tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-268660459652553228.post5709405994581139949..comments2024-02-26T20:52:27.680-08:00Comments on Thinking Inside the Box: General RPG Lists: Lamest VillainsThe RPGeniushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02752937839502693108noreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-268660459652553228.post-62475407972291265892016-12-09T07:40:35.815-08:002016-12-09T07:40:35.815-08:00Boy it must suck to be Dracula, constantly being r...Boy it must suck to be Dracula, constantly being revived by some assholes then destroyed by another asshole (armed with only a whip, which is somehow enough to conquer your army of darkness) every few weeks. Poor guy just can't catch a break.<br /><br />Also it's telling that despite being a fan of FF7 I always found Sephiroth incredibly lame, for the exact reasons you posted. Despite being hyped up as the biggest baddie who ever loved he did fuck all throughout the entire game, and what little development he has goes by so quickly you'll miss it if you blink.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-268660459652553228.post-17685947719587571732013-07-22T16:11:32.734-07:002013-07-22T16:11:32.734-07:00Actually didn't Shirley forgot what it meant t...Actually didn't Shirley forgot what it meant to be the Merines after the first failed attempt and only remember what would happen during the transformation? Sure she still gave but...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-268660459652553228.post-40849239099544086602013-07-22T09:34:59.739-07:002013-07-22T09:34:59.739-07:00Seriously! It's like no one cares in the leas...Seriously! It's like no one cares in the least that she was gonna go along with the eradication of an entire sapient species, because she was feeling a little rejected at the time. And putting aside the strange, difficult to explain romantic 180 that Senel pulls about loving her, he's decided he loves her as she's pulling this villain shit. I just feel like maybe her planning to kill you and everyone you've ever known should cool your passions just a bit, yeah?<br /><br />I mean, I like Shirley okay once the game's second half gets going, and I...GUESS I'm okay with her becoming a proper part of the gang and all, but there really should've been SOME repercussions for planning genocide.The RPGeniushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02752937839502693108noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-268660459652553228.post-7477934848674113752013-07-22T07:41:40.744-07:002013-07-22T07:41:40.744-07:00About Shirley.
What really irks me is how she pre...About Shirley.<br /><br />What really irks me is how she pretty much nearly got away with what she did.Rnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-268660459652553228.post-38383751389018228222013-07-21T10:58:57.446-07:002013-07-21T10:58:57.446-07:00Okay, so, by now I have some actual first impressi...Okay, so, by now I have some actual first impressions, and they are that the voice acting is competent, the setting is interesting, and the general feel of SMT4 definitely is truer to the original SMT1 and 2 than any other game in the series by far. The opening dreams are what does it, although there's also something about those semi-faceless still-poses of people you encounter that really intensifies the SMT essence, somehow. I have a little trouble thinking of the techno gauntlet thing as anything but a Fallout Pip-Boy, but I'm sure that'll fade with time. Can't say much regarding the plot and characters yet, but it's definitely promising.The RPGeniushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02752937839502693108noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-268660459652553228.post-37059121867839280682013-07-20T09:51:49.657-07:002013-07-20T09:51:49.657-07:00My first impression is that all these dadgummed ne...My first impression is that all these dadgummed newfangled techno-doohickies are too complicated. I spent like an hour today figuring out how to make my 3DS's wireless connection work at the local mall. Then I had to go across the street from the mall for a 3DS SD Card, since apparently SMT4's DLC needs one of them. Then back at the mall, I had to figure out how to update my 3DS's system to be compatible with SMT4 DLC's needs. Then finally I managed to download the free and promotional DLCs for the game.