FFXV really needs a Love Story and there is potential

While currently playing FFVIII for the first time in like 10 years I realize how much I miss a great, corny and cheesy love story in my FF games. FFX was the last one with a love story as focus and it is still one of my most favorite FFs ever made. FFXV really needs to have one as Focus and giving the material we have seen so far there is thankfully a ton of potential here.

For once we have these 2 main protagonists which are from 2 different 2 families (? rerminds me a bit of a Mafia Organisation so that's why I call them families XD) which are in war with each other.So basically we have a Romeo and Julliet situation right there.

Further more as far as I know she wants to kill Noctis and which could lead to drama than falling with the person you hate or want to kill XD

Also we had this scene of their first meeting which also smelled a lot like a romance to me.

So despite the whole boyband feeling which the other characters give me, I am pretty sure or better really really hope that they will actually go for a romantic love story again instead of something subtle like we had with FFXII with Ashe and Balthier or FFXIII with Snow and Sera.

So who is with me?^^

I just want them to move the fuck away from Lightning and XIII. That is literally the only thing I want. I want to be able to say I actually give a shit about a Final Fantasy game (one that isn't an MMO) again.

So yeah, I think a love story, cheesy or not, would be quite nice at this point just as long as we're finally getting moving onto something new and, hopefully, not shitty.

It doesn't.

Love stories are a dime a dozen and they are rarely ever handled with any degree of tact in video games. Or in most forms of media for that matter.

Maybe it is just me but if they could drop the boy band looks too. The main characters father.... I don't know.... looks like a guy. So why does Noctis look like a j-pop star who forgot his makeup? What is really irritating is the only people who do seem to look like this are also all party members. If everyone else can look like a somewhat believable human being why cant the main characters?

That being said, yes, the further they get away from FF13 the better. If that means a romance subplot go for it, just please don't try to sell me on being a time traveling mercenary who kills a uber witch in the future that causes her to inhabit the body of the woman raising me as a kid so my dad can defeat her and chain her to a satellite in outer space.

Japanese media handles love stories much better than american or most European romance. 10 years ago there was such a great era of romance series and movies in Japan. It was such a great time... Also there are very few romance plots these days. It is rather subtle but not full romance beside JRPGs which still feature more teen and light romance plots. But not on a level like FFVIII and FFX did for example.

Id rather them not actually. FFXIII series has been the first time in awhile there wasn't a romantic interest for a main character. Cloud had Tifa, Squall had Rinoa ,Zidane had Garnet ,Tidus had Yuna.

You know, as cheesy as it is...I kind of agree.

I'll agree that there are some great Japanese romance films, but the romance in FF8 was not done well at all.

Cloud more like had Aeris and we know how that ended, Tifa always felt friend zoned! Zidane and Garnet were just walking cliches (like that entire game) so their romance was about as deep and believable as the fact that Vegeta was the villain. Also Tidus was well.... you know. So of all those you just listed 1 was just uh... lame/trite, and the other two basically end badly. So yes there has been much romance in previous FF but at least two of them had some depth to them so maybe they can do something okay with it?

Crappy love stories are a real turn off for me. Japanese RPGs are at their best when they don't take themselves too seriously, and a soppy attempt at generating emotion is rarely conducive to that.

@donchipotle: FFVIII was cheesy as hell. I just finished the space part in FFVIII and could not help but to smile while watching these scenes with squall and Riona. Of course it is not on a level like stuff as Love generation, Long Vacation etc if you know these jdramas, but at least it was full on romance in a time, story took still a backseat in gaming.

Today, story and storytelling are becoming more and more important but what we still missing are real love stories in video games. I think SE could have a really really big chance to produce such a thing with today standards in presentation and storytelling.

I'd be happy if they added one, but won't go so far as to say that they need or have to. I'm a sucker for good or cheesy romances.

Agreed. Even though the romance was cheesy it was also sincere. I think that's something FF has been lacking for a while: sincerity.

Well considering FFXV is taking a lot of inspiration from Shakespear, most notably Hamlet and Romeo & Juliet, then I think it's safe to say there will be a love story involved although likely not one that ends happy.

