Building a better Alphinaud

[Theodric]

As I've said before, "classically handsome" means different things based on different cultures, time periods, etc.

Besides that, this sounds pretty much exactly like what we got in the final role quest, where we had a group that included Aymeric, Hien and Nero, who all had their own different ideas and political views on what the Garleans should do.

I'm mostly concerned with the Japanese, European and American takes on what 'classically handsome' and 'ruggedly handsome' mean rather than what it means based on obscure cultures or different time periods. Those who want to hyper focus on that sort of thing and push for it are more than welcome to do so. I'm sure most people are well aware of what I mean when requesting for at least one of our close companions to look like Gladio, Basch, Jecht or Snow. I find the general aesthetics and character design to be far more agreeable in FFVIIR and many of the more recent and modern single player titles, personally.

As for the final role quest, it's a step in the right direction but it's hidden away in side content locked behind yet more side content and that sort of dynamic is rarely present in the MSQ's which makes up the meat of the game. It also didn't really commit to actually having diverse viewpoints since it honed in on the very one that the protagonists would benefit from and support the most. To say nothing of handling Nerva poorly and not even giving us an Echo flashback of what he looked like before his corrupted state.

And my goodness wouldn't it have been nice if we had a party as diverse as them instead of a bunch white-haired scholars who nod and agree with each other on everything.

Agreed. Another issue is many of our allies are world leaders or are otherwise just tied down to a particular location and can't travel easily with our character for more than a brief period of time. Now that we're supposedly going back to being an adventurer, however, there's ample room to...just cross paths with other adventurers who are a bit different to the usual offerings. A brutish but well meaning Xaela or Raen guy would be my pick.