Is Dissidia Perpetuating the Wrong theme?

[strifehart]

Ok, so before I begin, I want to make it fully known that I haven't played Dissidia yet, and that I'm basing my opinions on what i've seen in trailers and read in reviews. Additionally, this is just my opinion, and i want to know (particularly from people who have played the game) if some of my assumptions are correct. but mainly, the intent of this thread is to draw thematic connections (or lack thereof) between Dissidia's premise and the original series.

That being said, here we go.

I feel like Dissidia is supposed to be the big battle between good and evil. but i think that idea falls short of what final fantasy is.

Final fantasy, to me, isn't really about good vs. evil. while that is a big theme that almost all final fantasies have at their core, it's not as clear cut as dissidia presents it. it seems as though dissidia just has battles between those on the good side and those on the bad side, and any battle between good and good or evil and evil seem to be "test your strength" type battles where you simply prove yourself.

the point is, i remember playing final fantasy VII and thinking,

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"wow, i get that cloud's the good guy, but he doesn't give a shit about anyone. he just wants the money for the job" (in the beginning when he's working as an outside hire for avalanche).

and in VIII,

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squall didn't really care about saving the world, as much as he did for saving rinoa (a bit selfish in my opinion).

and it wasn't just the heroes either. even the evildoers were multifaceted. kuja comes to mind.

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at the very end of IX, he repents and sacrifices himself for zidane's team.

in X, jecht was

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revealed to be sin. and although he was a creature that embodied evil, he did it because the monster made him, not because he wanted to.

I feel like black and white, good vs. evil isn't enough to encompass the final fantasy experience. and i think if that's what dissidia is trying to portray, then it doesn't do justice to final fantasy.

of course, this is just in one respect. i'm not arguing in any way that it's a bad game. in fact, it looks pretty badass. this is just something that i happened to think of while watching a trailer.

 

[Vladislak]

I completely agree that Dissidia fails to create an epic "good vs. evil" game.

To add to your list of "mixed" villains,

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Golbez wasn't really evil either

.

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Terra is similar to Jecht considering the whole "doing evil things against your will", since she was controlled by the empire for a time. Yet despite their moral similarities they're on opposite sides.

Oh well, what did you expect? It's a fighting game. Any and all plot points are just excuses to let fans make FF characters beat the carp out of each other. xD


P.S. It may not be my place to say this, but shouldn't this be in the Dissidia section of the forum?

 

[Gingerbread Lesbian]

Meh, all fighting games seem to be the same, the bad guy vs. the good guy. I wouldn't get to hung up about the storyline and what the characters think or feel, I doubt SE put a massive effort into creating a decent storyline since a lot of what they talked about and what scans/screenshots/trailers showed were about the battle system, so I think that was probably their main focus.

 

[strifehart]

i thought about putting this in the dissidia section, but i was trying to go for a more all encompassing discussion. i figured the ties to other games in the series were more important, and decided to put it in the general section. but feel free to move it if you disagree.

 

[Chaos Angel]

I feel like black and white, good vs. evil isn't enough to encompass the final fantasy experience. and i think if that's what dissidia is trying to portray, then it doesn't do justice to final fantasy.

The story deals with that very issue... alot. It's a very well thought out & surprisingly intricate story with a ton of character development. You should go read the script on gamefaqs. This is NOT your usual fighting game story & it's NOT as black & white as it seems at first glance. SE did in fact put a massive amount of effort into the story & it shows. I doubt you'll be dissappointed.

 

[strifehart]

see, now that's what i was hoping for. maybe it was just the trailers and website that were overly focused on good vs. evil (black and white). but of course, more opinions welcome.