owlmoose: (CJ)
KJ ([personal profile] owlmoose) wrote2010-03-10 12:29 am
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One other FFXIII thing

Posted separately from my reaction shot because it involves a spoiler. From the first hour or so of gameplay, which at the time of this writing is as far as I've gotten. (I welcome comments and discussion! But since I am avoiding spoilers generally, please avoid bringing up anything that we learn later than the timeframe I mention here. You will, in that way, earn my undying gratitude.)


I know I've discussed the "unnamed mothers" problem with [livejournal.com profile] justira at least, and probably others as well, but I can't remember if I've ever brought it up here before. In a nutshell, the issue is SE's tendency to bring in mother characters who are key to the plot, without getting names. FFX suffers from this particularly (Tidus, Yuna, and Seymour all have mothers of some significance who appear in the game, via flashback or as spirits, but are never named), but there are others as well.

So now we come to FFXIII, where a mother plays a key role in the development of two characters, Hope and Snow: she steps up to join the battle and protect her son. And what name is she given? "Mother."

Really, Squeenix? Really? You bring legions of writers onto a project, and not one could take five minutes to name a character who gets as much screen time as some of Snow's buddies and plays a far more pivotal role than most?

You're building up a lot of credit for me with Lightning, who at first blush seems to be a pretty kick-ass character; I really wish you hadn't squandered so much of it so soon.

[identity profile] owlmoose.livejournal.com 2010-03-11 02:39 am (UTC)(link)
If she had a canon name, I'd think it would have displayed in the subtitles with her dialogue, as the other characters' do. But when she speaks, she's identified as "Mother". That might be a fan thing; I hadn't heard it, but then I haven't been reading reviews or anything generally because I'm avoiding spoilers.

[identity profile] vinoconvino.livejournal.com 2010-03-11 10:05 pm (UTC)(link)
She's definitely named later in-game: her name is in fact Nora.