Final Fantasy Dissidia: Tale of the Warrior of Light

It's not 'how do I count the ways', it's 'there's too many ways to start'.

 

Final Fantasy Dissidia has ten plotlines along with the main plot, the gathering of the last warriors of good against the harbringers of darkness. Each of the ten tells the story of the main lead from Final Fantasy I through X as they fight their own personal battles along with the main good-versus-evil war.

Let's start off with Numero Uno, the Warrior of Light from Final Fantasy I. Or just FInal Fantasy, as it once was, before the sequel, then the tri-quel, then the quad-quel and all the other 'quels' came out.

 

I must admit that I didn't expect much at all. To my eyes it was clear that the story of the Warrior of Light was going to be the simplest story in the world. Of course I got that just by looking at his outfit and then his name, which, yet again, proves you shouldn't judge a book by its cover, or a guy's story from his hardware. It had to be the oldest story in the book: Knight in shining armor displays faith and courage in the face of evil. You can tell by the way they always have their chins lifted and one foot resting on a rock. Knight pose! Hold! Cheese!

 

Well, I sure wasn't disappointed. The Warrior of Light carried off his story well and it was solely based on his character. The guy was the walking epitome of faith (in the light), and he had ultra cool shiny armor plus cape (classic), but there the stereotype ended. I guess I was thinking along the lines of King Arthur, PG Disney version, in which everybody in a suit of armor keeps that classic knight pose no matter what they're doing--fighting, slaying, pulling out swords, etc. Who woulda thought that the resident knight in FF Dissidia would have...doubt? Oh, not doubt in his faith (a knight having doubt in his faith is sacrilege), but general, understandable, human doubt. And he doesn't get out of it right away, at least not a half second right after he gets the doubt in question. The sentimentalist in me (yes, yes, it does exist...somewhere) sighed with the sentimentality as the Warrior of Light got his faith back by (1) helping out friends, (2) fighting friends, (3) going against Sephiroth, the ultimate Final Fantasy bad guy?! Oh holy light!

 

For once when they say 'we wanted to show how so-and-so is human just like the rest of us', they're not just reeling off a classic advertising line that, if you think about it, never IS just like the rest of us. (Take that, teenage superstars; you're not just like me, you're famous, pretty, and rich! Not me....) The Warrior of Light lacks that annoying self-righteous quality which tends to irk me with the knightly types, either that or it was because he didn't talk in old English. Whoa.

 

I was pleasantly surprised with the story of the Warrior of Light. He wears the cape without being cheesy, talks faith and friendship without inducing me into mad rantings about how annoying those are, and his problems are the same ones anyone can imagine being in if they were decked out in pretty armor and had been summoned by a goddess of light to fight your old archnemesis and others.