LogFAQs > #986432009

200. Machias Regnitz
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/c/ceac1cb5.jpg
Hedonist Machias sounds like a great improvement. Let's get him, Schera and Sara in a room together and see what happens.

Oh Machias. If I made this list after CS1 he might have been last place. I'd say it's pretty likely. He grew on me a small amount throughout the series. His nerdiness subsided slightly as the series went on, and he got over his classism that annoyed me so much in the first entries. He does have a confidence about him, stemming from an honest belief in himself, that I can respect. The issue is still that he lacks any kind of personality that would make me want to be around him. That seemingly hasn't changed since the moment we were introduced to him, I'm afraid.

Seeing his daydream in Reverie where he befriended Dudley and they bonded over being workaholics and liking coffee pretty much sums up why I would absolutely hate being around this person in real life. He's just insufferable. I can't imagine a personality more suited to being a bureaucrat. So again, I'll give props to the writers for good writing as far as that goes, but...did we need a bureaucrat to be a teammate? Couldn't he have just been a reoccuring side character we see every now and again, like his sidekick that I can't remember the name of from the Inspectorate's office? That would've been a great change.

I guess they really wanted to have someone who uses a shotgun, and I guess it's a fitting weapon for him, so...whatever. I still wish he had any kind of sense of humor, it would've made him more enjoyable. On the bright side, he is actually pretty useful in battle. I still almost never used him when I had any choice in the matter, but I could easily see a world where he was a mainstay in my party if I were so inclined. Petrification Shot is really good against mobs, especially once you start adding additional status ailment orbments to his loadout. He also had an accelerate ability on a normal skill, which I think he may be the only character that can do that? I do have the feeling I'm forgetting someone, but Machias is the standout choice for such an ability. I was never really upset when he showed up in my party, so he does get a few pity points for that.

I'll close out by saying I also think his visual design is atrocious. Maybe that's too harsh, but...he's just not pleasant to look at. I did enjoy when we got the contacts in later games and could remove glasses from characters. Glasses have never done it for me, so those got thrown on Emma and Machias ASAP. Still, he just looks dorkish. Falcom can have good designs when they want to, so I would imagine this was an intentional choice on their part. I wonder how many fans Machias really has? I can't imagine it's very many.