"DON'T OPEN THAT CHEST!!" "Why?" "If you do, you won't get a cool, ultra-powerful weapon near the end of the game." "And just HOW do you know that?" "Errrrr...." Players of the original PS2 version will understand this.
I was very impressed while in the original she was quite dull this interpretation of Penelo is quite possibly the most well-rounded compelling character in the modern era. Shakespearean in both her dramatic flair and her in perfect combination of the tragic romanticism of Juliet and the comedic musings Much Ado About Nothing's Beatrice truly with this magnificent performance, Balthier is once again robbed of his "leading man" status
Lol I didn't realize she was going to be a permanent member of my party till I got to giruvegan. I always thought someone more interesting would come along so she stayed level 2 the whole game.
Vaan does have a character , it's more thought out then people give it credit for. Penelo has far less in XII Vaan is really annoying at first and a lot of people, usually those without a ton of experience with the game, feel like he steals the spotlight as the "main character" from others they think would be more interesting. On a first playthrough the main words that spring to mind for most of us when thinking of Vaan are "why" and "ugh." He seems useless, vestigial, annoying. You don't know why he's there. It seems like he doesn't even know why he's there. In many ways though, that's Vaan's character. He's lost. He's an orphan whose family and future were taken for him by poor circumstance and then subsequently beaten down by a military occupation. He's stuck in a dead-end life with the only thing keeping him going being the others in the same situation who look up to him and a distant, seemingly unreachable dream of one day escaping from it all to ride the wind as a sky pirate. One of the most important things to remember about Vaan when critiquing his character is that he's a kid. He's 17, he's a fucking baby by real world standards. And I feel he's pretty accurately portrayed in this regard. Think back about how shitty you were at life when you were a kid his age, even if you thought you were cool at the time. If you're not far enough away from it yet to tell, give it some time. Vaan is impressionable, indecisive, unsure of his course of actions, and when he tries to be impulsive he often chooses the option that ends badly or gets him in trouble. He's a noob. He kinda sucks. But give him a break, he's a kid man. In fact, it's kind of a refreshing change from the typical generic JRPG protagonist who acts like he's 25 but oh nah man, it's totally a 16 year old pulling all this badass shit and having the answer to everything. This is how you see most of the other party members regard him. He says or does something dumb and they're just like, "smh Vaan" and move on, because they kind of understand. Vaan's still growing up. One of the coolest things is how Balthier is a role model to him, more or less the actualized version of the person he's always dreamed about being. Now as for his role in the story it's been confused and mixed up a lot, even by the Squenix people (Ashe should have been the Dissidia rep). The simplest comparison is to go with Star Wars because of the myriad of other similarities there already are. Vaan is the R2-D2 of FFXII. He's the little guy that goes around discovering menial tidbits and unraveling threads and accidentally setting huge events into motion that the other "main players" act upon. (For reference to the rest of the cast: Penelo is C3-P0, Basch is Obi-Wan, Gabranth is Darth Vader, Ashe is a combination of both Luke and Leia, Balthier is Han, and Fran is sexy Chewbacca) Anyways, I think the major sticking point that got so many people mad about Vaan being chosen as the "main character" is that he's the one you control in towns. This is an issue of bias taking hold. In the majority the previous FF games, you controlled the main character on the field screen in basically every area, barring a few exceptions where they temporarily left the party. So people inherently applied this to FFXII under the assumption that the game had to follow the same rules. This is not the case. The reason you control Vaan in towns is not because he's the most important character or primary focus of the story, but because he is performing his role in the party of the streetear, the information gatherer, the envoy to the common people, the errand boy. Think about the activities you actually perform while being forced to control Vaan. You're running around talking to normal NPCs, gathering tidbits, picking up sidequests, going shopping for new items and equipment. This is the kind of busywork that would be relegated to Vaan, it's what he's good at. Furthermore, think about the other members of the party. Several of them are famous, and all four of the adults have prices on their heads. They would be laying low and keeping to themselves in these big cities, but even in the neutral areas it's more an issue of them simply not being bothered with doing that kind of thing. They all have bigger things on their plates that Vaan doesn't, and Vaan is happy to take care of this stuff as a way of being useful. And once you get literally anywhere that isn't one of these towns you can control whomever you want to. And in the overwhelming majority of cutscenes where the story and important conversations happen, including the ones in towns, Vaan very much takes a backseat with most of his interaction amounting to more or less the same as an interjectory bleep-bloop-bloop from R2
Vaan (and Penelo) represent the future. Potential. Basch, Gabranth, and Fran are the players of yesterday. Ashe, Balthier, and Vayne are the players of today. Vaan, Penelo, and Larsa are the players of tomorrow. And the reason Vaan is so integral to the party isn't necessarily because of anything he says or does, or the tasks he performs like I outlined above: it's simply his presence. Vaan creates context. He helps Ashe maintain perspective of where her true duty as a queen lies, of what it really means to rule. Like I said, Vaan is impressionable. Ashe's entire journey has been colored by revenge, of wanting to pay back the Empire for the terrible wrongs it's wrought upon her and all of Dalmasca. It's what drew Vaan to join her quest in the first place. He's suffered as she has for the same reasons. And this all comes to a head atop the Pharos Aerie, where she makes the choice that defines all of history to come. As Gabranth faces them down and goads them into taking vengeance on him for his murder of Ashe's father and Vaan's brother, Ashe feels all her hatred and rage seething within her and wants nothing more than to strike him down, take his life, and then move on to the rest of Archadia next. And then she looks over at Vaan and sees her own reflection. And she understands. She sees this dumb kid who's been looking up to his queen on the entire journey, who's mirrored her own desire for revenge. "Dalmasca does not forget kindness, nor ill deed done. With sword in hand she aids her allies. Sword in hand, she lays to rest her foes. This nethicite I hold must be my sword. I will avenge those who have died. And the Empire will know remorse." Ashe realizes in this single moment that she's inadvertently been teaching Vaan to perpetuate the cycle of hatred forward forever, and that by doing this she's setting the tone for the future of Dalmasca. It's instantly clarified, and she knows what she has to do. She lets go. FFXII is ultimately a game about letting go of the past and starting anew, of not letting past deeds weigh down one's actions, of learning to forgive and rebuild a new future. Ashe finally comes to understand that her hatred brings her nothing but sorrow, and she instead offers forgiveness. And Vaan changes alongside her, because she's taught him to see it as well. Vaan's day was yet to come in FFXII. He was kind of a nerd. We see only a glint of potential in him. But he learned a lot over the events of the game. It ends with his dream becoming a reality and taking to the skies. Now one of the coolest things in the entire FF series is when you play FFTA2 after FFXII, and Vaan and Penelo show up older. Vaan has transformed. He's confident and cool, a bona fide sky pirate. They intentionally make his first line to the protagonist the same as Balthier's first line to him in FFXII. The transformation is complete. He's all grown up. It's so fucking cool man. And it was all because the real main characters of FFXII gave some dumb kid a chance, kept him around so he could follow his dreams. tl;dr: Give Vaan a break , he's just a fuckin kid. He's trying his best, and when he grows up he'll be cooler than you are.
@@GigasGalvantula Vaan is still the weakest "Main Character" of the whole series. And to force some relevance into him by constructing him into some leading figure for ashe... Come on, he just sucks and is so irrelevant for the plot, that you feel annoyed by the amount of screentime he has in cut scenes.
