Opinion Piece: The Problem With Final Fantasy 15's Main Cast

Spoilers for Final Fantasy 7, Dragon Quest 11 and Final Fantasy 15 ahead

The remake of Final Fantasy 7 has lit a fuse underneath me in terms of this game series. I have to be honest, looking at the back catalogue of games I have played over the last year Square Enix. From the aforementioned remake of Final Fantasy 7, Kingdom Hearts 3 and Dragon Quest 11 I can't think of another video game company that I have invested as much time into the worlds and characters they build (except maybe Football Manager but that's a different story), seeing these characters their growth with each other and evolution made me realise something and that being Final Fantasy 15's main cast of four really fall flat when it comes to being compelling or interesting characters. Now don't get me wrong I think the quartet of lads had some good moments and they had potential but something felt off to them. I hope over this article to look into the failings of the crew and where they fall short when it comes to Square's back catalogue of heroes and teams. I'll mainly be looking at the teams of Final Fantasy 7 and Dragon Quest 11 as with Kingdom Hearts while using original characters it also relies on 3rd party characters, worlds and assets in which it would be unfair to compare to a solely first party game. On top of this all thoughts in Final Fantasy 7 come from the remake and NOT the original. 

As is the case of most JRPG's we follow a gang of misfits from all over the world coming together to fight an evil demon or God. All the characters come from all walks of life if you look at games like Final Fantasy 7 and Dragon Quest you can tell from looking at the main cast these characters all come from different places in the world and as such we can look and wonder how they will meet and how they bond. Right now I'm really looking forward to seeing how 7's remake introduces Vincent Valentine

Below I've added images of the original artwork for Final Fantasy 7's full cast of playable characters to the full cast of playable characters for Final Fantasy 15

Even from this one image you can see the difference. With 15's cast it is very monotone which I get is part of the setting of their hometown but it all looks so plain. You want your main characters to be engaging at least attire wise. I'm not asking for a mass amount of bells and whistles on the character (in fact I like 15 having less belts per character ratio) but nothing about the 15 cast is intriguing to me they look like a run of the mill boyband I do not have an interest in them though the looks alone. These JRPG games always work better to me when the characters are an oddball cast those that don't look like they would normally associate with each other joining up through circumstance, while Cloud and Tifa knew each other at least their dynamic is explored these guys not so much. 

I want to tie this to Dragon Quest as well especially for the last member being added in Hendrick.

Hendrick the loyal knight of the evil Mordegon (not that he knows) and who is manipulating the king he is loyal to and throughout the first part of the game chases you down to loyalty to his king without hesitation, an intimidating figure who is relentless in his approach. Anyway after the truth comes out you have to team up with him to regain the lost land and start the fight back against the demons led by his once close friend Jaspar. What is nice is he is still hesitant of the Hero he cannot trust him as he should because of what has happened but when  confronted by his failures through his former best friend Jaspar he can see his way to forming bonds with the hero in a really power scene is important https://youtu.be/qtpqWoZY3Tc?t=220 in which he pledges his loyalty to the hero it's a really powerful scene and it is only upon returning to last bastion they join forces to go on to find the Hero's crew. It's a really powerful scene that show Hendrick coming to terms with what has happened previously and how to move on and it's only after he confronts this he can move on an accept his new role. Something that I felt was missing in 15 the character growth and change and evolution which works, for 15 I felt the character dynamics stayed the same from the beginning to the end. Honestly some form of growth would've helped in 15 to flesh these characters out and make them more compelling, if we are to spend hour upon hour with these guys I would hope to see them grow a characters and feel invested in what happens with them and to them. 

By having everyone there right away we lose this we cannot gain through struggle new members or shape new bonds with old foes. Could we not have Ravus join or Aranea full time and not random monster encounters and one dungeon. I'm not saying don't have the 4 at the start but to add more of a dynamic to them helps, if we kept Cloud, Barrett, Tifa & Aerith and just that would you not want more, people to challenge how they act and feel? Others not in Avalanche to look and questions how they operate and what it is they do?

While this is my main gripe I also don't like how Final Fantasy 15's main party got it's development in additional DLC, while I didn't play it the thing to me is when looking at these they really didn't help grow the character while they filled in some blanks I don't think they really helped the characters they still were as memorable as before. I mean you think about it even more for characters that don't have DLC episodes or are even more forgettable. I can't even remember the name of Gladiolus' sister or even what Cor brings to the story now I get the story is part of a larger scope with the feature film and anime as well but even with this and other characters more focused in other places I do not have this issue with 7. I get and idea of Zack and him as a character from the times he is mentioned in the game and do not need to watch something else of play Crisis Core to understand him. I don't need Crisis Core, Advent Children and Dirge of Cerberus to understand these characters because the main game of Final Fantasy 7 explains the characters featured in this to me.

In the end it has to be respected that Final Fantasy 15 a game marred with what can only described as development hell that some of my grips could probably be fixed if the development went well but that's not really for discussion. My issues come from the writing of the characters and how they falls from Square Enix's normal standards. I do hope in the end some of the original ideas of Noctis' character and development find their way to Yozora and we can see what character the main protagonist of final Fantasy 15 should've been.