I've watched a number of his Game Theory videos, they are nothing short of interesting!

This post was edited by Lublar on Jun 26 2013 07:07pm

Have to head soon so don't have time to watch it but the title clicks and definitely extends beyond Final Fantasy; Xenogears is the prime example of this theory, picked apart and bitch slapped a number of theologies and philosophies. Nearly every villain I can think of has been a part of some sort of sacrilegious crusade.

Accurate but can you blame them?

It's not antireligion. Some of the games (although none of the ones directed by the franchise's creator, Sakaguchi) feature a theme against corrupt and totalitarian clerks/chruches, but that doesn't mean the game is against religion.

The people of Cleyra, Conde Petie, Wutai, usually the summoners, the Cetra, etc., seem to all follow some sort of religions, and some of them also have their own priests and a church like structure. And all of them are depicted as good guys.

Seems more sensible than my response when I was drunk last night `` still, Cleyra, Conde Petie, Wutai, whatever else, while inhabited by good-hearted (people), are still discriminated against, targeted and in some cases even exterminated. Can still be summed up as a disdain for religion as a whole and the chaos that inevitably stems from it in almost every title.

But those exterminators are driven by political reasons rather than religious ones. Hunger for power, world domination, fear towards a certain group of people, etc.

For me these plots are more political than religious; imo the games are usually antitotalitarian, anticorruption, antifacistic or anti extreme capitalism/social startification.

Yeah the more I think about it you're absolutely right; political agendas are a major role in nearly every release. There are still villains like Necron from IX or Ultimecia from VIII, Deus from Xenogears (not a Final Fantasy, I know) that serve a deeper, more existential purpose than simply power or domination A lot of these titles leave me with the testament that hope for mankind lies in the heart and not in a crystal or magic or an Esper and I guess that in itself has always embedded a "religion is poop" theme in my mind.

This post was edited by Grime on Jun 27 2013 04:50pm

I don't know if the bold part is necessarily true. I wouldn't say Sephiroth was driven by any political reasons, or Ultimecia or Kefka, or whoever. There are definitely political tones in most of the games, but also religious.

I think the overall plot does vary by game, but as that guy points out in the video, games like Tactics and X are pretty much all religious.

When I was talking about the exterminators of these friendly people, I was referring to antagonists like Brahne, Garland or the Emperor from FFVI.

Kefka, Kuja, Sephiroth, etc. want to destroy mankind and/or the universe. Their motives are more maniacal and delusional, than political or religious. You could argue that Kefka creates a religion (the cult of Kefka); but Kefka was already an enemy from the stat of the game, way before the world became the World Of Ruin and he became all powerful. You don't fight gainst the cult of Kefka, you simply keep fighting against Kefka.

I haven't played Tactics yet, so I can't judge on the details of the game. I know it was directed by Matsuno though, not Sakaguchi (the father of the franchise and director of the first 7 games) or Kisake (who joined Sakaguchi during the SNES years and continued directing the FFs once Sakaguchi dropped the directing after VII), so even if the game had an antireligious message (which I can't judge since I haven't played), it would be wrong to say the franchise is antireligious when it's only one game, and the only game directed by Matsuno; not to mention that tactics, while it's no less than the other FF games, is on a different branch than "main" games. FFX, imo is, like I said, is against corruption and totalitarian clerks; not necessarily anti religion.

My point is that, saying the games are antirelgion because some bad guys are related to a religion (the Maesters of Yevon for example), is like saying it embraces religion because some good guys are related to a religion (Aeris, the peope of Cleyra, etc). Attacking the corruption and totalitarian attitudes a church can have isn't going against religion; all of the recent Popes have condemned the Inquisition, and much of the shit the church did when they were all powerfull, and they obviously aren't against religion.

I watched the video. Was kinda interesting but its all speculation. I seen some of that guys videos before and he does is rant about bullshit.