It's funny to look back at the story of FF12 and finally figure out the reason for Vaan's presence, as well as Ashe's true role in the story. And also realize that technically, the "villain" Vayne Solidor, actually won in the end. He was victorious, he achieved his true goals. Let's set up a standard fantasy setting. Someone, boiling with rage and grief, and desperate for revenge in any form they can get it, is guided by questionable, possibly even malevolent, deities to a source of ultimate magic power. They unleash that power on the target of their revenge, not caring about any innocent people that get caught up in it. They then take the throne themselves, and rule the people under the influence of those deities. A fairly standard, typical villain story. And it was originally Ashe's destiny. That's right, _Ashe_ is the villain of FF12. The Occuria were constantly guiding her towards the Deifacted Nethicite, taking the form of "visions" she would often receive of the Prince. The Prince that was killed in the war against Archadia, the Empire she would give anything to destroy. Even against the best interests of her people; the _people_ of Dalmasca. Keep in mind that at the point of the main story taking place, Dalmasca had already been under Archadian control for two years, and peace and stability were finally coming to the people. Many of those people hadn't known either before; Dalmasca was a small country between two mighty Empires, and war was a constant factor in the lives of the people. Under Archadian rule, that's no longer an issue, and many of the regular citizens of the kingdom are able to live better lives. Ashe doesn't care about that, she wants revenge for her Prince, and she wants HER throne back. The party being the villains is actually hinted at by the summons, the Espers, you can obtain. You don't get ANY of the standard Final Fantasy summons in this game. Shiva, Ifrit, Bahamut? All of the familiar summons that all of the hero parties in the FF games have gotten? They don't exist in FFXII. Instead, those names are given to the _Archadian_ ships. What do we get instead? Evil, demonic beings. Villains. And I mean that quite literally; quite a few of the Espers in FFXII are literally Big Bads from previous FF games, reimagined. The Occuria are interfering with the Fate of both mankind and Ivalice, and they don't want to lose their power. Having Ashe establish an Empire that they can influence will be a huge benefit. And the tool of their influence is Nethicite, both Deifacted and Manufacted. If they lose that, they lose their grip on Ivalice and on mankind. So what does this have to do with Vaan? Well, at the beginning of the story, Vaan's in the same place. He hates the Archadians, and wants revenge for his brother's death. The Occuria influence him in the same way as Ashe. They want someone to take the power. This is shown a couple times, where Vaan gets the same "visions" that Ashe does, being led towards the Nethicite. Only Vaan's visions are of his brother, not the Prince. They're both being shown what they lost to reinforce the need for revenge, as well as point them towards the right path. However, there's a difference between Vaan and Ashe. Ashe spent the last two years in hiding, constantly on the attack, constantly planning, and staying away from the public. She's not seeing what her people are going through. Vaan, on the other hand, _lived_ those two years in Dalmasca; he lived among the ordinary citizens of the Empire, he watched how peoples' lives improved after the wars were finally over. And then he and Penelo meet Larsa, and come to realize that many in the Empire truly are trying to help. They want to help the people stay safe; they don't want any more people to lose their brothers. And though it's hard, Vaan's able to let go of his anger at the Empire in the light of all of that. And this is significant, because after this, Ashe is shown at least one more "vision" of the Prince, _but Vaan is not._ Unlike all the previous "visions", he sees nothing like everyone else, instead of seeing his brother. The Occuria can no longer influence him. Ashe and Vaan are later able to discuss this, about what they've lost, but Vaan is also able to point out the other side of that, the people that the Empire is helped. And then, the time comes. Ashe obtains the Deifacted Nethicite, and is ready to use it as a weapon to obliterate Archadia, once and for all, and take her throne back. She can finally get her revenge. And she chooses to let it go. She's able to let go of the Deifacted Nethicite, and let it be destroyed instead, preventing it from ever being used to harm innocent people on such a large scale. _That_ was Vaan's significance. He's not a person of any importance, but he was an example to Ashe about looking past your anger and revenge, and being able to let go of it for the good of the people, the people you are truly supposed to serve. Without his example, without her being shown someone in the same position as her letting go of that grief, she may very well have weaponized the Nethicite instead, and sealed Ivalice's fate. And then we come to what I said earlier, about Vayne as the "villain" of the story. We find out he's made a pact with a _former_ Occurian, Venat, who wants to break mankind and Ivalice free of the shackles of the Occuria, and leave Fate in their own hands. That's why he conquered Dalmasca: to get at the Nethicite hidden in the land. With the destruction of the Nethicite, both Deifacted and Manufacted, as well as the death of Cid(the only one who knew the process to create Manufacted Nethicite), their goals have been achieved. Ivalice is free. And knowing that, Venat lets go of his immortal form, and chooses to die alongside Vayne willingly, knowing his ambition has been achieved.
Just wanted to point something out, the espers aren't even reimagined, they're the same creatures even in their design, look at Belias and Cuchulain from FF Tactics, both demons that possess 2 villains, they're literally the same.
@@SasukeeCraft Tactics and XII take place in the same world, so it only makes sense for Espers to be the same across those games. What the OP is referring to is Espers like Exodus, who's an alternate version of Exdeath, and Chaos, an entirely different version of the FFI villain. Also, it's pretty much understood that the Espers are literal devils or fallen angels. Ultima is the Fallen Seraph. Belias, Shemyaza, and Andramalech are well-known rulers of Hell in demonology. Zalera is an anagram of Azrael, the Jewish Angel of Death. And I'm pretty sure the Espers' other title, Lucavi, comes from a word for demon in the Roma language.
9:30 Alternate scene: Vaan: "I'm Captain Basch Von Rasenburg!" Man: "No you're not! Why do you keep saying that?!" Vaan: (looks sadly at floor) ".....I just don't want to be Vaan anymore." Man: "Jesus, who would?"
Vaan: "Reks should have been the main character and just kept me around as an NPC. Or just replace me with Penelo or whatever. His testimony was what condemned Basch as a traitor and that ruined what morale the Dalmascan Resistance still had. Reks learning the truth and wanting to fix the mess he was used to cause would have had so much more depth. Also, it was criminal to waste such an awesome name on a first hour character!"
Fun fact: basch was meant to be the main character but square knew it wouldn't sell well without a young Male protagonist and as a result Vaan was made
LOL This was in the 2009 era when Square Enix also said Call of Duty was a great reference for future final fantasy titles.... and thus FF13 was born...
I keep hearing that, but I just never bought it. Basch's entire redemption arc revolves around being Ashe's loyal knight. Where she goes, he follows. Ashe is the main protagonist. She makes the most decisions regarding the party's course, she is the leader of the rebels, and she is even the "chosen one" because of the blood of the Dynast-King. She also goes through the most character growth - although, in this party, I'm not entirely sure how much that means anything. So if they really meant it to be Basch, they did something wrong in the implementation; Ashe and Balthier are the ones with leadership qualities, and make nearly all the decisions between them.
@@dukedarkwood2098 It's been stated before that there is no true main protagonist in this game. Having leadership qualities/making the decisions doesn't really make a character the main protagonist. Hell, Cloud was basically just a walking, moping, whiner for most of 7 yet he's still considered the main protagonist.
Actually, I think it was just the Japanese fan-base that wouldn't have gone for Basch as the main character. They were into more "metro sexual" looking protagonists. The U.S. fan-base has had heroes like Basch for decades. Either way, this marked the end of the truly amazing story lines and Great main protagonists. This was also the first Final Fantasy which I was, number 1, shocked when I realized I'd just finished the final boss fight, and 2, disappointed in the main character's arc and lack of love story.
In defense of nobles being not so recognisable: in the middle ages it's not like the face of every lord was posted on every wall. You could be the son of the queen and, as long as you don't walk in your best garments and aren't escorted by soldiers or servants, none was going to recognise you. So the only problem with Larsa is his clothing, while Ashe doesn't really dress as a noble in any part of the main story. Balthier is the son of a high ranking Archadian citizen, and also an ex-judge, so I expect him to be well informed about political figures, and in fact he is. Vaan and Penelo are just orphans from pretty much the Baghdad of Ivalice, will all that implies (except I guess religion and female abuse, luckily). Balthier isn't just the only one with a brain in the group, he's the only one who recieved a proper education. It's still not ok for Larsa to walk around in royal clothes and not getting kidnapped/looked weirdly at by the common folk, I agree with that. EDIT: There more I see this video the more I get convinced that FF12 is just Japanese-Fantasy Star Wars
Balthier, Fran, Ashe and Basch are the actual main characters. Vaan and Penelo were literally added into the game at the last minute because the higher ups thought they would be more marketable.
Balthier: so everyone, what did you manage to steal from the boss? Ashe: i got a Feystone. Penelo: i got a Destrier Mane. Fran: i got a Tyrant hide. Vaan: i got a rock. (show a Pebble).
True enough, IamHotSau5. Especially with how many hours I'd be LP and XP point grinding in many areas of the game. Find yourself any of the *good* dungeons and have fun throwing away more than an hour of your life grinding levels.
i'm replaying ff12 TZA, and the problem with vaan it's defenitely his body, it looks like an 34 yo men, if he will look more like larsa or even more younger it will not be a problem, i remember another annoying character on the ff series, palom, but he was just a kid, and it will sacrifice, but, in ff4tay, he return and even still looking as a teen it becomes more annoying than kid because it looks older. my point if vaan looked like a 15yo kid will be more acceptable. other than that ff12 it's a great game, sad the ff13-15 didn't feel the half of polished of this game.
Quick question... Did you understand the parodies when you first watched them? I wouldn't think there was a lot that someone who hadn't played them before would appreciate (lots of 'in jokes' etc). Just about to watch this one now, RABToons, you do some great stuff!
@@strategyplayer1988 I might not have gotten every joke, but feel like most of them are written well enough that you understand enough from context clues.
That was a family member? Sorry. Didn't know for sure who the dedication was for so didn't want to put foot in mouth like "grats on the pregnancy" or something. Thanks for clarifying Fabian; and best wishes RAB.
That was the best supporting act of a character ever. Totally complemented the cast especially Balthier and company. Also true to that one's character. Good job Penelo
With Vaan thinking this was Star Wars, you missed the chance to have him look for his father who is actually still alive but evil, then Balthier pointing at Cid. "Nope, mine."
Desert people cover their skin as much as they can. You don't want a sun at 50ºC roasting your bare skin ... And that's not to mention the night, with temperatures below freezing ... No, that costume is definitely not appropriate for the desert.
@@rapidfire9999 don't we all? 😂 Vaan is totally irrelevant but he is the plot device at the beginning of the game to join Balthier+Fran, Basch and Ashe. He can't be an outcast. Luckyly, he becomes super irrelevant like in the original game!
Worth the wait! As I expected, Vaan was as irrelevant as he was in the actual game haha. Penelo as a cardboard cutout was genius! I assume she'll be a outcast or Greg's lackey? Penelo was equally as irrelevant as Vaan lol. Considering how you guys portrayed Lightning in the FFX Nutshell, I can't wait for the FFXIII Nutshell! :D
@@rapidfire9999 He saved her when they first met in the sewers, she was corned and he told her to jump down and he managed to catch her. Balthier even scolded him for saving Ashe so he was cleary not going to help her.
