Haven't done a list in a long while. Let's remedy that. So obviously the RPG genre is gonna be full of moments to grind, shop, find treasures, defeat enemies, etc. Then there are those things that many gamers (I'm looking at you, VeghEsther, god I actually wish I was around during those times when he kept repeating game-breaking strategies over and over on boards, videos, basically anything) always talk about. This list shows the games that are the easiest to go through, usually because you get a character, skill, or item that completely trivializes the difficulty. I will go over what does break the game of course. Games that have arduous methods of getting game breakers will usually not be on this list. I also am not encouraging game-breaking behavior, just listing the ways the games can be broken.
10. SaGa Frontier
What makes it broken: DSC, Overdrive + Stasis Rune
Well in a way there's some work to be done to get both of these. For the Overdrive + Stasis Rune, most people will just recruit Timelord, who already comes with Overdrive, then do the Rune sidequest to get the Stasis Rune spell. Of course, people playing as Blue will have to fight Timelord AND have done the Rune sidequest beforehand, but these are the two characters who can use this trick. Overdrive stops time completely for everyone except the caster, allowing up to 5-7 turns before draining stats and reverting time. The Stasis Rune spell locks you in stasis, which prevents the draining from actually occurring. Said stasis repeats prior actions in the Overdrive combo, without any stat penalty. It's amazing what a character can do by this trick. As for DSC, despite the fact that almost anyone can use it, it has a high WP cost, needs four other skills which can be learned randomly to even unlock it, and the amount of moves in it is actually determined randomly. Nevertheless, a DSC usually does more than 10000 damage to enemies, making it a go-to move against many bosses. Honestly though, I probably wouldn't have won some scenarios without it.
9. Sailor Moon: Another Story
What makes it broken: Time Stop
Pluto is the last Senshi to join, but does so at a reasonable level and with all her main skills, most notably Time Stop. This uses up all 12 AP and stops the enemies from ever taking action. So guess what? Another time-stopping skill makes the game uber-broken, but unlike other games, the entire party can move too while the enemies sit for three turns. And despite this taking up all of Pluto's AP, a simple refresh item makes her able to use it yet again. It works on everything including the final boss.
8. Final Fantasy Tactics
What makes it broken: Using Orlandu, or even just his Excalibur
There's probably several that I'm actually missing in FFT, such as proper utilization of skills, equipment, etc., but these are often offset by some rather tough missions in the game that I'm sure everyone knows about. Still, Orlandu's position as a game breaker shouldn't be understated. He has all the special sword moves, so all bases are covered. Putting him into a map means you're guaranteed to win. Or if you want to give yourself a little challenge, take his Excalibur and give it to someone who can wield it, then you'll make that character overpowered. Fantastic stuff, eclipses any other overpowering method I can imagine.
7. Breath of Fire 2
What makes it broken: Using Bleu/Deis, cooking carpenter
The biggest issues with these two is how to get them. You can permanently miss the cooking carpenter, but he's usually the first one you would see and probably choose. Still though, this is probably the only worthwhile carpenter, because the other ones have a useless Othello mini-game and some game stats or something. This guy however can cook certain items to make even better ones, including full-healing + buffing items as well as stat-increasing items. Being able to make stat-increasing items is bound to break any game despite how time consuming they usually are. As for Bleu/Deis, actually finding her is difficult enough, but the reward is so worth it, as she's got perfect stats for a mage with good defense, a good starting level, and the Shed skill. All worth it in the end.
6. Suikoden IV
What makes it broken: Treasure hunting, Training Hall
With the Suikoden series having several different game breakers, I had a hard time figuring which game would take the spot here. The first game has potch exploits, Master Pupil Attack, rune unites, using Grenseal and Alen; while the second game throws us the Matilda glitch as well as stat-booster tricks that involve dying in battle, but that takes time. 3 has very few, with only characters like Juan and Emily being breakers, and not as effective ones, and Tactics has Lazlo which of course requires beating Suikoden 4. That's what I went with for this one, as two things stand out. We all know how arduous level grinding can be, but Reinhold's Training Hall helps out in getting characters to the max level, even if it gets ridiculously tough and unfair at times. Meanwhile, Rene allows you to treasure hunt on specific islands, and some powerful runes are achieved through this, consequently making the Training Hall go by much better. Now if only Suikoden 4 wasn't as boring as it really ended up being...
5. Treasure of the Rudras
What makes it broken: The entire magic system
Obviously, many of the games here often need online guides to tell you how to break things in each game, but no game I've seen has a magic system where you can flat-out craft magic spells. And you can craft basically any spell right from the get-go. Wanna craft the best elemental damaging spells and the best healing spells, which not only are really powerful but also cost very little? This is the game for that. And every character that is playable can use spells, so even though some characters like Sion have crap for MP amounts and/or magic damage, these spells flat-out trivialize the game well before you can even start playing.
4. Final Fantasy VII
What makes it broken: Knights of the Round, mastering All materia and selling it, Enemy Skill materia, Mime materia
Prepare for several Final Fantasy titles. Naturally FF7 has quite a few, mostly with how to use Materia, well actually everything that breaks the game practially involves Materia. The Knights of the Round, first and foremost, the ultimate Summon materia, it takes a long while to get, takes a long while to play through the animation, but of course it will kill basically anything without fail. Aside from that, Mime is usually broken, while Enemy Skill when used on the right enemies leads to amazing skills like Aqualung and Beta. Master the All materia, then sell it for LOTS of money. Plenty of ways, but even more to come in other games.
3. Final Fantasy VIII
What makes it broken: Triple Triad and Card Mod, several limit breaks, the Lionheart, several Junctions
I think what's surprising is that I didn't put this higher. Probably because the effort for getting basically everything game-breaking was quite an effort, as opposed to the game below which can potentially give several game-breaking ways in itself. Still, FF8 was so complex that it was practically made easy. I'm not sure if that's a good thing, as I started breaking the game before the final SeeD exam even took place. Basically, level up Quetzalcoatl, get the Card Mod skill, and start playing cards until you get the cards you want, then Card Mod them to get amazing spells like Meltdown and Flare right off the bat. Then you got the limit breaks on some characters, with Selphie's infamous The End along with Quistis's Degenerator. Angel Wing too. So many ways to do it and you can do it well before even starting the main plot.
2. Final Fantasy VI
What makes it broken: Wind God Gau, Offering, Economizer, Psycho Cyan, Vanish + Doom, Joker Doom trick, Master's Scroll + Genji Glove, Ultima
Wow, just wow, loads of different strategies. Off the bat, Wind God Gau and Psycho Cyan have very specific ones involving specific characters using specific equipment, but the results are pretty godly. Gau's other rages will break things too if you can find the right ones. The multiple hits that the Master's Scroll + Genji Glove will overpower some fighters, while the Economizer blows the MP cost of everything to 1. The one I used the most was the Vanish + Doom trick, casting the spells on enemies and insta-killing them without fail, as the Vanish effect gives a 100% hit rate on basically anything, including most bosses. Although it's only most bosses though. Still though, so many things to break the game with.
1. Star Ocean: Second Story
What makes it broken: Item Creation, pickpocketing (specifically Battle Suits from Ernest), Eternal Sphere, Healing Star, Tear Gas, Ripper Blast, Marvel Sword, and yes, Bloody Armor
Item creation, item creation, item creation. Good god, this is the most broken RPG I've seen. You've probably entered Mt. Lasguss just to grind too, but getting all the ingredients, special talents, and skills means you're liable to spend some time NOT playing through this game's plot and instead focusing on creating items and new skills. Pickpocketing is often described as a must-have, and if you have Ernest, in some Private Actions you can pickpocket one of the strongest armors from him, the Battle Suit. The Marvel Sword can be a random pickup from a Treasure Chest item. Several character skills, including Claude's Ripper Blast, Chisato's Tear Gas, and Opera's Healing Star trivialize basically every enemy encounter. Item creation nets excellent equipment, including the amazingly overpowered Eternal Sphere. And I know VeghEsther goes crazy over it more than anything else, but a Bloody Armor basically means you're invincible, just gotta keep healing that damage. The game almost seems made for you to break.
