I bet if they'd made his role more active with Dahj in the sequels it woulda been better. Maybe instead of losing hope, Dahj was infested with Chaos or something and Sazh is like "Lightning! Ah thank god you're here. I need to get this mcguffin to save my son's soul but I cant do it alone!" and have a mini adventure with Lightning similar to Fang. Helps show that 'Hope for the future' thing more and still lets him still be connected mainly to Dahj in his motivation.
Oooh yeah I see it. Have a continuation of what happened in the DLC. It's funny now I think of it because people who never played the DLC wouldn't have had nearly as much an issue with Sazh's writing in LRFF13. So the DLC makes his writing more stale instead of less.
Sazh's role be so much smaller in the sequels made me sad, even more-so after I read Episode 0. His chapter was so damn sad :( I also feel they could've done more with Dajh, since he's essentially just a plot device in the grand scheme of things. Given the condition of LR's world, they could've easily had him be more "grown-up" while still looking the same way he did in XIII, thus allowing them to expand his character and not shackling Sazh to one spot so he can actually spend some time with Light during the main story.
Or honestly, even if they'd aged up Dajh appearance-wise too it would have been fine. The writing might've been less stale if Dajh had matured and had more agency
That Barthandelus introduction scene is immaculate. These videos are bringing back sooo many memories! I was 10 when I bought XIII and was so addicted to it.
Yesss the way Barthandelus is introduced (especially since it's the only time in-game we see Lightning actually scared) is FIRE. Though I still wish we'd gotten a Colonel Nabaat boss fight before it
Hell yes! They did this man dirty in the sequels... Peaked too early, then got nothing left to do after... I feel like the writing situation in LR would've could've been avoided if they just tried to age up Dahj as well as Hope. Serah, Dahj and Hope can be like "the new generation" of sorts, kind of like in Digimon Adventures 02, and Sazh will need to navigate how to be a supportive father to a young man through the sequels.
Oooh. Like have Dajh be introduced again in 10 AF? Hope feels less "new generation" to me because of how he's positioned in the triogy; I'll be making a video on him next so I can talk more about that then.
Never mind Sazh, the real best character is the little choco-bro always nesting inside the dude's hair xD That said, his stance is perfectly understandable. He got swept up in a massive conflict through no fault of his own, with no hope of things ever going back to normal. And like you said, he isn't a soldier, but a family man just wanting the best for his son, his only family. Kinda makes sense that he's almost completely written out of the story until we get to the end of XIII-2. Unlike the other characters, he doesn't get any major mission after XIII concludes, and thus no major role to play. All you really see is him piloting a ship under a grown-up Hope's command, as their ace. To be honest, he doesn't need much of a role to play after XIII concludes. If I were in his position, I'd prefer it that way too.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't the chocobo chick revealed to be Chocolina? And yeah honestly I agree it makes sense that he had a reduced role; my issue is that they kept trying to bring him back in but couldn't think how to unless it was something to do with Dajh, rather than writing him out gracefully or giving him a wider range of motivation. I think some characters transitioned really well intto a side role (planning to discuss that during the Hope video next); Sazh just isn't one of them IMO
Sazh is my favorite character. I'm sad I couldn't keep him on my team. Vanille and Fang are so powerful together. I hated when Fang called Sazh a old man lol.
He really does fall off hard in the end for sure. He did well for me in the Cid Raines fight second time around though. And to be fair Vanille and Snow call him old too
I was sleeping on old man Sahz until I found out that he is the best leader post game. I let Sahz run point equiped with maxed out Rigels (Stagger Lock) 4x Kaiser Knuckles , Fang with the Dragoon Lance (Fettered magic) 4x Knuckles and Vanille with the Belladonna (Improved Debuffing II) 4x Magistral Crest. Blitz your life away with Sahz and the enemies melt. Random Instant Chain set also works since Blitz is a multi-hit attack you have a high chance of activating it plus his Synergist role is nothing to be sniffed at.
@@davidfortuin4146 I still wonder if or rather how often he would be able to outdamage Fang and Snow in ultra post game under the same circumstances. It depends on the amount of blitz hits, but I never counted how many actually hit in specific situations.
@@davidfortuin4146 So it is true. Sadly, he can't kill the legs as fast as Fang and is overall slower. But he is definitely the person to choose for early turtle killing with summoning.
