Thread: Why, Alisaie?

INCOMING RANT.

Am I the only one who's seriously frustrated with how Alisaie's being handled as a character? Because I want to like her as a character, I really, truly, honestly do, but so far her presence in the story has been superfluous at best.

I cannot think of a single instance where she plays a role in the story that couldn't have been filled by another character. The Coil storyline could've easily played out exactly the same with Alphinaud on his own. Stalking the WoD? Thancred. The kobold kid in 3.4? The WoL themself and/or Alphinaud. Even now, two patches after her big reintroduction into the MSQ, she does and says absolutely nothing of importance. A new outfit and a minion does not a compelling character make, SE.

I keep trying to find traits about her to like, but when I try, I simply come to the uncomfortable conclusion that any good traits about her are ones that other characters already possess, and ones that are unique to her are just... distasteful, such as her hypocrisy and selfishness (spouting off Louisoix's creed about helping others while armchair-criticising Eorzeans), or her eagerness for violent solutions (No, Alisaie, I don't want to fight Garlemald for those Ala Mhigan jerks, I just got done with Ishgard's war). And considering that her positive traits are mirrored in other characters, this just makes her redundant as a character.

The more I examine her character and her role in the story, the more convinced I am that her character concept started out as "contrast to Alphinaud", except then the writers got lazy, decided not to develop her any further, and shunted her off to side-story status. And it's made even worse in that even now, she still seems to serve only as a contrast to Alphinaud, except now it's outdated, because where Alphinaud has gone through the single most complex character development arc of the entire game, all her character development pretty much took place off-screen, and I didn't get a good enough picture of her initial characterisation to do a proper comparison. Also, in the first place, off-screen character development is just a lazy and terrible idea, and her Tale with Emery was too poorly-written to be anything but aggravating.

So, to fans to Alisaie: I want to know what you like about her. Or why you like her. Please do not cite "because she's better than Alphinaud/not Alphinaud" as the reason, because I want to find a personal reason to like her as a character, independent of all other characters, even if her superfluous presence in the story really irritates me right now.

Originally Posted by Mysterysword

her superfluous presence in the story really irritates me right now.

I've been super positive about everything in the game for years now, but with the recent patches I'm switching to negative opinion on the story. We are really racing through big plot devices now, big focus on the mission plan while skipping on the finer details and the characters involved. I like the big picture stuff, the overall story arc, it's just the execution that is leaving a lot to be desired. I think most characters are underdeveloped, not just Alisaie. I expected more emotion from recent events. I only play in English so I don't know how it came across in other languages. But on topic, I feel that Alisaie is strong-minded and she isn't afraid to disagree with people and pursue her own path, so I like that about her. The expansion will probably have a less rushed story than the patch series we just finished, so maybe certain people will get their chance to shine soon.

Personally...
Like someone stated she called BS when BS was needed to be addressed. I love that about her. I love that she is much less diplomatic and way more straight to the point. I don't think Alphinaud would have fit the Coils role because he already had his hands full with the Crystal Braves. He moved on but she didn't. That's why she was seeking, dun dun, answers.

Tracking the WoD, like you said Thancred would have done it too and he did in a way it's how he bumped into her. Is it in-character for her to do something reckless and dangerous herself for the sake of getting answers? Yes, judging by her role in Coils.

Her role with Ga Bu underlined her as someone who does not simply accept what is socially accepted if it goes against her own moral compass. She didn't want to just shrug and discard Ga Bu as lost cause due to the primal's influence regardless of what people have said. While I trust Alphinaud would have been crestfallen he'd likely have shrugged and agreed there is nothing to be done. In all cases Alisaie appears more humane and opposing to what most scions are "okay with". I have nothing but applaud for that.
You say our WoL could have fit her role but let's face it, we're bit of a blank slate. We also barely talk. We had very little time to bond with Ga Bu and while you can say, same for Alisaie, she had not (at least as much as I can recall) seen tampered souls directly, unlike us who had already seen this with the Ifrit quest line. We know it can't helped, she on the other hand makes sense to refuse to accept it and give it a try anyway.

So yeah those are my reasons. I find her very refreshing to have in the crew.

Personally, I wouldn't call "being less diplomatic" a good trait, at all. The Scions and Archons, from the very beginning, have been pushing for improved diplomatic relations between the various factions within and without Eorzea. I don't think anybody in this story believes that war is a good thing, and disregarding diplomacy is usually a good one-way ticket to war.

While I can accept that her calling out people on their BS is a positive trait, the thing that frustrates me is that she... doesn't do anything about it. In fact, in her initial speaking scene, while she's accusing the GCs of tooting their own horns, Alphinaud is right there in front of her, explaining the exact political reasons why they're downplaying the roles of the WoLs and Louisoix. And then instead of coming up with a rebuttal, her whole response is to go, "FTS, I'm out", which, when I think about it, is pretty accurate to how the rest of Sharlayan acted, so... props for consistency?

Basically, she's happy enough to point out all the bad things about Eorzea and its people, society, and cultures, but instead of working to fix the problems she sees, she's content to just sit out and do her own thing.

One might argue that, maybe she was working to do something behind the scenes, and I would say, that would've made for a way better Tale, than just having her wander around the realm aimlessly (no, I'm never going to get over just how stupid that Tale was. All that opportunity and potential for some actual character development, and they wasted it on a cheap death of a cheap character).

In fact, one of the things that struck me about the twins, with their initial characterisation, was that when they first come to Eorzea, they don't see it as a cause worth fighting and dying for, the way every other character in the cast does. It's fair enough; the twins are foreigners, and relatively immature to boot. But what is annoying is that they seem to view Eorzea as a means to an end; whether in seeking self-validation and recognition, or just chasing Louisoix's legacy, which, truth be told, neither of them fully understand when they start out.

The difference, then, is that while Alphinaud eventually grew out of this way of thinking, Alisaie doesn't seem to have done so. Even in her very last line of the MSQ, talking to us about fighting for Ala Mhigo, she almost seems to think of war as some sort of proving ground to earn fame and glory. And please, we already went through this with Alphinaud, do we really need to go through the same character development arc twice?

My reason for saying I enjoy her 'less diplomatic approach' is because we already have Alphi with the diplomatic approach and plenty of the other scions who do too. I see her as refreshing, maybe balancing the dialogue a bit when big words start flying about. I also consider the twins are like 17? She feels like she acts more her age where Alphi tries to fit grandpa's shoes bit too much.

She had some of the best lines these last two patches. Her, Nero, and Gotetsu are going to make Stormblood very enj

She is Urianger's top covert operative and she is awesome. One thing that needs to be changed is her outfit. The colors look meh and she needs to exude her awesomeness.

Originally Posted by rxnin

She is Urianger's top covert operative

I really have no idea where you got that impression. From 3.0 to 3.4, Alisaie is in no way working with or for Urianger. Quite the opposite, in fact, as it seems.