gekigengar gargant III!!! (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
aestivalis) wrote2021-04-08 04:24 pm
aestivalis) wrote2021-04-08 04:24 pm
zis vestal is quite the little monster, no?
I have played back up to Chapter Two of the original Bravely Default!
"But Gargant," You might say. "You never wrote a post about the finale of Bravely Default II! Won't you regret not making a record of your final thoughts?"
AND I PROBABLY WILL BUT I'M SORRY, IT'S TOO HARD :(( I MISS GAME....
So let's talk about Bravely Default instead!
✦ I have to admit I don't remember too much about the actual interface of Bravely Second, so take this with a pinch of salt, BUT. Holy heck, Bravely Default II has so many small quality of life improvements over Bravely Default. I don't mean that as an insult to the original! But I honestly don't think I was appreciating the improvements present in Bravely Default II because it had just been too long since I'd experienced the original.
It's only little things, but they really do add up. One that really irks me is that Examine doesn't persist after battle in Bravely Default! I don't want to have to Examine the same monster in every single battle to remind myself how much HP it has! Bravely Default II spoiled me and now I can't go back...! Also I saw a lot of people complaining that Examine in Bravely Default II doesn't tell you what elements/weapon types the enemy is resistant to (and it is true that that is a nuisance!), but... Examine in Bravely Default doesn't tell you that either...!
Bravely Default is also making me really appreciate just how much I appreciate the equipment system as it exists in Bravely Default II. It was so detailed and yet so transparent at the same time! And AH, I also miss Special Moves being linked to each individual asterisk class rather than the weapon type being wielded. And it's nice fixing Norende again, but I MISS MY LITTLE SAIL BOAT. Okay self stop missing Bravely Default II and try talking about the game you're actually playing.
✦ Agnès is still my favourite. She's a bit of a nightmare in some ways, but I like that about her. I like that she's sheltered and cloistered, and that it manifests as distrust and stubbornness and a fear of people's expectations. She isn't just sweet and shy—she's difficult to be around, she's reluctant to share her hopes and fears, she's naïve and malleable but also dogmatic and unyielding. And she's so alone in the world. Everyone she loved died, and died protecting her, even, and there are so many people actively seeking to cause her harm and she just has to keep going forward in the face of that.
The stuff in the Wind Temple, examining the rooms, just breaks my heart. And her night time conversation with Sage Yulyana as well. I really love Agnès you guys. I love my broken-hearted girl.
✦ Some of the asterisk bearers are much funnier than I remembered them being! I think Barras Lehr honestly owes a lot to whoever voices him, because he and Holly Whyte don't really deserve to be as funny as they are. Ridiculous. And Khamer, similarly! His voice just sells it all so well. Profiteur is hilarious, but that was already a fact well known.
I'm looking forward to reacquainting myself with the rest of them as the story progresses. I wonder if I'm still going to hate Kamiizumi as much as I used to!
✦ Sage Yulyana is a character that drives me crazy, for reasons I'll largely touch on below the cut, but first of all... I actually really like a lot about him! I love his wisdom, I love his beautiful little tailoring shop in the middle of the forest, I love the whimsy of it! I love his storyline as it's revealed over the course of the game, and I generally love his story with Agnès. He could so easily have been one of my favourites. Honestly I think he kind of still is?! But...
✦ Alright, here comes the negative stuff. I remembered going into this game that I don't really like Ringabel, but I think he's actually moreinsufferable than I remember! I know for a fact that I'm particularly sensitive about womaniser-type characters, and generally any humour that relies to heavily on that kind of gender essentialist 'boy's are like THIS, girl's are like THAT', but damn. Almost every other line out of Ringabel's mouth is related to his playboy persona, and it drives me crazy. I DON'T CARE, RINGABEL. 'What are the ladies like there?' I DON'T CARE. 'Do I detect a hint of jealousy?' I DON'T CARE. 'Tiz understands what I'm talking about' NO HE DOESN'T AND ALSO I DON'T CARE. 'I can't keep track of how many girlfriends I have' GUESS WHAT MOTHERLOVER, I. DO. NOT. CARE.