Sazh was the best-written character in XIII and he was robbed of a Nabaat fight. The writers didn't do much with him in the sequels, but as others have said, aging Dahj could have helped Sazh stay active in the story. Sazh, Dahj and Caius could have had great moments on screen together since the Caius-Yeul connection is similar to Sazh's goal of saving Dahj by any means necessary.
You know I think they would have been interesting not because they were so similar, but because of their key difference. Sazh wasn’t willing to compromise his values to get Dajh back; he chose to deny his l’Cie fate and condemn himself rather than condemn the world. But Caius was willing to betray everything to save himself
I found the this with the Lightning and Snow video and just wanted to say that I enjoyed them so much. I love the characters of FF13 and grew fonder of them over the years. As a kid I just wasn't able to see all the depth in them and I'm really looking forward if you should make a video about Hope. He is my favorite and holds a special place in my heart. That being said I love Sazh as a character. As an adult I related more and more with his way of being and his struggle. It is such a shame that the sequels didn't do much with him. He had so much room to grow and they just didn't used it.
Hope is next on my list! Things have been busy lately, so I'm behind on getting it out, but the script is about done and I'm hoping to record the voiceover tonight! I'm pretty fond of hm myself.
You know, in my first playthrough him and Snow were the ones I used the least. My playstyle in my first go-throughs of FFXIII trilogy was super passive and defensive, so on my second (which I need to finish at some point) I tried to shift in a more offensive gear and found more use for him. it just depends what suits your playstyle
@@wanderingbardgaming for me I feel he’s good until late game…….he does have haste exclusively for awhile but Hope eventually gets it and Sazh has the worst magic and strength stat out of anyone in the party but I try to use everyone as much as I can in jrpgs
Man thank you so much for doing this. this game gets a lot of hate and its nice to see someone deep dive into a specific character from the games. also the voice actor kills it.
I never really comment on videos but i've watched so many of your ff13 videos and I really love them, its so great to finally find a youtuber who talks about my favourite game. Keep the content coming
Oooh yeah. Like they could conceptually have had his paradox mishap happen at any time, so there was definitely room for him in the early part of the story
Binging these videos has been fun c: I kept sazh in my party until the end. He and Hope are some of my favorite characters in all of FF. It would've been so cool to see him interact and develop a bond with the rest of the cast, but alas :(
Happy to see some love given to FF XIII. I really enjoyed the series back when I played it. I do still need to play Lightning Returns as it unfortunately ended up in my pile of shame ( as it's a shame I haven't played it yet). Sazh was quite a favorite character of mine and seeing your video makes me want to break out the trilogy again. I've been thinking of giving the series another go and I'm now inspired for another playthrough. Time to get FF XIII 1, 2 and LR off the pile and see the conclusion to the story!
Oooh yes def a shame to not finish (especially after the gut punch that is the ending of XIII-2). I'd love to hear your thoughts if you do go through with the final game!
I'm replaying the game after 15 years. I was a teenager when I played it on xbox360, now I can totally relate to Sazh. I'll make him my main character.
He's definitely more relatable as we get older, yup. I will also say as I've been doing my "All C'ieth Stones" challenge I have lately gotten good use out of Sazh. He has a lot of HP which is critical for the harder fights.
It's sad how he didn't get much in the sequels since he was such a dynamic character in the original. His personal music theme is one of my favourites too and has such a different vibe from the rest, very... Dad of him, if you will. Shame he couldn't become a good adult or even parental figure for the rest of the cast, especially Hope who is the youngest.
To be fair Hope did still have his dad. But yeh I think giving him more of that "parent" role to the cast (or, as another commenter suggested, allowing Dajh to grow up) would have helped his writing a lot.
I do appreciate how the game, in its own messy way, tries to make the idea of fate and design a do-or-die scenario, especially when contextualized through Sazh as a father willing to do ANYTHING for his son. It creates this scenario where it seems like the Fal'cie are exploiting the desires and emotions of others to weave and create fated ends that fall through with the grander design of the Fal'cie. It makes the whole idea of fighting fate (as the story tries to do) a lot more begruding, hopeless and extremely exploitative. The way Sazh is fated to be discovered by his son as a L'cie, and in so doing spurring Sazh to be a L'cie in the first place, it creates this horrible closed loop where it feels like his kid was just a smaller piece on the board to be used. It's so horrifying seeing it in the perspective of Sazh and his complete confusion on what to do as a father. I just wish it was a touch more fleshed out. Snow has a similar scenario in regards to Serah being a L'cie just to be used as a stepping stone to get more capable individuals to be L'cie instead. It's just a bad time the whole way down.