Showing posts with label Lists. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Lists. Show all posts
Friday, June 7, 2019
Saturday, August 4, 2018
Top 5 Stupidest RPG Heroes
Yep, another Top 5. Isn't it strange how RPG heroes tend to be the most dynamic individuals? You watch them do things in-game that makes you think, hmm, maybe that wasn't a good idea in hindsight, although it gets the job done and alleviating overall party and world anxiety. Some heroes are pretty dumb though. This list will count down heroes that I found to be the most idiotic, as even though they are heroic in a sense, they are easily ratted out by party members or others who pretty much are smarter, party members who despite their loyalty, know that these heroes can do much better.
This list was pretty tough to put together. For one, silent protagonists pretty much don't count. I also decide to use characters that aren't the main character, because they try in their heroism or what not but fail in the end. And just so you know, quite a few notable characters don't make the cut. Justin from Grandia isn't the brightest kid at all, his lust for adventure tends to get him in trouble, but he at least is competent enough to be more heroic than idiotic. Meis from Thousand Arms is another one, showcasing idiocy when trying to look awesome in front of a girl in the beginning, but you don't see much of that later in the game for it to qualify. And Sailor Moon? Surprisingly Sailor Moon: Another Story shows the title character at her most heroic, moreso than any other form of media featuring her.
5. Laguna (Final Fantasy VIII)
This serves as a slight spoiler for me, but I am actually in the middle of playing Final Fantasy 8 while typing this. So I don't know literally everything there is to know about Laguna, but from what I have seen of this guy, he belongs here. How he managed to get into the Galbadian army amazes me giving his overall attitude, falling head over heels over this woman, and naturally failing at expressing his feelings. And even before that, he causes a traffic jam. He's pretty much the butt of jokes from Kiros and Ward, but his real stupid moment comes from the second time you control him. Okay cool, let's trigger some traps for enemy soldiers to fall into, then eventually you still have to fight a few, which wound the hell out of Kiros and Ward. So Laguna, who presumably also gets injured roughly but not as bad as his comrades, reaches a cliffside. His comrades are in considerably worse shape, then Laguna spots a window of opportunity below. What does he do? Plunge his friends down the cliffside into the water while they are nearly dead. Of course, he jumps off too. But you should never do that to your friends. It's absolutely miraculous how all three of them survive, but Christ, this guy really doesn't have the ability to be decent.
*UPDATE* Laguna isn't entirely that idiotic. Naturally, he's an "at heart" person who doesn't really use his brain all that much, and after he had quit the military he ended up being a rather fatherly-like kind of guy to Ellone. In other words, he's fully light-hearted, and somehow manages to come up with a brilliant, albeit somewhat still stupid, strategy to liberate Esthar from Adel, then becoming the president of the land and managing to rule it surprisingly well enough. Because of this, he and Stahn switch places on the list, but what he did during the Lunatic Pandora dream sequence cannot be unaccounted for, so he still remains an idiotic hero.
4. Stahn (Tales of Destiny)
For some reason, and I'm not entirely sure why, Stahn is considered to be the token idiot hero as far as JRPGs are concerned. Though I don't really think he should be the prime case of an idiot hero, he still counts as one. Since Cless wasn't an idiot in the first Tales game, they decided to make Stahn the guy who gets the abuse from party members, or to be more specific, his talking sword, which he just finds and somehow the two are mutually bonded. Some of the other party members do rat out his stupidity at times, but none so much as that sword of his. But they do make fun of his heritage a lot, angering Stahn just because he's a country boy. I say who cares. Stahn's not really too idiotic, but when it comes time for a heroic stand, you shouldn't spend most of your time sleeping. This is why he's on the list, due to the fact that he's such a heavy sleeper, apparently you have to rudely wake the guy up. Real slow, pal.
3. Snowe (Suikoden IV)
It's hard to judge Snowe. On one hand, he stands opposed to the main hero of the game completely after the events involving the Rune of Punishment, almost as an anti-hero sort of character who you end up fighting due to being on opposite sides. On the other hand, he's under the belief that what he does is the right thing entirely, no matter what it is. Then when the pushing turns to shoving, he's all cowardly because he doesn't want to stand defeated against powerful foes. Now, it's quite amazing, because Snowe certainly shows he wants to be a fighter, as seen in the opening of Suikoden Tactics and the first few parts of Suikoden IV. But he's got no strategy. Diving headlong into a battle isn't gonna do wonders, neither is the aforementioned faking of an injury. Once the main hero is exiled, Snowe is somehow put into command, and naturally his attempt of heroism by selling Razril out to Kooluk fails when the townsfolk all want him out. All this because he believed this was the right thing to do. Then again, maybe that wasn't entirely as bad a move as his other ones, since other options would have been far worse in that case. Again, a very hard character to judge. He's doing what he thinks is best, but no one else thinks its heroic at all.
2. Danette (Soul Nomad & The World Eaters)
I really wanted to put someone in between Danette and my #1 pick, but I couldn't find any worthwhile idiots, so Danette is #2. You think going up against a big bad World Eater is gonna earn you a lot of brownie points? Well, you'll need a lot more power to beat one, Danette. And besides, you're not the one with the cool evil guy inside you. The same guy who calls you a stupid cow* because you don't understand situations you're in and are pretty much inconsiderate. Amazing, Gig can backlash this lass and not get killed, since that would kill the main character too. And threatening to snap peoples necks really wears off after a while. Fun fact: Danette never snaps a single person's neck in-game. Her dive into the one-way portal leading to Drazil with the hero defines how wrong she makes things, so much that later on the main hero has decided to call her "Dumbette" due to her ineptitude at keeping hidden. It's just amazing how she's somehow got a terrible backstory with her parents and Crimson Tears that you sort of feel sorry for her, yet she still does some dumb things in-game.
1. Wain (Lufia 3)
Oh man oh man, I really don't want to say it, but people really do need to understand sarcasm. Repeatedly, Wain is not a character that does. Not helping is the fact that his first companion is the one to call him stupid all the time. Seena's not the only one, but she does it repeatedly, even upon meeting just about every new character that joins up. Heck, when Dei is first met, this is how Wain loses sight of him, by being called stupid. Perhaps before that, we have another really stupid moment, by insulting Gades. Now, you shouldn't insult a Sinistral in the Lufia world, and even Seena does this too, it's amazing how the two manage to survive against the big guy afterwards. And then, of course, falling for Seena's obvious trick very late in the game, how she was bad all along, one last "You really are stupid" coming in from her. In a surprising twist though, despite all the stupidity and the betrayal that came upon him, Wain's victory ends up with him and Seena being happy together. I find this amazing, mostly because unlike Lufia in Lufia 1, Seena was pretty much a full-on snark character, especially one who knew about her past and everything. Tricking Wain might just be another thing on her mind even after the game is over.
*Another fun fact: Danette is of the Sepp race, which is a hybrid of a human and a cow. The insult makes complete sense.
This list was pretty tough to put together. For one, silent protagonists pretty much don't count. I also decide to use characters that aren't the main character, because they try in their heroism or what not but fail in the end. And just so you know, quite a few notable characters don't make the cut. Justin from Grandia isn't the brightest kid at all, his lust for adventure tends to get him in trouble, but he at least is competent enough to be more heroic than idiotic. Meis from Thousand Arms is another one, showcasing idiocy when trying to look awesome in front of a girl in the beginning, but you don't see much of that later in the game for it to qualify. And Sailor Moon? Surprisingly Sailor Moon: Another Story shows the title character at her most heroic, moreso than any other form of media featuring her.
5. Laguna (Final Fantasy VIII)
This serves as a slight spoiler for me, but I am actually in the middle of playing Final Fantasy 8 while typing this. So I don't know literally everything there is to know about Laguna, but from what I have seen of this guy, he belongs here. How he managed to get into the Galbadian army amazes me giving his overall attitude, falling head over heels over this woman, and naturally failing at expressing his feelings. And even before that, he causes a traffic jam. He's pretty much the butt of jokes from Kiros and Ward, but his real stupid moment comes from the second time you control him. Okay cool, let's trigger some traps for enemy soldiers to fall into, then eventually you still have to fight a few, which wound the hell out of Kiros and Ward. So Laguna, who presumably also gets injured roughly but not as bad as his comrades, reaches a cliffside. His comrades are in considerably worse shape, then Laguna spots a window of opportunity below. What does he do? Plunge his friends down the cliffside into the water while they are nearly dead. Of course, he jumps off too. But you should never do that to your friends. It's absolutely miraculous how all three of them survive, but Christ, this guy really doesn't have the ability to be decent.