Maybe if it wasn't so relentless I could handle it better, but good grief the man just never stops! And I just don't find it funny! And if you don't enjoy this one particular schtick then heaven help you, because it's not like he's got much else going on. Like sure, yeah, he has his actual plotline, but... well, that's got heaps of problems baked into it as well. Whew. Fucking Ringabel.
Unfortunately, this stuff doesn't end off with him. So much of this game hinges on humour at the expense of women as objects, and it really just highlighted how little of that existed in Bravely Default II. The first few hours of this game have Barras (who, admittedly, is somewhat offset by the equally ludicrous Holly), Ominas Crowe blathering on about how W-W-WOMEN should know their place and stop being so mean and condescending by... like, existing, everyone in the universe talking over Agnès over and over again until she finally agrees that actually she is doomed and hopeless without people to guide her, and then of course the illustrious Ringabel himself. It's just a nightmare.
AND THEN. SAGE YULYANA. Sage Yulyana, delightfully reminiscing about knowing Agnès when she was 'just a little sprout' while simultaneously chatting about how she's gotten so ~pleasantly jiggly~ and trying to get her to share his bed, COULD YOU JUST FUCKING STOP, GAME. I AM LITERALLY BEGGING YOU.
And now I'm in Florem, the land of ~chaste flowers~ except all the girls have become vain which apparently means they're all mean bitches now. WHEW. For a game I love so much, Bravely Default is just emotionally exhausting if you're even remotely sensitive to this junk. And, sadly, I really really am.
✦ I really don't mean to be so negative about something I honestly really love and enjoy! But man. When I love Bravely Default I really love it, but when it cuts me it tends to cut real deep. And man, but it makes me so grateful for Bravely Default II for just eliminating these elements completely. God bless. JRPG's, I believe in you.
"But Gargant," You might say. "You never wrote a post about the finale of Bravely Default II! Won't you regret not making a record of your final thoughts?"
AND I PROBABLY WILL BUT I'M SORRY, IT'S TOO HARD :(( I MISS GAME....
So let's talk about Bravely Default instead!
✦ I have to admit I don't remember too much about the actual interface of Bravely Second, so take this with a pinch of salt, BUT. Holy heck, Bravely Default II has so many small quality of life improvements over Bravely Default. I don't mean that as an insult to the original! But I honestly don't think I was appreciating the improvements present in Bravely Default II because it had just been too long since I'd experienced the original.
It's only little things, but they really do add up. One that really irks me is that Examine doesn't persist after battle in Bravely Default! I don't want to have to Examine the same monster in every single battle to remind myself how much HP it has! Bravely Default II spoiled me and now I can't go back...! Also I saw a lot of people complaining that Examine in Bravely Default II doesn't tell you what elements/weapon types the enemy is resistant to (and it is true that that is a nuisance!), but... Examine in Bravely Default doesn't tell you that either...!
Bravely Default is also making me really appreciate just how much I appreciate the equipment system as it exists in Bravely Default II. It was so detailed and yet so transparent at the same time! And AH, I also miss Special Moves being linked to each individual asterisk class rather than the weapon type being wielded. And it's nice fixing Norende again, but I MISS MY LITTLE SAIL BOAT. Okay self stop missing Bravely Default II and try talking about the game you're actually playing.
✦ Agnès is still my favourite. She's a bit of a nightmare in some ways, but I like that about her. I like that she's sheltered and cloistered, and that it manifests as distrust and stubbornness and a fear of people's expectations. She isn't just sweet and shy—she's difficult to be around, she's reluctant to share her hopes and fears, she's naïve and malleable but also dogmatic and unyielding. And she's so alone in the world. Everyone she loved died, and died protecting her, even, and there are so many people actively seeking to cause her harm and she just has to keep going forward in the face of that.
The stuff in the Wind Temple, examining the rooms, just breaks my heart. And her night time conversation with Sage Yulyana as well. I really love Agnès you guys. I love my broken-hearted girl.
