Post by countlieberkuhn on Jun 28, 2012 8:52:40 GMT -8
Okay, I've read all of part 1 now! New plan for reading. Wait 'til a whole episode is finished, and then read it all & comment. It breaks it up a bit, and means I can discuss my thoughts with you guys as it unfolds.
So, here's my thoughts so far.
I'm not too bothered by Galuf & Krile going out first, as I'm not a very big fan of FF5, and have little investment in the characters. It's probably the first season where the first team out hasn't disappointed me due to the loss of a fun, dynamic team.
I'm liking most of the teams here though - Kuja and Seymour are looking to be one of the most interesting villain teams yet which surprised me due to their lack of a prior relationship, and it's good to see another ShinRa team. Those ShinRa execs have all the fun, and I love that Scarlet and Heidegger have a surprisingly strong relationship, just based on the fact that they're both able to give and receive insults pretty well. With a dynamic that's based on them being dicks to each-other, it's hard to see them ever falling out for long, since the prospect of money will always unite them, even if they have to backstab eachother along the way to make it happen.
Time for my current rankings.
#11: Laguna & Ellone
As much as I love these guys, I don't see them lasting very long at all. They're both too nice for their own good, and neither of them have a great skillset to draw on. Despite Laguna being army-trained, I think the only thing he was ever really good at was shooting and 'winging it'. Since he's in his 40s or something now and is a president, a lot of his physical attributes will have gone to pot. Meanwhile Ellone doesn't really have much of anything to work with, besides having some inherent, mysterious time manipulation skills which won't have any use in AFFR. They also lack determination, and are only in it for fun. I highly doubt they need the money, what with Laguna being the President of his world's technological superpower.
#10: Edea & Seifer
This team's dynamic is arguably even worse than Kefka/Terra which is damn impressive. They are just opposites. Individually they have a very unique skillset, but they're hindered entirely by Seifer's hotheadedness. His drive to win and his temper causes him to lose focus and fail at tasks that he could easily do with a calmer mind, although his determination could potentially make him a monster in tasks that are purely physical. Edea potentially compliments him due to her being extremely rational and great with people, making her brilliant at social tasks, as well as any mental ones, but I don't think Seifer will be able to step in line to really put their strengths to use before they're eliminated.
#9: Terra & Kefka
This team is hilarious, and I genuinely hope they make it to the second half of the series at least, but I don't see it happening as they're unlikely to have the skills needed to perform well. Kefka is a master manipulator and has always been able to overcome his shortcomings with tactics and has absolutely no morality to hinder him, but he lacks physical ability. Terra is good in social situations, and potentially has good strength due to her esper heritage, but her emotions may cause problems, particularly when having to deal with Kefka's evil schemes. Pure tactics usually only gets you so far.
#8. Zidane & Vivi
Zidane is looking to be the single strongest competitor of the entire competition. He's super agile, reasonably strong, oozes with charisma, is wily and has the drive to win. Unfortunately, Vivi. Vivi brings absolutely nothing to the team, being vastly inferior to Zidane in every way that counts in AFFR. He's a master of magic, but magic usually doesn't come into play at all in AFFR, so he's kinda dead weight. Zidane and Vivi are great friends and Zidane's intense loyalty would never let him do anything that might hurt or upset Vivi, and the two will have fantastic teamwork, but at the end of the day Zidane can only carry Vivi so far. About this far, in my estimation.
#7: Snow & Lightning
While both very strong individuals, I think that they'll be hindered by a rocky relationship, with Lightning and Snow tolerating each-other at best (although there's a fair difference between they express 'toleration'). They've also got a slightly iffy mix of skills. Snow is a MUCH better people person than Lightning, but lacks the cunning and intellect to really put it to good use. Lightning has the cunning and intellect, but poor people skills. This makes them weaker at social tasks than they seem, which will likely be their downfall. However, their intense combined physical prowess will carry them far, and while Lightning is quite cold towards Snow (heh, pun), she's above letting her personal relationships get in the way of progress, and they'll have good teamwork when it counts. This is a hard group to place, since I believe it depends entirely on the tasks they're faced with, and one bad roadblock could end them.
#6: Scarlet and Heidegger
As I said earlier, these two have a surprisingly strong partnership, thanks to their mutual love for money and winning, and having fun by constantly insulting eachother. They're also ruthless, cunning and determined, and each member is quite happy to let the other do all the work if it suits their skill set. In their eyes, winning matters; not having fun. Also, they are unlikely to have a target on their backs since they're not likely to seem like a threat to anybody. Their weakness is of course a lack of physical prowess in a game comprised of physically-heavy teams, but I can see them outlasting several other teams by going under the radar and performing exceptionally well at non-physical tasks.
