I think I know why I’m so pumped for Final Fantasy XV: it kind of reminds me of Suikoden. See, Square Enix just sent over some art and descriptions for the next Final Fantasy, and it seems to be one of those politic-focused, rebellion-heavy stories that makes Suikoden so special. Check out the plot synopsis:
The only crystal left to the world lies in the Kingdom of Lucis. Upon striking a peace with the garrison state of Niflheim, Lucis rejoices in having at last brought the cold war to a close. Their celebrations, however, are premature. Under the guise of amity, Niflheim dispels the anti-armament runewall and launches a full-scale invasion of the kingdom. The peaceful lives Crown Prince Noctis and his entourage once knew are consumed by the flames of war as they struggle to mount a resistance.
Bam. Sounds exactly like Konami’s under-appreciated RPG series. They even use the word “entourage,” which was totally a Suikoden word way before it was a douchey TV show.
FFXV is also kind of a sausage fest, but hey: Final Fantasy has always been great at delivering strong female characters, so I’m sure they’ll deliver in some way or another. Here are some character descriptions for what seems to be the playable cast of characters, via Square Enix:
Noctis Lucis Caelum: A childhood affliction endowed Noctis, heir apparent to the throne of Lucis, with the mystical power to see a heavenly light, through which he could sense others’ deaths. Noctis rejects rigid royal conventions and acts as somewhat of a renegade, much to the dismay of those who tend to him. Yet while “Noct” may act brash at times, he does so in defence of those loyal to him.
Gladiolus Amicitia: As lord of the noble House Amicitia, Gladiolus continues a line sworn to protect the crown. “Gladio” shares a friendship with Noctis that transcends birth and title, and his loyalty to his liege is born not of duty, but of brotherhood.
Ignis Scientia: Ever the unwavering voice of reason, Ignis was weaned on shrewd logic and a classical education from boyhood so that he might one day counsel the would-be king, Noctis. He applies the deep mutual understanding and trust they have built over time to help smooth over Noctis’s brusqueness with others.
Prompto Argentum: The puckish playboy Prompto befriended Noctis in his school days. He wears a chip on his shoulder as an outsider to the royal circle, but remains eager to do all he can for the cause.
Cor Leonis: A living legend of Lucian lore, Lord Commander Cor Leonis’s devotion to the art of war is surpassed only by that to his king. Little love is lost between the ill-starred stalwart and Noctis’s retinue, yet honour binds him to keep watch over the group all the same.
Does that say Suikoden or what? Also, Prompto may go down as the best name in Final Fantasy history.
Comments
33 responses to “Meet The Cast Of Final Fantasy XV”
and entourage was a word of the English language way before it was a word in Suikoden.
And it was a word in French before it was in English!
Final Fantasy: Boyband edition.
I ugh with the feeling that Squeenix did not learn its lesson about not making lame over the top looking sissy girl man characters.
Imagine if we had a final fantasy game with a haggard character who had been through a lot instead of some pretty j-pop looking characters ripped right from from an anime (and I’m not hating on anime, some anime do their characters really well).
It would seem second from the left guy was their best attempt at a non-girly man…
and he’s wearing a leather shirt…
I was actually thinking that the guy on the far right looks a lot like Chris Evans as Lucas Lee in Scott Pilgrim vs The World.
I agree with you about having more masculine characters, but this “J-pop” look is what’s popular in Asian countries and has been for a while now, hence the reason for the character designs.
In addition to that, what we consider “manly” characters in the west is barely a representation of what men are actually like, anywhere.
I mean, look in your workplace. The people around you aren’t as manly as the guys you see in western video games (depends on quality of story though; I think Drake from Uncharted, despite my indifference for that game, is a pretty good balance; he just seems more believable).
All I’m saying is that nobody looks like Marcus Pheonix except full on body builders, so, excluding the hair and European features, the East at least make their male characters look like overly fashionable versions of what their actual male population looks like.
Indeed, I mean the guys like drake/ that dude in the last of us, alan wake etc. The middle ground.
Sorry but what problem did it cause them? Three of some of the most popular video game characters ever in Cloud, Squall and Sephiroth?
Ever? also ff8 was horrible and squall was one of the worst characters ever in the old ff games. It’s just square enix needs to realise it is no longer 1998 or w/e and try to catch up with the times.
Also Zidane looked pretty girly and FF9 did fairly well.
I love girly-man characters! Sephiroth from FFVII and Olivier from Legend of Heroes Trails in the Sky FC are a couple of my favourites. Something about them being more natural expressing traditionally less masculine sentiments is pleasing to me.
Yeah, coming from a not very manly guy myself, I find it easier to relate to more feminine male characters. I just don’t relate to the massive body builder warriors with a battle-axe and heavy armor, I relate to the girly mage youth with a book in his hand.
There is a middle ground, normal looking people, people who show signs of life, not plastic doll men. You might love JRPGS and I’m not saying I don’t dislike them all, I’m saying to really appeal to a broader market and make their games financially successful they need to stop doing this, people like you will buy the game regardless :P.
Actually I think to broaden their market and make their games financially successful they need to stop making really shit games.
An action battle system is definitely a step in the right direction, because we’ve seen that trying to revise the Final Fantasy formula and create new creative renditions of it just isn’t working out for them.
I understand why they make their characters look like that though, and it can be most easily explained by the fact that they’re not trying to make their models look realistic, but stylistic.
You mean Barrett or Cid?
I agree. But do you remember Vagrant Story? That was the last very cool very awesome Square game on PS1, and it featured an older, manly man.
Apparently this proved to be unpopular. And according to the FF12 wiki, this was exactly why they changed the protagonist character model from that of Basch to Vaan.
I know right?? How much cooler would FF12 be if Basch was the main character.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Final_fantasy_12
This just screams New Kids on the Block parody clips…
Final Fantasy 15 – No Girls Allowed.
I expect it’s going to be just like the No Homers Club from The Simpsons.
Wait…there are no girls in that picture?
It’s no GIRLS. There’s a GIRL somewhere in that picture. BUT WHICH ONE?!
Whoopswell, it’s a more interesting group than XIII, not that that takes much doing, but I’m still put off by the whole action-RPG as Square-Enix haven’t shown that they can do that sort of battle system. Wake me up when they go back to doing turn based, party battles. There’s a lot more strategy in those than pressing X when needed to make the game auto-select your attacks.
They did a similar kind of battle system with Kingdom Hearts and that turned out really well. And FFXV is being made by the same people as Kingdom Hearts so I’m sure the battle system will turn out great.
I think Square have done a good job of the Action RPG style. Ever since Kingdom Hearts came out I’ve been hoping for an Action-RPG Final Fantasy
Um. Kingdom Hearts? Dissidia? I actually think they do action battle systems better than strategy battle systems these days. They go absolutely nuts with experimentation when it comes to battle systems, so when they apply that same experimentation to an already fun default hack’n’slash style game, you get some crazy good results. Kingdom Hearts and Dissidia, again, being evidence of that.
To be honest and with all snide comments aside, that’s the least feminine group of males I’ve seen in a Squeenix game in years, fairly impressed.
Oh dear….I wasnt impressed with the gameplay video, seemed too action/rpg for my taste. Now judging from this article, I can kiss whatever hope I had for an interesting cast of characters goodbye as well….
I never thought I would say it, but I think I am finally done with this series.
man i really wish Konami would pull their finger out and actually do another Suikoden. Really miss them 🙁
I keep an open mind with characters, I really do.
But this is AWFUL.
As long as it is not as bad as FF13 I am happy.