✦ Some of the asterisk bearers are much funnier than I remembered them being! I think Barras Lehr honestly owes a lot to whoever voices him, because he and Holly Whyte don't really deserve to be as funny as they are. Ridiculous. And Khamer, similarly! His voice just sells it all so well. Profiteur is hilarious, but that was already a fact well known.
I'm looking forward to reacquainting myself with the rest of them as the story progresses. I wonder if I'm still going to hate Kamiizumi as much as I used to!
✦ Sage Yulyana is a character that drives me crazy, for reasons I'll largely touch on below the cut, but first of all... I actually really like a lot about him! I love his wisdom, I love his beautiful little tailoring shop in the middle of the forest, I love the whimsy of it! I love his storyline as it's revealed over the course of the game, and I generally love his story with Agnès. He could so easily have been one of my favourites. Honestly I think he kind of still is?! But...
✦ Alright, here comes the negative stuff. I remembered going into this game that I don't really like Ringabel, but I think he's actually moreinsufferable than I remember! I know for a fact that I'm particularly sensitive about womaniser-type characters, and generally any humour that relies to heavily on that kind of gender essentialist 'boy's are like THIS, girl's are like THAT', but damn. Almost every other line out of Ringabel's mouth is related to his playboy persona, and it drives me crazy. I DON'T CARE, RINGABEL. 'What are the ladies like there?' I DON'T CARE. 'Do I detect a hint of jealousy?' I DON'T CARE. 'Tiz understands what I'm talking about' NO HE DOESN'T AND ALSO I DON'T CARE. 'I can't keep track of how many girlfriends I have' GUESS WHAT MOTHERLOVER, I. DO. NOT. CARE.
Maybe if it wasn't so relentless I could handle it better, but good grief the man just never stops! And I just don't find it funny! And if you don't enjoy this one particular schtick then heaven help you, because it's not like he's got much else going on. Like sure, yeah, he has his actual plotline, but... well, that's got heaps of problems baked into it as well. Whew. Fucking Ringabel.
Unfortunately, this stuff doesn't end off with him. So much of this game hinges on humour at the expense of women as objects, and it really just highlighted how little of that existed in Bravely Default II. The first few hours of this game have Barras (who, admittedly, is somewhat offset by the equally ludicrous Holly), Ominas Crowe blathering on about how W-W-WOMEN should know their place and stop being so mean and condescending by... like, existing, everyone in the universe talking over Agnès over and over again until she finally agrees that actually she is doomed and hopeless without people to guide her, and then of course the illustrious Ringabel himself. It's just a nightmare.
AND THEN. SAGE YULYANA. Sage Yulyana, delightfully reminiscing about knowing Agnès when she was 'just a little sprout' while simultaneously chatting about how she's gotten so ~pleasantly jiggly~ and trying to get her to share his bed, COULD YOU JUST FUCKING STOP, GAME. I AM LITERALLY BEGGING YOU.
And now I'm in Florem, the land of ~chaste flowers~ except all the girls have become vain which apparently means they're all mean bitches now. WHEW. For a game I love so much, Bravely Default is just emotionally exhausting if you're even remotely sensitive to this junk. And, sadly, I really really am.
✦ I really don't mean to be so negative about something I honestly really love and enjoy! But man. When I love Bravely Default I really love it, but when it cuts me it tends to cut real deep. And man, but it makes me so grateful for Bravely Default II for just eliminating these elements completely. God bless. JRPG's, I believe in you.
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Compared to basically every other game I've played from the series, it's a goddamn miracle there are no mentions of melons, bazongas, washboards and whatever fucking else they thing tits need to be called other than tits (or boobs or breasts). It's not cute, it's not endearing and oftentimes it's at the expense of character.
Grrrr, she grr'd.
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*Mrgrgrr, she mrgrgrr'd.
But yes, absolutely. I feel like I couldn't even really tell what was "missing" in Zestiria at first, and it really took me a while to realise 'oh, wow, there's no stupid chest jokes in this Tales game'. Zestiria Squad till the day I die >:(
And yeah, some of it really does feel like writing that seems to come despite the characters rather than because of them. Sometimes I'm able to step back and see that unfortunate situation for what it is, but just as often I find it all too inextricably linked. And thus, perfectly good characters are ruined.