The Flaw in FandomApril 21st, 2008 by Suzie
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Fandom. All games have a positive fandom following. That’s the people who make kick-ass websites and wallpapers and avatars, or construct painfully detailed walkthroughs for you. Without these guys, games would be a lot more difficult - especially when you’re missing that one Dalmatian puppy / heart container / summon, and you’ve searched every damn level twenty times over.
But there’s another side to fandom too, as anyone who has ever waded into the murky waters of fanfiction.net knows. Yaoi artwork, Mary-Sue fanfiction, bizarre crossovers… if you ever got into a particular series or game, you know exactly what I’m talking about.
We’ve all been there. Somewhere around the teens I think, we meet a game and we fall in love. It may not even be a great game, but something about it, some magic fairy dust, just happens to hit our receptors in exactly the right way.
I was a Final Fantasy 7 fan. Yes, like the legions of other FF7 fans. Specifically, I was a Turks fan. I owned a fan site, I wrote fanfiction, I drew fanart. I made wallpapers and avatars. I role-played.
Why? Who can say? I replay FF7 now and I’m well aware of its many flaws. Interminable cut scenes, lengthy, poorly translated dialogue and a relatively easy and repetitive gameplay. But even now I tear up nostalgically whenever I hear the theme song, or first take control of Cloud as he jumps off the train. At one point I swear I’d memorised every scene.
I’ll buy and play anything with FF7 characters in it. Kingdom Hearts, Dirge of Cerberus, Advent Children, and Last Order. I got the soundtrack, and the remix.
So, naturally enough, I had to pre-order Crisis Core. Even more naturally, I had to do it from Amazon.com, with the free Shin-ra UMD case. Do I own a PSP? Nope - but my boyfriend does, which is enough for me. (Hell, he’s been playing on my DS more than I have!)
Speaking of crazed fandoms, my first Zelda game was not a disappointment. I’m not going to do a lengthy review - our very own Monique already covered it - but it’s a great game, and that’s all you need to know from me.
Where am I going with all this? That fandoms aren’t the be-all and end-all of games, and that all games have flaws. Final Fantasy 7 remains my favorite game of all time ever bar none. Because I’m a crazy fangirl. But I try and keep a sense of perspective about it. I don’t try and constantly compare other games to it. And I accept that just because a movie has Reno in it, doesn’t make it any less of a shit movie.
April 21st, 2008 at 10:40 am
I loved this post. :] I can identify with you entirely because a long time ago, in a galaxy far far away, I was a Vegeta fangirl and I was in the exact same boat. But moreso than that, I’m a FF7 fangirl as well. In fact, I’m in love with Final Fantasy to the point that I have a moogle tattooed on my leg.
You’re right - people try to compare other games to their favorite for some unknown reason and I personally just don’t get it. It’s like comparing Killzone, Haze, or Gears of War to Halo (another favorite of mine) just because they seem alike or were touted as a “Halo-killer”. It’s silly, and people should try to take games for what they are instead of trying to compare them.
April 21st, 2008 at 3:31 pm
Oh the joys of fandom. I’m a complete Metal Gear and Final Fantasy fanboy.
I think comparing your favourite games to other games is natural thing. I mean, when I try some kind of new food I will typically compare it to how good my favourite food is, same thing with books, cars, sports teams, etc. The only problem is when fans take their fandom to a level that can only be described as religious zealotry that it becomes an issue. Especially when said fans haven’t even played the game they are putting down. I remember fervently arguing with my friends why Halo sucked and why Half-Life rocked, even though I had never played Halo. Well, I felt like such an idiot when I finally sat down and played Halo 3 and, despite my earlier proclamations about the series, enjoyed it.
April 22nd, 2008 at 5:05 am
Hey! Don’t say anything about about final fantasy . . .
Joking, so incredibly joking. While I will fully admit to being under the control of the square-enix hive mind and will buy whatever next iteration of the final fantasy franchise comes out, there is a point that people need to realize that games, like every other medium, are in some ways flawed. I love most of the thematic elements of Final Fantasy like spiky hair, airship styles, etc, but not so much on the not clothes of Van in ff12. I love the Xenosaga games, and enjoyed them much more after they lost the chibi look of the first one. However, because of the way fandom works, these are probably the things that draw people to those games and make them love them as much as I do for different reasons. Fandom around any particular venue is going to be pretty diverse because the fans themselves are diverse.
April 22nd, 2008 at 6:00 am
Great post! I love FF7 and always will. Makes me sad that I havn’t played it in so long! Might have to break away from the Wii and hook up the PS2 for some quality time