310°

How Over-Sexualisation Ruined Oerba Dia Vanille

Gamemoir's Michael expresses his frustration at the way that Vanille from Final Fantasy XIII was heavily sexualized and how this ruined his appreciation for the character.

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-Foxtrot3165d ago

I don't think over-sexualisation ruined her character...she's just an annoying character in general with most of the other FF13 cast.

no_more_heroes3165d ago

Honest question: was it just the voice that made her annoying?

-Foxtrot3165d ago

Not really

It helped her become more annoying but any other actresses it would be the same.

Just was just written as an annoying character

Baka-akaB3164d ago

Not really , i mostly played the game with the original japanese voice .. She is just truly annoying to some of us regardless of who's voicing her .

As for the thread i dont even see how she's sexualized here ...

DragonKnight3164d ago

Here are my questions.

First. Who, besides someone trying to get everyone to take him more seriously than he deserves, calls Vanille by her whole name? I haven't seen anyone do this until now.

Second. Is this guy frickin' nuts? Let's examine.

The word sexualize, or its variants, are used 17 times in the article. Sometimes in quick succession. This sounds like someone who is either obsessed, or really trying to drive home a point no one else would agree with.

"Straight from the first time you use Vanille in combat she makes orgasmic noises every time she attacks an enemy, whether it be using spells or hitting them with her weapon which acts suspiciously like a whip."

Does anyone remember how Tomb Raider was criticized for this and the female voice actor, not knowing what everyone's problem was, felt embarrassed and shy about it even though she wasn't actually trying to sound sexual when Lara was performing strenuous actions? Same deal here. And Vanille's weapon is not a whip, it's meant to be like a Staff or Rod weapon because Vanille's main job is as a caster, not a fighter. Because she can be a fighter though, she needs to be able to do physical attacks. Since guns and a boomerang were taken, what would this guy have wanted Vanille's weapon to be?

"Bear in mind that from the character’s introduction she has mannerisms that depict her as being rather young so when this moaning and whipping began one of my eyebrows was raised so high it was practically on the back of my head."

Because you need actual help.

"Whilst the rest of the protagonists were branded in fairly innocent places Vanille was branded on her hip, requiring her to lift up her skirt to showcase her brand to the rest of the group."

Lightning's brand was smack dab between her boobs on her chest. That's why when she had to show her brand, it was to a female character without the camera letting you peak at her boobs. But oh no, you get to see a character's hip. WON'T SOMEONE PLEASE THINK OF THE CHILDREN!

"When she awakens she does so completely naked and then her clothes magically appear around her body a few seconds later, obviously for that brief period of time the camera angles used only suggest nudity and you never see anything better than a cheeky bit of side boob but whenever a character awakens later on in the game you are only shown their full body once their clothes have appeared."

Yeah, because she had previously transformed into Ragnarok. You know that giant, world destroying monster? You expect her to be fully clothed after having turned into that and fulfilling her Focus? Fang was naked too, why aren't you complaining about that? Because the camera didn't focus on Fang? So what, you should obviously know that Fang was also naked.

"special effort has been made to turn it into an opportunity to sexualise Vanille in particular."

Only in your twisted mind.

..."he transforms into a cannon which she then proceeds to straddle in a very suggestive manner."

*gasp*

DragonKnight3164d ago

Part 2: "however it’s Vanille’s reaction to this explosion which is most notable. When her eidolon produces this massive explosion Vanille closes her eyes and throws her head back with what can only be described as a look of ecstasy on her face and of course the trademark high-pitched moan returns as she does so."

Scraping the bottom of the barrel for this one aren't you? This just shows you're reading way too much into this and actually have a dirty mind. With that in mind, take a look at this and tell me if I'm right or not.

https://www.youtube.com/wat...

"Square Enix designed Lightning, the main protagonist of the Final Fantasy XIII series, with an objective of creating a strong female character who displayed none of the typical anime girl tropes, and was thus more representative of women."

LMFAO! So normal women are nigh emotionless men in female bodies pissed off at the world and rude to everyone around them? Lightning was made to be a female Cloud, not to be more representative of women.

Every day I see garbage like this, and every day I have to wonder if there is something in the air or water that I must be immune to because I can't fathom how anyone can invent issues like this and then obsess over them.

no_more_heroes3164d ago

@ replies

All good points. Nothing sexual entered my mind pertaining to Vanille at any point. She's apparently 19 years old, but comes off as being 14.

xHeavYx3164d ago

A man complaining about oversexualization?
Must be after clicks.

+ Show (3) more repliesLast reply 3164d ago
no_more_heroes3165d ago

Ok, was just wandering. Out of curiosity, I watched an LP of FFXIII and found her and her voice less annoying than the first time.

All the same, I just hope SE write better characters next time. Prompto doesn't fill me with confidence, though...

Nerdmaster3164d ago

I also don't think over-sexualisation ruined her. It's like saying that the smell ruins a bowl of turd - even without the smell, it would still be turd. Likewise, even if she wore less revealing clothes and had less orgasmic noises, she would still be the a terribly bad character.