You know since reading this I realize that every character in this game except Vanille was motivated by tragedy befalling someone they love. Snow and Lightning by Serah, Hope by his mother, Sazh by Dajh, and Fang by Vanille
@@wanderingbardgaming Vanille I felt was in a similar boat to Snow and Hope in the sense that they're all avoiding some harsh truths about their mistakes and the consequences that happen regarding them. Hope of course is stopped before he does anything major like killing Snow but it shows how these characters are avoiding some pretty obvious issues and in many ways, that ties into how they're in conflict regarding fate (whether that be following through it to the bitter end or fighting against it to create a different interpretation of the outcome). It's a great way of conveying the general cultural emphasis in Japan (and other more collectivist places) regarding how your actions have a broader effect on more than just yourself but on others too, sometimes with extremely negative unintended consequences.
Great character, arguably the best & most grounded one. His flaw as a character isn't anything to do with him as a person, but his importance over the course of the 3 games, which diminishes with the sequels, unfortunately.
That scene is great, yeah! If they had given us things like that (maybe show Sazh and Dajh as a happy [or at least stable] family as a reason why he couldn’t go on adventures) without staling his writing, I think it would have been great!
I bet if they'd made his role more active with Dahj in the sequels it woulda been better. Maybe instead of losing hope, Dahj was infested with Chaos or something and Sazh is like "Lightning! Ah thank god you're here. I need to get this mcguffin to save my son's soul but I cant do it alone!" and have a mini adventure with Lightning similar to Fang.
Helps show that 'Hope for the future' thing more and still lets him still be connected mainly to Dahj in his motivation.
Oooh yeah I see it. Have a continuation of what happened in the DLC.
It's funny now I think of it because people who never played the DLC wouldn't have had nearly as much an issue with Sazh's writing in LRFF13. So the DLC makes his writing more stale instead of less.
Sazh's role be so much smaller in the sequels made me sad, even more-so after I read Episode 0. His chapter was so damn sad :(
I also feel they could've done more with Dajh, since he's essentially just a plot device in the grand scheme of things. Given the condition of LR's world, they could've easily had him be more "grown-up" while still looking the same way he did in XIII, thus allowing them to expand his character and not shackling Sazh to one spot so he can actually spend some time with Light during the main story.
Or honestly, even if they'd aged up Dajh appearance-wise too it would have been fine. The writing might've been less stale if Dajh had matured and had more agency
Hey bro I love Sazh he is my pfp across all social media platforms. Thanks for covering him and giving him a spotlight bro.
My pleasure!
That Barthandelus introduction scene is immaculate. These videos are bringing back sooo many memories! I was 10 when I bought XIII and was so addicted to it.
Yesss the way Barthandelus is introduced (especially since it's the only time in-game we see Lightning actually scared) is FIRE. Though I still wish we'd gotten a Colonel Nabaat boss fight before it
I agree. Even a 1v1 with Sazh beforehand. Then they give you a quick respite to change your party before Barthandelus.@@wanderingbardgaming
Hell yes! They did this man dirty in the sequels... Peaked too early, then got nothing left to do after...
I feel like the writing situation in LR would've could've been avoided if they just tried to age up Dahj as well as Hope. Serah, Dahj and Hope can be like "the new generation" of sorts, kind of like in Digimon Adventures 02, and Sazh will need to navigate how to be a supportive father to a young man through the sequels.
Oooh. Like have Dajh be introduced again in 10 AF?
Hope feels less "new generation" to me because of how he's positioned in the triogy; I'll be making a video on him next so I can talk more about that then.
This is a great idea. Sazh was a great character and they squandered him in thhe sequels by making him almost irrelevant.
Never mind Sazh, the real best character is the little choco-bro always nesting inside the dude's hair xD
That said, his stance is perfectly understandable. He got swept up in a massive conflict through no fault of his own, with no hope of things ever going back to normal. And like you said, he isn't a soldier, but a family man just wanting the best for his son, his only family. Kinda makes sense that he's almost completely written out of the story until we get to the end of XIII-2. Unlike the other characters, he doesn't get any major mission after XIII concludes, and thus no major role to play. All you really see is him piloting a ship under a grown-up Hope's command, as their ace.
To be honest, he doesn't need much of a role to play after XIII concludes. If I were in his position, I'd prefer it that way too.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't the chocobo chick revealed to be Chocolina?