@@DanielPereira-ey9nt Penelo was the reason that the party befriend Larsa, which was a major reason that Ashe was able to get her throne back. Not to mention if Larsa had not give Penelo the nethicite, Judge Ghis would have blown the whole group up, so yeah..
Yeah, we all picked a fight with that T rex at the starting desert and died. OR we left it til level 30-40, started whacking it then saw "cannabalise" at the top of the screen and began pondering why its level doubled as we get chomped back to the home loading screen^^
I remember I was so pissed that airships were so prominent in the story, but you never got to fly one. And before the final boss battle I didn’t realize it was the final boss. I was just like…that’s it?
@@rapidfire9999 I still dont like Vaan as a character very much in Revenant WIngs myself. As a party member in battle though, he's great in both games. Hell he's even decent in Final Fantasy Tactics A2
@@rapidfire9999 yep, in order of the timeline is: FFXII, FFXII:RW, FFTA, FFTA2, then FF Tactics. They are all set in one universe and they are all made by the same people: The Ivalice Alliance (sadly the key members already left Square Enix hence why you dont see any future Tactics games so far)
This game marked the point of my "getting out of Final Fantasy" phase. These parodies marked the point of my "getting back into Final Fantasy" phase and I am now up to Chapter 4 on Final Fantasy XIII so that I can keep up with these. Also, my condolences to you for your loss, may your grandmother be at peace.
Balthier was great in this parody, but my favorite character was Penelo. This is the best she had ever been in Final Fantasy. Amazing work on another wonderful parody and I can't wait to see Penelo return XD
The voice actor for Vaan is adorable, I love his small lisp when he speaks. Also my condolences to you and your family for your grandmother. I understand the pain of losing someone close to you and I hope that in time you’ll feel better x
FULL DISCLAIMER: Final Fantasy XII is actually one of my favorite Final Fantasy games and even I have to admit this shit is hilarious and accurate as fuck. I shouldn’t have laughed as hard as I did at the Judge Ghis bit but holy shit!! 😂🤣😭
@@DadsCigaretteRun I think Vaan does fill a important role of audience surrogate who views the tale from a third party perspective. And in defense of Vaan Final Fantasy 12: Revenant Wings is where does come into his own.
Same, the story wasn't absolutely amazing by any means so it's fun to joke about, but the gameplay and everything else made it one of my favorites by far
I'm a huge fan of FFXII as well: loved exploring places, the enemy design, the music, Balthier. Story's all-right, with Vaan and Penelo being the weakest links. (Ashe is more of the protagonist, especially in the latter half where Vaan isn't as much in focus.) Still really loved the skit.
@@Angrymonkey2489 They all did. Pretty sure II-VI had especially easy to escape ones. 2D games where you don't see things from the character's perspective, where you just waltz right through the walls.
So Wild Arms 2 is part of Final Fantasy (you gotta get out of Illsveil AND Golgotta prison)? And Wild Arms 5 is part of Final Fantasy too (although you get help from "Johnny Appleseed")? And Guybrush could easily out of the prison on Phat Island... Is that Final Fantasy MI2 - LeChuck's Revenge? Oh yeah, Wild Arms 1, where you can just send out Hanpan to get you out of the prison under the Pandemonium. Yup, if you are in jail you're going to break out... gaming cliché in general!
I'm trying to play through it. I'm 4 hours in and, tbh, between the licenses and stupid job system, and slow af combat, I'm tired of it. GBA FF was sooo much better (4,5,6) and 1,2,3, were good too, but I haven't liked the overcomplicated weird ones where they tried to put in a billion different systems.
@@catcat5564 I understand ..but you know if you're playing the Zodiac age the one that came out for PlayStation 4.. they actually have a feature that allows you to speed up the combat! And personally I love the job system but to each their own
Why cant the Vaan from this parody be the Vaan that is in my party?! Dude's invincible. Got eaten by a dinosaur, shot in the forhead by a gun, beaten maliciously by a board and was stabbed in the abdomen.. AND HE STILL SURVIVED. Also, Cast: Who are you? Guest: I'm [Insert fake name here] Balthier: NOPE!
This was an intricately written, and well put together analysis of the overall FF XII experience. extensive care was clearly taken to pick apart all the nuanced portions of the story in an ingenious, and comical way. Nowhere is this approach to subtle humor better represented than the Bunny and Clyde joke.
11:28 I thought Nethicite/Magicite/SunCryst acted like an emp around airships. Besides, who doesn't love walking aimlessly around identical structures and landscapes with easily missable treasure for hours on end? Those traps aren't going to trigger themselves.
After watching all of the ff in a nutshell, I gotta say my favorite scene was in ff8 when laguna, kiros and ward are shown for the first time and they start dancing "man with a machine-gun" theme.
Penelo = cardboard Balthier = main character that seen through everything Vann = dumb boi that don’t know anything What else can I give?! A big thumb up!
Judge Ghis actually made me cry, i've been waiting for this video since i watched your FF 1 in a nutshell when it first came out. Keep up the good work!
Its sad considering He's the Most important Esper part of the Storyline having belonged to the Dynast King but is overall the Weakest Esper of all of them.
@@cathoodiegirl4118 Is he _really_ weaker than Zalera? A summon that can do nothing other than insta-kill mobs that you don't need to use him for in the first place. That's what I always found funny about death, doom, and the like in every Final Fantasy. The only mobs that are vulnerable to it are the ones that it's not worth casting against in the first place.
@HicksZ34 14's stormblood 24 man raid is the semi official canon ending by the original fft/revenant wings/12 creators and despite me not playing those had me crying at the end
"Can't we just beat them fairly?" "...Noooo, you suck" Lol, best moment. Should've added the 4 hours i spent running back and forth across maps for the secret chest with Excalibur to appear.
Fact: FF12 was a way to showcase how war affects multiple nations, and what the lust for power costs. (Hence why it is a story from multiple perspectives)
@@GrayLanternPPA but he goes IM THE LEADING MAN LOOK AT ME IM THE LEADING MAN!!! DID I SAY I WAS THE LEADING MAN? LOOK THATS WHERE WE NEED TO GO, BTW DID I SAY I WAS THE LEADING MAN?
@@ScrewFearMe Better than Vaan. "I want to be a sky pirate," on repeat for the first third of the game. Then the real heroes arrive and he just never goes away.
"Woah, look at that mech-dragon looking thing, maybe that's this world's Emerald Weapon or something, let's get him." *THREE HOURS LATER* "IT'S STILL NOT DEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAD!"
I got this.... "Oh look it is a giant T rex in an arena.. Shouldn't be much different than the other T rex's" *party was never seen again* *legend has it, that 6 skeletal figures still fight the dinosaur to this day*
Balthier : gathering allies rescuing rebellious Princess and fighting back against the evil Empire using mystical forces and flying ships along with my animal like sidekick Vaan : Oh, just like Star Wars Me : LOL you took the words out of my mouth but I call it Sky Wars
Should be a lot of fishing, cooking, selfies and self driving cars. I hope FFVII remake will restore my faith in the series because XV was just awful in so many ways.
i'm disappointed they didn't do the same with fran. she literally has less character than penelo. she is only there because she's balthier's cock warmer.
@@thomasjenkins7506 as someone who loves Fran because of her looks voice and quickening, I could not agree more. Aside from the jungle scenes she is irrelevant
@@jluvsong it's not even like the jungle scenes are integral to the plot, either. they seem to only exist so she has a single thing to do. even penelo has more relevance because she's at least from rabanasta, the city the game revolves around, and she gets kidnapped once.
@@bobmcbob49 even that is made redundant by all the ancient npcs that monologue ancient lore for you. it's not that i want to hate on fran. i just wish she had a reason to exist because everything else about her works.
I've played this game like 15 times in my life (+2900 hours spent), each time I try to get better and better, still can't get enough of it, this parody is pure gold btw, laughed my ass off
@@ASLTheatre 15 should have them the bombshell of all final fantasy games. It was supposed to be the best ever, but instead we got a have that want even twenty percent finished.
You know, you can fix Vaan so easy it's almost maddening. Make him like Shinji Ikari and give him the only weapon that can kill the final boss. That way you feel for him and his isolation, along with him being guided by the father like awesome pirate character.
It's funny, the entire game the player is waiting for Vaan to reveal his plot relevance... only to learn he doesn't have any. Not even in the 'no one expected this nobody so their plans derail' manner.
Interestingly, Vaan actually has the best base stats. Depending on your taste, he can be the best tank or the best dps. That's probably how they made up making such an irrelevant "main character" lmao. Just give him the best base stats.
@@StoonCoold tbh it was probably a creative direction choice to make him unimportant, you glimpse at the story mainly from his pov, and just like him you, the player, have no direct involvement in the grand scheme of the story or the struggles of the factions involved. I mained Ashe, Balthier, Basch or even Fran more often and Vaan's irrelevance didn't bother me a bit as the game is actually quick to show you the story isn't centered around one specific character. I understand why it upsets most people but back then it was kind of refreshing to have a FF story that deviated from the usual formula.