This is the moment I decided I hated her:
https://www.youtube.com/wat...

Adrian_v013164d ago (Edited 3164d ago )

I liked the cast, for the same reason I liked the cast of 12. Yes, Vanille is annoying but that makes her more likable for me. The super teenagers saving the world stories became too weird with time. In 8 all of them grew up together, in 7 all characters were somehow special, only Tifa was ordinary but still - big boobs to make her "special". 10 had a good party, though still over the top.

Thing is, annoying people do exist. Not everyone can be a cool superhero. I understand that these are fantasy games, but I can enjoy and get into the story much easier when the characters are believable. And saving the world is much more satisfying if ordinary people do it.

mechlord3164d ago

that stupid voice did it for me. after i heard her lines (not the narration) i started to hate everything about her...her childish demeanor, her ridiculous battle animations... she was useful only for the ridiculous stagger.
Only Hope bested her as the most annoying character. After 13 i played 12 for a bit just to check and Vaan looks badass compared to these 2.

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ZaWarudo3165d ago

I skimmed through the article.... Is this satire?

Hoffmann3164d ago

In 2015? I doubt it. SJW's have taken over.

Activemessiah3164d ago

Ironic that they're against this but use sex with journalists to advance their own goals. hmm..

insomnium23164d ago (Edited 3164d ago )

@messiah

Yeah they are the first one to say they have the right to dress how ever they want though so good luck with them with that argument.

You tell them to dress up more it's oppression, you tell them they look good (or even look at their exposed body for too long) it's sexual harrasment. You can't win.

I hate the fact that women can dress how ever sexy they want and show their ass around the gym for example. Then they go around shaming men for only thinking about sex all the time. Wth are we supposed to do? We get aroused by visuals and having seen all that skimpy clothing and ass spreading at the gym and around town we are shamed for getting aroused and feeling horny.

These SJW feminists are fighting biology and people actually take them seriously? It pisses me off royaly.

Adrian_v013164d ago

@insomnium

Men should start a movement that fights that. If we work out and a girl compliments us we should publicly shame her for objectifying men and only wanting sex, cause lets be honest, girls don't approach good looking guys only to have small talk.

They look at your bulge on a train, publicly shame them, they look at you when you take of your shirt, publicly shame them, they look at you longer than 5 seconds on the beach, publicly shame them, they go to watch magic mike (yeah right, no objectifying of men, just look at how much profit the movie made) protest in front of the cinema and expose women as the sex-wanting, men-objectifying, doublefaced beasts they are.

Ashlen3165d ago (Edited 3165d ago )

I think your way too sensitive.

I mean why aren't you complaining that all male characters in games are drawn musclebound and fit?

Why not demand that all male leads be overweight or regular guys that never go to the gym and aren't very strong?

It's an art form.

A person can draw an attractive girl and still treat real women with respect and dignity.

insomnium23164d ago

yeah but you see they are only interested in the other side of the story. Reason and logic do not beat cult and religion. They see only what they want to see.

johndoe112113164d ago

What does religion have to do with this topic or article?

jambola3159d ago

I don't agree with this guy at all,
but what are you talking about? are you saying for someone to talk about a female character being sexual they also have to talk about the physical appearance of the men?

Ashlen3159d ago

Wow you're like a week late.

I feel like English is not your native language, because what I was saying should be pretty clear.

jambola3159d ago

I was mostly adresing the part where you said

"I mean why aren't you complaining that all male characters in games are drawn musclebound and fit?

Why not demand that all male leads be overweight or regular guys that never go to the gym and aren't very strong? "

My point being it's ok to talk about why you don't like a sexualized female character without talking about the physical attributes of the male ones.

Ashlen3159d ago (Edited 3159d ago )

You're missing the bigger picture of what I was saying.

It's art, it doesn't matter.

As I said people can draw whatever they want and still treat real people with respect.

Anything else is censorship.

I mean where do you draw the line?

I can't draw anyone more attractive than you are? Or some other standard?

Do I have to draw every female overweight and ugly wearing a sweater or a hoodie?

Do I have to make them talk like a 60 year old smoker?

What does it take to not offend you?

jambola3158d ago

Again, i was just talking about your part on male characters, a lot of people use tha line, like you can't comment on a females clothing etc without saying something about the men too, not to mention you compared it to muscular men which is very different.

I never want any form of censorship in video games.

+ Show (1) more replyLast reply 3158d ago
animegamingnerd3165d ago

if anything it was her personality and voice that was more annoying then her freaking character design.

3165d ago
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70°

The 7 Best Final Fantasy Characters: Unveiling the Legends

While FFVII ranks highly, there's more to the series than one game. Here's Chit Hot's picks for the seven best Final Fantasy characters.