#5: Kuja & Seymour
These guys are another tough team to place. While their physical prowess is average at best, they are both very intelligent, and Seymour in particular has excellent people skills, and is able to come across as polite, friendly and benevolent despite lying through his teeth and being evil. He did worse than anticipated in the social round of matching up pairs of people, but that was probably more down to him taking his time with politeness, whereas Kuja would have done a better job by getting it done quickly and methodically. As Seymour noted, Kuja will be a much better ally with Zidane and Vivi out of the picture as he'll be more emotionally detached and focused, and in any other race I'd rank these guys higher, possibly even in the top 3. However, this race has several teams of strong people with excellent teamwork and no obvious weaknesses, and I don't see these two being able to do anything to hinder these remaining teams enough to secure them a higher position.
#4. Yang & Ursula
The top 4 is ridiculously hard to call, but I'm putting these guys at the bottom of the pack of what I perceive to be the 'super teams'. They're physically incredibly capable, thanks to their martial arts training. They're probably the most physically capable of all the teams, being strong, agile, and probably very good at tasks that require skill, precision, and concentration thanks to their training. I find it hard to see this team losing to anybody on a task that uses these attributes. However, due to the pair being relatively sheltered, they suffer from sub-par social skills (mainly thanks to Yang), and I think they will suffer greatly when faced with technology, which sets them apart from the top 3. Of course, if the final challenges favour their physical strength, they could very easily take the top spot.
#3: Cid and Brother
Faring much better than expected, these guys are proving the be the sleeper threat of the series. Both these guys are very capable physically, and Cid is smart enough to get by, especially with Brother's excellent ability to take and execute orders despite him being stupid. Furthermore, this team are very experienced with technology, and even Brother will be one of the best users of technology in the game despite being slow in other areas. This'll probably be important later when it comes to using any kind of vehicle or machine to complete a task, especially as he is an experience pilot. Finally, Brother is surprisingly skilled in a social situation. Being too dumb to understand sarcasm, or any insult that's not said in plain words, he just comes across as endearing to most people, and has the benefit of having apparently good memory retention. He's a bit like James, of SSH. He's got all the pieces of the puzzle, just without a good brain to put them altogether. Unlike James however, his partner is the good-natured Cid, rather than the manipulative and unlike-able Mary.
#2: Fang & Vanille
I VERY nearly put these guys at #1, and am still in doubt as to their current positioning. They have fantastic teamwork, one of the best relationships in the game (up there with Laguna/Ellone and Zidane/Vivi but without their shortcomings), and have excellent complimentary skills. Both of them are athletic and have excellent stamina, which is important for those long jogs that tend to be common in AFFR, and while Vanille is a bit on the weak side in terms of pure strength, Fang more than makes up for it. I'd say that Fang is probably on par with Gabranth & Basch in terms of brute strength, putting her at the top of the pile. Fang's social skills aren't the best, but far from abysmal. She's definitely less abrasive than Lightning for example, but since Vanille is very outgoing, energetic and friendly it's unlikely to be a problem. This team doesn't really have any weaknesses to speak of. However, their early victory might put a target on their backs, which could hinder them down the road, and potentially cost them places relatively early on in the competition if they cross teams like Kuja/Seymour or Scarlet/Heidegger, which they may not be able to fully recover from considering the strength of the other teams in my top 4.
#1: Basch & Gabranth
Like Fleck, I'm sticking with my original favourites at the top of this thing. These guys have the advantage of both being excellent in social situations, having politeness and a delicate way with words that makes them seem honest and trustworthy. They're also good guys at the core, but both are somewhat comfortable with morally gray, if it means a positive outcome in the end. I would say that they're at the top of the group when it comes to physical strength, and while they're not as athletic as Fang & Vanille or Yang & Ursula, the difference between them and those other teams is marginal at best. They are also both smart and cunning, and have had enough experience with technology to put them above most other teams in that regard. Their only weakness is that their approach to tasks is slightly different, which is appearing to cause a little disagreement with them. However, I believe that over the course of the race, they'll be able to overcome any differences and respect each-other's approach to the race, and ultimately unite and win the thing. They just have to make it through the first few rounds, which should be no problem considering other teams have much bigger weaknesses to contend with. Additionally, they're not placing a target on their backs at all currently, being safely in the middle of the group.