*UPDATE* Laguna isn't entirely that idiotic. Naturally, he's an "at heart" person who doesn't really use his brain all that much, and after he had quit the military he ended up being a rather fatherly-like kind of guy to Ellone. In other words, he's fully light-hearted, and somehow manages to come up with a brilliant, albeit somewhat still stupid, strategy to liberate Esthar from Adel, then becoming the president of the land and managing to rule it surprisingly well enough. Because of this, he and Stahn switch places on the list, but what he did during the Lunatic Pandora dream sequence cannot be unaccounted for, so he still remains an idiotic hero.
4. Stahn (Tales of Destiny)
For some reason, and I'm not entirely sure why, Stahn is considered to be the token idiot hero as far as JRPGs are concerned. Though I don't really think he should be the prime case of an idiot hero, he still counts as one. Since Cless wasn't an idiot in the first Tales game, they decided to make Stahn the guy who gets the abuse from party members, or to be more specific, his talking sword, which he just finds and somehow the two are mutually bonded. Some of the other party members do rat out his stupidity at times, but none so much as that sword of his. But they do make fun of his heritage a lot, angering Stahn just because he's a country boy. I say who cares. Stahn's not really too idiotic, but when it comes time for a heroic stand, you shouldn't spend most of your time sleeping. This is why he's on the list, due to the fact that he's such a heavy sleeper, apparently you have to rudely wake the guy up. Real slow, pal.
3. Snowe (Suikoden IV)
It's hard to judge Snowe. On one hand, he stands opposed to the main hero of the game completely after the events involving the Rune of Punishment, almost as an anti-hero sort of character who you end up fighting due to being on opposite sides. On the other hand, he's under the belief that what he does is the right thing entirely, no matter what it is. Then when the pushing turns to shoving, he's all cowardly because he doesn't want to stand defeated against powerful foes. Now, it's quite amazing, because Snowe certainly shows he wants to be a fighter, as seen in the opening of Suikoden Tactics and the first few parts of Suikoden IV. But he's got no strategy. Diving headlong into a battle isn't gonna do wonders, neither is the aforementioned faking of an injury. Once the main hero is exiled, Snowe is somehow put into command, and naturally his attempt of heroism by selling Razril out to Kooluk fails when the townsfolk all want him out. All this because he believed this was the right thing to do. Then again, maybe that wasn't entirely as bad a move as his other ones, since other options would have been far worse in that case. Again, a very hard character to judge. He's doing what he thinks is best, but no one else thinks its heroic at all.
2. Danette (Soul Nomad & The World Eaters)
I really wanted to put someone in between Danette and my #1 pick, but I couldn't find any worthwhile idiots, so Danette is #2. You think going up against a big bad World Eater is gonna earn you a lot of brownie points? Well, you'll need a lot more power to beat one, Danette. And besides, you're not the one with the cool evil guy inside you. The same guy who calls you a stupid cow* because you don't understand situations you're in and are pretty much inconsiderate. Amazing, Gig can backlash this lass and not get killed, since that would kill the main character too. And threatening to snap peoples necks really wears off after a while. Fun fact: Danette never snaps a single person's neck in-game. Her dive into the one-way portal leading to Drazil with the hero defines how wrong she makes things, so much that later on the main hero has decided to call her "Dumbette" due to her ineptitude at keeping hidden. It's just amazing how she's somehow got a terrible backstory with her parents and Crimson Tears that you sort of feel sorry for her, yet she still does some dumb things in-game.
1. Wain (Lufia 3)
Oh man oh man, I really don't want to say it, but people really do need to understand sarcasm. Repeatedly, Wain is not a character that does. Not helping is the fact that his first companion is the one to call him stupid all the time. Seena's not the only one, but she does it repeatedly, even upon meeting just about every new character that joins up. Heck, when Dei is first met, this is how Wain loses sight of him, by being called stupid. Perhaps before that, we have another really stupid moment, by insulting Gades. Now, you shouldn't insult a Sinistral in the Lufia world, and even Seena does this too, it's amazing how the two manage to survive against the big guy afterwards. And then, of course, falling for Seena's obvious trick very late in the game, how she was bad all along, one last "You really are stupid" coming in from her. In a surprising twist though, despite all the stupidity and the betrayal that came upon him, Wain's victory ends up with him and Seena being happy together. I find this amazing, mostly because unlike Lufia in Lufia 1, Seena was pretty much a full-on snark character, especially one who knew about her past and everything. Tricking Wain might just be another thing on her mind even after the game is over.
*Another fun fact: Danette is of the Sepp race, which is a hybrid of a human and a cow. The insult makes complete sense.
Monday, July 30, 2018
Top 5 Most Terrifying RPGs.
We can tell just how horrifying games can get sometimes, and RPGs tend to never be an exception. So many games have at least one thing that will likely terrify a young audience, whether it's through character death, world destruction, or just about anything that isn't truly good and doesn't lead to a usually cliche "happily ever after" ordeal. This list counts down five of the RPGs that I truly think are the most horrifying overall, the ones that if you were a character in them, you run the risk of an unfortunate happening at just about any moment.
5. Grandia
Honestly, both of the first two Grandias belong here, especially considering the Eldritch horrors you go through for the endgame dungeons, as well as the corruption of a major figure that is eventually killed. Grandia 1 edges out over its sequel in an interesting way, because it most definitely not a grim RPG on its onset at all. It's only until you reach the second disc and meet Rapp where you realize that things take a grim turn. Rapp's original village has been turned to stone, obviously with no way of resolving the victims. For that matter, the original Laine faired even worse, with petrified bodies floating in a location that sure as hell isn't a friendly abode. The bosses met during this disc also drive the point home, along with the crises that eventually happen all because of Gaia. Not to mention the motif of sacrifice, which attempts to take a toll on certain characters in hte game. Now Grandia II only had the corrupt demonic church as its main horror, but it managed to do so well enough, so it gets an honorable mention. But it's in the shadows when it comes to the horror presented in the second half of Grandia.
4. Live-A-Live
Here's an oddball. You have eight total settings in this game, and yet somehow, all but two of them are rather horrific. So let's leave out both the prehistoric and the Western scenarios, as both tend to be mostly comical in how they are done and the only terror present is shown in the final boss fight. The Ninja scenario is quite nasty with whichever characters you decide to kill, similar to the demon path in Soul Nomad, but this is overshadowed by Ode Iou's true form. The present chapter involving the strong fighters seems fair enough, but then you find out Odie Oldbright killed all the previous competitors. The Kung Fu chapter was something I described a bit in my analysis of doomed hometowns, and my point still stands there when the master's dojo is raided and two students are actually killed. The medieval chapter which serves as the game's culmination shows the emptiness after Oersted takes power as the demon king. And yet the most horrifying chapters are the futuristic ones. Mechanical Heart is entirely a survival horror game in an RPG, with a behemoth that can instantly kill your robot character as well as maul others onboard the ship. And Blood Flow? Surprisingly the most terrifying. It's bad enough the enemies are bikers, it's even worse when the gang is involved in a process to liquefy humans, all to awaken some deity. It somehow manages to be even worse than when Thuris was eating his followers in Soul Nomad. You obviously don't get to see how it's done, and that's for the better, but the mere thought is inane in itself. So somehow, the majority of the game manages to actually be quite the heart-wrencher
3. Legend of Legaia
Yep, this one is on here, and if you played the game, you'll know exactly why. The entire intro shows what went wrong, the idea of cybernetic enhancements to do everything, going wrong thanks to a mist, causing these Seru to go out of control as well as grip and zombify individual humans. There's so many in-game examples of horror in this game. Remember the underground Octam and the earthquakes? And to think again, an actual sacrificial ritual also exists in-game, in which your sole female offers herself up to save a poor NPC from being offered, then the two guys have to save her from the largest Seru. It gets far worse later on. Sim-Seru are considered way worse than the regular ones. You think that fight against Gaza was bad, wait till you reach Conkram, an actual seashell constructed out of a Sim-Seru. Nothing could be done about the inhabitants there, and to make things worse, they are completely doomed. Rim Elm almost suffers this way but is saved at the very end, but those thoughts of all the villagers you know, including your sister, father, love interest, her mother, people you know about, all fused in an abomination so completely fleshed out. It's truly horrifying. No wonder this game got compared to Silent Hill.