I liked Vaan and never knew until recently that people didn't like him. I think it's good to have a naive audience stand in and a protagonist who's exited and adventurous rather than all the moody bitch faux-complex protagonists like 7 and 8
Even if he wasn’t a main character, it’s not a reason to dislike him.. he is not bad annoying character, he is just normal dude like he is pretty much relatable, if you were with someone who is popular in Social media or in the world and successful or even a president or any bigger roles, of course that guy will get more spotlight than you no matter how much you did or try to do in your life
I literally started playing this again so I could up on the plot for the jokes. Great job guys. Penelo is the best. Take a shot every time you spot her.
THANK YOU! I played this game with my sister and drove her nuts with predictions that kept coming true. She first thought I was cheating and had looked at a walk-through, but no, I had just seen Star Wars.
@@chaoskiller6084 Nope, you can't give guests commands nor can you edit their gambits in the original game. You also couldn't control your Espers when you summoned them! I do remember Larsa having infinite potions though, which was nice.
AI guests sucked. Being able to set em to do what you want was way better (except for Vossler, fuck that if you expect me to try and edit his millions of gambits). Playing as them was also fun and with a mod called "Old Friends - Guest Recruitment" you can put guests in your party and even Reks (depending on the version you use). You can also equip them and give them jobs. The only downside being you can't edit any of their equipment or licenses until you go to the bar in rabanastre where they're located.
![Noob To Max With DRAGON REWORK In Blox Fruits [FULL MOVIE]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/LnBMOinoOvA/mqdefault.jpg)
"DON'T OPEN THAT CHEST!!"
"Why?"
"If you do, you won't get a cool, ultra-powerful weapon near the end of the game."
"And just HOW do you know that?"
"Errrrr...."
Players of the original PS2 version will understand this.
I swear this game was designed to make people buy a guide for it.
@@mitrimind1027 See FF7's Round of the Knights materia.
@@artofthepossible7329 the PAIN, THE HOURS WITHOUT A GUIDE!!!
Trying to find it, WAS MISERY!
@@joehutchcraft1675 XD
I aspire to make such reactions.
@@artofthepossible7329
But it's so easy to get KotR.
One npc tells you every step and it's not like he's hidden away.
Give Penelo an Oscar. She nailed her role perfectly!
Lol
I was very impressed while in the original she was quite dull this interpretation of Penelo is quite possibly the most well-rounded compelling character in the modern era. Shakespearean in both her dramatic flair and her in perfect combination of the tragic romanticism of Juliet and the comedic musings Much Ado About Nothing's Beatrice truly with this magnificent performance, Balthier is once again robbed of his "leading man" status
Nailed her good. She is a board after all.
Balthier's leading role wig was SNATCHED yet again! And frankly she was far more entertaining in this version that Vaan ever was in the original.
Lol I didn't realize she was going to be a permanent member of my party till I got to giruvegan. I always thought someone more interesting would come along so she stayed level 2 the whole game.
The fact Penelo is a literal cardboard cutout, but still managed to have more character than Vaan killed me😂
Vaan does have a character , it's more thought out then people give it credit for.
Penelo has far less in XII
Vaan is really annoying at first and a lot of people, usually those without a ton of experience with the game, feel like he steals the spotlight as the "main character" from others they think would be more interesting. On a first playthrough the main words that spring to mind for most of us when thinking of Vaan are "why" and "ugh." He seems useless, vestigial, annoying. You don't know why he's there. It seems like he doesn't even know why he's there.
In many ways though, that's Vaan's character. He's lost. He's an orphan whose family and future were taken for him by poor circumstance and then subsequently beaten down by a military occupation. He's stuck in a dead-end life with the only thing keeping him going being the others in the same situation who look up to him and a distant, seemingly unreachable dream of one day escaping from it all to ride the wind as a sky pirate.
One of the most important things to remember about Vaan when critiquing his character is that he's a kid. He's 17, he's a fucking baby by real world standards. And I feel he's pretty accurately portrayed in this regard. Think back about how shitty you were at life when you were a kid his age, even if you thought you were cool at the time. If you're not far enough away from it yet to tell, give it some time. Vaan is impressionable, indecisive, unsure of his course of actions, and when he tries to be impulsive he often chooses the option that ends badly or gets him in trouble. He's a noob. He kinda sucks. But give him a break, he's a kid man. In fact, it's kind of a refreshing change from the typical generic JRPG protagonist who acts like he's 25 but oh nah man, it's totally a 16 year old pulling all this badass shit and having the answer to everything.
This is how you see most of the other party members regard him. He says or does something dumb and they're just like, "smh Vaan" and move on, because they kind of understand. Vaan's still growing up. One of the coolest things is how Balthier is a role model to him, more or less the actualized version of the person he's always dreamed about being.
Now as for his role in the story it's been confused and mixed up a lot, even by the Squenix people (Ashe should have been the Dissidia rep). The simplest comparison is to go with Star Wars because of the myriad of other similarities there already are. Vaan is the R2-D2 of FFXII. He's the little guy that goes around discovering menial tidbits and unraveling threads and accidentally setting huge events into motion that the other "main players" act upon.
(For reference to the rest of the cast: Penelo is C3-P0, Basch is Obi-Wan, Gabranth is Darth Vader, Ashe is a combination of both Luke and Leia, Balthier is Han, and Fran is sexy Chewbacca)
Anyways, I think the major sticking point that got so many people mad about Vaan being chosen as the "main character" is that he's the one you control in towns. This is an issue of bias taking hold. In the majority the previous FF games, you controlled the main character on the field screen in basically every area, barring a few exceptions where they temporarily left the party. So people inherently applied this to FFXII under the assumption that the game had to follow the same rules. This is not the case. The reason you control Vaan in towns is not because he's the most important character or primary focus of the story, but because he is performing his role in the party of the streetear, the information gatherer, the envoy to the common people, the errand boy. Think about the activities you actually perform while being forced to control Vaan. You're running around talking to normal NPCs, gathering tidbits, picking up sidequests, going shopping for new items and equipment. This is the kind of busywork that would be relegated to Vaan, it's what he's good at. Furthermore, think about the other members of the party. Several of them are famous, and all four of the adults have prices on their heads. They would be laying low and keeping to themselves in these big cities, but even in the neutral areas it's more an issue of them simply not being bothered with doing that kind of thing. They all have bigger things on their plates that Vaan doesn't, and Vaan is happy to take care of this stuff as a way of being useful.
And once you get literally anywhere that isn't one of these towns you can control whomever you want to. And in the overwhelming majority of cutscenes where the story and important conversations happen, including the ones in towns, Vaan very much takes a backseat with most of his interaction amounting to more or less the same as an interjectory bleep-bloop-bloop from R2
Vaan (and Penelo) represent the future. Potential. Basch, Gabranth, and Fran are the players of yesterday. Ashe, Balthier, and Vayne are the players of today. Vaan, Penelo, and Larsa are the players of tomorrow. And the reason Vaan is so integral to the party isn't necessarily because of anything he says or does, or the tasks he performs like I outlined above: it's simply his presence. Vaan creates context. He helps Ashe maintain perspective of where her true duty as a queen lies, of what it really means to rule. Like I said, Vaan is impressionable. Ashe's entire journey has been colored by revenge, of wanting to pay back the Empire for the terrible wrongs it's wrought upon her and all of Dalmasca. It's what drew Vaan to join her quest in the first place. He's suffered as she has for the same reasons. And this all comes to a head atop the Pharos Aerie, where she makes the choice that defines all of history to come.
As Gabranth faces them down and goads them into taking vengeance on him for his murder of Ashe's father and Vaan's brother, Ashe feels all her hatred and rage seething within her and wants nothing more than to strike him down, take his life, and then move on to the rest of Archadia next.
And then she looks over at Vaan and sees her own reflection.
And she understands.
She sees this dumb kid who's been looking up to his queen on the entire journey, who's mirrored her own desire for revenge. "Dalmasca does not forget kindness, nor ill deed done. With sword in hand she aids her allies. Sword in hand, she lays to rest her foes. This nethicite I hold must be my sword. I will avenge those who have died. And the Empire will know remorse." Ashe realizes in this single moment that she's inadvertently been teaching Vaan to perpetuate the cycle of hatred forward forever, and that by doing this she's setting the tone for the future of Dalmasca. It's instantly clarified, and she knows what she has to do. She lets go.
FFXII is ultimately a game about letting go of the past and starting anew, of not letting past deeds weigh down one's actions, of learning to forgive and rebuild a new future. Ashe finally comes to understand that her hatred brings her nothing but sorrow, and she instead offers forgiveness. And Vaan changes alongside her, because she's taught him to see it as well.
Vaan's day was yet to come in FFXII. He was kind of a nerd. We see only a glint of potential in him. But he learned a lot over the events of the game. It ends with his dream becoming a reality and taking to the skies. Now one of the coolest things in the entire FF series is when you play FFTA2 after FFXII, and Vaan and Penelo show up older. Vaan has transformed. He's confident and cool, a bona fide sky pirate. They intentionally make his first line to the protagonist the same as Balthier's first line to him in FFXII. The transformation is complete. He's all grown up. It's so fucking cool man. And it was all because the real main characters of FFXII gave some dumb kid a chance, kept him around so he could follow his dreams.
tl;dr: Give Vaan a break , he's just a fuckin kid. He's trying his best, and when he grows up he'll be cooler than you are.