And yeah honestly I agree it makes sense that he had a reduced role; my issue is that they kept trying to bring him back in but couldn't think how to unless it was something to do with Dajh, rather than writing him out gracefully or giving him a wider range of motivation. I think some characters transitioned really well intto a side role (planning to discuss that during the Hope video next); Sazh just isn't one of them IMO
@@wanderingbardgaming Yes it’s Chocolina, and the chick is the gift Sazh bought Dajh at the Gorge where Dajh got branded!
@@coaster1235 yup, Dajh always loved his chocobos!
Sazh is my favorite character. I'm sad I couldn't keep him on my team. Vanille and Fang are so powerful together. I hated when Fang called Sazh a old man lol.
He really does fall off hard in the end for sure. He did well for me in the Cid Raines fight second time around though.
And to be fair Vanille and Snow call him old too
I was sleeping on old man Sahz until I found out that he is the best leader post game. I let Sahz run point equiped with maxed out Rigels (Stagger Lock) 4x Kaiser Knuckles , Fang with the Dragoon Lance (Fettered magic) 4x Knuckles and Vanille with the Belladonna (Improved Debuffing II) 4x Magistral Crest. Blitz your life away with Sahz and the enemies melt. Random Instant Chain set also works since Blitz is a multi-hit attack you have a high chance of activating it plus his Synergist role is nothing to be sniffed at.
Wouldn't say the best, but he is not as far behind the others as some make it out to be.
@@AndreasFleissner To each their own then.
@@davidfortuin4146 I still wonder if or rather how often he would be able to outdamage Fang and Snow in ultra post game under the same circumstances. It depends on the amount of blitz hits, but I never counted how many actually hit in specific situations.
@@AndreasFleissner I can tell you with confidence that he out damages Fang when farming Oretoises.
@@davidfortuin4146 So it is true. Sadly, he can't kill the legs as fast as Fang and is overall slower. But he is definitely the person to choose for early turtle killing with summoning.
Sazh was the best-written character in XIII and he was robbed of a Nabaat fight. The writers didn't do much with him in the sequels, but as others have said, aging Dahj could have helped Sazh stay active in the story. Sazh, Dahj and Caius could have had great moments on screen together since the Caius-Yeul connection is similar to Sazh's goal of saving Dahj by any means necessary.
You know I think they would have been interesting not because they were so similar, but because of their key difference. Sazh wasn’t willing to compromise his values to get Dajh back; he chose to deny his l’Cie fate and condemn himself rather than condemn the world. But Caius was willing to betray everything to save himself
I found the this with the Lightning and Snow video and just wanted to say that I enjoyed them so much. I love the characters of FF13 and grew fonder of them over the years. As a kid I just wasn't able to see all the depth in them and I'm really looking forward if you should make a video about Hope. He is my favorite and holds a special place in my heart.
That being said I love Sazh as a character. As an adult I related more and more with his way of being and his struggle. It is such a shame that the sequels didn't do much with him. He had so much room to grow and they just didn't used it.
Hope is next on my list! Things have been busy lately, so I'm behind on getting it out, but the script is about done and I'm hoping to record the voiceover tonight! I'm pretty fond of hm myself.
He’s definitely the most relatable character of the game but gameplay wise I used Sazh the least 🤣
You know, in my first playthrough him and Snow were the ones I used the least. My playstyle in my first go-throughs of FFXIII trilogy was super passive and defensive, so on my second (which I need to finish at some point) I tried to shift in a more offensive gear and found more use for him. it just depends what suits your playstyle
@@wanderingbardgaming for me I feel he’s good until late game…….he does have haste exclusively for awhile but Hope eventually gets it and Sazh has the worst magic and strength stat out of anyone in the party but I try to use everyone as much as I can in jrpgs
His blitz is the best in the game and he is 100% the best early game synergist
Great game, wonderful character, thank you for the analysis and video!
I loved this. RUclips needs more FF XIII content! I hope your content will reach more people!
Man thank you so much for doing this. this game gets a lot of hate and its nice to see someone deep dive into a specific character from the games. also the voice actor kills it.
Sazh's VA definitely rocked, yeah!
