And Atlus, how could I not mention sweet sweet Atlus?
But the angst is what really gets under my skin. It's far from impossible to deliver a character with interesting quirks that don't involve being subdued, moody, and distant. It's getting old quickly, Japan. Hell, it isn't even a character quirk anymore because you do it every single time. Please put more enjoyable personalities in this genre that I love so much, thanks.
I mean I understand his logic to an extent in that I don't think the Japanese mainstream would embrace anything but that kind of hero, but part of the reason for that is Square's (and to be fair, just about every other Japanese RPG maker) insistence on pumping them out constantly over the years.
This is exactly why the Japanese have lost their dominance on the video game market worldwide.
You read my mind.
Consider what he went through ALL...THOSE...YEARS (the dreams also), I would cry here and there too.
Zidane was good bordering on great except for the way he dressed. I loathed Tidus and hated Vaan.
They'll never top great characters like Locke the way things are going. Also I've said this before but I think the silent (or at least quiet/stoic) protagonist is the best kind. How much better would FFX have been if Tidus hadn't opened his mouth once? Sure they're generic by nature, but the other characters are where you put the flavor.
As for a game with an Auron type of character as your main star, well that would be a great.
1. Get rid of the angst-so-thick-you-can-cut-it-with-a-spoon. Character development requires more than hissy-fits and sulking.
2. It's not necessary to have a J-Pop star sing a song for the credits.
3. It's not necessary to have a J-Pop star sing a song in-game.
4. An arbitrary villain that suddenly takes the place of the original villain near the end of the game is probably not a villain we give a shit about.
5. Moogles are awesome.
6. Stop trying to recreate the magic of the FFVI opera scene. It just doesn't work.
etc. etc. etc.
On a related note, I think Squall tends to get a bad rap as the quintessential "Emo protagonist." IMO if the writing is good enough to show why the characters have real problems and shows them dealing with them realistically, a troubled character can be very interesting. In some games happier protagonists work better, but sometimes I think all this bitching about 'emo' characters is a knee-jerk reaction to any attempt at emotional depth: No one is every completely angst-free.
Star Ocean 2 does exactly that. It just got a remake too, Second Evolution for PSP. You can play from the viewpoint of either of the main characters
I would actually play one of these games if the lead was based on Rodney Dangerfield. Too bad he'd never get any respect.
IS THERE AN ECHO IN HERE OR IS IT JUST ME?! :|
Expressing emotion=Emo?
Christ, the word emo has lost all meaning because of people like you, now anybody expressing emotions beyond happy or sad is emo.
And how exactly was Kaim a typical protagonist? He was a 1000 year old immortal with a wife, a daughter and 2 grand kids, name ONE JRPG protagonist that has any of those qualities.
I kinda liked Niko Bellic because he looked different from every other protagonist.
Clearly the formula works, and for reasons said. Its not necessary of course. It just matters that the protagonist is interesting in some way. I havent particularly disliked any of the FF bunch so far, although theyre not always the best of Squares work.
I made House in a tabletop RPG, and it was epic.
That being said, both East and West have some shitty main character and story stereotypes. I would really like to see more originality in story and character design.
I on the other hand am more subbtle, and Rikku is hot.
If you can design characters with cosplayers and gamers in mind, that helps bring in the extra moneys. I too am a little sick of these perfect specimens of andropuff.
If any developer were to make a jrpg with mature adult characters, I think it would be more than likely a small developer like Atlus.