Long read but its worth the read.
@@GigasGalvantula Agreed. And yet I have yet to watch the entire story in walkthroughs. I played into like...25% in the game I think.
@@GigasGalvantula Vaan is still the weakest "Main Character" of the whole series. And to force some relevance into him by constructing him into some leading figure for ashe... Come on, he just sucks and is so irrelevant for the plot, that you feel annoyed by the amount of screentime he has in cut scenes.
Balthier stole the show in both the game and in the parody.
because he is the leading man
Agreed, best lead man.
Penelo stole the show n this one...
@@lorddoomer501 True, but...
Balthier is the man.
It's funny to look back at the story of FF12 and finally figure out the reason for Vaan's presence, as well as Ashe's true role in the story. And also realize that technically, the "villain" Vayne Solidor, actually won in the end. He was victorious, he achieved his true goals.
Let's set up a standard fantasy setting. Someone, boiling with rage and grief, and desperate for revenge in any form they can get it, is guided by questionable, possibly even malevolent, deities to a source of ultimate magic power. They unleash that power on the target of their revenge, not caring about any innocent people that get caught up in it. They then take the throne themselves, and rule the people under the influence of those deities.
A fairly standard, typical villain story. And it was originally Ashe's destiny. That's right, _Ashe_ is the villain of FF12. The Occuria were constantly guiding her towards the Deifacted Nethicite, taking the form of "visions" she would often receive of the Prince. The Prince that was killed in the war against Archadia, the Empire she would give anything to destroy. Even against the best interests of her people; the _people_ of Dalmasca.
Keep in mind that at the point of the main story taking place, Dalmasca had already been under Archadian control for two years, and peace and stability were finally coming to the people. Many of those people hadn't known either before; Dalmasca was a small country between two mighty Empires, and war was a constant factor in the lives of the people. Under Archadian rule, that's no longer an issue, and many of the regular citizens of the kingdom are able to live better lives.
Ashe doesn't care about that, she wants revenge for her Prince, and she wants HER throne back.
The party being the villains is actually hinted at by the summons, the Espers, you can obtain. You don't get ANY of the standard Final Fantasy summons in this game. Shiva, Ifrit, Bahamut? All of the familiar summons that all of the hero parties in the FF games have gotten? They don't exist in FFXII. Instead, those names are given to the _Archadian_ ships.
What do we get instead? Evil, demonic beings. Villains. And I mean that quite literally; quite a few of the Espers in FFXII are literally Big Bads from previous FF games, reimagined.
The Occuria are interfering with the Fate of both mankind and Ivalice, and they don't want to lose their power. Having Ashe establish an Empire that they can influence will be a huge benefit. And the tool of their influence is Nethicite, both Deifacted and Manufacted. If they lose that, they lose their grip on Ivalice and on mankind.
So what does this have to do with Vaan?
Well, at the beginning of the story, Vaan's in the same place. He hates the Archadians, and wants revenge for his brother's death. The Occuria influence him in the same way as Ashe. They want someone to take the power. This is shown a couple times, where Vaan gets the same "visions" that Ashe does, being led towards the Nethicite. Only Vaan's visions are of his brother, not the Prince. They're both being shown what they lost to reinforce the need for revenge, as well as point them towards the right path.
However, there's a difference between Vaan and Ashe. Ashe spent the last two years in hiding, constantly on the attack, constantly planning, and staying away from the public. She's not seeing what her people are going through. Vaan, on the other hand, _lived_ those two years in Dalmasca; he lived among the ordinary citizens of the Empire, he watched how peoples' lives improved after the wars were finally over.
And then he and Penelo meet Larsa, and come to realize that many in the Empire truly are trying to help. They want to help the people stay safe; they don't want any more people to lose their brothers. And though it's hard, Vaan's able to let go of his anger at the Empire in the light of all of that.
And this is significant, because after this, Ashe is shown at least one more "vision" of the Prince, _but Vaan is not._ Unlike all the previous "visions", he sees nothing like everyone else, instead of seeing his brother. The Occuria can no longer influence him.
Ashe and Vaan are later able to discuss this, about what they've lost, but Vaan is also able to point out the other side of that, the people that the Empire is helped.
And then, the time comes. Ashe obtains the Deifacted Nethicite, and is ready to use it as a weapon to obliterate Archadia, once and for all, and take her throne back. She can finally get her revenge.
And she chooses to let it go. She's able to let go of the Deifacted Nethicite, and let it be destroyed instead, preventing it from ever being used to harm innocent people on such a large scale.
_That_ was Vaan's significance. He's not a person of any importance, but he was an example to Ashe about looking past your anger and revenge, and being able to let go of it for the good of the people, the people you are truly supposed to serve. Without his example, without her being shown someone in the same position as her letting go of that grief, she may very well have weaponized the Nethicite instead, and sealed Ivalice's fate.
And then we come to what I said earlier, about Vayne as the "villain" of the story. We find out he's made a pact with a _former_ Occurian, Venat, who wants to break mankind and Ivalice free of the shackles of the Occuria, and leave Fate in their own hands. That's why he conquered Dalmasca: to get at the Nethicite hidden in the land. With the destruction of the Nethicite, both Deifacted and Manufacted, as well as the death of Cid(the only one who knew the process to create Manufacted Nethicite), their goals have been achieved. Ivalice is free.
And knowing that, Venat lets go of his immortal form, and chooses to die alongside Vayne willingly, knowing his ambition has been achieved.
This is so much true.. Can't explain it any better
Just wanted to point something out, the espers aren't even reimagined, they're the same creatures even in their design, look at Belias and Cuchulain from FF Tactics, both demons that possess 2 villains, they're literally the same.
@@SasukeeCraft Tactics and XII take place in the same world, so it only makes sense for Espers to be the same across those games. What the OP is referring to is Espers like Exodus, who's an alternate version of Exdeath, and Chaos, an entirely different version of the FFI villain. Also, it's pretty much understood that the Espers are literal devils or fallen angels. Ultima is the Fallen Seraph. Belias, Shemyaza, and Andramalech are well-known rulers of Hell in demonology. Zalera is an anagram of Azrael, the Jewish Angel of Death. And I'm pretty sure the Espers' other title, Lucavi, comes from a word for demon in the Roma language.
@@thirteenfury Ohhh I see, thx for explaining.
@@thirteenfury Mateus is the main villain from FFII
9:30 Alternate scene:
Vaan: "I'm Captain Basch Von Rasenburg!"
Man: "No you're not! Why do you keep saying that?!"
Vaan: (looks sadly at floor) ".....I just don't want to be Vaan anymore."
Man: "Jesus, who would?"
Lmao
My shit would be ashamed of itself if it was Vaan.
Vaan: "Reks should have been the main character and just kept me around as an NPC. Or just replace me with Penelo or whatever. His testimony was what condemned Basch as a traitor and that ruined what morale the Dalmascan Resistance still had. Reks learning the truth and wanting to fix the mess he was used to cause would have had so much more depth. Also, it was criminal to waste such an awesome name on a first hour character!"
@@andy56duky WTF Is Wrong with you?!
@@silverblade357 true, Reks with sexy white hair boy ends up being a short tutorial character, Such Waste Of Potential... :-/
Fun fact: basch was meant to be the main character but square knew it wouldn't sell well without a young Male protagonist and as a result Vaan was made
Apparently they also had a lot more written for his backstory to make him relevant to the plot, but it all got scrapped
LOL This was in the 2009 era when Square Enix also said Call of Duty was a great reference for future final fantasy titles.... and thus FF13 was born...
I keep hearing that, but I just never bought it. Basch's entire redemption arc revolves around being Ashe's loyal knight. Where she goes, he follows. Ashe is the main protagonist. She makes the most decisions regarding the party's course, she is the leader of the rebels, and she is even the "chosen one" because of the blood of the Dynast-King. She also goes through the most character growth - although, in this party, I'm not entirely sure how much that means anything.
So if they really meant it to be Basch, they did something wrong in the implementation; Ashe and Balthier are the ones with leadership qualities, and make nearly all the decisions between them.
@@dukedarkwood2098 It's been stated before that there is no true main protagonist in this game. Having leadership qualities/making the decisions doesn't really make a character the main protagonist. Hell, Cloud was basically just a walking, moping, whiner for most of 7 yet he's still considered the main protagonist.
Actually, I think it was just the Japanese fan-base that wouldn't have gone for Basch as the main character. They were into more "metro sexual" looking protagonists. The U.S. fan-base has had heroes like Basch for decades. Either way, this marked the end of the truly amazing story lines and Great main protagonists. This was also the first Final Fantasy which I was, number 1, shocked when I realized I'd just finished the final boss fight, and 2, disappointed in the main character's arc and lack of love story.
"Who does your haaaiiir? It's fabulooouuus! First big laugh. (Of many).
Seymour from Final Fantasy X is a part-time hairstylist. Does everyone from Kafka's to Sephiroth's hair.
L'Oreal, because I'm worth it.
