Forum - View topicAstro Toy with Rob Bricken: Final Fantasy IX Play Arts
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MarzGurl
 Posts: 142 Location: San Antonio, Texas |
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As for that spoiler[random boss at the end of the game], that's because spoiler[he was a boss in a previous FF. Also, LOTS of FFs end with a boss other than the one you THOUGHT you were fighting the whole time. Xeromus, anyone?] And what's wrong with spoiler[not all of the cutscenes being fully pre-rendered CG? There were lots of moments in FF7 where the characters were fully-rendered, but only as chibis instead of their full-figured form. Example - compare the scene of Cloud driving down the Shinra building on his motorcycle to the scene where Cloud falls down to the Church from the collapsing plate.] All of the games are guilty of silly little things like that, but why should that make anybody want to play the game less? It's possible that you're simply a fan of the Post-Squaresoft, Square-Enix titles instead, when the development team was entirely rearranged. And there's nothing wrong with that. They just completely aren't the same games anymore. I don't think you can compare XII to any of its predecessors properly. |
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PetrifiedJello
Posts: 3782 |
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Rob certainly knows how to open a can of worms, that's for sure.
I have to say, I absolutely love the last picture. I'm still laughing at it. If Rob gave any reason to enjoy figures which can be posed, this is it right here. Kudos on making my Monday a bit more pleasant. I do have to say, I admire your restraint on having to review these pieces of crap. The photos you presented definitely ensure I'd waste not a penny on these, including Vivi. Had I the chance to write a review on these, it'd be much more harsh. I'd even toss in phrases like "landfill material" and "waste of recycled plastic". Garnett's design is absolutely appalling, and I completely agree a "cheap" approach was taken with her and the other figures. These figures just scream "We couldn't care any less about your passion for the game, so just give us your cash and 'treasure' these recycled Pepsi bottles." Since 3 pages were dedicated to people ripping and defending FF versions, I'll add my two cents to this debate: I like buttered toast. See you on the next review, Rob. I'm hoping it's on this figure, but I doubt Alter will send you the $80 figure. |
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Dune
Posts: 223 |
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Lol, FFIX can still generate so much discussion after all these years. Kind of a coincidence too, my brother just started to replay the game yesterday...
I thought it was rather enjoyable. Though I had to watch the ending a second time before realizing spoiler[Vivi had actually died]. 
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MarzGurl
Posts: 142 Location: San Antonio, Texas |
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What? What gives you that idea? It's true that spoiler[Vivi's mortality is discussed throughout the game, but it's the same way that any child wouldn't understand what death is. At the end, there were a bunch of Vivi's - apparently his kids. They all look just like him. No one said Vivi had died. In the final cinematic, I can just as easily assume that Vivi is standing between Eiko and his kids.] |
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Redbeard 101
Oscar the Grouch
Forums Superstar  Posts: 16935 |
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Burn in hell PJ you rat bastard. I'm already broke enough and then you come in here flinging your links with figures with cute little gothic punk knee high boots, stockings, and maid outfits. I'm trying to save money for gifts for other people this Christmas! But noooooooo, you are content to make me spend more money and shorten my gift list some more. Thank You!!!!!!! |
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Dune
Posts: 223 |
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MarzGurl- While this is never clearly spelled out, it is at least strongly implied.
