game blather

I've beaten five of the nine trials in the Lunar Ruins in FFIVA- the five associated with the primary five characters.

I still love this game so, so much. Compared to any of the later games, it's simplistic and shallow- but it was such a huge, integral part of my childhood that I can't let it go. It's short and simple, yes, but it resonates with me on some deep and fundamental level that makes my chest ache. The only thing I can really compare it to is the wonder I felt at first playing VII; I have a similar fondness for that game.

The Lunar Ruins are brilliant, at any rate. The puzzles and cutscenes are delightful; Edge's trial made me fall in love with him all over again, and Kain's made me ache for him a thousandfold more than I ever did. Just- when he leaves, and Cecil asked him what he found, and he says, "Nothing. ...Absolutely nothing."

He's my favorite character; always has been, always will be. It's strange, because there aren't many other characters with similarly guilt-stricken personas that I like, but Kain is just one walking mass of guilt. He has nightmares- in that respect, I suppose he's closest kin to Shadow. Perhaps I do have a thing for guilt-stricken characters, when the guilt is done properly.

It pleases me that the Lunar Ruins essentially fill in that space at the end of the game where you leave him on Mt. Ordeals; he gets a chance to prove, in canon, that he is more than his jealousy.

I've now played four different translations of this game- the terrible Easytype version of SNES fame, with its spooniness; the J2E rom patch, which took certain liberties with the script that its original writers may not have intended; the largely inoffensive FFAnthology version, which had better grammar and curious emphases on character interactions; and now this, the FFIVA, which has a few key differences to account for the extra gameplay options.

My favorite remains J2E's translation, which is no longer available anywhere that I can find on the web. Somehow changing "You spoony bard!" to "You son of a bitch!" feels incredibly appropriate.

The Advance translation puts less emphasis on Edge's Casanova-ish tendencies and more emphasis on Kain's feelings for Rosa, and I'm not sure I like either. I've never been of the opinion that any of Kain's actions were about Rosa- they were about Cecil, who outdid him in every way. I know, technically he is in love with Rosa according to all the backstory nonsense in the compendium, but I prefer to think of her as just another aspect of his rivalry with Cecil. It might just be that I've never liked Rosa much (It's always fetch quests with you, isn't it?), or that I prefer the subtext between the two men to the text between the men and the woman. The Advance translation makes me feel rather more charitable towards her, particularly after her Lunar Ruins trial; canonically, she became a white mage to be closer to Cecil, but she is finally revealed as someone with a truly selfless desire to help people. It just helps cement some depth to her character, and I can appreciate her better when she isn't just some harpy who steals all of Cecil's attention.

It's unfortunate that Cecil as a paladin doesn't develop terribly much- the idea that the light of Mt. Ordeals cleansed him of all the darkness in his soul is ludicrous. He was a dark knight, master of the evil sword. He was no better than Golbez in his actions; the fact that he wasn't happy with what he was doing doesn't make him any less of a murderer. He defeats the shadow of himself on the mountain by accepting it; it seems strange, then, that Kain should defeat his own shadow by destroying it. But then, Kain's darkness was far more pronounced; his evil was that of the traitor, not that of the mindlessly loyal servant.

Though, honestly, I'm not sure which would be worse.

At any rate, Cecil isn't completely a pure soul, or he wouldn't have had so much trouble calling Golbez "Brother," so I suppose there is still some depth to him after he becomes a paladin. I like to think he is still plagued by doubts- but now that he knows the extent of the good and evil he is capable of, he is in a much better place to make decisions.

Kain's trial in the Lunar Ruins was basically one long, extended cutscene- it would've been less painful, if I hadn't had to go through it four times. >_< CSI:Baron, essentially, and through the whole thing you can feel Kain screaming "It wasn't me!" in his head the entire time- and then, of course, it was him, and the moment when he says, "I deny my weakness!" is incredibly triumphant, incredibly beautiful. He and Cecil are fundamentally different; Cecil did terrible things, and couldn't accept that they were his own choices to make. He had to accept the darkness in his soul to become a Paladin; Kain, on the other hand, is fully aware of the evil he is capable of.

At any rate, I adore Kain and all of his unending guilt; the fact that his ultimate weapon is Abel's Lance is hilariously, puntastically appropriate. He has redeemed himself in the eyes of the brother whom he would have slain; the fact that you can choose the option to kill Cecil, and thus fail the ordeal is telling.

In conclusion, Lunar Ruins = awesome. Edge's last comments- "Maybe I should rebuild Eblan like this!" and Cecil's "..." response were comedy gold. And his last "Aww" was adorable. I'm immensely fond of Edge in all his womanizing, bratty glory. He's the oldest of the final party, but he lacks most of their maturity. I only wish the fact that he helped kill his parents were addressed- but then, maybe I really do like characters who are stewed in guilt just a little too much.