In defense of nobles being not so recognisable: in the middle ages it's not like the face of every lord was posted on every wall. You could be the son of the queen and, as long as you don't walk in your best garments and aren't escorted by soldiers or servants, none was going to recognise you. So the only problem with Larsa is his clothing, while Ashe doesn't really dress as a noble in any part of the main story. Balthier is the son of a high ranking Archadian citizen, and also an ex-judge, so I expect him to be well informed about political figures, and in fact he is. Vaan and Penelo are just orphans from pretty much the Baghdad of Ivalice, will all that implies (except I guess religion and female abuse, luckily).
Balthier isn't just the only one with a brain in the group, he's the only one who recieved a proper education.
It's still not ok for Larsa to walk around in royal clothes and not getting kidnapped/looked weirdly at by the common folk, I agree with that.
EDIT: There more I see this video the more I get convinced that FF12 is just Japanese-Fantasy Star Wars
So Japanese Star Wars (Star Wars is already Fantasy)
They were posed on coins.
And star wars heavily referenced Dune. Everything Scifi is technically a rip-off of Dune when you read the books.
@@aliciacordero8399 isn't it Sci fi with fantasy elements?
@@rawrdino7046 no, it's classic sword&sorcery fantasy IN SPACE
Balthier's VA did a damned good impression of Gideon Emery.
Uh, definitely not :P
And his voice kinda..... 😏👌
He did a good impression of the likeness of what that character role was. I mean its pretty specific.
I love how Balthier was actually the leading man of this video 😍
He's the leading man of the game, why wouldn't he also be the leading man of the video?
Balthier, Fran, Ashe and Basch are the actual main characters. Vaan and Penelo were literally added into the game at the last minute because the higher ups thought they would be more marketable.
@@SBaby executive meddling at its' finest
Whenever I play 12 vaan and Penelo don’t exist for me lol
@@soullionheart2860 so how you do the first parts of game when vaan is part of your team or oly character
Balthier- best character in game and in parody.
And he's a great character to use in Final Fantasy Tactics! (War Of The Lions edition)
Cloud was better.
watcher ofmemelords Could wasn’t in this game though.
@@thatnerdygaywerewolf9559 think he meant tactics
iceshaver Ah
Bunny and Clyde. I just fell down from my chair.
Edit: Judge Geese . I'm down on a floor again.
I didn't understand it, just like vaan xD
The boss there in the real game was named Judge Ghis. It's just a pun.
That was GREAT!
Poor Belias, he legit was useful for literally 1 fight before becoming completely outclassed by every other summon in the game.
Balthier: so everyone, what did you manage to steal from the boss?
Ashe: i got a Feystone.
Penelo: i got a Destrier Mane.
Fran: i got a Tyrant hide.
Vaan: i got a rock. (show a Pebble).
Every drop in the entire game basically
@@chesterlockett4002 🤣
Whoever did Vaan's voice exaggerated his mannerisms perfectly lol.
Thanks! I studied him a lot.
Ashe must be pink bc she's sunburnt from crossing the desert 29 times during the games plot
True enough, IamHotSau5. Especially with how many hours I'd be LP and XP point grinding in many areas of the game. Find yourself any of the *good* dungeons and have fun throwing away more than an hour of your life grinding levels.
Balthier´s promise of using his ship whenever the cast wanted to was as real as Penelo.
As a Final Fantasy XII fan. I have to say just one thing.
THIS ISN'T STAR WARS GODDAMN IT!
no one cares
@@stefang.5732 Ok Boomer
As a FFXII fan I just want to say, it really is though
It's totally star wars. The plot and final battle scene prove it for me.
Everything ever made is Star Wars
I don't like Vaan. He's rough, coarse, irritating. And he gets everywhere.
And he depend on a slot machine to deal high damage...
THIS ISN'T STah who am I kidding, of course it is!
i'm replaying ff12 TZA, and the problem with vaan it's defenitely his body, it looks like an 34 yo men, if he will look more like larsa or even more younger it will not be a problem, i remember another annoying character on the ff series, palom, but he was just a kid, and it will sacrifice, but, in ff4tay, he return and even still looking as a teen it becomes more annoying than kid because it looks older.
my point if vaan looked like a 15yo kid will be more acceptable.
other than that ff12 it's a great game, sad the ff13-15 didn't feel the half of polished of this game.
Sounds like pet fur.
And people thought Tidus was bad?
"Don't listen to Ondore's lies!".
Ff12's most memorable moment.😆
"Basch lives!"
Yea, there's even a page on -Knowyourfad- -Knowyourfandominjoke- Knowyourmeme for it.
"I'm Captain Basch!"
hey, bucket head!
Still say it till this day XD
Your parodies got me interested in playing the real games and I'm having a blast so thank you.
Same, thanks to them I've beaten FF up to FF3 to this point, I'm playing FF4 at the moment.
It's the reason im playing ff9
Quick question... Did you understand the parodies when you first watched them? I wouldn't think there was a lot that someone who hadn't played them before would appreciate (lots of 'in jokes' etc).
Just about to watch this one now, RABToons, you do some great stuff!
It just reminds me how little I ever cared about Vaan
@@strategyplayer1988 I might not have gotten every joke, but feel like most of them are written well enough that you understand enough from context clues.
Balthier is everyone's favorite character.
And I like how Penelo has more character than Edge in this one.
Balthier is an arrogant dickhead
@@A12C4 maybe just arrogant, because of his upbringing I guess
Fuck Balthier...
his whole personality is being Vaan but arrogant...
Vaan maybe be a cardboard cutout, but at least is fucking tolerable.
If you don't like Balthier, you don't like anyone.
Fran was my favorite.
Vaan is the protagonist cause he resembles Luke Skywalker
Ashe is Leia
Balthier is Han Solo
Fran is Chewbacca
Gabranth is Darth Vader
Change my mind 🤭
Reks us Luke's uncle and Vayne is the evil emperor
And how might be Yoda?
@Gilbert Octovan Sanjaya Gran Kiltias for Yoda... For sure
I always thought Basch and Gabranth were a reference to Cecil and Golbez from Final Fantasy 4.
Penelo is R2D2
I was actually really sad when Reddas died. He carried me through so many hunts and sides quests 😭
A R I S E
Poor reddit, he was a good farming tool :(
‘omg I finally have a guest again..... so where’s the nearest hunt board’
Definitely got my use out of him no lie lol I use each guest as much as I can before they go 😂
Larsha: ehem . X-potion
I'm sorry for your loss. My regards to you and your family.
Thank you :)
That was a family member? Sorry. Didn't know for sure who the dedication was for so didn't want to put foot in mouth like "grats on the pregnancy" or something.
Thanks for clarifying Fabian; and best wishes RAB.
That was the best supporting act of a character ever. Totally complemented the cast especially Balthier and company. Also true to that one's character. Good job Penelo
With Vaan thinking this was Star Wars, you missed the chance to have him look for his father who is actually still alive but evil, then Balthier pointing at Cid. "Nope, mine."
genius
Balthier: "This is NOT bloody Star Wars!!!"
“Go be useless somewhere else”
Vaan summed up perfectly.
"Why are all the men topless here?!"
*ignores desert literally stretching for miles in each direction*
Desert people cover their skin as much as they can. You don't want a sun at 50ºC roasting your bare skin ...
And that's not to mention the night, with temperatures below freezing ...
No, that costume is definitely not appropriate for the desert.
@@jorgepascualfuentecilla3746 I'd say it's more appropriate for tropical weather.
@Kalevipoeg Ignoring other motives of wanting such a reality
@Kalevipoeg Ignoring other motives of wanting such a reality
@Kalevipoeg Ignoring other motives of wanting such a reality
I always suspected Penelo would be an outcast but this is way better 😂 😂 😂
@@rapidfire9999 don't we all? 😂
Vaan is totally irrelevant but he is the plot device at the beginning of the game to join Balthier+Fran, Basch and Ashe. He can't be an outcast.
Luckyly, he becomes super irrelevant like in the original game!
@@rapidfire9999 good for you if you like Vaan so much, but friendly reminder that Revenant Wings isn't part of the main series.
@@rapidfire9999 I say they are trash. And as I said before, good for you if you like Vaan so much.
I don't care at all 😂
@@rapidfire9999 I don't know what's wrong with you dude. So I'll just ignore you.
That's because the whole outcasts thing is lame
I fucking love this game, even with the weird or inconsistent parts.
Worth the wait! As I expected, Vaan was as irrelevant as he was in the actual game haha. Penelo as a cardboard cutout was genius! I assume she'll be a outcast or Greg's lackey? Penelo was equally as irrelevant as Vaan lol.
Considering how you guys portrayed Lightning in the FFX Nutshell, I can't wait for the FFXIII Nutshell! :D
He was so irrelevant that he is literally the reason Ashe was alive and she even managed to get her throne back..
Dude, vaan plays a major rile in ashe's character arc, penelo may just be a plot engine but i still like her
@@rapidfire9999 He saved her when they first met in the sewers, she was corned and he told her to jump down and he managed to catch her. Balthier even scolded him for saving Ashe so he was cleary not going to help her.
@@DanielPereira-ey9nt Penelo was the reason that the party befriend Larsa, which was a major reason that Ashe was able to get her throne back.
Not to mention if Larsa had not give Penelo the nethicite, Judge Ghis would have blown the whole group up, so yeah..
There's something ironic about Balthier accusing Vaan of being a prettyboy.
Yeah, we all picked a fight with that T rex at the starting desert and died.
