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The X Button - Crime Scene, Part Fun

I'm not saying every FF has to have a diverse team full of humans and nonhumans, just that XII squandered a big chance to implement such a setup given Ivalice's numerous races and vast lore. Some of the games have had nonhuman allies (Red XIII, Kimahri, Mog, Umaro, Freya), which added some spice to an otherwise typically human cast, and that was acceptable to me because it showed a little diversity.

The Tactics and Tactics Advance games give you chances to build some pretty vast teams consisting of both humans and monsters (in the former), while obviously hinting at you to utilize every available race in the latter + its sequel for 100% quest completion. I try not to consider XI or XIV in this complaint because they're MMOs, and multiple race options are the standard for that genre.

The thing about using multiple races in RPGs is that it not only makes the cast more diverse, but it gives the player a chance to hear about what a member of each race would think or understand based on the situations they encounter in the story. It definitely adds punch, whereas seeing everything only from a human perspective is as predictable as it gets.

That definitely is another wasted opportunity that most likely got axed due to the SE's meddlesome executives. The thing about all the races is how different they are with Viera being essentially Elves in bunny girl form and are in tune with magic and nature, Moogles being more mechanically inclined and specializing in dexterous classes, Bangaa and Seeq being warrior races, and Nu Mou having a more philosophical perspective. Those kinds of culture clash could have made for an interesting layer on top of the narrative as well as adding variety to the playable cast as you'd be encouraged to be diverse in order to succeed at the game.

But instead what happened is all that fascinating lore and potential is shoved aside for a generic snorefest of a plot with an uninteresting battle system to go on top of it. Instead of getting a complex tale with a rich world we're forced to deal with idiots espousing political theories that are WAY beyond their depth; it sounds like an eighteen year old trying to masquerade as an expert on global politics after one semester of POL 101. Idiots trying to act smart is always disastrous. There's an interesting story to be told somewhere in there, but it isn't the one on display.