2. Breath of Fire 2
I have fond, fond memories of this game. Memories that made me feel like not playing another RPG ever again. This game aces the corrupt church plot far better than Grandia 2 did, and giving in the fact that almost every major boss you eventually fight has not only been a con-artist but a demon at the same time. From the impostor frog prince Quadra/Kuwadora, to the rich businessman Trout. From the tournament chairman Augus to the crazed Highland general Shupkay. And then the terrifying-looking Necroman and his deadly attacks, all of these are demons. Not to mention a zombie status effect that is truly nasty and original for a SNES RPG. Oh yes, this game manages to terrify in its gameplay, which is quite the feat. Let's not forget that you can easily end up killing your own father without realizing he's strapped to the church's main machine, as well as the opening of the demon gate. And the motif of sacrifice rears its head yet again, in order to get Anfini/Infinity, you get to see each of your party members make statements of how they enjoyed their adventures with Ryu, while his clone tells him to sacrifice one of them. The thought of doing so is truly wrong, just like in Grandia. But if that weren't enough, even after the denial of a sacrifice, the actual confrontation against Deathevan is one with circumstances that actually crystallize and shatter all of Ryu's companions right before the final confrontation. Despite the happiness of bringing them back and killing off Deathevan, there's the matter of this game's endings, and most players see the one where Ryu ends up being the new gate guardian, forever dooming himself to a fate such as this. Breath of Fire 2 was not only an extreme tearjerker, but an extreme heart-wrencher.
1. Xenogears
To some, it's no surprise that it's at the very top. For those of you who don't know, this game sure has a lot going for it. Just look at Fei, he's got an omnicidal maniac persona inside of him that doesn't distinguish anything as friendly, so it murders anything: the denizens of Fei's village, the comrades in the Nortune sewers, and the entire city of Solaris, practically destroying the surface landscape as well. Rather horrifying is the fact that Fei is unaware he's responsible for all this thanks to the persona. And the other characters don't help matters. Grahf telling Fei he's the true destroyer of God? Yeah, thanks for that. Oh and speaking of Solaris, can you guess what you go through when you reach there? A high-security compound at first, and an underground laboratory. They really went there when they decided to have a scene with Fei and Elly getting hungry, then eating from canned food without realizing it (making matters worse is that Citan is hesitant to tell them about this). We then see the dead remains of humans, all done because the high city's caste system deems them unworthy of life and to be used as food. Holy cripes. And while Disc 2 was a rushed disc, it provides enough information about those on the surface world being turned into Wels in the cutscenes. Wels, of course, are pretty much zombified humans. Two things make this terrifying. One of course is that the characters realize this fact too late, and have murdered quite a few people who were turned into Wels. The other, well, let's just say that the best efforts of the heroes somehow make the situation worse, causing even more Wels to form. The main characters ought to be extremely lucky about not turning into Wels or used as canned food items, because this game manages to make just about everything grim and horrifying.
5. Grandia
Honestly, both of the first two Grandias belong here, especially considering the Eldritch horrors you go through for the endgame dungeons, as well as the corruption of a major figure that is eventually killed. Grandia 1 edges out over its sequel in an interesting way, because it most definitely not a grim RPG on its onset at all. It's only until you reach the second disc and meet Rapp where you realize that things take a grim turn. Rapp's original village has been turned to stone, obviously with no way of resolving the victims. For that matter, the original Laine faired even worse, with petrified bodies floating in a location that sure as hell isn't a friendly abode. The bosses met during this disc also drive the point home, along with the crises that eventually happen all because of Gaia. Not to mention the motif of sacrifice, which attempts to take a toll on certain characters in hte game. Now Grandia II only had the corrupt demonic church as its main horror, but it managed to do so well enough, so it gets an honorable mention. But it's in the shadows when it comes to the horror presented in the second half of Grandia.
4. Live-A-Live
Here's an oddball. You have eight total settings in this game, and yet somehow, all but two of them are rather horrific. So let's leave out both the prehistoric and the Western scenarios, as both tend to be mostly comical in how they are done and the only terror present is shown in the final boss fight. The Ninja scenario is quite nasty with whichever characters you decide to kill, similar to the demon path in Soul Nomad, but this is overshadowed by Ode Iou's true form. The present chapter involving the strong fighters seems fair enough, but then you find out Odie Oldbright killed all the previous competitors. The Kung Fu chapter was something I described a bit in my analysis of doomed hometowns, and my point still stands there when the master's dojo is raided and two students are actually killed. The medieval chapter which serves as the game's culmination shows the emptiness after Oersted takes power as the demon king. And yet the most horrifying chapters are the futuristic ones. Mechanical Heart is entirely a survival horror game in an RPG, with a behemoth that can instantly kill your robot character as well as maul others onboard the ship. And Blood Flow? Surprisingly the most terrifying. It's bad enough the enemies are bikers, it's even worse when the gang is involved in a process to liquefy humans, all to awaken some deity. It somehow manages to be even worse than when Thuris was eating his followers in Soul Nomad. You obviously don't get to see how it's done, and that's for the better, but the mere thought is inane in itself. So somehow, the majority of the game manages to actually be quite the heart-wrencher
3. Legend of Legaia
Yep, this one is on here, and if you played the game, you'll know exactly why. The entire intro shows what went wrong, the idea of cybernetic enhancements to do everything, going wrong thanks to a mist, causing these Seru to go out of control as well as grip and zombify individual humans. There's so many in-game examples of horror in this game. Remember the underground Octam and the earthquakes? And to think again, an actual sacrificial ritual also exists in-game, in which your sole female offers herself up to save a poor NPC from being offered, then the two guys have to save her from the largest Seru. It gets far worse later on. Sim-Seru are considered way worse than the regular ones. You think that fight against Gaza was bad, wait till you reach Conkram, an actual seashell constructed out of a Sim-Seru. Nothing could be done about the inhabitants there, and to make things worse, they are completely doomed. Rim Elm almost suffers this way but is saved at the very end, but those thoughts of all the villagers you know, including your sister, father, love interest, her mother, people you know about, all fused in an abomination so completely fleshed out. It's truly horrifying. No wonder this game got compared to Silent Hill.
2. Breath of Fire 2
I have fond, fond memories of this game. Memories that made me feel like not playing another RPG ever again. This game aces the corrupt church plot far better than Grandia 2 did, and giving in the fact that almost every major boss you eventually fight has not only been a con-artist but a demon at the same time. From the impostor frog prince Quadra/Kuwadora, to the rich businessman Trout. From the tournament chairman Augus to the crazed Highland general Shupkay. And then the terrifying-looking Necroman and his deadly attacks, all of these are demons. Not to mention a zombie status effect that is truly nasty and original for a SNES RPG. Oh yes, this game manages to terrify in its gameplay, which is quite the feat. Let's not forget that you can easily end up killing your own father without realizing he's strapped to the church's main machine, as well as the opening of the demon gate. And the motif of sacrifice rears its head yet again, in order to get Anfini/Infinity, you get to see each of your party members make statements of how they enjoyed their adventures with Ryu, while his clone tells him to sacrifice one of them. The thought of doing so is truly wrong, just like in Grandia. But if that weren't enough, even after the denial of a sacrifice, the actual confrontation against Deathevan is one with circumstances that actually crystallize and shatter all of Ryu's companions right before the final confrontation. Despite the happiness of bringing them back and killing off Deathevan, there's the matter of this game's endings, and most players see the one where Ryu ends up being the new gate guardian, forever dooming himself to a fate such as this. Breath of Fire 2 was not only an extreme tearjerker, but an extreme heart-wrencher.
