Posted by CmdrKing on
June 13, 2011
Welcome once again to the demented hellscape that is Thematics. And if you have a snappier name, by all means speak up. In the previous article, I mentioned offhandedly that Final Fantasy VII was probably the first video game that could take serious literary analysis. But this isn’t to say it had the first game to attempt serious storytelling. It was just the first to have enough dialogue to avoid jarring gaps in characterization and plot flow. Fortunately, since we’re concerned with broad stroke and looking at trends and conclusions when hunting themes, this doesn’t matter. As such, sit back as we go way back to 1994 and the launching point of the modern jRPG, Final Fantasy VI.
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Posted by CmdrKing on
June 7, 2011
Welcome to Thematics, where everything’s made up and the plot points don’t matter. That’s right, they’re like armor in a Nippon Ichi game. Today we’ll be looking at that perennial favorite of any conversation, Final Fantasy VIII. The follow-up to the greatest game ever circa 1999, Final Fantasy VIII had more or less infinite expectations behind it, and so had to blow everyone out of the water with its gameplay, character building, cast, villains, and of course plot, especially since Final Fantasy VII had quite possibly the first video game plot with both the concepts and scripting to make serious literary analysis worth anyone’s time. So naturally, FFVIII had a complex theme requiring hours of in depth examination of the script, character relationships, and overall plot arc to divine. Or wait, I have that wrong. It loudly proclaims itself “An epic story based on the theme of love, set in a massive new world”. Huh. Well that was easy.
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