[UNPROVEN] Rumour: Final Fantasy: Valiant SaGa (12-2)

[Coogi]

I just hated Vaan in XII. Battle system was not bad but I don't think it as perfect. I thought X-2 was garbage... the ending was good and the music, other than that I had to force myself to finish it.

[Sarah]

Am i the only one who REALLY liked Fran's voice? It was sort of husky and british.
The voice acting was strange, because it always had a certain faded (?) quality too it, but it just seemed to fit.... except Vaan's voice.

I loved Fran's voice.

I'm not sure where people are coming from when they talk about bad/unmemorable characters With the exception of Nomura's pomegranatety additions like Vaan (and probably Penelo), the cast was insanely strong. Balthier is one of the greatest characters of all time. Ashe breaks the female leader archetype by not being a strong, compassionate leader without either depending on a man or being completely butch and proclaiming she needs no man. She was pretty real. Fran and Basch have their own things going on, too, just don't care to break it all down. But even the supporting cast, like Larsa, Reddas and Vossler were all incredible in their respective roles.

[CarrionCrow]

I loved Fran's voice.

I'm not sure where people are coming from when they talk about bad/unmemorable characters With the exception of Nomura's pomegranatety additions like Vaan (and probably Penelo), the cast was insanely strong. Balthier is one of the greatest characters of all time. Ashe breaks the female leader archetype by not being a strong, compassionate leader without either depending on a man or being completely butch and proclaiming she needs no man. She was pretty real. Fran and Basch have their own things going on, too, just don't care to break it all down. But even the supporting cast, like Larsa, Reddas and Vossler were all incredible in their respective roles.

Vaan was making a pretty big negative impact, being the main lead and all. Other than that I found both Basch and Fran to be dull clichés. Balthier was alright, but nothing memorable. Maybe a tad too Han Solo for my taste. Ashe was the only real star in the game, and she was pretty special.
I think that when old FF fans call the cast lackluster it is not just about personality. The actual design of looks and clothes lack the previous installments spark. It gets even worse in the modern FF:s

[Razmos]

I always considered Ashe to be the main character, but the story was just told from Vaan's perspective because Vaan had an outsiders view of the politics going on.

[Sarah]

The story was actually supposed to revolve around Basch -- that was Matsuno's intent. But when Square pushed Nomura in and Matsuno out, Nomura created Vaan because he felt like the player would be relate to a more average character better.

[Flonne]

I always considered Ashe to be the main character, but the story was just told from Vaan's perspective because Vaan had an outsiders view of the politics going on.

Exactly. I looked at Vaan as the storyteller before I simply disregarded him completely. Penelo is fanservice, I'm neutral on her existence. I didn't use either in my party anyway. Rest of the cast, PC and NPC both, is incredibly good.

[Bomberman]

Vaan was making a pretty big negative impact, being the main lead and all. Other than that I found both Basch and Fran to be dull clichés. Balthier was alright, but nothing memorable. Maybe a tad too Han Solo for my taste. Ashe was the only real star in the game, and she was pretty special.
I think that when old FF fans call the cast lackluster it is not just about personality. The actual design of looks and clothes lack the previous installments spark. It gets even worse in the modern FF:s

This. The story felt a bit dry to me with an uninspired cast. My favorite Final Fantasies were 6, 7, and especially 9, so 12 simply didn't deliver what -I- was looking for. That said, I feel objectively it is an amazing game.

[Connor]

I should rephrase what I said then. By "the cast was weak" I was mostly referring to Vaan being the main character and Penelo not really standing out at all to me. I felt pretty neutral towards Basch but loved the other 3. Fran's voice was awesome and I loved the name of that other girl, Mjrn.

All in all it's still my favourite FF yet despite having the worst main character. I'm just glad that the story didn't revolve around Vaan and his sky pirate dreams and instead became centred on the political aspects of Basch and Ashe.