So, here's my thoughts so far.
I'm not too bothered by Galuf & Krile going out first, as I'm not a very big fan of FF5, and have little investment in the characters. It's probably the first season where the first team out hasn't disappointed me due to the loss of a fun, dynamic team.
I'm liking most of the teams here though - Kuja and Seymour are looking to be one of the most interesting villain teams yet which surprised me due to their lack of a prior relationship, and it's good to see another ShinRa team. Those ShinRa execs have all the fun, and I love that Scarlet and Heidegger have a surprisingly strong relationship, just based on the fact that they're both able to give and receive insults pretty well. With a dynamic that's based on them being dicks to each-other, it's hard to see them ever falling out for long, since the prospect of money will always unite them, even if they have to backstab eachother along the way to make it happen.
Time for my current rankings.
#11: Laguna & Ellone
As much as I love these guys, I don't see them lasting very long at all. They're both too nice for their own good, and neither of them have a great skillset to draw on. Despite Laguna being army-trained, I think the only thing he was ever really good at was shooting and 'winging it'. Since he's in his 40s or something now and is a president, a lot of his physical attributes will have gone to pot. Meanwhile Ellone doesn't really have much of anything to work with, besides having some inherent, mysterious time manipulation skills which won't have any use in AFFR. They also lack determination, and are only in it for fun. I highly doubt they need the money, what with Laguna being the President of his world's technological superpower.
#10: Edea & Seifer
This team's dynamic is arguably even worse than Kefka/Terra which is damn impressive. They are just opposites. Individually they have a very unique skillset, but they're hindered entirely by Seifer's hotheadedness. His drive to win and his temper causes him to lose focus and fail at tasks that he could easily do with a calmer mind, although his determination could potentially make him a monster in tasks that are purely physical. Edea potentially compliments him due to her being extremely rational and great with people, making her brilliant at social tasks, as well as any mental ones, but I don't think Seifer will be able to step in line to really put their strengths to use before they're eliminated.
#9: Terra & Kefka
This team is hilarious, and I genuinely hope they make it to the second half of the series at least, but I don't see it happening as they're unlikely to have the skills needed to perform well. Kefka is a master manipulator and has always been able to overcome his shortcomings with tactics and has absolutely no morality to hinder him, but he lacks physical ability. Terra is good in social situations, and potentially has good strength due to her esper heritage, but her emotions may cause problems, particularly when having to deal with Kefka's evil schemes. Pure tactics usually only gets you so far.
#8. Zidane & Vivi
Zidane is looking to be the single strongest competitor of the entire competition. He's super agile, reasonably strong, oozes with charisma, is wily and has the drive to win. Unfortunately, Vivi. Vivi brings absolutely nothing to the team, being vastly inferior to Zidane in every way that counts in AFFR. He's a master of magic, but magic usually doesn't come into play at all in AFFR, so he's kinda dead weight. Zidane and Vivi are great friends and Zidane's intense loyalty would never let him do anything that might hurt or upset Vivi, and the two will have fantastic teamwork, but at the end of the day Zidane can only carry Vivi so far. About this far, in my estimation.
#7: Snow & Lightning
While both very strong individuals, I think that they'll be hindered by a rocky relationship, with Lightning and Snow tolerating each-other at best (although there's a fair difference between they express 'toleration'). They've also got a slightly iffy mix of skills. Snow is a MUCH better people person than Lightning, but lacks the cunning and intellect to really put it to good use. Lightning has the cunning and intellect, but poor people skills. This makes them weaker at social tasks than they seem, which will likely be their downfall. However, their intense combined physical prowess will carry them far, and while Lightning is quite cold towards Snow (heh, pun), she's above letting her personal relationships get in the way of progress, and they'll have good teamwork when it counts. This is a hard group to place, since I believe it depends entirely on the tasks they're faced with, and one bad roadblock could end them.
#6: Scarlet and Heidegger
As I said earlier, these two have a surprisingly strong partnership, thanks to their mutual love for money and winning, and having fun by constantly insulting eachother. They're also ruthless, cunning and determined, and each member is quite happy to let the other do all the work if it suits their skill set. In their eyes, winning matters; not having fun. Also, they are unlikely to have a target on their backs since they're not likely to seem like a threat to anybody. Their weakness is of course a lack of physical prowess in a game comprised of physically-heavy teams, but I can see them outlasting several other teams by going under the radar and performing exceptionally well at non-physical tasks.
