Does Vaan deserve a second chance?

[AuronX]

Well, Square, you got me again.

Back with the Final Fantasy X/X-2 remaster package, I went into X-2 with a bucket of bad memories preparing me for an utter cringefest. What I actually found was that, since I now knew the gist of what was coming, I was pleasantly surprised with the sequel's handling of events following X's conclusion. I first played X-2 straight after X, and the change of atmosphere made it hard to appreciate just how thoughtful a game it really was.

With Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age now out, I'm finding the same thing happening again with Vaan. Now, I was never in the camp that hated him, but I was anxious to get him out of my party and focus on the more interesting characters. Replaying it again after a number of years, I think he really is underappreciated as a character. The whole game is way more cinematic than I remembered, of course helped along by better visuals today, and for the first time I'm finding Vaan's story really interesting.

I mean, the guy's just a 15 year old kid when the game starts, 17 by the time you take control. In his most impressionable years he's lost his entire family, and believes he lost his brother to one of the worst betrayals in modern history. He barely gets by, living on the streets, and has ideals for justice and a better life that are ultimately confused by the scars of the pain he's suffered. Despite all that he doesn't stop pressing forward. He doesn't accept defeat at the hands of his circumstances, even when it lands him in Nalbina Dungeon with a pair of sky pirates he barely knows.

The story may gradually shift away from him from that point on, but to me that alone is enough to make him a worthy member of the party. There may be elements of cliche, but overall it really is a great setup, and the way it's presented by the game is top-notch. In fact, The Zodiac Age is making me realize what a 10/10 game FFXII is.

What are your thoughts? Do you agree? Disagree? Has time been kind to Vaan, or do you still hate him as much as a decade ago? Has your own age now versus then influenced your perspective on the game to appreciate the characters' struggles a little differently?

 

[ZaXo Ken'Ichi]

No it didn't change my opinion. I voted that I always liked him. I mean... I technically didn't. I hated Vaan at first sight of his concept art, then hated him along with the entire game when I first started playing it back in the day. Then I grew to love the game, and grew to find Vaan uninteresting. But the second time I played it, I realized what Square was trying to do with him, and grew to like what he offered. I don't want to go into detail, since I already did in my review last year. But I appreciate him for being a pretty good catch-all analog for the player in Ivalice. I like that he can have some character, and even a bit of development, without that overshadowing his role as our analog. I think his voice acting is great, his dialogue is natural, and I don't hate his design like I used to. He is just plain a well done character that fits well within XII's ensemble cast.

 

[VillainFan42]

Look, here's the thing about Vaan: I don't hate him as a character. However, I'm absolutely furious that Square keeps pretending he's the main character. Say what you will about Tidus, but at least he was actually a major part of X's plot. Vaan ceases to be relevant after the first 5 hours of gameplay of a 50+ hour game, and yet he is in all the promotional material for the game and is XII's representative in Dissidia, even though the game is clearly about Ashe. She's the main character (and one of my favorite protagonists in the series, actually) and she actually has a character arc. I wouldn't have minded Vaan as a supporting character- his interactions with Ashe were actually pretty good character moments- but I am so frustrated that Vaan keeps getting the spotlight when Ashe, Basch, and Balthier, in that order, deserve it more.

 

[ZaXo Ken'Ichi]

Never thought about that before. I kind of agree, because -since it's an ensemble cast, so nobody is really designed to be more important than anyone else across the board- picking one character as the face of the game is strange. I myself think at very least it would make more sense for Ashe to be the promotional character, and would prefer characters like Balthier to be in Dissidia. He is the leading man after all

 

[Ilyena]

I didn't dislike Vaan (I was indifferent about him for the most part) but I expected more from his story since he was touted as the main character. The character that I actually kind of disliked on my first play through but liked a lot more the second time around was Ashe. I still wish that the characters had more development over all. I felt like the villains were more interesting then the main playable characters.

 

[Shaissa]

I am with a few others on here. I never disliked him, I just never liked him as the main character, he was for the most part just in the story, never feeling like a main character, even when his brother was talked about, he never seemed like a main character. But this never made me hate him since you get all the characters pretty early in the game and basically focus an Ashe, Balthier, and Bashe by then.

 

[Bambi]

ive never hated vaan as a charachter, he just doesnt make sense to me as being the lead, he could have quite easily just have been a supporing character. it didnt seem to make sense that he would see venat alongside ashe, posing as whats his face (her husband whose name i have forgotten) it just felt like a forced way to make him relevant to the plot.

 

[Six]

Never fully finished XII, just recently got XII: The Zodiac Age - but I think Vaan is fine as the lead and as a character himself.

I actually thought it was quite refreshing to not have a typical "lead" like many of the other Final Fantasies have. It's more unique, I guess. It's just refreshing and I've always welcomed it.

 

[Cardinal Copia]

I quite like Vaan's character and have absolutely zero issue with him being the lead in the game. Guess I'm in the minority on this. Oh well

 

[Starships]

I don't know why people hate Vaan, I think people actually hate him because he's feminine, rather than not feeling like the main lead character or not. Vaan is fine, though some people really have some deep issues with him, and I think it's because he's ''girly'', then his roles in FFXII.

In Western society, we see feminine males as some sort of disgrace, though, thankfully, that's changing.