spoiler[Earlier in the game Vivi learned that all Black Mages die after living short lives. As a prototype, Vivi had somewhat of a longer lifespan, but the lasting impression was that he didn't have all that much time left either. That was his main dilemma for the entire game. Then there is the ending monologue, which is strongly implied to be from Vivi: "I always talked about you, Zidane. How you were a very special person to us, because you taught us all how important life is. You taught me that life doesn't last forever. That's why we have to help each other and live life to the fullest. Even if you say goodbye, you'll always be in our hearts. So, I know we're not alone anymore. Why I was born... How I wanted to live... Thanks for giving me time to think. To keep doing what you set your heart on... It's a very hard thing to do. We were all so courageous... What to do when I felt lonely... That was the only thing you couldn't teach me. But we need to figure out the answer for ourselves... I'm so happy I met everyone... I wish we could've gone on more adventures. But I guess we all have to say goodbye someday. Everyone... Thank you. Farewell. My memories will be part of the sky..." Emphasis mine, hint hint. After that we only explicitly see his "sons" even though we get to see all the other characters at the ending. While it's possible he's in the crowd somewhere, these clues point toward this being a more bittersweet finale.] Anyway, I thought it was a very creative way to handle one of the most popular FF characters. A definite plus in FFIX's favor. |
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doctordoom85
 Posts: 2092 |
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Honestly, the letter at the end of FF IX can be interpreted two ways, and it's confusing because the first half supports one way while the second half supports the latter. spoiler[The first half would be a perfectly-fine Vivi writing to a presumed-dead Zidane, since Zidane has yet to reveal to everyone that he's alive. This is especially supported by "even if you (Zidane) say goodbye, you'll always be in our hearts", indicating Vivi truly believes Zidane is not coming back, and this letter is merely meant to be Vivi's thoughts going out towards Zidane's spirit. However, once Vivi says "everyone, thank you. Farewell.", it seems he is dying and somehow knows Zidane is coming back. Of course, it could be even worse, and Vivi is dying and ALSO thinks Zidane is truly gone. In which case, considering Zidane wouldn't get to be with Vivi at his dying moment, makes FFIX an insanely depressing ending that is kinda unnecessary IMHO.]
Until the creators or whoever ever decides to make an official statement, I think it's ambiguous enough to argue that spoiler[Vivi is alive. Considering the ending focuses exclusively on Zidane and Garnet re-uniting (and Steiner/Beatrix!  ), it would seem a major dick move to send off the second/third main character with nothing more than a vague letter (good lord, compared to how many times FFVII felt like reminding us, "doesn't it suck that Aeris died?". So as far as I'm concerned, Vivi is among those Black Mages at the end, cheering on as he watches his two close friends reunite.]
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Kit-Tsukasa
Posts: 930 |
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The problem with IX was that it had a very irregular story telling pattern that really didn't become clear until the end of disc 2. However, it was definitely not the worst of the Final Fantasy mothership titles.
Story and character wise, Final Fantasy XII was the worst with 4 of 6 characters being unimportant and irrelevant to the story from beginning to end. III (the real III, not VI) was bad as well to the extent that I dropped it. Battle system wise, Final Fantasy VIII, II, and to some, extent VII, were bad. Difficulty wise, X (Yuna), IV (Rydia), VIII (Rinoa), VI (after receiving Ultima spell + double cast and Gogo), V (if you grinded to master jobs as you progressed otherwise, this could potentially be a really hard game), and I (stupid easy once you got haste and berserk, killed final boss before he could attack). I would include IX in this area, but the problem was that the feature was incorporated into the game (i.e. essentially beat the game within 12 hours to get Excalibur II). Now, if anyone is wondering if I have a favorite title based on the statements I just made, I do in fact have a favorite and that's VI. Brilliant storytelling and character development (better than VII), epic classic, score/music was fantastic; no comment about art due to generation gap. VII is overrated due to hype it received as being the first FF in "3D" on the playstation. Nevertheless, those figures do look terrible. |
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Dune
Posts: 223 |
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Spoilers, yay
