Poll of the Day > Why do old RPGs make you name the characters?

(+) Yeah! (+)

Especially when they already have names to begin with?

I don't understand why such a useless feature was implemented to begin with. Especially egegious with things like Final Fantasy X which had voice acting, but had to go out of its way so it could not name Tidus since he was the only one you can rename. And of course, Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild had Link's name solely set as Link, to the disappointment of nobody.

I hated that about FFX and tidus.

Kinda feels weird how all game it's hey buddy and shit wheb id rather not name him and have them speak his name.

Because I want to call him shithead

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Because in old RPGs you were supposed to identify with and self-insert yourself into the narrative.

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Lokarin posted...

Because in old RPGs you were supposed to identify with and self-insert yourself into the narrative.

By repeatedly killing small weak monsters for hours on end, just to have a chance of not dying by the next boss?

TheWorstPoster posted...

By repeatedly killing small weak monsters for hours on end, just to have a chance of not dying by the next boss?

That's incidental.

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argonautweakend posted...

I hated that about FFX and tidus.

Kinda feels weird how all game it's hey buddy and shit wheb id rather not name him and have them speak his name.

His name was so stupid I couldn't wait to rename him, and I was happy they gave me the option.

For as much as I loved FFIV, I would have hated that game if I'd had to play as "Cecil".
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It was better in non-voiced game where you could easily insert yourself or do a joke name like "asshole" and have it show up. Or if you have multiple characters then you can sorta have more fun with it by naming them people you know.

FFX/Tidus errs in this cause it was weird how the characters basically talk about this character. Also the fact that we don't truly know Tidus pronunciation since we heard multiple across various SE games.

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TheWorstPoster posted...

Especially egegious with things like Final Fantasy X which had voice acting, but had to go out of its way so it could not name Tidus since he was the only one you can rename.

This was super dumb. And it led to the whole thing of everyone calling him Tye-dus and then raging when they found out it was Tee-dus.

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Because that's what good RPGs do, let you play the role you want to.
If I want to rename Geralt, "Doug", and roleplay as a pastry chef with crippling social anxiety, I should be able to.

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Because initially Print "what is your name and Input N String was pretty freaking cool.

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Zareth posted...

This was super dumb. And it led to the whole thing of everyone calling him Tye-dus and then raging when they found out it was Tee-dus.

To be fair, that's because Tye-dus is not only how that word should be pronounced in English, it also makes the pun work better.

Tee-dus doesn't really mean anything, and is generally just kind of stupid.
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Have you played Dragon Quest X?

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It's especially weird with SaGa Frontier, which did it both ways.
Emelia, Lute, and T260 can be renamed. But Red, Asellus, Blue, and Riki were all set.
T260 also kind of did both where it added a "G" to the end of whatever you put in.

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Did you ever think maybe they don't say Tidus' name because he's not real?!

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Final Fantasy2389 posted...

Did you ever think maybe they don't say Tidus' name because he's not real?!

None of them are real. They're sprites or polygons, colorized, given animations, and given a voice-actor (if provided).

In other words, they're just computer data which is manipulated in real-time, therefore, they're not real.

Part of it is a self-insert thing.

However, it also let you differentiate between your save file and that of another person playing the same game.

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TheWorstPoster posted...

Especially when they already have names to begin with?

I don't understand why such a useless feature was implemented to begin with. Especially egegious with things like Final Fantasy X which had voice acting, but had to go out of its way so it could not name Tidus since he was the only one you can rename. And of course, Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild had Link's name solely set as Link, to the disappointment of nobody.

To personalize the experience I would guess.

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Extreme_light posted...

FFX/Tidus errs in this cause it was weird how the characters basically talk about this character. Also the fact that we don't truly know Tidus pronunciation since we heard multiple across various SE games.

Zareth posted...

This was super dumb. And it led to the whole thing of everyone calling him Tye-dus and then raging when they found out it was Tee-dus.

ParanoidObsessive posted...

To be fair, that's because Tye-dus is not only how that word should be pronounced in English, it also makes the pun work better.

Tee-dus doesn't really mean anything, and is generally just kind of stupid.

It doesnt help that Square initially introduced his name as Tee-dus in Kingdom Hearts but then did a 180 and reintroduced it as Tye-dus in Kingdom Hearts 2.

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