Quinton is a Staff Writer from the United States. In his youth, Quinton was ridiculed for making video game ranking lists instead of paying attention in math class. In adulthood, people sometimes pay him for it. Life’s a trip.
Taking his first steps into the industry in 2020, Quinton has written for several digital publications, but his permanent literary home is right here at TheGamer.
Before striking up a conversation with Quinton, consider the risks: he’ll find a way to transform almost any topic into an analysis of either world history, Star Trek, or – at least this one’s relevant to his career – all his favorite role-playing games.
Final Fantasy has been no stranger of paradise to strangeness. Early entries flirted plentifully with it, and, by the time the PS1-era installments rolled around, the series downright reveled in it.
It’s never truly left. And a certain blockbuster February 2024 title brought it back at levels unseen since those three-and-four-disc epics on Sony’s original hardware. Elsewhere, however, some of that spirit has been filtered out. There are exceptions, and I intend to talk about them. But for now, let’s face the strange, from hockey to dance groups… and that’s just Final Fantasy 8.
Booyaka~
Exhibit A: a hostile hockey team. When battle erupts between Balamb Garden and Galbadia Garden in one of FF8’s several narrative climaxes, Squall Leonhart and his allies may end up clashing with hockey players in an ice rink. Per the Final Fantasy Wiki, earlier dialogue reveals these are demi-humans who play for a team called the Bears. What the heck? It doesn’t seem to suit the situation much, if at all, and that’s what makes it so great.
FF8 also had one heck of a dance troupe for Sorceress Edea, not to mention – as one of the top comments notes – Rinoa launching her dog like a cannon. But it’s hardly alone in quirkiness. Looking back a bit to the SNES, Final Fantasy 6 had a ghost train that you can suplex, as another comment mentions. The Sabin memes, of course, are eternal.
There’s plenty to think about in both FF7 and FF9, like the latter’s quiz-inducing Ragtime Mouse. Not to mention the sheer variety of demihuman species; thinking back on it, there’s literally just one “fully normal” human party member – Steiner – and he’s chock full of his own antics. FF7 probably takes the cake for the relentless pace of its eccentricities, however, and while the Reddit post I’ve been referencing laments a departure from weirdness in recent installments (which, by the way, FF15, Cup Noodle?), FF7 Remake did bring back the funk with Hell House and myriad other hilarities.
It’s FF7 Rebirth, though, that is so steeped in that era of unflinching oddity that it comes across as effortlessly charming. To this humble article writer, that unabashed reverence for cranking the funk to 11 is part and parcel with the reasons why Rebirth was my 2024 GOTY. I felt like a kid again. Red XIII’s dance during the Queen’s Blood tournament? That damned chicken side quest? Everything Yuffie ever says? The stage play? Hell, everything at the Gold Saucer?
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So, this article – such as it is – has become a tangent. A reminder that the weird never really went away; it subsided, to be sure, but it’s back with a vengeance. Go play FF14 – you’ll see it in spades. FF16 was “too serious,” perhaps, per one’s taste. But apart from Clive’s big melodrama, Final Fantasy still brews its own blend, and by gosh, it’s glorious for it.
We’re ranking all 16 numbered chapters in Final Fantasy’s incredible history. These are just our opinions, but we know – we’re playing with fire here.
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