Sliding Scale of Idealism Versus Cynicism/Video Games: Difference between revisions

** ''[[Final Fantasy XIII]]'' turns out to be surprisingly on the idealistic side. Is fate a bit callous and unjust? [[The Power of Friendship]] and hope (no not ''that'' Hope) will make things turn out okay. {{spoiler|Main character's love interest/kid crystalized and ''shattered'' by the [[Big Bad]]? They'll get better. Most of the party turned into Cie'th by an even bigger [[Big Bad]]? Not to worry, they'll just ''will'' themselves out of it in time to save the day.}} ''[[Final Fantasy Versus XIII]]'' on the other hand is ''far'' to the cynical side from everything we've heard about it.

*** Along with ''[[Final Fantasy Type-0]]'' and ''[[Final Fantasy XIII]]-2'', in fact all of the spinoffs/sequels of the ''XIII'' series are firmly cynical so far.

** ''[[Final Fantasy Tactics]]'' is similar to ''VII'' in that it is one of the few entries in the series that are truly very cynical. The nobility fights a pointless war to gain the throne, the commoners are treated slightly better than dirt, and the church is very powerful in the world of politics and controlled by horrifying demons. Both nobles fighting for the crown do heinous acts to try and bring down the other and the Order of the Northern Sky who is supposed to be the "good" side that the hero originally fights for sends its junior brigade members to slaughter veterans of a war before who have turned to banditry because the nobles won't pay them for their service. Top it all off with the main hero being completely vilified by history and mostly forgotten while his friend who turns into a complete [[Magnificent Bastard|Machiavellian bastard]] to achieve his goals is awarded title of regent and considered the hero by everyone. Yeah, it's definitely one of the most cynical in the series.

*** And winds up suffering a karmic death and that it is somewhat ambiguous if the main survives or not. Regardless of the case it ends with a [[Hope Spot]] that the truth will be revealed

** [[Alternate Character Interpretation|Tom Nook's crime empire]] holds the rest of the town in the iron grip of mortal fear. Everyone knows this.

* ''[[Phantom Brave]]'' is, despite several few depressing elements, an extremely idealistic game. Marona is a [[The Pollyanna|Pollyanna]] who gets the most ridiculous [[All of the Other Reindeer]] treatment you've ever seen, but she's still confident that the people who hate and fear her will one day come to accept her - and, by the end of the game, ''they do''. Castille is an [[Ill Girl]] whose family can barely afford her medical bills. No problem; that [[Corrupt Corporate Executive]] running the pharmaceutical company isn't such a bad guy after all, really, and he'll help out once you save him from some monsters. Oh, and that guy who says money is everything and keeps trying to steal your rewards? [[Jerk with a Heart of Gold|He's got a good reason, honest!]]

* The ''[[Earthbound|Mother]]'' series is firmly on the Idealistic side. ''[[Mother 3]]'' gets [[Tear Jerker|darker]] than its predecessors, but [[The Power of Love]] still comes through in the end. There's a reason the unofficial series theme song is called "Pollyanna".

* ''[[Kingdom Hearts]]'': [[The Power of Friendship]] (and [[The Power of Love|Love]]) can restore your humanity after a [[Heroic Sacrifice]] (even if your old body just joined an evil organisation), the embodiment of evil can be destroyed by calling out the word "LIGHT!" in front of a giant door, and thinking about your possible love interest can save you from a deserted beach in the middle of nowhere. Guess what you upgrade your weapon with? Keychains, that you get from friends. The stronger the friendship, the stronger the upgrade. And let's not forget Sora's mantra: "[[Love Freak|As long as our hearts are connected, the darkness can't defeat us]]."

** One case in point: ''[[Kingdom Hearts II]]''. When you find out about how you've become an [[Unwitting Pawn]] in the machinations of {{spoiler|Organization XIII}}, this leads to a [[Heroic BSOD]], which is only solved by realizing that if you didn't keep fighting and doing what your enemies wanted, more people would get hurt. As soon as you get to [[Storming the Castle]], then you won't have to worry about that anymore.