1. Xenogears
To some, it's no surprise that it's at the very top. For those of you who don't know, this game sure has a lot going for it. Just look at Fei, he's got an omnicidal maniac persona inside of him that doesn't distinguish anything as friendly, so it murders anything: the denizens of Fei's village, the comrades in the Nortune sewers, and the entire city of Solaris, practically destroying the surface landscape as well. Rather horrifying is the fact that Fei is unaware he's responsible for all this thanks to the persona. And the other characters don't help matters. Grahf telling Fei he's the true destroyer of God? Yeah, thanks for that. Oh and speaking of Solaris, can you guess what you go through when you reach there? A high-security compound at first, and an underground laboratory. They really went there when they decided to have a scene with Fei and Elly getting hungry, then eating from canned food without realizing it (making matters worse is that Citan is hesitant to tell them about this). We then see the dead remains of humans, all done because the high city's caste system deems them unworthy of life and to be used as food. Holy cripes. And while Disc 2 was a rushed disc, it provides enough information about those on the surface world being turned into Wels in the cutscenes. Wels, of course, are pretty much zombified humans. Two things make this terrifying. One of course is that the characters realize this fact too late, and have murdered quite a few people who were turned into Wels. The other, well, let's just say that the best efforts of the heroes somehow make the situation worse, causing even more Wels to form. The main characters ought to be extremely lucky about not turning into Wels or used as canned food items, because this game manages to make just about everything grim and horrifying.
Sunday, July 22, 2018
Top 5 Stupidest JRPG Deaths
Character deaths sure make any form of media memorable. You witness Aeris's unfathomable end at Sephiroth. You witness just about any death in the Suikoden series. Hero or villain, these characters end up being known for their impact, either premortem or postmortem. But then I look at some deaths and I wonder, just why were they made? This little Top 5 list showcases the deaths that I found to be the stupidest. And not like Bolt from Thousand Arms, which is the "stupid but actually funny" death, but rather stupid as to raise a red flag on the overall circumstances of it.
5. Ark (Terranigma)
Techinically speaking, Ark doesn't really die overall, that is, until you reach the end of the third chapter. But this never really made much sense to me. We were in control of the Ark, from the Underworld, bringing everything back to life from the continents, plants, animals, and finally humans, and THIS is what he gets paid back for at the very end of the chapter? Some random Lightside version of himself just shows up, deems him a legendary hero, but just kills him right there, ending the chapter. Sure he gets resurrected right away in the final chapter, but man was it DUMB to watch how that fetch quest was made for Ark to just die. Usually the "fetch quest that goes wrong" ordeal happens when the hero gets all the quest items taken from them. Here, they just decide to kill the main hero for the chapter to end.
4. Mareg (Grandia 2)
I'm probably gonna get some flak for this one, but Mareg's sacrifice, as memorable as it is, isn't needed. This is especially true given how the gameplay of Grandia 2 pretty much shows the game is not all that difficult overall, so even without grinding we can tell that all characters, Mareg included, tend to sift through combat pretty well. Him making a heroic stand so the others can escape because of a wound is all taken at cutscene value. Gameplay-wise, said enemies could be considered easy prey overall, and you could imagine that with the right spell or item, Mareg's back wound would be healed as quickly as possible and he can join his group in the escape from the moon. No, he just decides to Gandalf it out and get eaten up by enemies he can easily mince. It really wasn't that well done of a character death.
3. Michael (Rhapsody: A Musical Adventure)
This death is still fresh in my mind, considering I had just finished playing this game yesterday. If you're not in the know-how, Rhapsody is supposed to be cheerful, satirical, and full of energy but with a few sad moments. This one sad moment flat out makes no sense. Michael, a frog man from the Frogburg kingdom, is apparently trespassing, and that's a crime in the castle according to the king only. He's Caroline's love interest, and Cornet ends up helping him find the Earthstone. Easy enough? Sure. But what happens when he proves his worth to the king? Apparently the king laid out an extra rule involving the guardian of the stone, and Michael is executed on the spot in front of everyone, especially his love interest Caroline. Now, that right there shows how terrible the king is as a ruler, how he seems to trust a not-so-sentient guardian of some nearby ruins with a stone, as well as enforcing rules he can very well change himself in his own kingdom. It's just like #5 above, except with worse reasons. The king's absolute rule seems to overrule all objections, from her daughter Caroline or the queen herself. Making things worse, Caroline would later leave the kingdom and commit suicide herself just to be with Michael.
2. The main character (The 7th Saga)
Man, The 7th Saga isn't really a good game at all, isn't it? Hard gameplay, dumb plot, character competition. But one thing that sticks out to me is just how bad the ending was handled. So you beat Gorsia, big bad of the game that manipulated everything just like any final boss does. Just before he dies, he kills you right there with the last of his abilities. Exactly how? It makes no sense. It's even worse because in The 7th Saga, you are very likely to have a partner with you to ease up combat, and that partner remains completely untouched by this spell. So what happens to them? Oh, and being reincarnated as Lemele is somehow WORSE because really Lemele wasn't really anyone special. The real Lemele who of couse died honestly wouldn't recruit these apprentices in the first place for any real reason.
1. Darum and Tiem (Phantasy Star II)
Morals go completely out the window every time I remember this stupidly icon duo of characters and their reunion. Darum is this guy who's resorted to crime just so he can find his kidnapped daughter. He's willing to stab anyone who dares to pass, unless of course he finds his daughter. So you as the player will naturally find Tiem somewhere and bring her to her father. Tiem unfortunately is unbelievably stupid. She doesn't want to be seen, so she veils her appearance and walks straight up to her father. Well the result is that Darum after realizing that no demands are met stabs her, then realizes he's killed his own daughter and kills himself. Does it not occur to, oh I don't know, the heroes of the game to tell her NOT to do this or to explain to Darum that that's his daughter coming up to him? While they do manage to continue on in their journey now that the tunnel, these two character deaths were absolutely needless and honestly were the most preventable deaths I can think of in any JRPG.
5. Ark (Terranigma)
Techinically speaking, Ark doesn't really die overall, that is, until you reach the end of the third chapter. But this never really made much sense to me. We were in control of the Ark, from the Underworld, bringing everything back to life from the continents, plants, animals, and finally humans, and THIS is what he gets paid back for at the very end of the chapter? Some random Lightside version of himself just shows up, deems him a legendary hero, but just kills him right there, ending the chapter. Sure he gets resurrected right away in the final chapter, but man was it DUMB to watch how that fetch quest was made for Ark to just die. Usually the "fetch quest that goes wrong" ordeal happens when the hero gets all the quest items taken from them. Here, they just decide to kill the main hero for the chapter to end.
4. Mareg (Grandia 2)
I'm probably gonna get some flak for this one, but Mareg's sacrifice, as memorable as it is, isn't needed. This is especially true given how the gameplay of Grandia 2 pretty much shows the game is not all that difficult overall, so even without grinding we can tell that all characters, Mareg included, tend to sift through combat pretty well. Him making a heroic stand so the others can escape because of a wound is all taken at cutscene value. Gameplay-wise, said enemies could be considered easy prey overall, and you could imagine that with the right spell or item, Mareg's back wound would be healed as quickly as possible and he can join his group in the escape from the moon. No, he just decides to Gandalf it out and get eaten up by enemies he can easily mince. It really wasn't that well done of a character death.
3. Michael (Rhapsody: A Musical Adventure)
This death is still fresh in my mind, considering I had just finished playing this game yesterday. If you're not in the know-how, Rhapsody is supposed to be cheerful, satirical, and full of energy but with a few sad moments. This one sad moment flat out makes no sense. Michael, a frog man from the Frogburg kingdom, is apparently trespassing, and that's a crime in the castle according to the king only. He's Caroline's love interest, and Cornet ends up helping him find the Earthstone. Easy enough? Sure. But what happens when he proves his worth to the king? Apparently the king laid out an extra rule involving the guardian of the stone, and Michael is executed on the spot in front of everyone, especially his love interest Caroline. Now, that right there shows how terrible the king is as a ruler, how he seems to trust a not-so-sentient guardian of some nearby ruins with a stone, as well as enforcing rules he can very well change himself in his own kingdom. It's just like #5 above, except with worse reasons. The king's absolute rule seems to overrule all objections, from her daughter Caroline or the queen herself. Making things worse, Caroline would later leave the kingdom and commit suicide herself just to be with Michael.
2. The main character (The 7th Saga)
Man, The 7th Saga isn't really a good game at all, isn't it? Hard gameplay, dumb plot, character competition. But one thing that sticks out to me is just how bad the ending was handled. So you beat Gorsia, big bad of the game that manipulated everything just like any final boss does. Just before he dies, he kills you right there with the last of his abilities. Exactly how? It makes no sense. It's even worse because in The 7th Saga, you are very likely to have a partner with you to ease up combat, and that partner remains completely untouched by this spell. So what happens to them? Oh, and being reincarnated as Lemele is somehow WORSE because really Lemele wasn't really anyone special. The real Lemele who of couse died honestly wouldn't recruit these apprentices in the first place for any real reason.