OR we left it til level 30-40, started whacking it then saw "cannabalise" at the top of the screen and began pondering why its level doubled as we get chomped back to the home loading screen^^
nonsense, I'm an intelligent player
and by intelligent, I mean my parents got me a guide with the game and the guide said not to fight it.
“Ahhh, Judge Geese”
~crickets crickets~
“I don’t get it”
I damn near died 😂🤣😂🤣😂
Lol that part was so funny
I had to pause the video because I laughed soooo much!
That part got me. Hilarious
Wait what ? I dont get it.
Wow, you injected more personality into Penelo than the actual FF12 did, good job!
She did not get any personality until the sequel game. So sad.
And yet, she still had more than Vaan somehow... Not that 97% of all other characters were much better, but still!
I don't agree
2:00 Holy sh*T, you actually pulled off the changing accent perfectly, I'm impressed
I remember I was so pissed that airships were so prominent in the story, but you never got to fly one. And before the final boss battle I didn’t realize it was the final boss. I was just like…that’s it?
"We will get to explore any of it?"
"No."
A better answer would be, NOT IN THIS IVALICE GAME.
I don't like Vaan and Penelo in FFXII but I wouldn't like the game without them. Part of the charm is seeing Fran and Balthier babysit tbh.
@@rapidfire9999 I still dont like Vaan as a character very much in Revenant WIngs myself. As a party member in battle though, he's great in both games. Hell he's even decent in Final Fantasy Tactics A2
@@rapidfire9999 but FF Tactics A2 is still part of Ivalice timeline where FFXII takes place.
@@rapidfire9999 yep, in order of the timeline is: FFXII, FFXII:RW, FFTA, FFTA2, then FF Tactics.
They are all set in one universe and they are all made by the same people: The Ivalice Alliance (sadly the key members already left Square Enix hence why you dont see any future Tactics games so far)
Vaan is so irrelevant in ff12, he does have the best stats tho
@@rocktleague6295 He did a lot of important shit at the start of the plot and some minor later, including saving ashe's ass
This game marked the point of my "getting out of Final Fantasy" phase.
These parodies marked the point of my "getting back into Final Fantasy" phase and I am now up to Chapter 4 on Final Fantasy XIII so that I can keep up with these.
Also, my condolences to you for your loss, may your grandmother be at peace.
This game was amazing....13 was the end for me.
“The sand ppl are easily startled, but they will be back and in greater numbers” HAHAHA fkn lost it 😂😂
2 ways of playing FFXII Zodiac Age:
-Play legit
Or
-Get the Seitengrat
Go Seitengrad or go home
I wanted to get the Seitengrat but with 1% chance...
Eeww. Do people realy spend that much time to get several seitegrant? Ugh
There are easy enough methods to force rngesus to cough it up
@@lurighashandarei1318 it's stupidly easy to get lol.
Balthier was great in this parody, but my favorite character was Penelo. This is the best she had ever been in Final Fantasy. Amazing work on another wonderful parody and I can't wait to see Penelo return XD
"Who does your hair? Is fabbulous" 😂these always win the internet I swear
The voice actor for Vaan is adorable, I love his small lisp when he speaks.
Also my condolences to you and your family for your grandmother. I understand the pain of losing someone close to you and I hope that in time you’ll feel better x
FULL DISCLAIMER: Final Fantasy XII is actually one of my favorite Final Fantasy games and even I have to admit this shit is hilarious and accurate as fuck. I shouldn’t have laughed as hard as I did at the Judge Ghis bit but holy shit!! 😂🤣😭
The combat system, monsters, and hunts are GREAT! Even the story is pretty good if you take Penelope and Vaan out of it lol
@@DadsCigaretteRun I think Vaan does fill a important role of audience surrogate who views the tale from a third party perspective. And in defense of Vaan Final Fantasy 12: Revenant Wings is where does come into his own.
Same, the story wasn't absolutely amazing by any means so it's fun to joke about, but the gameplay and everything else made it one of my favorites by far
FF XII was actually the first in the series I completed and is in my opinion my favorite
I'm a huge fan of FFXII as well: loved exploring places, the enemy design, the music, Balthier. Story's all-right, with Vaan and Penelo being the weakest links. (Ashe is more of the protagonist, especially in the latter half where Vaan isn't as much in focus.) Still really loved the skit.
This kinda blew my mind if only for making me realize FFXII is actually the Final Fantasy version of Star Wars.
"Don't worry, it's a Final Fantasy prison" So true.
Final Fantasy 8 and 9 had those easy to escape prisons.
@@Angrymonkey2489 They all did. Pretty sure II-VI had especially easy to escape ones. 2D games where you don't see things from the character's perspective, where you just waltz right through the walls.
This could match every J-RPG-Prison
So Wild Arms 2 is part of Final Fantasy (you gotta get out of Illsveil AND Golgotta prison)?
And Wild Arms 5 is part of Final Fantasy too (although you get help from "Johnny Appleseed")?
And Guybrush could easily out of the prison on Phat Island... Is that Final Fantasy MI2 - LeChuck's Revenge?
Oh yeah, Wild Arms 1, where you can just send out Hanpan to get you out of the prison under the Pandemonium.
Yup, if you are in jail you're going to break out... gaming cliché in general!
@@TheRealTricky in some, you get run out of them by monsters or conflict
Don't care what anyone says, I still love this game.
Me too my fav FF... still to me the most unique one it only suffered from the story being forcibly change
I'm trying to play through it. I'm 4 hours in and, tbh, between the licenses and stupid job system, and slow af combat, I'm tired of it. GBA FF was sooo much better (4,5,6) and 1,2,3, were good too, but I haven't liked the overcomplicated weird ones where they tried to put in a billion different systems.
@@catcat5564 I understand ..but you know if you're playing the Zodiac age the one that came out for PlayStation 4.. they actually have a feature that allows you to speed up the combat! And personally I love the job system but to each their own
When I played first time ir dissapointed me bc of lack of FF style. Nowadays It think it's a great JRPG, no matter if it fits or not in the saga.
@@catcat5564 with that attitude there's no way you fight yiazmat or omega mark Xii
I'm DEAD. That penelo LMAO
Why cant the Vaan from this parody be the Vaan that is in my party?!
Dude's invincible. Got eaten by a dinosaur, shot in the forhead by a gun, beaten maliciously by a board and was stabbed in the abdomen.. AND HE STILL SURVIVED.
Also,
Cast: Who are you?
Guest: I'm [Insert fake name here]
Balthier: NOPE!
Lol
This was an intricately written, and well put together analysis of the overall FF XII experience. extensive care was clearly taken to pick apart all the nuanced portions of the story in an ingenious, and comical way. Nowhere is this approach to subtle humor better represented than the Bunny and Clyde joke.
11:28 I thought Nethicite/Magicite/SunCryst acted like an emp around airships.
Besides, who doesn't love walking aimlessly around identical structures and landscapes with easily missable treasure for hours on end?
Those traps aren't going to trigger themselves.
After watching all of the ff in a nutshell, I gotta say my favorite scene was in ff8 when laguna, kiros and ward are shown for the first time and they start dancing "man with a machine-gun" theme.
Penelo = cardboard
Balthier = main character that seen through everything
Vann = dumb boi that don’t know anything
What else can I give?! A big thumb up!
5:46 I love the face Balthier made and how you added Chewbacca’s roar in 7:22 😆😂
Balthier voice actor is too damn good omg
Ah man, Penelo is my favorite character
*unzips pants*
@@andy56duky 😂
@@-curtiscamp threesome?
Agreed, But by my gamertag it's kinda obvious is it?
I saw that Bunny and Clyde joke from a mile away.......
Also yaaay, my favourite ff game
Game sins: that's racist, ding!
Judge Ghis actually made me cry, i've been waiting for this video since i watched your FF 1 in a nutshell when it first came out. Keep up the good work!
Doctor Cid: Balthier, I am your father
Balthier: Nooooooooooo
This isn't Star Wars!
God fu©king dammit!!! 🤣
Why must I feel called out by Belias in this parody?
Its sad considering He's the Most important Esper part of the Storyline having belonged to the Dynast King but is overall the Weakest Esper of all of them.
I felt so bad because as soon as I got the next one, I never used him again 😂😂
@@cathoodiegirl4118 Is he _really_ weaker than Zalera?
A summon that can do nothing other than insta-kill mobs that you don't need to use him for in the first place.
That's what I always found funny about death, doom, and the like in every Final Fantasy. The only mobs that are vulnerable to it are the ones that it's not worth casting against in the first place.
17:30 hey wait a sec. thats the ridorana lighthouse from ffxiv. I see ramza!
Yup! I couldn't resist seeing as it's more or less the same exact model.
Return to Ivalice was an awesome raid series
Can't wait to not get the Nier references in 5.1.
Count Cidolfus Orlandeau made for a really great boss fight. So many wipes on the Thunder God. I need to steal some of his quotes.
@HicksZ34 14's stormblood 24 man raid is the semi official canon ending by the original fft/revenant wings/12 creators and despite me not playing those had me crying at the end
Would you ever consider doing one of these for The Legend Of Dragoon?
Wish (partially) granted!
ruclips.net/video/5RmNYt_E0gI/видео.html
I agree! I also wouldn't mind seeing them doing such with Skies Of Arcadia too.