<br /><br />Maybe it would help if I were the least be technologically competent, but man, playing games is a lot of hassle nowadays.The RPGeniushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02752937839502693108noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-268660459652553228.post-72381521795774316172013-07-19T18:42:36.719-07:002013-07-19T18:42:36.719-07:00Also some quick first impressions of Shin IV pleas...Also some quick first impressions of Shin IV please<br /><br />France does not existAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-268660459652553228.post-62899117080064242812013-07-19T12:23:58.815-07:002013-07-19T12:23:58.815-07:00Yeah, that's some of the reason why I pointed ...Yeah, that's some of the reason why I pointed out Seymour as a case where a decision that seems like an insane overreaction can still work. Like you point out, it's not overplayed, it's actually halfway sensible, and there's obviously been more than just one step between "Daddy didn't hug me very often" and "Everyone should die."The RPGeniushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02752937839502693108noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-268660459652553228.post-9262545560598939942013-07-19T12:13:59.034-07:002013-07-19T12:13:59.034-07:00Kratos is let off the hook because he's Supah ...Kratos is let off the hook because he's Supah Kawaiiiii Bishounen Best Swordsman. Remember, if you are pretty and generic enough, there is no sin that cannot be glossed over, forgotten, or not even recognized in the first place.<br /><br />I didn't FF7 invented the stupid mega-sized sword. I just said it was stupid and silly. Original or not, that doesn't change.<br /><br />Look, man, personally guiding things or not, Sephiroth himself is still just sitting on his ass doing nothing. Nearly every lame villain who's just letting everyone else do everything for him is still at least guiding them in some capacity, but that doesn't change the fact that they either can't be bothered or don't themselves have the ability to personally work toward their own goals.<br /><br />I could've sworn that YOU were the one that first coined the idea of Sephiroth going crazy from reading books. I must've gotten it from someone else. At any rate, it's really no lamer an explanation than what you're pointing out, which is extremely vaguely described mental instability of inadequately explored origins. Hell, it sounds even weaker now. And no less difficult to square against him being the supposedly strongest willed person on the planet.<br /><br />To be fair, if we want to really make a stretch and consider the whole Jenova-control thing as being attributable enough to Sephiroth, you can add to his kill count faceless Shinra XP fodder, the only-dangerous-at-the-beginning-of-the-game Zolom, Reeve with his guard down (not that the Turks are at all dangerous anyway), and an unarmed, distracted flower girl who was facing the other way. What a badass.The RPGeniushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02752937839502693108noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-268660459652553228.post-30940305838132307912013-07-19T08:00:53.532-07:002013-07-19T08:00:53.532-07:00What a shame. We would have finally had a party m...What a shame. We would have finally had a party member that could make Chu Chu look good by comparison.The RPGeniushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02752937839502693108noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-268660459652553228.post-64007482260218563792013-07-19T07:41:31.704-07:002013-07-19T07:41:31.704-07:00As Lament of Innocence goes, I was similarly frust...As Lament of Innocence goes, I was similarly frustrated. It's too convenient to have a God-grudge with a villain who's apparently a hyper-interventionist theist, which while hardly unheard of in the real world, makes for some petty ass villainy in fiction where stakes can be unrealistically raised. Dracula is best as silent lord of his castle, existing only to be defeated yet again. This worked fine. The point wasn't to make him interesting as a being, but to be half of a generations-long blood feud he was doomed to lose. The castle itself was the villain. When they finally do go into his origin and make a character out of it, it fails. Hard.<br /><br />Team Aqua. What the hell. At least Team Magma's stupid plan could at least benefit humans indirectly by creating more land. Reb/Blue/Yellow had less going on as a plot, but at least organized crime is something you can wrap your head around as being a proper problem. Not a bunch of eco-terrorists whose master plan is to give their favorite types a larger habitat. Meanwhile, Giovanni counts cash, manufactures Legendaries, and runs a Gym. Fucking posers, the lot of them.<br /><br />I hate the petulant, angsty children. Why can't I see someone just kick them in the face? Slap them around a bit? I must say though, that Seymour's ambitions were internally consistent with his setting. His backstory seems perfect for angst, but he really doesn't work that angle. Ever. Yeah, he kills his dad, and that's bad, but his dad was pretty unlikable once information is revealed, and it seemed he did a lot of have that coming.