The Great JRPG Emo-Off

GamesRadar has put together a curious something: The RPG Emo-Off. Which JRPG character is the fruitiest? Do any of your favourites make the final cut?

I have to say people sling around the word “emo” without giving much thought as to what it means. I won’t deny that JRPGs have problems, but I don’t know if CRAAAAAWLING IN THEIR SKIIIIIN really summarises them. JRPGs have a lot of angst and some self-pity, but I’d say the real problem at hand is pretention. Well, consider the first half of Final Fantasy VIII’s ending:

What we have here is Square pounding on the CG button like a kid who’s just discovered the noisy delight of pots and pans.

“Can’t have a straight forward narration, oh no. Let’s make it symbolic.”

And then the bad things happened.