1. Darum and Tiem (Phantasy Star II)
Morals go completely out the window every time I remember this stupidly icon duo of characters and their reunion. Darum is this guy who's resorted to crime just so he can find his kidnapped daughter. He's willing to stab anyone who dares to pass, unless of course he finds his daughter. So you as the player will naturally find Tiem somewhere and bring her to her father. Tiem unfortunately is unbelievably stupid. She doesn't want to be seen, so she veils her appearance and walks straight up to her father. Well the result is that Darum after realizing that no demands are met stabs her, then realizes he's killed his own daughter and kills himself. Does it not occur to, oh I don't know, the heroes of the game to tell her NOT to do this or to explain to Darum that that's his daughter coming up to him? While they do manage to continue on in their journey now that the tunnel, these two character deaths were absolutely needless and honestly were the most preventable deaths I can think of in any JRPG.
Tuesday, July 17, 2018
All-time Top 10 JRPG deaths.
Yes, character deaths. These all happen with the plotline of a JRPG, whether it's a playable character, non-playable ally, or villain that you feel glad for defeating, someone is liable to die. This Top 10 list will count down the greatest JRPG deaths of all time, the ones I think are the greatest. These deaths were graded on the overall impact that they have when they occurred, and are not necessary tragic sometimes. But these deaths and their circumstances are surely memorable. Also one death per game. Major spoilers ahead for these games of course.
10. Bolt - Thousand Arms
You know that some deaths are tragic. You know some deaths were quite deserving for the characters that obviously got it coming. Bolt in Thousand Arms grabs the #10 spot due to how hilarious it is.
Picture this. It's the 2010s. Things have been happening in reality where people often get offended by words and just explode in a fury of anger and triggered bile. Now rewind back to when Thousand Arms was released. You confront Bolt, the first of the five gear theme-named henchmen of the evil emperor of the game and fight him out. But even before that, you see a fantastic weakness in him. He hates big words. In other words, words that are big and not in most everyone's English vocabulary. Now go to the actual fight with the guy. After its done, he starts spewing out these words unknowningly. Then he gets so offended from his own words he actually explodes. It's absolutely hilarious, and a nice allegory of how people "explode" when they get triggered in the modern days.
9. Ghaleon - Lunar 2
It's worth noting that Ghaleon is pretty much a card-carrying villain. He's the guy from Lunar 1 who's an amazingly overpowered mage, only to betray Alex, enslave the power of the White Dragon, and kidnap Luna, driving him to save his girl. There's nothing else you can think of Ghaleon apart from being said girl-napper and dragon-killer. Well, you do see his backstory which is told by Laike later on.
In Lunar 2, the distant sequel of the first game, we see Ghaleon has apparently been resurrected by a greater evil, Zophar, for his own plans. Ghaleon appears next to (a fake) Althena as her champion, and the current Dragonmaster in the game. He's just as overpowering in this game, easily defeating Hiro and his friends when he gets involved in a fight. Yet here's the thing. Ghaleon's actually helping these guys, secretly of course. He's an anti-hero in this game through and through. Despite Zophar could easily remove his life, he shows that he's toughening up Hiro and his group to defeat Zophar. Upon the party actually managing to beat Ghaleon, he now knows that he has given them the strength to win, and even lends Hiro his sword. When he's finally alone, he talks to the skies towards Dyne, whom you know no doubt he used to be friends with, before finally fading away. It's certainly good to know that even the bad ones help out the good people without them knowing.
8. Ray - Breath of Fire 2
Breath of Fire 2 is already a very sad game on its own. The entire Evrai arc of the game is the single saddest part of it. We see the crazed church fanatics cheering on the lynching of Claris, who is killed along with Tiga who's futile attempt to rescue her only did marginal. We see that Daisy, despite being a bitch of a mother to her own son up until that point, decide to actually give her life to save her son in one of the sadder moments. And if the player isn't careful, Ryu may not realize that he ends up murdering his own father, who of course got tied to a machine.
But Ray? Ray's just some friendly guy you meet who helps you deal with a few enemies in a sewer to save some villagers being possessed by parasites. Is this guy enticing? Not really. But then you see that Ray is connected to the Evrai church in a way. He's one of those characters, fighting for the side he believes in, whether or not it's right or wrong. In Ray's case, during the battle with him, you will then come to the conclusion that he realizes that the Evrai church is in fact wrong. Well, you established that fact already seeing as to what happened with Tiga and Claris. The way Ray pays you back is with one powerful attack, which actually grants Ryu his final dragon form, which immediately will end the battle when used.
It's quite sad, as Ray decided at the last minute to help the friends he used to work with so long ago. And he couldn't do it any other time due to his own circumstances of being tied with a much more vile party. It's a tear-jerking send-off to a fierce friend that the player makes.
7. Crono - Chrono Trigger
Ah, this one is one people certainly know. Despite the fact he's the silent protagonist, and also the one who's default namesake resembles the title of the game, which actually is a key item involving him, Crono does die in this game, giving it all against the one-and-only Lavos.
It's a death that probably could've been prevented, and one that could potentially seem like a stupid sacrifice, but it's memorable enough to belong here due to Crono being the main hero, the one who never would leave the party. What happens afterwards is a very remarkable change of pace, and that's what puts this on here. You can choose to revive Crono, which most players actually do, but after his death is where the game just opens up completely. You've got a ton of quests that can be done, with the largest one of course involving the steps to his revival. But before that the game was pretty linear despite all the timeskips you do in them. Here, said death was not only one of the most memorable deaths because the player loses the hero, but a whole lot of stuff can be done after it and it's quite worthwhile to check everything out.
6. Teo - Suikoden
The Soul Eater in Suikoden 1 consumes the souls of the people closest to the bearer. Though in Suikoden 1, that really doesn't entail a whole lot. Unlike, say, Suikoden 4's Rune of Punishment, we don't actually see the rune having any major adverse effects on Tir McDohl apart from him using it in a few circumstances in the storyline. And it certainly doesn't actually consume the living souls of those directly around him. But it does take in four dead souls to power up the rune's main abilities. One of those souls is Teo.
It's definitely hard for me to pick which of the four dead souls that power up the Soul Eater is the most tragic death. I decided that Teo is the most memorable for several reasons. For one, Teo is Tir's father, as has been established at the very beginning of the game. Second, he's a Scarlet Moon general, one of the Five Great Generals in fact, so he has a major status. Third, his own son, due to the circumstances involving the Soul Eater, finds himself as the leader of the Liberation Army, the freedom fighters fighting the Scarlet Moon Empire. This of course brings us to the eventual conflict between father and son. The final aftermath does involve the son winning a duel against the father, but because of this, he's on the verge of death. Teo's actually happy about his son, how he has managed to surpass his father, the way most sons should follow in their father's footsteps. Teo's simply on the other side of the war fighting for it, and lends his lieutenants to serve under his son as a final farewell.
5. Maxim & Selan - Lufia II
It sucks that Lufia 1 shows us the end of Lufia 2. As cool as it is for most of us to play overpowered heroes against the main villains, watching cutscene powers take over which results in the death of one of these heroes (Selan) would be quite enough to shed a tear. Of course, because of this death, we watch as Maxim stays behind as the Fortress of Doom falls, meaning he perishes as well while Artea and Guy escape.
These two deaths don't really become sad until you play Lufia 2. All the way through. Given that the main character is none other than Maxim, you watch as he gets to know the environment he inhabits and meets his friends along the way. Selan is one of those, an experienced general who is said to be really skilled. Like any woman though, she's got a soft side, crying in joy after Maxim gets back from defeating Gades the first time. Said joy eventually ends up in an actual marriage between the two, both having a happy year and actually bearing a child named Jeros. Then when disaster happens it's pretty obvious that the fighting couple is back into the actual plot of the rise of the Sinistrals, continuing all the way until their final moment. It's really sad in this game due to actually experiencing the adventure these two embarked on all the way to the very end.
4. Mami - Breath of Fire 4
This was a real hard one to get. I was torn between this one and Elina's death, which involved Cray mercy killing her due to her apparent abominable status. But I settled with Mami's death due to how some people may have missed the memo for it and for how it impacts the other main protagonist.
