Final Fantasy XII, love it or hate it, is a fascinating beast, telling a steam-punk saga of political machinations and out-and-out war. It brings together a colourful cast of characters, some more beloved than others.
Game director Yasumi Matsuno, apropos of absolutely nothing, just popped up on Twitter to skewer a rumour that has been percolating within the Final Fantasy community since 2006: whether or not disgraced former knight Basch fon Ronsenburg was actually meant to be the protagonist of the game, in place of the contentious and allegedly whiny Vaan.
This was something that many Final Fantasy fans would repeat as gospel (this ignorant scribe is certainly guilty of perpetuating the tale). So the story goes, Final Fantasy XII was meant to be a much darker tale than it ended up being, with Basch serving as something of an anti-hero. Instead, due to fan feedback, Vaan was implemented, being a rambunctious teen with ambitions of sky piracy, which it was felt fans would prefer.
Well, plenty of fans ended up loathing Vaan (who kind of gets a bad wrap, we think), and Basch became a fan favourite, providing fertile soil for this pernicious rumour to take root. Was your mind as blown as ours? Question everything in the comments section below.
[source twitter.com, via ign.com]
Comments 23
"The eyes of the fandom watch unblinking, Matsuno."
Matsuno: Let them watch. I know something of baseless theories.
I don't care what anyone says. FFXII International Edition freaking rules.
I love XII and Basch is a badass. That said, I was never under the impression that he was supposed to be the main character. The journey is mostly about Ashe and her quest for power to save Dalmasca. Basch is just there to protect her (much like what Steiner does for Garnet) so him being the supposed main character wouldn't make sense either.
I think the story was focused on Ashe rather than Vaan.
And I can see the difference of their vocabularies between low rank peoples (Vaan, Penelo) and the higher rank peoples (Ashe, Basch, The Judges, etc).
The low rank peoples talk in simple English words, while higher rank peoples talking in very Shakespeare English words.
who cares? Balthier is the best.
Yeah that rumor doesn't fit with the thinking in Japanese story telling of the every day hero, and coming of age tales. I couldn't imagine it was true, at least for the sakaguchi ff era.
I never thought the rumour was true, but I understand why it existed. Vaan is so superfluous to the story it feels like he was crammed in last minute.
The rumour I always heard was that Balthier was the main character, not Basch, and Vaan was added late. Whether true or not it always felt right at as Vaan is such an empty nothing
It’s really Ashe’s story tbh
I quite liked Vaan and Penelo. Vaan had dreams of being a sky pirate and chanced upon an adventure to make his dreams come true alongside the best sky pirate in the biz.
It’s really Ashe’s story in the viewpoint of another (Vann). I only recently played it for the first time this year so I never knew that rumor. But like commenters said, Basch is there to protect Ashe above all else. It doesn’t fit well to have him be the MC whereas in Vann he’s a commoner getting to firsthand witness the events to get everything back on track for the land. Just my opinion.
He may deny it, but signs are in the game. The logo, the fact Gabranth is a 2 time boss and the ending and how it changes Basch. He features in the beggining, the middle and the end of the narrative. The fact Vaan is not really part of the story aside the first act.
The whole story was bland imo. It can be resumed to: we chased magic artifacts for power and destroyed them instead.
The only good beat was this sub story of Basch and Gabranth. It's clear that was envisioned as the central plot. Otherwise it wouldn't feature on the logo of the game. It was underdeveloped too.
FFXII is both amazing and disappointing. The story took a back seat to the world and the world is impressive for a ps2 game. But, the story is very bare bones and a bad contrast to FFX which was a game with a rich story.
If Basch was not to take a central role, the logo makes no sense and should've been something like the Bahamut or the Strahl.
@CthulhuFhtagn Haha ik Balthier is such a memorable character with such style. More like them and less of the FF15 & 16 characters that all look alike.
I always thought Ashe should have been the main character. Or Balthier. Or Basch. Basically, any of the playable characters except Penelo would have been a better choice to focus the story around. But no. It had to be the Backstreet Boy.
@CthulhuFhtagn exactly 😁
The story is awful. It starts pretty interesting, and turns into just.. nothing. I played it in 2004 and thought I just wasn’t paying attention. Played again around 2017 and I can’t remember anything about it again.
The gameplay, exploration etc. are all different levels of great thought.
The version of the story I generally read was that changes were not a result of direct fan feedback but executive meddling, as regards imposing a shounen MC, and in respect of the dissonant nature of the story, due to the lead writer being replaced partway through development.
I also suspect the game ran into delays and the ending was rushed in order to get it released while the PS2 was still relevant; I found the final dungeon (whose basic concept btw appears to have been recycled from one in Final Fantasy II) struck me as brief and disappointing compared to the two main story dungeons immediately preceding (Giruvegan / Great Crystal and Pharos).
I heard the rumor before but never thought much about it. I can understand why some believed or wanted it to true though, Vaan is definitely memorable enough as being one of the most dullest MCs ever created in Japanese storytelling, gaming or otherwise.
Given that the game was mostly a retelling of Star Wars with a Final Fantasy coat of paint, I sort of always thought (based on that and the events of the game) that the “main character”, if there really is one, is Ashe. And, like Star Wars, we’re experiencing Ashe’s story through the eyes of Vaan and Penelo — much like the audience is intended to experience the story of Star Wars through the eyes of R2-D2 and C-3PO, at first. Well, from a certain point of view, anyway. Heh.
I still believe that Bosch was supposed to be the main. That other character was too annoying to be first choice!
I still don't get the Vaan hate, I loved playing as him personally.
I agree that Ashe is really the main character. I still remember somewhat what happened with her storyline towards the end of the game. However for Vaan and Penello I remember nothing. They were there I guess?
I vaguely remember reading an article back then claiming that square thought basch was too old to be a main character, and they didn't think people would want to play him.
Shame I wouldn't have any idea how to find it now, or even if it's still there.
Show Comments
Leave A Comment
Hold on there, you need to login to post a comment...