220°

The older it gets, the more I respect Final Fantasy XIII

Alex Donaldson: "Hindsight is a hell of a thing, however, and in the years since Final Fantasy XIII, my respect for the decisions its developers made has skyrocketed. In the two Final Fantasy titles since we see both the brilliance and the folly in alternative approaches - and in Final Fantasy VII Remake, we get a more nuanced understanding of what FF13 was trying to accomplish from many of the same development leads."

Einhander1972118d ago

FFXIII is actually one of the best Final Fantasy games.

I also sort of was disappointed at the time, never as much as the bandwagon. But really all the fantastic 3D rendered cutscenes and I actually liked the characters and the story though convoluted was actually fantastic and the ending was extremely emotional. So much budget and time were put into that game Square had such big plans, I actually have always felt kind of bad for how things played out.

I have been thinking for years how great it would be to get all three games on one disk for PS4 or 5.

Nyxus118d ago

I always liked this game, and I agree, a rerelease for current gen would be nice.

Shane Kim117d ago (Edited 117d ago )

Gotta take off the nostalgia glasses. It's the worst FF. Shiva as a bike, I mean come on.

Elda117d ago

Shiva as a bike is strange but saying FFXIII is the worst FF is not at all a fact, that's simply your opinion.

Terry_B116d ago

*One of the 3 equally bad FF's

DivineHand125116d ago (Edited 116d ago )

When I got my series X a year ago, I bought FF13 for nostalgia reasons but ended up being disappointed. When I first played it around the time it launched, I didn't have a lot of experience with final fantasy games, so I enjoyed it. Fast forward to when I played it again, I found that the game had many unnecessary filler moments instead of just giving us meaningful content.

The game is also very linear and a quote on the article said it best. "It is like a sewage pipe that leads to the ocean until it opens up on Grand Pulse."

The story didn't make much sense either and I believe it is my mistake as I played the FF7 remake on PS5 prior which is a night and day difference in terms of pacing, storytelling and likeable characters even though cloud is aloof.

FinalFantasyFanatic116d ago (Edited 116d ago )

Probably was a mistake to play any of the golden era FFs first (e.g. FF6 through FF10), it makes it harder to enjoy some of the FFs that aren't as good. I think FF12 was where major issues with the series started becoming apparent, and it just got worse from there.

FinalFantasyFanatic116d ago (Edited 116d ago )

I didn't really care for it that much, the only saving grace was that it had a better story than 15 (overall it was better than 15) and possibly 12, and even then, you had to read some of it through primers, like reading a book. Plus the battle system was reasonably fun for what it was, even if it was more the spectacle that was exciting for me (e.g. summoning). And to be fair, the 13 trilogy got better with every games, I still don't like Snow though.

Gamingsince1981116d ago

Ff13 is only good if you haven't played a ff before, or any other games that are decent for that matter.

-Foxtrot116d ago

It is in fact no way the best Final Fantasy game, it's one of the worst

Linear corridors, Cutscene, Fight, Cutscene...rinse and repeat

Dialogue and characters are pretty bad, especially Lightning as the main FF hero, they literally said they tried to make a "Female Cloud" and they failed.

Story was pretty awful

I could go on

I think the only alright thing that came from the game was the music.

Elda116d ago

That's not a fact that's your personal opinion. The game sold 11 million copies between its 2009 release up until 2014 including critically reviewed as an 8 out of 10 or an 80 out of 100. The game does have some issues but it's not at all a fact as one of the worst FF games.

-Foxtrot115d ago

Elda

Not just mine mate

A large majority

So….

Traecy115d ago

N4G commenters such as yourself aren't the majority. The game was well received.

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gold_drake118d ago (Edited 118d ago )

i liked the game alot but i didnt like how they handled the terminology.

i dont mind reading data logs but it had soo many.

but i always loved the music and how it looked. the battle system wasnt too bad either.

but i like 13-2 more :)

i still dont understand why we never got a remaster of the trilogy

Eonjay116d ago

Xbox kinda did. Besides the video files of course which are still best on PS3 due to bluray.

Snookies12118d ago

XIII is a pretty solid game, but XIII-2 is WAY better. XIII-2 was one of the few games I decided to go for a Platinum trophy in, early on. Had so much fun the entire way through getting it too!

Eonjay116d ago

Totally agree. FF 13 was okay but 13-2 is my favorite FF game ever.

shinoff2183118d ago (Edited 118d ago )

I hated this to when it released. I haven't much liked a ff game since ff10 as much , aside from ff7remake. I decided to give it another shot on my series x since it's not on a current ps and was liking it quite a bit(just takes me some time to get over things ) until star ocean 2 remake came out I was all over that.

Square should definitely remaster it or something for ps4 ps5

KillerB117d ago

my favorite jrpg trilogy ever

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70°

Interview: Making music with Masashi Hamauzu

Square Enix Blog: "How do you compose iconic songs that help define a legacy? We speak to legendary composer Masashi Hamauzu about his work on Final Fantasy X, Final Fantasy XIII, and Final Fantasy VII Remake, and how to make unforgettable music."

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