** Another case in point: [[Birth By Sleep]], which is the closest the series has gotten to the cynical end of the scale (though that's still not saying much). [[The Power of Friendship]] was barely enough to keep the villain from achieving total victory (and that's not counting all the crap the current heroes ''still'' had to go through afterward), and in some cases {{spoiler|namely, Terra's}}, friendship and loyalty are just as likely to [[Knight Templar Big Brother|make you do something stupid]] as they are to give you superpowers.

* ''[[EVE Online]]'' falls on the cynical side. One of the four major powers is a [[The Empire|slaveholding theocratic empire]], while another is a corporate-run dictatorship. And every player is a [[Heroic Sociopath]].

** Though, to be fair, the other two powers are the freedom-loving descendants of the French (seriously) and a group previously enslaved by aforementioned theocracy and intent on righting that wrong.

** [http://www.freeworldgroup.com/games8/gameindex/lifeark3.htm The next installment] has the ship you so painstakingly evacuated crash. into a moon. [[It Got Worse|Things get worse]] in the [http://www.freeworldgroup.com/games8/gameindex/lifeark4.htm next part] as your efforts to stop the black hole from swallowing your ship have turned it into a super black hole which will [[Apocalypse How|destroy the universe]]. Your only chance is to escape into another universe, which is done through cooperation with another alien race which requires a [[Heroic Sacrifice]] on their part. Finally, in the [http://www.freeworldgroup.com/games8/gameindex/lifeark5.htm fifth installment] you land on Earth, accidentally destroying a few states. By the end of that game you repair the damage you caused and set up a colony on the moon, hoping not to screw up anything else.

* ''[[Grand Theft Auto]]'' games generally lie heavily on the cynical side. As an example, in San Andreas, the only two police officers that seem non-corrupt are both killed by the corrupt ones that drive the plot. Even generic cutscene cops often care more about taking bribes or eating snacks than actual justice.

** Even then ''[[Grand Theft Auto San Andreas|San Andreas]]'' was more optimistic than the other ''[[Grand Theft Auto]]'' games in the franchise. Carl and Sweet managed to defeat the corrupt cops and their traitors without losing anyone close to them, especially after Cesar pulled a Retirony moment out. Compared to what happens to the later [[Grand Theft Auto]] Protagonists, San Andreas is by far the most optimistic of the franchise as the sequels will not be so kind to the other protagonists who loses everything close to them.

{{quote|The Truth: You know, I mean, you beat the system! I tried for thirty years to cross over, but you've maaaanaged it, man! I mean, man, you're an icon, man!"}}

{{quote|But this revelation is not one of " I am the strongest" but its implications , falling in line with the rest of the Armored Core series canon endings, are in themselves asking a question of the player. What does it mean to be the strongest? I'm standing at the top, alone. Was it worth it? Is this all life is worth? What have I really done?}}

* ''[[Blaz Blue]]'' is much more cynical than ''[[Guilty Gear]]'', especially if you are human girl. Expect plenty of [[Break the Cutie]] moments and also the general nature of the storyline as the main plot shows how badly broken some of them are by the end of that game.

** ''[[Guilty Gear]]'' also tends to be rather cynical side as well, considering that the politics are just as screwed up at the ''[[Blaz Blue]]'' verse. And the cast are also mostly broken by things. The only thing that makes ''[[Blaz Blue]]'' seems more cynical is that the villains are [[Card-Carrying Villain|more open in their evilness]], and [[Sliding Scale of Villain Effectiveness|DAMN EFFECTIVE]] in what they do.

