Yolande represents everything wrong with indie game writing.

[NewMoonShadow]

Just needed to get that off my chest. ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥, Devs. Having a character just randomly list a bunch of video game cliches does not make it a funny parody-joke.

[Tapion013]

I thought that was kind of the point of her. She's mostly talking to you, which is why everyone in the game is confused by her analogies.

[NewMoonShadow]

Yes. But that doesn't make it funny, it just slices any sense of worldbuilding being done right in half. Especially since the game doesn't really FEEL like a parody up to the point where she appears. There are some silly characters and cheeky dialogue and stuff, but nobody's going full Deadpool and talking to the audience until this one character several hours in.

Suddenly I'm not in this world trying to accomplish things, I'm being winked at by someone who takes everything SO un-seriously that I feel like I shouldn't take anything seriously either.

I got a groan out of Klee-Shae the pirate captain, but I was willing to give it a pass until Yolande opened her mouth.

[597]

Yolande is dead to me.

[Shadow]

Yup. Kind of pointless character, I thought. Also completely irrelevant and easily ignored, though.

[Smurf]

I find it interesting that Sarai is Captain Cliche when she's with the pirates. Maybe that name and title should've been Yolande's.

Anyway, I don't mind Yolande doing that stuff. However, I do think it would be better placed in a joke ending or dev room ending in games that have multiple endings. Then it's fine because that'd be the entire point of that particular ending. Like how Chrono Trigger and Chrono Cross did it.

[Melodia]

Yolande is my favorite character.

[Aria Athena]

I don't know about that, but it would be a better game if she got deleted.

[Weltall8000]

The more I read the boards the more convinced I am that gamers are dead inside.

[BiggerBoss]

Originally posted by Weltall8000:

The more I read the boards the more convinced I am that gamers are dead inside.

[Secanho]

Are_we_the_snowflakes_meme.jpeg

[Army of Optimists]

Originally posted by Weltall8000:

The more I read the boards the more convinced I am that gamers are dead inside.

I'm with you. I also think if people are looking for profound, mature writing, they're looking in the wrong genre. JRPGs are playable shounen anime. They've always been playable shouen anime. Some of them occasionally reach a bit higher, but they're very rarely deep. Even vaunted games like Xenogears or Final Fantasy Tactics are basically a young adult Cliff's Notes versions of Nietzsche or the War of the Roses, respectively.

They're fun games and often silly. Maybe learn to roll with it.

(That said, Yolande is a screaming example of Bathos. which is very often annoying when it's done too much. Luckily, she tones it down after her initial appearance.)

[DoEFotGS]

Whole pirate team is... special.
But, just think about that, his captain named Klee'shaë... literally a 'cliche'.

[This PC]

I mean, this thread represents everything wrong with gamers on these forums.
"I know better, my opinions are objective facts, and they are based on a slice of the game 2 minutes long."
You don't matter that much mate, if you're unwilling to engage with Sabotage's creative vision, then don't.

[pheNOM]

Such a constructive post! Wow! You're a fun person.

[NewMoonShadow]

Originally posted by This PC:

I mean, this thread represents everything wrong with gamers on these forums.
"I know better, my opinions are objective facts, and they are based on a slice of the game 2 minutes long."
You don't matter that much mate, if you're unwilling to engage with Sabotage's creative vision, then don't.

I have literally spent hours playing the game over the last day or so. I commented on Yolande because I reached the part where she was introduced and it gobsmacked me SO HARD that I just had to comment on it. It's like watching Star Wars and then reaching the Loony Toons skits featuring Jar Jar Binks. There's a reason nobody liked Jar Jar, and it's the same reason I don't like Yolande. It's not that she's AUTOMATICALLY BAD, she just doesn't fit in the story she's in.

Though in this case even if she was in a story she fits in, having her just blindly list a bunch of cliche's still wouldn't be GOOD writing. "Hey, did you know X thing is a video game trope? How about Y thing? Sometimes games do Z thing too." is just the laziest possible form of self-referential parody. It's not even DOING anything with the concepts, it's just SAYING THAT THEY EXIST.

And the reason I care enough to even make a comment about it is because I've really LIKED the rest of the game so far. It's like Paper Mario had an illegitimate lovechild with Star Ocean. It's a great game, even if the combat can get a touch tedious.

But ♥♥♥♥ Yolande.