Mami's not really anything too special. She's a random country girl in a town who happens to stumble upon a wounded Fou-lu, which is that said protagonist I mentioned. He's taken into her company and sort of just given a home. Basically speaking, she's a good samaritan, completely unaware that Fou-lu was of some status that his own empire wants, and ends up giving herself up. This has some extreme consequences when Lord Una actually decides to use her against Fou-lu, by having her as ammunition pointed straight at the guy. When Fou is hit, he sees the bells, the same ones Mami wore, and this causes him to outright snap and hate all of humanity because of this. She was basically the last floodgate keeping the dragon god sane and not outright villainous to everyone, and due to the circumstances, he's now a full-fledged villain. It's more blatant in the manga for Breath of Fire 4, which unfortunately no one really looked at.
3. Alicia - Live-A-Live
The antagonists of Breath of Fire 4 and Live-A-Live are a lot alike. They were both characters the player would have experience working with. They both had to go through a hell of a lot of hardships. There was one character that was really that last hope for them. In the case of Oersted, that was Alicia.
The reason this death ranks over Mami was because this was Oersted's one goal in his one quest. This was what he was fighting for, and after being exiled for being a demon, it was his only hope left. He was quite the knight in his heyday, winning the tournament and the right to marry Alicia, who of course gets kidnapped. As I said in my look back at Live-A-Live, the cliche plot gets completely deconstructed, when Oersted actually kills the king in an illusion, making everyone hate him. He finds and fights Straybow, his former friend, and then it happens. Alicia decides that she loved Straybow more because of the pains of not being the winner all the time, or something like that, and commits suicide right in front of Oersted. You watch this, and then you see Oersted declaring himself as the demon king in the way that it makes perfect sense why he would become a demon. All because of her. In fact, it's so bad, that when you fight his last incarnation, one of his attacks, Saint Alicia, shows a woman who's visage goes horrifying, implied to be how Oersted sees Alicia now.
2. Galuf - Final Fantasy 5
I value character development a lot. Unfortunately none of those characters in Final Fantasy V proved to be really interesting at all. Bartz is really just an adventurer. Faris is a cross-dressing pirate and a secret princess. Both Lenna and Cara/Krile are princesses in their own right. Galuf? Well he's an amnesiac hero. You've probably seen such heroes. Also he's the oldest of the group as well.
Still though, it's admirable how they decided to give Galuf his memory back, giving him far more development than all of the other playable characters combined. He goes from being an amnesiac to a general, one of the original four heroes along with two of his other friends (apparently Bartz's father died before the story began). He's with the main party when he can, and when he confronts Exdeath, that's when the death becomes memorable. He's managing to fight the battle completely solo, and with zero health too. It's the power of love and friendship, and as cliche as it is, he manages to beat Exdeath and save his party and granddaughter. Of course he dies this way. But it's what makes this death very special, and beats every other Final Fantasy death out of the water. As he dies, we see the party actually making an attempt to revive him with the Phoenix Down or Life spells. And it doesn't work. You look at other famous deaths in the franchise and potentially wonder if it is possible to revive characters in the plotline a similar way. Final Fantasy V actually makes that attempt and shows that it isn't actually possible. Of course this is due to the way Galuf fought Exdeath, but they managed to excel in making a character die and prevent his revival.
1. Luca Blight - Suikoden 2
Deaths in RPGs tend to be tragic when they happen to the hero, while an accomplishment for villains. Although some villains are really just tragic characters in themselves as well. Luca's an interesting case here.
His tragic backstory is honestly only really seen in Suikoden lore and in one cutscene in-game. Watching his mother get raped while his father cowardly doesn't help is what drove him to utter madness and a lust for killing "pigs". You don't see this lore anywhere else, you just see Luca as a villain who's pretty much knows his villainous deeds. The whole plot of the game up to his death is mostly running away from the guy, since he's too powerful to contend with, as well as formulating strategies against him and his Highland woes. And even then, there needs to be some outside help from the traitor Jowy, who unbeknownst to the Dunan Army, is secretly helping them plot against Luca and his misdeeds.
And then there's the matter of Luca Blight actually falling dead in the famous night raid. Surely enough, this guy is clearly made of iron. Those arrows kill his soldiers and his horse, causing him to fight one group of freedom fighters. He then runs and then confronts another group, and then the hero's group. While he does manage to run from each fight he's involved in, he doesn't get so far before the jar of fireflies gives him away to even more arrows. And yet again, he's still got the stomach to engage the main hero in one final duel, despite him being at half strength. Only then, does he die. It took all of what I just said in this one paragraph to kill the almighty Luca Blight, the scourge of Suikoden 2.
And the best part? Luca is fully human. Granted, he's certainly a strong archetype of a human, but he doesn't have any lame true-form transformations like other JRPG villains. He's just that resilient. The game really isn't over after Luca's fall, but in a way, it feels like the worst is over for every Suikoden II player once they finally defeated this madman.
10. Bolt - Thousand Arms
You know that some deaths are tragic. You know some deaths were quite deserving for the characters that obviously got it coming. Bolt in Thousand Arms grabs the #10 spot due to how hilarious it is.
Picture this. It's the 2010s. Things have been happening in reality where people often get offended by words and just explode in a fury of anger and triggered bile. Now rewind back to when Thousand Arms was released. You confront Bolt, the first of the five gear theme-named henchmen of the evil emperor of the game and fight him out. But even before that, you see a fantastic weakness in him. He hates big words. In other words, words that are big and not in most everyone's English vocabulary. Now go to the actual fight with the guy. After its done, he starts spewing out these words unknowningly. Then he gets so offended from his own words he actually explodes. It's absolutely hilarious, and a nice allegory of how people "explode" when they get triggered in the modern days.
9. Ghaleon - Lunar 2
It's worth noting that Ghaleon is pretty much a card-carrying villain. He's the guy from Lunar 1 who's an amazingly overpowered mage, only to betray Alex, enslave the power of the White Dragon, and kidnap Luna, driving him to save his girl. There's nothing else you can think of Ghaleon apart from being said girl-napper and dragon-killer. Well, you do see his backstory which is told by Laike later on.
In Lunar 2, the distant sequel of the first game, we see Ghaleon has apparently been resurrected by a greater evil, Zophar, for his own plans. Ghaleon appears next to (a fake) Althena as her champion, and the current Dragonmaster in the game. He's just as overpowering in this game, easily defeating Hiro and his friends when he gets involved in a fight. Yet here's the thing. Ghaleon's actually helping these guys, secretly of course. He's an anti-hero in this game through and through. Despite Zophar could easily remove his life, he shows that he's toughening up Hiro and his group to defeat Zophar. Upon the party actually managing to beat Ghaleon, he now knows that he has given them the strength to win, and even lends Hiro his sword. When he's finally alone, he talks to the skies towards Dyne, whom you know no doubt he used to be friends with, before finally fading away. It's certainly good to know that even the bad ones help out the good people without them knowing.
8. Ray - Breath of Fire 2
Breath of Fire 2 is already a very sad game on its own. The entire Evrai arc of the game is the single saddest part of it. We see the crazed church fanatics cheering on the lynching of Claris, who is killed along with Tiga who's futile attempt to rescue her only did marginal. We see that Daisy, despite being a bitch of a mother to her own son up until that point, decide to actually give her life to save her son in one of the sadder moments. And if the player isn't careful, Ryu may not realize that he ends up murdering his own father, who of course got tied to a machine.
But Ray? Ray's just some friendly guy you meet who helps you deal with a few enemies in a sewer to save some villagers being possessed by parasites. Is this guy enticing? Not really. But then you see that Ray is connected to the Evrai church in a way. He's one of those characters, fighting for the side he believes in, whether or not it's right or wrong. In Ray's case, during the battle with him, you will then come to the conclusion that he realizes that the Evrai church is in fact wrong. Well, you established that fact already seeing as to what happened with Tiga and Claris. The way Ray pays you back is with one powerful attack, which actually grants Ryu his final dragon form, which immediately will end the battle when used.
It's quite sad, as Ray decided at the last minute to help the friends he used to work with so long ago. And he couldn't do it any other time due to his own circumstances of being tied with a much more vile party. It's a tear-jerking send-off to a fierce friend that the player makes.