@karkarov: Love interests in JRPG's whether handled well or not are always cliche as hell. Which is just yet one more reason I adore FFXIII.

Nnnnnoooooooooope

@demoskinos: FFXIII? Where Snow wouldn't stop shouting SA(e)RAAAA(h)? Now FFXII, on the other hand...

The thing that is really silly about FF8's romance is that it quite literally happens out of nowhere. As soon as disc three happens suddenly Squall is all about Rinoa when he wasn't before. Before then, it was just all of his friends trying to hook him up with her despite him showing no interest at all. Then disc three happens and suddenly the dude is taking her to Esthar and going into space to help her out because he loves her now.

@veektarius: Snow isn't the main character. Lighting is.

Everyone knows the love story in that game is Lightning x Hope!

Love stories are almost always dumb and filler. I don't want that anywhere near my FF. I loved FFVIII but the whole Rinoa/Squall thing was too much for me, probably the only part of that game I hated.

I agree, I love how they handled in XIII. Lightning is so stubborn and thickheaded that she's just like, "Fuck that shit." There is never even any sort of possibility for her having a love interest in the game because she's just such a lone wolf. Lightning would scoff at a relationship haha.

I also like how basically Snow and Serah are separated for the entire series. They're never together so you never get any of that cheesy dialogue between them, though you DO get Snow saying "I will find you Serah!" etc. But that is different, it's his drive and will to live past his Focus.

Although I WILL say that I got a strong vibe between Fang and Vanille. Fang is so protective of her and in some scenes it seems as though they are in love.

@babychoochoo Despite it having a name change it is still part of the XIII Universe (Fabula Nova Crystalis) and will *apparently* be set in the same world with the same religion (Etro). It's unknown if the fal'Cie or l'Cie will play a role. I think the game takes place in Pulse far in the future after the events of the XIII saga.

@demoskinos: I'm not sure that's true - you see as much of Snow's story as you do of Lightning's. And Sazh's and Hope's. It's not like FFX where the plot is centered around two characters and you just have brief windows into the other characters' lives. So the distinction there isn't meaningful to me.

No it doesn't? Most of the best JRPG stories don't really have a significant love side plot (Vagrant Story, Final Fantasy Tactics, Valkyrie Profile 2, Xenosaga)

@veektarius: While I agree that 13 does more to get into the supporting cast's pathos than previous games, the protagonist of that game is still Lightning. 6 is possibly the best any game has come to a real ensemble cast, and most would still argue Terra as the protagonist.

@brodehouse: Mog was clearly the protagonist.

I'm less concerned about another Final Fantasy love story and more concerned about that haircut that only a mother could love.

I mean, the girl looks perfectly normal, but I just want to punch that guy based on looks alone. He makes Vaan look like a manly man.

@believer258: Game really needs Tressfx

...OK, if TressFX is in this game then I would be more accepting of that dude's bedhead.

I'm not saying she's not the protagonist, I'm saying that the love story in that game is given as much time as if she were not. (FFXII is the closest it's come to an ensemble cast, by the way, though it's a small ensemble. FFVI is pretty strongly Terra's story, though you get a decent amount of Locke/Celes as well. But when you start looking at the amount of time spent with the stories of guys like Cyan, Sabin, Gau, Setzer... a lot of them come off as pretty two-dimensional)

@veektarius: I understand about the first part and I agree that 12 is also an ensemble cast, but I have to vehemently disagree about the supporting cast in 6 coming off two-dimensional. I think you might need to account for era there, because in 1994 the attention paid to the supporting cast and their unique storylines was revolutionary. Yes, you could say Cyan is merely torn up by guilt and duty and that's all that goes on with his character, but I think that's a rather uncharitable interpretation. What I can say is that some of the most arresting moments in that game come as a result of his character being included; the initial attack on Doma, being separated from his family at the Phantom Train, the sequence in Zoso or the nightmare during the return to Doma. I liked Setzer originally because he was a caddish rogue and that was how I saw myself as a younger man, but the sequence where he goes into Daryl's tomb, aside from being one of the best cinematography in the game, it takes Setzer from 2D to at least 2.5D.

