Quote Originally Posted by Crushnight View Post
Final Fantasy has for a very long time portrayed very dark subjects underneath a heavy layer of flash, sparkles and cute, look at Type-0, one of the more upfront darker stories in the series still has moogles going "kupo", a foul mouthed shop keeper and Jack.

FFIX is one that is a lot more whimsical and comedic but underneath the front layer it is a dark story just not in your face dark, it starts hitting you once you go to Burmecia, and it is present throughout the game with heavy subject matter but the tone is still naturally drawn to fun whimsical adventure let's go.

FFXVI looks to follow type-0 based on the one and only trailer we have seen, with having a more upfront darker tone, but I can bet money they'll add some cutesy or quirky stuff here and there, it is a mainline final fantasy game, doubt they won't try to pull a Chocobo acting cute, cactuar acting like a cactuar, a moogle in some shape or form, tonberry walking up with a knife, a wise cracking character.

Basically I'm saying expect the odd tone whiplash but the more consistent tone will be the heavier darker one rather than the light comedic one.
Took the words right out of my mouth. "Darkness", as it were is far more prominent in a setting of light. That is why people will refer to movies like Bambi, as being one of Disney's more darker films, and films like The Nightmare Before Christmas to actually be very lighthearted. I feel it is a big reason why the light stage was chosen for us to become the Warriors of Darkness in Shadow Bringers. Opposites attract, so if you want to express something really dark, it has to consume the light around it; not more darkness.

FFIX is a great example you brought up. Fun, whimsical and cute characters set in colorful backgrounds that makes the tragedies they encounter all the more poignant as a result of that. Take what we know about Vivi for example. Imagine his fate on a more diabolical looking creature opposed to this insanely cute black mage with adorable eyes underneath a wizard hat. It just doesn't have the same effect. When I saw the cover art for FFIX, I immediately knew it was going to be a really dark arse game.