7. Crono - Chrono Trigger
Ah, this one is one people certainly know. Despite the fact he's the silent protagonist, and also the one who's default namesake resembles the title of the game, which actually is a key item involving him, Crono does die in this game, giving it all against the one-and-only Lavos.
It's a death that probably could've been prevented, and one that could potentially seem like a stupid sacrifice, but it's memorable enough to belong here due to Crono being the main hero, the one who never would leave the party. What happens afterwards is a very remarkable change of pace, and that's what puts this on here. You can choose to revive Crono, which most players actually do, but after his death is where the game just opens up completely. You've got a ton of quests that can be done, with the largest one of course involving the steps to his revival. But before that the game was pretty linear despite all the timeskips you do in them. Here, said death was not only one of the most memorable deaths because the player loses the hero, but a whole lot of stuff can be done after it and it's quite worthwhile to check everything out.
6. Teo - Suikoden
The Soul Eater in Suikoden 1 consumes the souls of the people closest to the bearer. Though in Suikoden 1, that really doesn't entail a whole lot. Unlike, say, Suikoden 4's Rune of Punishment, we don't actually see the rune having any major adverse effects on Tir McDohl apart from him using it in a few circumstances in the storyline. And it certainly doesn't actually consume the living souls of those directly around him. But it does take in four dead souls to power up the rune's main abilities. One of those souls is Teo.
It's definitely hard for me to pick which of the four dead souls that power up the Soul Eater is the most tragic death. I decided that Teo is the most memorable for several reasons. For one, Teo is Tir's father, as has been established at the very beginning of the game. Second, he's a Scarlet Moon general, one of the Five Great Generals in fact, so he has a major status. Third, his own son, due to the circumstances involving the Soul Eater, finds himself as the leader of the Liberation Army, the freedom fighters fighting the Scarlet Moon Empire. This of course brings us to the eventual conflict between father and son. The final aftermath does involve the son winning a duel against the father, but because of this, he's on the verge of death. Teo's actually happy about his son, how he has managed to surpass his father, the way most sons should follow in their father's footsteps. Teo's simply on the other side of the war fighting for it, and lends his lieutenants to serve under his son as a final farewell.
5. Maxim & Selan - Lufia II
It sucks that Lufia 1 shows us the end of Lufia 2. As cool as it is for most of us to play overpowered heroes against the main villains, watching cutscene powers take over which results in the death of one of these heroes (Selan) would be quite enough to shed a tear. Of course, because of this death, we watch as Maxim stays behind as the Fortress of Doom falls, meaning he perishes as well while Artea and Guy escape.
These two deaths don't really become sad until you play Lufia 2. All the way through. Given that the main character is none other than Maxim, you watch as he gets to know the environment he inhabits and meets his friends along the way. Selan is one of those, an experienced general who is said to be really skilled. Like any woman though, she's got a soft side, crying in joy after Maxim gets back from defeating Gades the first time. Said joy eventually ends up in an actual marriage between the two, both having a happy year and actually bearing a child named Jeros. Then when disaster happens it's pretty obvious that the fighting couple is back into the actual plot of the rise of the Sinistrals, continuing all the way until their final moment. It's really sad in this game due to actually experiencing the adventure these two embarked on all the way to the very end.
4. Mami - Breath of Fire 4
This was a real hard one to get. I was torn between this one and Elina's death, which involved Cray mercy killing her due to her apparent abominable status. But I settled with Mami's death due to how some people may have missed the memo for it and for how it impacts the other main protagonist.
Mami's not really anything too special. She's a random country girl in a town who happens to stumble upon a wounded Fou-lu, which is that said protagonist I mentioned. He's taken into her company and sort of just given a home. Basically speaking, she's a good samaritan, completely unaware that Fou-lu was of some status that his own empire wants, and ends up giving herself up. This has some extreme consequences when Lord Una actually decides to use her against Fou-lu, by having her as ammunition pointed straight at the guy. When Fou is hit, he sees the bells, the same ones Mami wore, and this causes him to outright snap and hate all of humanity because of this. She was basically the last floodgate keeping the dragon god sane and not outright villainous to everyone, and due to the circumstances, he's now a full-fledged villain. It's more blatant in the manga for Breath of Fire 4, which unfortunately no one really looked at.
3. Alicia - Live-A-Live
The antagonists of Breath of Fire 4 and Live-A-Live are a lot alike. They were both characters the player would have experience working with. They both had to go through a hell of a lot of hardships. There was one character that was really that last hope for them. In the case of Oersted, that was Alicia.
The reason this death ranks over Mami was because this was Oersted's one goal in his one quest. This was what he was fighting for, and after being exiled for being a demon, it was his only hope left. He was quite the knight in his heyday, winning the tournament and the right to marry Alicia, who of course gets kidnapped. As I said in my look back at Live-A-Live, the cliche plot gets completely deconstructed, when Oersted actually kills the king in an illusion, making everyone hate him. He finds and fights Straybow, his former friend, and then it happens. Alicia decides that she loved Straybow more because of the pains of not being the winner all the time, or something like that, and commits suicide right in front of Oersted. You watch this, and then you see Oersted declaring himself as the demon king in the way that it makes perfect sense why he would become a demon. All because of her. In fact, it's so bad, that when you fight his last incarnation, one of his attacks, Saint Alicia, shows a woman who's visage goes horrifying, implied to be how Oersted sees Alicia now.
2. Galuf - Final Fantasy 5
I value character development a lot. Unfortunately none of those characters in Final Fantasy V proved to be really interesting at all. Bartz is really just an adventurer. Faris is a cross-dressing pirate and a secret princess. Both Lenna and Cara/Krile are princesses in their own right. Galuf? Well he's an amnesiac hero. You've probably seen such heroes. Also he's the oldest of the group as well.
Still though, it's admirable how they decided to give Galuf his memory back, giving him far more development than all of the other playable characters combined. He goes from being an amnesiac to a general, one of the original four heroes along with two of his other friends (apparently Bartz's father died before the story began). He's with the main party when he can, and when he confronts Exdeath, that's when the death becomes memorable. He's managing to fight the battle completely solo, and with zero health too. It's the power of love and friendship, and as cliche as it is, he manages to beat Exdeath and save his party and granddaughter. Of course he dies this way. But it's what makes this death very special, and beats every other Final Fantasy death out of the water. As he dies, we see the party actually making an attempt to revive him with the Phoenix Down or Life spells. And it doesn't work. You look at other famous deaths in the franchise and potentially wonder if it is possible to revive characters in the plotline a similar way. Final Fantasy V actually makes that attempt and shows that it isn't actually possible. Of course this is due to the way Galuf fought Exdeath, but they managed to excel in making a character die and prevent his revival.
1. Luca Blight - Suikoden 2
Deaths in RPGs tend to be tragic when they happen to the hero, while an accomplishment for villains. Although some villains are really just tragic characters in themselves as well. Luca's an interesting case here.
His tragic backstory is honestly only really seen in Suikoden lore and in one cutscene in-game. Watching his mother get raped while his father cowardly doesn't help is what drove him to utter madness and a lust for killing "pigs". You don't see this lore anywhere else, you just see Luca as a villain who's pretty much knows his villainous deeds. The whole plot of the game up to his death is mostly running away from the guy, since he's too powerful to contend with, as well as formulating strategies against him and his Highland woes. And even then, there needs to be some outside help from the traitor Jowy, who unbeknownst to the Dunan Army, is secretly helping them plot against Luca and his misdeeds.
And then there's the matter of Luca Blight actually falling dead in the famous night raid. Surely enough, this guy is clearly made of iron. Those arrows kill his soldiers and his horse, causing him to fight one group of freedom fighters. He then runs and then confronts another group, and then the hero's group. While he does manage to run from each fight he's involved in, he doesn't get so far before the jar of fireflies gives him away to even more arrows. And yet again, he's still got the stomach to engage the main hero in one final duel, despite him being at half strength. Only then, does he die. It took all of what I just said in this one paragraph to kill the almighty Luca Blight, the scourge of Suikoden 2.
And the best part? Luca is fully human. Granted, he's certainly a strong archetype of a human, but he doesn't have any lame true-form transformations like other JRPG villains. He's just that resilient. The game really isn't over after Luca's fall, but in a way, it feels like the worst is over for every Suikoden II player once they finally defeated this madman.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)