* Many 6th or 7th Generation shooters bend heavily to the cynical side. ''[[Resistance Fall of Man|Resistance]]'', ''[[Modern Warfare]]'', ''[[Halo]]'', ''[[F.E.A.R.]]'', and ''[[Gears of War]]'' all falling into a generally [[Hopeless War]] for the main character despite your best efforts [[Cutscene Incompetence|thanks to cutscenes]]. Even [[Electronic Arts]] First Person shooters went to a darker side with ''[[Army of Two]]'' and ''[[Battlefield (series)|Battlefield]]: [[Battlefield: Bad Company|Bad Company]]'' (which were in the first games were more on the Idealist side before their [[Darker and Edgier]] paint). Due to the Trilogy Effect however, it is more about having to seriously [[Earn Your Happy Ending|earning their good endings]].

** Two of Konami's popular game franchise, ''[[Castlevania]]'' and ''[[Metal Gear]]'', contrast strongly with each other in their positions on the scale. While ''[[Castlevania]]'' lands on the idealistic side, ''[[Metal Gear]]'' lies heavily on the cynical end of the scale. Mix the two together, and we get ''[[Castlevania: Lords of Shadow]]'' - no, ''[[Fan Nickname|Metal Gear Solid Lords Of Shadow]]''. While Lords of Shadow does have a cynical tongue in its narration of a hero's fate, it still contains an optimistic view toward human nature.

** Amidst the horribly depressing atmosphere of the ''[[Metal Gear]]'' franchise, we have the idealistic [[Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots|Johnny "Akiba" Sasaki]], who is the only character not infested by the nanomachines and serves as a new hope for the purely cynical war-torn world.

* On the other hand, ''Tokimemo'' 's [[Spiritual Successor]] ''[[Mitsumete Knight]]'' is firmly set on the cynical side. This is a [[Crap Saccharine World]] where war and politics are dominant, with [[Aristocrats Are Evil|evil aristocrats]] effectively ruling the country you're fighting for as a foreign mercenary, using the King as a puppet: they are masters of the [[Screw the Rules, I Have Money]] and [[We Have Reserves]] tropes, and deeply racists to boot. [[Grey and Grey Morality]] is the story's mood thanks to this and the fact the enemy country has valid motives to fight and is composed of mostly [[Worthy Opponent|decent guys]]. Even most the girls you can woo during the game (i.e. the softiest part of the game) have heartwrenching storylines full of [[Break the Cutie]] moments, and even [[Anyone Can Die]] moments depending on your choices. And as far endings go, they are {{spoiler|[[Bittersweet Ending|bittersweet at best]], since, even if you get the confession of love of one of the girls, you'll be thrown off the country like an old rag after you win the war for the country due to the aforementioned aristocrats' racist stance, and have to leave the girls behind in some cases (others will leave the country with you)}}.

* ''[[Conker's Bad Fur Day]]'' shifts firmly to the cynical end of the scale after [[Rare]]'s previous idealistic games.

* The ''[[Metroid]]'' games all tend cynically, given that the basic scenario is "things are bad. Stop them from getting worse," and then [[Action Girl|Samus]] inevitably has to destroy things to stop things from getting worse. There are a few idealistically redeeming bright spots, but they always have a bittersweet tinge.

* ''[[Red Faction]]'' is pretty much an optimistic series of a [[The Revolution Will Not Be Villified|revolution that is rarely vilified]] against an absolutely evil authoritarian group.

** Keep in mind that above statement said the ''main'' games are mostly idealistic. The [[Pokémon Ranger|Ranger games]] stick close to idealism and the [[Pokémon Mystery Dungeon|Mystery Dungeon games]] strike a reasonable balance, but the [[Pokémon Colosseum|Orre games]] lean heavily towards cynicism, though still not without it's idealistic spots.

* ''[[Rez]]'' is somewhat on the cyncical side, having you fight a network AI with an existential crisis. Then comes its sequel ''[[Child of Eden]]'', which just might be the happiest [[Rail Shooter]] ever developed. Those bosses you fight? They're not even enemies so much as infected by [[The Virus]], and you purify them into lovely [[One-Winged Angel]] forms instead of destroying them.

 

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