Or Xenogears(well, the video would take hours)!
I have to admit. I lost vocal chords when i saw Judge Guis 😂 thank you, i hated his name. This gave me so much closure
Would've been funnier if it's Geese Howard.
"Can't we just beat them fairly?" "...Noooo, you suck" Lol, best moment. Should've added the 4 hours i spent running back and forth across maps for the secret chest with Excalibur to appear.
Great crystal still appears in my nightmares
Fact: FF12 was a way to showcase how war affects multiple nations, and what the lust for power costs.
(Hence why it is a story from multiple perspectives)
And omg how they screwed it up
it's perfect 😍
@@akiinmoonlight79 It truly is.
I still maintain that Reks should have been the PC. Vaan and Penelo have no real reason to be involved after the first couple hours.
@@silverblade357 i loved penelo, i wish she had more time used creating her arc doing something like crafting toys for the kids without family.
I can understand why they hate Vaan so much and also why Balthier is so irritated about the logic of the game😂 😂 😂
Love Balthier
I actually hated Balthier with his, IM THE MAIN PROTAGONIST every 5 seconds
@@ScrewFearMe I was so starved for anyone that wasn't Vaan, that I was like "YES, Balthier. PLEASE."
@@GrayLanternPPA but he goes IM THE LEADING MAN
LOOK AT ME IM THE LEADING MAN!!!
DID I SAY I WAS THE LEADING MAN?
LOOK THATS WHERE WE NEED TO GO, BTW DID I SAY I WAS THE LEADING MAN?
@@ScrewFearMe Better than Vaan. "I want to be a sky pirate," on repeat for the first third of the game. Then the real heroes arrive and he just never goes away.
Vayne: Blah blah.. *bang*
Balthire: I have a freaking gun
:DDDDDDD
That dinosaur sent me into hysterics! I remember getting a gameover to that,nostalgia overload
I really wish the game had more of Old Dalan, he looked like he'd be a pretty cool mission control type character, then just disappeared.
"Woah, look at that mech-dragon looking thing, maybe that's this world's Emerald Weapon or something, let's get him."
*THREE HOURS LATER*
"IT'S STILL NOT DEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAD!"
I got this.... "Oh look it is a giant T rex in an arena.. Shouldn't be much different than the other T rex's"
*party was never seen again*
*legend has it, that 6 skeletal figures still fight the dinosaur to this day*
Balthier : gathering allies rescuing rebellious Princess and fighting back against the evil Empire using mystical forces and flying ships along with my animal like sidekick
Vaan : Oh, just like Star Wars
Me : LOL you took the words out of my mouth but I call it Sky Wars
Vaan:Can i be Han Solo?
Me:No,Vaan. You would be more suited to Luke Skywalker than him.
........Me:What do you mean this isn't Star Wars!?
Bausch: “ am I the only character with a brain cell here!?”
Me: yes, yes you are. Also, the only person with eyes that actually work.
Correction my man, it's balthier
What the wolf said!
Balthier is the only character with brain, bro.
Basch got the biggest balls
Balthier dude
your eyes don't fucking work
Man, I love this Balthier. He's the best.
He so is
I love the way every area has his own special soundtrack always in the background and you use that same in this video❤
I'm very exited to see how you are gonna parody Final Fantasy XV
*I've come up with a new recipe!*
Imperials above us!!!!!! Repeat 20x in 5 minutes
Noctis would be Balthier and Cloud mixed together. Being all irritated and whiny and at the same time a critiquing asshole .
Should be a lot of fishing, cooking, selfies and self driving cars. I hope FFVII remake will restore my faith in the series because XV was just awful in so many ways.
but first will you be intrested in buying this dlc to find out what will happen in this parody
I like how even kytes had a one liner but not penelo even though penelo always felt like a optional character
So a penelo model does exist. I'm surprised
i'm disappointed they didn't do the same with fran. she literally has less character than penelo. she is only there because she's balthier's cock warmer.
@@thomasjenkins7506 as someone who loves Fran because of her looks voice and quickening, I could not agree more. Aside from the jungle scenes she is irrelevant
@@jluvsong it's not even like the jungle scenes are integral to the plot, either. they seem to only exist so she has a single thing to do. even penelo has more relevance because she's at least from rabanasta, the city the game revolves around, and she gets kidnapped once.
@@thomasjenkins7506 eh, Fran still has some of the best lines, and fulfills the role of "party member that monologues all ancient lore for you"
@@bobmcbob49 even that is made redundant by all the ancient npcs that monologue ancient lore for you.
it's not that i want to hate on fran. i just wish she had a reason to exist because everything else about her works.
I've played this game like 15 times in my life (+2900 hours spent), each time I try to get better and better, still can't get enough of it, this parody is pure gold btw, laughed my ass off
Damn, that was great. I'm loving your parody series so far and I can't wait until Final Fantasy XIII in a Nutshell comes out.
I haven't played past FFIII but my goodness, these parodies are awesome!
Whoa now. That's sinner talk.
BTW you don’t have to know all the other FF to enjoy the later ones.
Don't play 13 and 15, you won't be missing anything.
@@beCoCOi 13 I haven't played so I can speak for that one. 15 I loved. I actually got the Achievements in the main game.
@@ASLTheatre 15 should have them the bombshell of all final fantasy games. It was supposed to be the best ever, but instead we got a have that want even twenty percent finished.
I am so excited to watch this show tonight thank you!
You know, you can fix Vaan so easy it's almost maddening. Make him like Shinji Ikari and give him the only weapon that can kill the final boss. That way you feel for him and his isolation, along with him being guided by the father like awesome pirate character.
i fucking hate shinji
It's funny, the entire game the player is waiting for Vaan to reveal his plot relevance... only to learn he doesn't have any. Not even in the 'no one expected this nobody so their plans derail' manner.
Interestingly, Vaan actually has the best base stats. Depending on your taste, he can be the best tank or the best dps.
That's probably how they made up making such an irrelevant "main character" lmao. Just give him the best base stats.
@@StoonCoold tbh it was probably a creative direction choice to make him unimportant, you glimpse at the story mainly from his pov, and just like him you, the player, have no direct involvement in the grand scheme of the story or the struggles of the factions involved. I mained Ashe, Balthier, Basch or even Fran more often and Vaan's irrelevance didn't bother me a bit as the game is actually quick to show you the story isn't centered around one specific character. I understand why it upsets most people but back then it was kind of refreshing to have a FF story that deviated from the usual formula.
Fun fact, Vaan is the only character from the party to even land a blow on Vayne, the rest was just there sucking on their thumb
The running gag about Ashe complaining about the airship had me rolling on the floor, laughing!
I liked Vaan and never knew until recently that people didn't like him. I think it's good to have a naive audience stand in and a protagonist who's exited and adventurous rather than all the moody bitch faux-complex protagonists like 7 and 8
I've always liked him. He's one of my mains within my party. I just wish I got to see more of kytes and the dynamic that would bring of them.
Even if he wasn’t a main character, it’s not a reason to dislike him.. he is not bad annoying character, he is just normal dude like he is pretty much relatable, if you were with someone who is popular in Social media or in the world and successful or even a president or any bigger roles, of course that guy will get more spotlight than you no matter how much you did or try to do in your life
"So our things are in there?"
"...A-DUUUUUUUUUHHH!"
Lolol
I literally started playing this again so I could up on the plot for the jokes. Great job guys. Penelo is the best. Take a shot every time you spot her.
Best FFXII Parody btw!! I'm sorry for your loss. She seems like a sweet and funny lady.
I feel like you made Ashe’s voice actor play the Sky Tower portion of the game😂
THANK YOU! I played this game with my sister and drove her nuts with predictions that kept coming true. She first thought I was cheating and had looked at a walk-through, but no, I had just seen Star Wars.
"What is this, two Cid's in one game?"
I guess that makes up for the fact that FF I didn't have a Cid.
The first FF did have a Cid, he was just in the backstory of the game, Cid of Lufaine.
@@YurrickLamhfhada He was only added in for the GBA version of the game. He didn't exist in the original NES version.
Loved Balthier trying to explain how guests work, especially when in the international version it's nothing like that ;p
I was expecting:
*Groan* "you don't have enough badges to control her."
Wait, I've only played both international versions. Can't you control your guests in the original?
@@chaoskiller6084 Nope, you can't give guests commands nor can you edit their gambits in the original game. You also couldn't control your Espers when you summoned them! I do remember Larsa having infinite potions though, which was nice.
AI guests sucked. Being able to set em to do what you want was way better (except for Vossler, fuck that if you expect me to try and edit his millions of gambits). Playing as them was also fun and with a mod called
"Old Friends - Guest Recruitment"
you can put guests in your party and even Reks (depending on the version you use). You can also equip them and give them jobs. The only downside being you can't edit any of their equipment or licenses until you go to the bar in rabanastre where they're located.
16:20 OWCH..that's a harsh blow...but 100% true..no-one uses Espers
Best part : “oh god he’s talking to me. Venod venod. Just give him just a bunch of metal to make him look like a dragon. “ and the bahamut reference.
Currently playing through the game, and I gotta say that vaan and balthier's voice actors are spot fucking on.
“These gambits say you can’t hit me.” - Why is this so funny?