<br /><br />An interesting nuance is that his plan to kill everyone to spare them prolonged suffering has a justification in that the afterlife may be something that's observable and tangible. Odds are he's not planning to condemn them to some Great Black, but a shortcut to a peaceful existence. Not by agreeable means, but in a way that takes the philosophy of Yevon's founders and current elite to its logical end.Ecclesiastes(273)https://www.blogger.com/profile/12472479463263586707noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-268660459652553228.post-72594942790947912262013-07-19T07:17:32.250-07:002013-07-19T07:17:32.250-07:00Had Yggdrasill's rule - I refuse to acknowledg...Had Yggdrasill's rule - I refuse to acknowledge his child persona - been defined as the only option at the time to preserve the world, with the Desian idiocy being less of an in-your-face villainy Lloyd and co. going through your typical JRPG/animu plot magic to magically make everything better. It does absolutely nothing to justify or even explain in any capacity the concentration camp shit - did the game actually ever get around to explaining why the camps were even a thing? I forget, and I happily played the game four times - but it at least suggests he had a great idea at some point in the last 4,000 years. 4,000 years, and you can't wake someone up out of a coma. Give me that time, and magic, and you bet your ass I'll be waking people up. Just sad. Kratos is also a despicable piece of dredge who is let off far too easy by the game and its fans, but that's another round of complaints.<br /><br /><br />And I hate to be that guy, but I must defend Sephiroth in a couple of details. Yes, the sword is stupid. But VII in no way invented the nonsense religion of sword as phallic analogue, or sword as power level. If nothing else, it does something to contrast with Cloud's more Western designs. The game even addresses the sword's logistical issues with Cloud using it as a fulcrum while it's in his gut, lifting the dude and throwing him into a glowing abyss. So yes, Sephiroth gets his.<br /><br />As for not doing anything, there's no indication that Jenova is sentient, or even intelligent in any way beyond possessing basic viral behavior. She/It may have been sentient at some point in the past - the videos in Icicle Inn are vague, and don't clearly side with either case - but in VII's timeframe, it's just a source of alien genetic material. Even the Compilation, mindscrewy and retconny as it is, doesn't change this. The idea is that Sephiroth is manipulating Jenova's body through his will in every instance that you see him. Why/how he has the coat and sword is another problem altogether, but maybe the answer is nothing more than "hurr durr illusions", even though the illusions are only supposed to be a thing for people with Jenova cells. Eh.<br /><br />Sephiroth didn't go crazy from reading a book. He came to erroneous conclusions from going over outdated research, unfortunate implications of genetic research, and possible underlying mental issues. Later games seems to run with the idea that Jenova cells have a habit of making people fucking bonkers, which the original Cloud could attest to. Yes, he's melodramatic, and ineffective, and not a prevalent threat. But he vaguely lead Cloud to get the Black Materia, took it from him, took out the major hurdle that was Holy, and simply didn't need to be present for much more than that. He's really only a threat because Cloud is mentally weak, and becomes lame as Cloud grows. It's not a stroke of genius, but I have trouble putting the blame on Sephiroth for his presentation. The game had a lot going on, and they at least tried to give all the interesting stuff about him as soon as things began to ramp up in Midgar.<br /><br />Now that that's over, I can't get over the fact that all his kills are unarmed NPCs, to the point that had he killed Fat Man Palmer, that would have been his greatest battle with another man. I also fail to have any enjoyment out of him being Sora's bitch in Kingdom Hearts. And the Compilation outside of Crisis Core can cease to exist.Ecclesiastes(273)https://www.blogger.com/profile/12472479463263586707noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-268660459652553228.post-12624112843876230732013-07-18T07:31:16.823-07:002013-07-18T07:31:16.823-07:00I should mention Ramsus was suppose to join your p...I should mention Ramsus was suppose to join your party at some point but budget ran outAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com