#5: Kuja & Seymour
These guys are another tough team to place. While their physical prowess is average at best, they are both very intelligent, and Seymour in particular has excellent people skills, and is able to come across as polite, friendly and benevolent despite lying through his teeth and being evil. He did worse than anticipated in the social round of matching up pairs of people, but that was probably more down to him taking his time with politeness, whereas Kuja would have done a better job by getting it done quickly and methodically. As Seymour noted, Kuja will be a much better ally with Zidane and Vivi out of the picture as he'll be more emotionally detached and focused, and in any other race I'd rank these guys higher, possibly even in the top 3. However, this race has several teams of strong people with excellent teamwork and no obvious weaknesses, and I don't see these two being able to do anything to hinder these remaining teams enough to secure them a higher position.
#4. Yang & Ursula
The top 4 is ridiculously hard to call, but I'm putting these guys at the bottom of the pack of what I perceive to be the 'super teams'. They're physically incredibly capable, thanks to their martial arts training. They're probably the most physically capable of all the teams, being strong, agile, and probably very good at tasks that require skill, precision, and concentration thanks to their training. I find it hard to see this team losing to anybody on a task that uses these attributes. However, due to the pair being relatively sheltered, they suffer from sub-par social skills (mainly thanks to Yang), and I think they will suffer greatly when faced with technology, which sets them apart from the top 3. Of course, if the final challenges favour their physical strength, they could very easily take the top spot.
#3: Cid and Brother
Faring much better than expected, these guys are proving the be the sleeper threat of the series. Both these guys are very capable physically, and Cid is smart enough to get by, especially with Brother's excellent ability to take and execute orders despite him being stupid. Furthermore, this team are very experienced with technology, and even Brother will be one of the best users of technology in the game despite being slow in other areas. This'll probably be important later when it comes to using any kind of vehicle or machine to complete a task, especially as he is an experience pilot. Finally, Brother is surprisingly skilled in a social situation. Being too dumb to understand sarcasm, or any insult that's not said in plain words, he just comes across as endearing to most people, and has the benefit of having apparently good memory retention. He's a bit like James, of SSH. He's got all the pieces of the puzzle, just without a good brain to put them altogether. Unlike James however, his partner is the good-natured Cid, rather than the manipulative and unlike-able Mary.
#2: Fang & Vanille
I VERY nearly put these guys at #1, and am still in doubt as to their current positioning. They have fantastic teamwork, one of the best relationships in the game (up there with Laguna/Ellone and Zidane/Vivi but without their shortcomings), and have excellent complimentary skills. Both of them are athletic and have excellent stamina, which is important for those long jogs that tend to be common in AFFR, and while Vanille is a bit on the weak side in terms of pure strength, Fang more than makes up for it. I'd say that Fang is probably on par with Gabranth & Basch in terms of brute strength, putting her at the top of the pile. Fang's social skills aren't the best, but far from abysmal. She's definitely less abrasive than Lightning for example, but since Vanille is very outgoing, energetic and friendly it's unlikely to be a problem. This team doesn't really have any weaknesses to speak of. However, their early victory might put a target on their backs, which could hinder them down the road, and potentially cost them places relatively early on in the competition if they cross teams like Kuja/Seymour or Scarlet/Heidegger, which they may not be able to fully recover from considering the strength of the other teams in my top 4.
#1: Basch & Gabranth
Like Fleck, I'm sticking with my original favourites at the top of this thing. These guys have the advantage of both being excellent in social situations, having politeness and a delicate way with words that makes them seem honest and trustworthy. They're also good guys at the core, but both are somewhat comfortable with morally gray, if it means a positive outcome in the end. I would say that they're at the top of the group when it comes to physical strength, and while they're not as athletic as Fang & Vanille or Yang & Ursula, the difference between them and those other teams is marginal at best. They are also both smart and cunning, and have had enough experience with technology to put them above most other teams in that regard. Their only weakness is that their approach to tasks is slightly different, which is appearing to cause a little disagreement with them. However, I believe that over the course of the race, they'll be able to overcome any differences and respect each-other's approach to the race, and ultimately unite and win the thing. They just have to make it through the first few rounds, which should be no problem considering other teams have much bigger weaknesses to contend with. Additionally, they're not placing a target on their backs at all currently, being safely in the middle of the group.