spoiler[While depressing, I find it difficult to believe that Vivi would say things such as: "I wish we could've gone on more adventures. But I guess we all have to say goodbye someday. Everyone... Thank you. Farewell. My memories will be part of the sky..." if he were still alive. It's not the sort of thing you follow up with "P.S., See you on Tuesday." Plus the game already hinted that his life was short. My own reaction with the FFIX ending went thusly. It was a three-step process: 1. Hey, nice ending. A little tacky since everyone survived for the reunion, but still nice. 2. Playing the ending again for the heck of it. Wait- picking up the pieces---holy crap, Vivi is dead? Seriously, the best character in the game? Died offscreen? Before the big reunion with Zidane? Damn, that's completely depressing. No way... 3. ...Now that I think about it, Vivi's entire storyline has been built around his young mortality. It couldn't have been avoided, any more than [a certain Cowboy Bebop plot-point]. In fact it's better that they don't sugarcoat the issue of death after treating it as a major theme of the story. Now the cost is real, and what the game said about living life in the face of death has more credibility. Far from it being a 'dick move', I thought it was quite clever the way the ending was made, incorporating an ambiguous offscreen death with a traditional cheerful ending. It sorta forces you to examine the characters and what they do with the time they have. It's depressing, yeah, but at the same time it still retains a sense of optimism about life.] Not everyone will agree, but I thought it was great. One of the main reasons why I adored FFIX so much. (--Though, my brother has no idea about any of that, even though he's played the game multiple times. I don't have the heart to tell him.) |
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doctordoom85
Posts: 2092 |
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More Final Fantasy IX spoilers:
spoiler[But that's my point, if option #1 happened, then he ISN'T saying, "see you on Thursday", since he would believe Zidane is dead. And my point still remains, all of Vivi's friends cheering, acting oblivious to his death is just way out-of-character. It's not like Vivi was just some acquiantance, he had been with them from the beginning. It is a dick move to simply write off a character like that without showing the other characters' reactions. You mentioned Bebop, they DID show Jet and Faye's reactions to Spike's obvious fate. If Vivi die die in IX, we got no reaction from everyone else, and instead of celebrating the accomplishments Vivi did in his life which would reinforce IX's themes, it's like he's forgotten already and everyone would just rather immediately focus on what's happening right now.. The EXACT sort of thing Freya warned is the worst possible fate for a person. If anything, Vivi dying and his friends appearing oblivious to this in the ending ruins FFIX's themes. I'm not saying the characters need to mourn forever, that's stupid (*cough* Advent Children, it's been two years Cloud, you should've moved on by now *cough*), but not even having a period of mourning is just insulting.] |
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Dune
Posts: 223 |
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Oh, ok. spoiler[Well I'm not so sure that everyone being happy about Zidane's reappearance=being oblivious to Vivi's passing, though I can understand where you're coming from.]
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PetrifiedJello
Posts: 3782 |
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I would, but the one in charge keeps kicking me out for being too mean. Can I go to Bora Bora instead?
Oh, now that's just disgusting. Clean up your drool before someone slips on it.
And I'm betting you forgot to include yourself on this list, right? Forget others. They only deserve coal and you know it. Buy this for yourself. You'll thank yourself, especially when you pull it from the box. I promise.
I don't see a problem here. Thank You!!!!!!! Sure thing, fellow collector. |
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littlegreenwolf
 Posts: 4796 Location: Seattle, WA |
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Yeah, those figures look like crap. I'll not go near them with my little bit of money. All this bashing and discussion of a fantastic game (guess what I think of it) has made me want to dig it out and play again because I find it oh so enjoyable, unlike certian fanboys who can't get off the crap that was 7.
Hmm, Thanksgiving break is almost here. Sounds like a plan. |
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Ausdoerrt
 Posts: 481 |
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Pfft, yall haters. FFIX is easily the best post-SNES FF game. Maybe too many people can't see that through their FFVII-tinted glasses (FFVII being easily the WORST post-SNES FF game).
Thank you. As for the figures... Well, Garnet is horrble. I can't believe how they could do so much injustice to her. The other two look awesome though (except for Zidane's shoulders, but they really aren't than bad); I really feel compelled to get Vivi - he's the most memorable character out of all FF series. Maybe I'll go work overtime and get it ^_____^ |
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mokitty
Posts: 106 |
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Not related to the toys, but does anyone know how to get ahold of Rob??
I wanted to contact him about TR -- one of his advertisers/banners must be doing something crazy -- TWICE this week my computer's been nerfed by one of these malware disguised as virus scanners. This one's particularly nasty, won't even let me open task manager or winlogon to reboot, so had to do it manually. The first time I thought it was coincidence that it happened while I was looking at TR. Did a system restore, tried to go back to TR today, and it happened again right away. I'm not gonna try to go there again to get his email directly, but I thought he should know. 
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