I never really comment on videos but i've watched so many of your ff13 videos and I really love them, its so great to finally find a youtuber who talks about my favourite game. Keep the content coming
Oooh yeah. Like they could conceptually have had his paradox mishap happen at any time, so there was definitely room for him in the early part of the story
Binging these videos has been fun c: I kept sazh in my party until the end. He and Hope are some of my favorite characters in all of FF. It would've been so cool to see him interact and develop a bond with the rest of the cast, but alas :(
Happy to see some love given to FF XIII. I really enjoyed the series back when I played it. I do still need to play Lightning Returns as it unfortunately ended up in my pile of shame ( as it's a shame I haven't played it yet). Sazh was quite a favorite character of mine and seeing your video makes me want to break out the trilogy again. I've been thinking of giving the series another go and I'm now inspired for another playthrough. Time to get FF XIII 1, 2 and LR off the pile and see the conclusion to the story!
Oooh yes def a shame to not finish (especially after the gut punch that is the ending of XIII-2). I'd love to hear your thoughts if you do go through with the final game!
I'm replaying the game after 15 years. I was a teenager when I played it on xbox360, now I can totally relate to Sazh. I'll make him my main character.
He's definitely more relatable as we get older, yup. I will also say as I've been doing my "All C'ieth Stones" challenge I have lately gotten good use out of Sazh. He has a lot of HP which is critical for the harder fights.
nice! love your studies of these characters
It's sad how he didn't get much in the sequels since he was such a dynamic character in the original. His personal music theme is one of my favourites too and has such a different vibe from the rest, very... Dad of him, if you will. Shame he couldn't become a good adult or even parental figure for the rest of the cast, especially Hope who is the youngest.
To be fair Hope did still have his dad. But yeh I think giving him more of that "parent" role to the cast (or, as another commenter suggested, allowing Dajh to grow up) would have helped his writing a lot.
I do appreciate how the game, in its own messy way, tries to make the idea of fate and design a do-or-die scenario, especially when contextualized through Sazh as a father willing to do ANYTHING for his son. It creates this scenario where it seems like the Fal'cie are exploiting the desires and emotions of others to weave and create fated ends that fall through with the grander design of the Fal'cie. It makes the whole idea of fighting fate (as the story tries to do) a lot more begruding, hopeless and extremely exploitative. The way Sazh is fated to be discovered by his son as a L'cie, and in so doing spurring Sazh to be a L'cie in the first place, it creates this horrible closed loop where it feels like his kid was just a smaller piece on the board to be used. It's so horrifying seeing it in the perspective of Sazh and his complete confusion on what to do as a father.
I just wish it was a touch more fleshed out. Snow has a similar scenario in regards to Serah being a L'cie just to be used as a stepping stone to get more capable individuals to be L'cie instead. It's just a bad time the whole way down.
You know since reading this I realize that every character in this game except Vanille was motivated by tragedy befalling someone they love. Snow and Lightning by Serah, Hope by his mother, Sazh by Dajh, and Fang by Vanille
@@wanderingbardgaming Vanille I felt was in a similar boat to Snow and Hope in the sense that they're all avoiding some harsh truths about their mistakes and the consequences that happen regarding them. Hope of course is stopped before he does anything major like killing Snow but it shows how these characters are avoiding some pretty obvious issues and in many ways, that ties into how they're in conflict regarding fate (whether that be following through it to the bitter end or fighting against it to create a different interpretation of the outcome).
It's a great way of conveying the general cultural emphasis in Japan (and other more collectivist places) regarding how your actions have a broader effect on more than just yourself but on others too, sometimes with extremely negative unintended consequences.
Nice point about the closed loop.
Great character, arguably the best & most grounded one. His flaw as a character isn't anything to do with him as a person, but his importance over the course of the 3 games, which diminishes with the sequels, unfortunately.
Not even his importance IMO, but his motivation becomes stale as the series progresses
He was my main from my first playthrough of the game, and still was on my last play a couple of years.
His Blitz attacks are pretty strong! I didn't use him enough tbh
His scene with Dajh in Lightning Returns is so wholesome. I love it so much, even if him saving Dajh is repetative.
That scene is great, yeah! If they had given us things like that (maybe show Sazh and Dajh as a happy [or at least stable] family as a reason why he couldn’t go on adventures) without staling his writing, I think it would have been great!
Thanks for talking about this game
My pleasure! Thanks for watching!
i had him in my final party at the end
Ooh OK. My best use of him so far has been in my 2nd playthrough against Cid Raines
Same. My preferred team was Lightning-Vanille-Sazh.
I love him 😭
Me too! I really wish they’d done him justice in the sequels
Always thought he look like Eddie Murphy !!!
Ooh I’d never thought of that.