Clive and Joshua are kept apart for nearly the entire game—and the explanation we ultimately get for "why couldn't they, like, reunite sooner, they clearly knew the other was alive" is weak, and we don't get enough tension/anticipation/etc for their reunion? (And when they reunite the dynamic feels... off, like, not the way you'd act around someone you've been separated from for over a decade I think!!!)
I need to come back and address this because I completely agree.
I remember really enjoying adult Joshua as a character. He had a rough go of it but didn't complain. He worked hard and maintained good relationships with the people around him (Jote, the Undying, Dion); he willingly took Ultima into himself to protect Clive!* All signs point to awesome.
* And this had no payoff, I was so disappointed.
So when Clive spends a good third of the game coming to terms with the fact that he accidentally "killed" Joshua in the prologue, it is very unsatisfying that he's just like, "oh, Joshua might be alive? Huh. Cool. Anyway, what's Cid up to?" The game spends so much time and dialogue and energy on Clive's emotional resolution re: Joshua, Phoenix, Ifrit, and his role in the events of the prologue. Then, when it's flipped on its head, his response is... negligible. That's the only way I can think to describe. He and Jill slowly suspect Joshua might be alive, do nothing, and barely react.
That could have worked if the first third of the game was set five years after the prologue, and Clive had a few years to sit with his newfound emotional stability before Joshua started being a thing again. Like, he takes control of Ifrit at 20 and hears rumours about Joshua at 25. But the game condenses all this into such a squished period and goes about it with such tonal whiplash. It's weird.
And I still don't get why Joshua stayed away. The game hasn't given a reason. If he was under the stewardship of the Undying as a minor, that would be one thing. But he was Archduke of Rosaria the second he gained his majority. He had the autonomy to find Clive at any point, he just... didn't.
So, like, I hate death fake-outs in fiction. It's a cheap way to induce drama and emotion without any of the actual consequences. But adult Joshua was my favourite character, so I forgave it in this case. But I have to wonder if the story would have been stronger if he had remained dead because the payoff for his resurrection is minimal and uninspiring.
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Date: 2024-05-21 04:15 pm (UTC)I need to come back and address this because I completely agree.
I remember really enjoying adult Joshua as a character. He had a rough go of it but didn't complain. He worked hard and maintained good relationships with the people around him (Jote, the Undying, Dion); he willingly took Ultima into himself to protect Clive!* All signs point to awesome.
* And this had no payoff, I was so disappointed.
So when Clive spends a good third of the game coming to terms with the fact that he accidentally "killed" Joshua in the prologue, it is very unsatisfying that he's just like, "oh, Joshua might be alive? Huh. Cool. Anyway, what's Cid up to?" The game spends so much time and dialogue and energy on Clive's emotional resolution re: Joshua, Phoenix, Ifrit, and his role in the events of the prologue. Then, when it's flipped on its head, his response is... negligible. That's the only way I can think to describe. He and Jill slowly suspect Joshua might be alive, do nothing, and barely react.
That could have worked if the first third of the game was set five years after the prologue, and Clive had a few years to sit with his newfound emotional stability before Joshua started being a thing again. Like, he takes control of Ifrit at 20 and hears rumours about Joshua at 25. But the game condenses all this into such a squished period and goes about it with such tonal whiplash. It's weird.
And I still don't get why Joshua stayed away. The game hasn't given a reason. If he was under the stewardship of the Undying as a minor, that would be one thing. But he was Archduke of Rosaria the second he gained his majority. He had the autonomy to find Clive at any point, he just... didn't.
So, like, I hate death fake-outs in fiction. It's a cheap way to induce drama and emotion without any of the actual consequences. But adult Joshua was my favourite character, so I forgave it in this case. But I have to wonder if the story would have been stronger if he had remained dead because the payoff for his resurrection is minimal and uninspiring.
Whoops, this got long!