@Greg:
Okay. Gonna come out with this.
Emos, whiners, father complexers, liars, losers, assholes, loners and genuine bastards make for awesome characters.
I like both, but optimistic characters have always been my bread and butter.
You're dead on with the fact that Cloud was ruined by AC. I don't have issues with his voice actor since I like Steve Burton thanks to my sisters, but his voice didn't help the fact that AC made Cloud depressed again.
When Cloud called Vincent 'cool' in FF7, I thought it was such a turn around with the character.
But Squall is easily one of my favorite protagonists that gets bashed way too frequently. He isn't emo, he just doesn't like opening up to people. Sure, the entire team annoyed him from time to time, but you knew deep down, he wanted to protect them. He doesn't like dealing with people, but he'll be a hero when the time comes.
@Captain:
Gotta say I agree with Insider for the most part on these things. The FF protagonists get more flak than they deserve. Sometimes I get the feeling the characters are being Flanderized in the minds of their critics, to the point where the shit they complain about doesn't even apply, anymore.
Thank you. The concept of 'emo' is dying. If a character nowadays witnesses the death of his entire family and cries, he's an 'emo'. It's becoming a stupid word now.
Advent Children didn't do anything to him. The guy spent most of the movie dying of Geostigma and hiding it from his friends and family. I'm sure he'll be just spry and chipper as a disfiguring disease slowly kills him. Oh, yeah, then the Remnants of Sephiroth show up, and Cloud's best friend in the whole world comes back to mind screw him some more.
But I'm sure he'll be just happy as hell after that.
That's not even taking into account that he's still a broken man thanks to Sephiroth. Hell, that's how Sephiroth is staying alive. The fact that he can even have friends, let alone a girlfriend, after what Sephiroth put him through says something in and of itself.
True, but Cloud did 'improve' towards the end of the game. He was a bit more social, a bit more compassionate with Tifa, and was pretty much over the fact that a certain someone died.
AC practically erased all of that. Cloud and Tifa have issues communicating again. Cloud hardly talks to any of the other members and just does things himself (arguable because he can handle everything himself, but….come on..). And Cloud still has a hard time accepting someone's death.
And I have hard time understand why Cloud can't ignore Sephiroth. Granted, he keeps coming back, but his words seem to scar Cloud sometimes.
@sanji499:
BTW, anyone thinks that Quistis looks a lot like Califa ?
Hot blonde chick with glasses with the secretary look.
They whip people.
Yes, but Quistis is cooler. I'm a Trepie.
And Spoony's review is indeed funny.