Of course this is all a tangent from the OP's topic, so I digress.

Will the dumb haircuts ever go is a more worthwhile topic. Because I'm sure there is going to be some cheesy romance in here somewhere.

@brodehouse: Yeah, I'll let it end there. Good chat.

I hate his hair, but damn I love the way they're wearing normal people clothes. Hopefully this is a trend that continues in Final Fantasy.

More interesting topic: What do you guys think of the romantic relationship between Vanille and Fang in FFXIII? Mr Nick Rox thought it was extremely well done.

If we're expecting a corny love story to restore the FF series to its former glory, we might as well take it out back and shoot it in the face. Bury XV in a shallow grave, forget it ever existed, and build around the Star Ocean series.

Then again, that series hasn't been good in over ten years. Fuck it! We're bringing back Aki Ross and heading straight to the Promised Land!

X is the only one I really like and have any interest in replaying, and that had a heavy romance focus (the most outside of VIII, probably), so I wouldn't be opposed to it, but I don't really think it's necessary to be a good FF. It just needs to be fun, which is something they seem to have trouble with.

Man, you'd think they'd realize the more detailed they get with their hair tech, the worse anime hair looks.

Dude lets not be goddamn silly here. She's on the front of the box and is clearly positioned as the main protagonist of the FFXIII trilogy the third game of which she is the ONLY character you control at all.

I really don't think so. Squall fell in love with Riona on the first sight. Otherwise for example they would never danced like this. The thing however is, that Squall also never wanted to be hurt again so he always tried not to get too attached to her but "failed" in the end, because Squall also grow and changed a lot in this game. Their story is the perfect example of "you really realized how much you love something when you lost it" Something Japanese media or romance stories almost ever have in some sort or form.

I completely forgot that game got renamed to FFV

kill anime

Two of the main protagonists, whom the story by all accounts seem to revolve around, is a young man and a young woman.

I'd be more surprised if they DIDN'T end up knocking boots by the end of the game.

That said I bet Noct's dad eats it early in the game so prince j-pop goes on to spend a large part of it being mopey, forsaking all other subplots. It's gonna be great!

Add Front Mission 3 - Alisa Scenario to the list of excellent JRPG plots not involving love stories.

The world would be a better place if there were more games like FM3. Good call.

It is not really germane to this discussion, but FFX had one of my favorite romance moments in a video game. If can FFXV can have a scene that is half as good as this one I'll be happy.

I know it's a dead horse, but I completely agree. I really hate the trend that Square and other Japanese devs have been doing where their guys look like women. I mean, it's ok once in a while, but lately EVERYONE has been looking like that, and it's just getting annoying.

It's kind of scary, because there have been a few times when I found the male character MORE attractive than the female characters, and then when I realize they were men, I am just like... You've got to be freaking kidding me.

I do noooot agree in the slightest. Do a love story or whatever if they feel like it, I don't care. But it definitely doesn't NEED one, especially if it would be shoehorned in.

I think cheesy romance suits their brand of storytelling well, and since they didn't do it in 12, 13, or 13-2 (and I doubt they'll do it in Lightning Returns), then I'd say they're due.

You say all of this like it's some kind of bad thing. Why the hell does there need to be a love story? I was STOKED that there wasn't a love story within FF12! It's one of the things that I appreciated the most about it (besides every other thing about that game, as it was fucking fantastic and one of the best three in the franchise).

A love story isn't what Final Fantasy needs to worry about. It's making compelling and interesting gameplay mechanics that aren't boiled down to "just hit the A button over and over and watch shit happen on-screen." FF13 was a fucking travesty of a game, the two MMOs are basically a joke to me, and FF10 was a load of shit IMO. Then again, I also hate FF7 and FF8. FF9 and FF12 were fucking legit games, and I would like FF15 to get back to that level of awesome: where the RPG part is the thing that keeps me playing and the story is overall good.