Final Fantasy general

I like how Shadowbringers has worshippers of the Dark called the Night's Blessed on the First and they're alright folks.

They even put small dabbles of dark magic in water to give folks.

And revealing there are more nuanced sympathetic reasons behind Zodiark and the Ascians. Though still as enemies whose values are incompatible with the Warrior of Light.

Edited by OmegaRadiance on Jul 8th 2019 at 2:56:33 AM

You have to have the ability to write that its not the fault of the very concept of religion, just that of the individuals who use it for their own advantage.

That's a good way to put it actually. A very good way to put it.

Edit:

Well said.

Edited by HandsomeRob on Jul 8th 2019 at 3:58:34 AM

FFX is one of the only one I can think of where actual religious practice is examined to any reasonable degree. Most of the rest just use the church interchangeably with what Duranzo described, especially if they're a benevolent church.

Usually with nun and priest robes or some equivalent for visual flavor.

Edited by Hashil on Jul 8th 2019 at 3:58:52 AM

aye "Religion BAD" is an overused trope,look we get it,people in positions do abuse their authority but tarring every organised religion with the same old brush gets old and trite fast

It probably helps that the nation they live in is explicitly very religious & Yuna is apart of a religious prophecy.

Edited by slimcoder on Jul 8th 2019 at 3:00:56 AM

"Religion is a farce that shackles humans from their full potential, binding them to uncaring Tyrants" - Dagda, father of the Tuatha De Danaan.

Edgy Atheism 101

Edited by OmegaRadiance on Jul 8th 2019 at 3:02:12 AM

I mean, it's not totally untrue that people take what's there and use it as another way to control others.

Or as a justification for their bigotry.

Or as some other negative thing.

This happens in the real world all the time. My issue is that...well we don't see the other side. Then again, going after religion was apparently a thing of most Science Fiction, probably due to exactly the stuff that I just mentioned.

It would be nice to see a more nuanced look at it.

Religions have been going after other religions since it was cool.

Literally anything Gnosticism related, the switched Good/evil dynamics of the Daevas and Ahuras(Asuras) between Hindu/Buddhism and Zoroastrianism, Christian Persecution in Rome, and more Im too lazy to remember at the moment.

Edited by OmegaRadiance on Jul 8th 2019 at 3:41:49 AM

Indeed.

I just want some less predictable portrayals of Religion...and Atheism too while we're at it.

Hollywood Atheism is a thing as well, and should probably also be fought.

Edited by HandsomeRob on Jul 8th 2019 at 4:47:00 AM

...so what's Beerus?

A prick.

Beerus: -_- Hakai

No, that's Cooler.

Beerus is stronger, and therefore a bigger prick.

He is also (for the time being at least) canon.

...just to be clear I like Coola. But he is non canon right now.

....how about that Final Fantasy huh? It sure is something we talk about in this thread, and I'm in no way trying to re-rail it after de-railing it with my talk about religion.

Have a MIDI Otherworld.

I thought FFX and even X-2 did a good job with religion. Religion is Evil is most assuredly an overdone cliche but FFX gives it a decent bit of nuance thanks to the game's superlative worldbuilding.

There's a lot that stands out to me but I think it's the exchange between Tidu s and Auron on Gagazet that I most remember:

Auron: It is as I thought.

Tidus: What is?

Auron: Yevon is in turmoil. Mika tries to keep it whole, but it crumbles around him.

Tidus: Look, I couldn’t care less what happens to Yevon.

Auron: Because you are not of this world. To those who truly believe in the teachings… a time of much pain is coming.

X-2, for all its goofiness and much happier tone than its predecessor, nevertheless gave us a very believable and well-done continuation of this world. With the theocracy gone people are happier but crime has gone up drastically so you now encounter bandits on the road. One group wants to completely renounce everything and start anew and another, as Baralai says,feels lost in all this rapid change and so they find comfort in retaining some of the old ways.

Even in FFX itself the narrative establishes Mika, Seymour and Yunalesca are delusional more than malicious.They think they're doing what is best for Spira and what is needed to keep people happy.It's not just about having power to them.

The Church of Yevon is still overall portrayed in a bad light though, especially given their hypocrisy when it comes to machina and their bigotry against the Al Bhed. Bigotry that is rooted in the hypocritical stance against machina.

The clearest illustration of the hypocrisy of Yevon is that the Temple of Bevelle, the very heart of that religion...has machina transportation. That and all of their personal troops wield machina rifles and are supported by autonomous machina weapons.

Edited by M84 on Jul 8th 2019 at 10:20:15 PM

Villains and villainous organizations can be wrong and still have nuance, which X did a pretty good job with aside from Seymour, in my opinion.

Seymour's the culmination of everything wrong with the Church of Yevon. Their bullshit combined with his own childhood traumas convinced him that everyone in Spira would be better off dead. And the near unchecked power he gained from becoming a maester put him in a position to act on that nihilism.

Edited by M84 on Jul 8th 2019 at 10:24:56 PM

Like his mom became an Aeon to teach him to become a Summoner because that's the only way people would accept him.

Aka if he KILLED HIMSELF then people would like him.

Funny enough I stopped playing X on the Seymour boss-fight.

The one where you get Yuna back.

I kept getting my damn ass kicked every time. Generally around his final summon after using up my summon.

That fight is one of the trickier ones in the game if you don't know what's coming.

The Aeon vs. Aeon part of it comes down to knowing when to boost and when to attack or defend — it's a race to see which one can reach Overdrive faster.

Edited by M84 on Jul 8th 2019 at 10:31:29 PM

My brother got stuck on that and the church dungeon. Hasn't gone back since.

My Shiva actually lost to Anima the first time I played that fight.

Fortunately, I also had my other Aeons with Overdrives ready to go.