Crisis Core....Am I supposed to hate Zack?

[Octo]

Ok maybe hate is a strong word, but I'm finding him irritating.

I have only been playing Crisis Core for a bit, I am up to the part where Im about to fight Genesis in Midgar. (After meeting Cissnei for the first time)

So, my impression of Zack from (his limited appearence in) FFVII was that he was obviously more cheerful than Cloud (catatonic or not!) That his attitude was basically a good guy, strong sense of right and wrong etc etc. I also got alot of his personality from the first part of the game where Cloud is basically impersonating him.

What I didn't get from FFVII, was that Zack was some sort of cowabunga surf dude braindead cannon fodder jock?!

Ok maybe I'm being harsh, but his attitude doesn't seem to fit with how he was portrayed in FFVII or the flashbacks in AC.

I don't want to hate him, so can somebody please tell me that this is just how the game starts, and that his character develops? Because if he stays this way, I have a feeling I'm going to cheer when he gets killed!

PS I'm not bothered about spoilers, so spoil away. Genesis killed me, cos I can't get used to PSP controls

 

[Max Payne]

yes.

 

[Sigbru]

He's supposed to get some development after a time skip, but I didn't think he changed much. YMMV though

 

[Lioneh]

Oh, Zack does a lot of growing up, trust me. He doesn't stay a crazy, carefree teenager forever XD So, to answer your question directly, yes, his character does develop quite nicely.

And, even though you said you didn't mind... I'm gonna be nice anyway.

Spoiler

And most of it happens through all the things that Zack must endure, such as being forced to take down his own mentor, Angeal, and almost killing Genesis, too. Not to mention being trapped in a mako tank for four years with scientific experiments being performed on him jaded him somewhat to hate ShinRa. In the end, Zack turns out to be a nice, well rounded guy - friendly, generally happy [but not hyped up like a puppy], good at heart [he practically saves Genesis, in the end], honourable [thanks Angeal], and quite mature. At least, that's how I view him. X3;

 

[Obsidian Fire]

As far as I saw it, Crisis Core is about how Zack matures from a idealistic teen who thinks that Shin-Ra can do no wrong into a guy who realizes that Shin-Ra is responsible for wrecking many people's lives.

I know what part you're at and at that point, Zack has no idea what Shin-Ra is really like. Once he starts finding out about certain things, he become more serious and start questioning Shin-Ra. Most of the flashbacks in AC are from the later portion of CC when he was more serious.

 

[Dashell]

No you're supposed to hate Zack because Square pimps him out constantly, not because of CC.

 

[Tifabelle]

I agree with Obsidian Fire. There's a certain immaturity to Zack in the beginning of the game (I think he's 16), and throughout the game he becomes more mature. But don't be confused - Zack is ever the optimist.

 

[Octo]

Thanks for the replies. He has been pimped out quite a bit hasn't he?

I'm glad he doesn't stay like that....Its easy to forget that Crisis Core is set over 5 years (or more can't remember) So its a relief.


In the opening scene I honestly thought....oh god, they've turned him into fucking Poochie! http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_3K88Os_ixFc/ScFS9AHepJI/AAAAAAAAApU/ybjsiBGMUGI/s400/Poochie.jpeg

 

[Alex]

surf's up

 

[DrakeClawfang]

No you're supposed to hate FF7's characters because Square pimps them out constantly, not because of CC.

Fixed.

 

[Dashell]

But I could never hate Yuffie D:

 

[Celes Chere]

.. I don't see how you can hate Zack in the beginning. He's a sweet kid, with big dreams. He's still young, and like Angeal called him, restless. He develops plenty throughout the story, but I never found him irritating before that.

 

[Madame Mayor]

No you're supposed to hate Zack because Square pimps him out constantly, not because of CC.

How much do they charge for him? And is it per hour?

 

[Octo]

.. I don't see how you can hate Zack in the beginning. He's a sweet kid, with big dreams.

Yeah, thats probably why then. I'm actually I very, very, horrible person.

He's still young, and like Angeal called him, restless. He develops plenty throughout the story, but I never found him irritating before that.

Yeah, I mean. At the start of CC I thought he looked at least 20...but if he's meant to be 16ish. I suppose I can forgive him for being like that.

 

[Max Payne]

I still don't see much of the development people tout in regards to Zack in CC. He never stops being this goofy, optimistic loon from the start.

He doesn't change much at all throughout the story imo.

 

[Cat Rage Room]

There's a lot of melodrama involved, but Zack does get a lot more serious throughout the game, even if that's the only real development he has. He never stops being happy so lucky because that's a core component in how he is, but he does wise up from beginning to end; mostly in the 'less goofy at times' department.

 

[LicoriceAllsorts]

For me the oddest line in the whole game is

Spoiler

after Zack and Cloud have escaped from Nibelheim, and Cissnei's give them the bike, Zack's zooming along the road on it and

he shouts out happily, "Man, Shinra sure make good stuff." What, like Sephiroth, Zack? And you, maybe? But at the same time I think it's an inspired line because it says a lot about his character. Even after everything that's happened to him, he feels no hate, and his exuberance is irrepressible. No PTSD for our Zack! It's no wonder he passed the psychological entry tests for SOLDIER.

 

[Obsidian Fire]

For me the oddest line in the whole game is

Spoiler

after Zack and Cloud have escaped from Nibelheim, and Cissnei's give them the bike, Zack's zooming along the road on it and

he shouts out happily, "Man, Shinra sure make good stuff."

I always took it as Zack's commentary on the five years of improvements Shin-Ra made to its motorcycles.

In Silent Tweak's Crisis Core Translation, that phrase was translated much more clearly:

Zack: New Shinra models are the best!

 

[Wiegraf]

Ok maybe hate is a strong word, but I'm finding him irritating.

I have only been playing Crisis Core for a bit, I am up to the part where Im about to fight Genesis in Midgar. (After meeting Cissnei for the first time)

So, my impression of Zack from (his limited appearence in) FFVII was that he was obviously more cheerful than Cloud (catatonic or not!) That his attitude was basically a good guy, strong sense of right and wrong etc etc. I also got alot of his personality from the first part of the game where Cloud is basically impersonating him.

What I didn't get from FFVII, was that Zack was some sort of cowabunga surf dude braindead cannon fodder jock?!

Ok maybe I'm being harsh, but his attitude doesn't seem to fit with how he was portrayed in FFVII or the flashbacks in AC.

I don't want to hate him, so can somebody please tell me that this is just how the game starts, and that his character develops? Because if he stays this way, I have a feeling I'm going to cheer when he gets killed!

PS I'm not bothered about spoilers, so spoil away. Genesis killed me, cos I can't get used to PSP controls

Zack develops. When

SPOILERS

Angeal dies, Zack becomes better.

 

[Ite]

Zack (and Crisis Core) turned SOLDIER from this:

into this:

 

[X-SOLDIER]

@ mr_ite: Even in Final Fantasy VII, you end up defeating the generic SOLDIER 3rd, 2nd, & 1st's through out the game. They're elite combat troops that are vastly superior compared to the individual Army MPs that you run into. Sephiroth was always the overglorified poster child for SOLDIER, and Crisis Core even shows that constantly. However, Crisis Core also demonstrates that there were other notable elite SOLDIER aside from Sephiroth. While Zack has a very persistent optimistic attitude, it doesn't really reflect on SOLDIER as a whole, or even his attitude toward SOLDIER / ShinRa. After the time jump, you see him acting as a fairly serious commander in front of the row of troops (where Cloud's in the suit).

Zack's disillusioned view of ShinRa fades, and gets tainted beyond repair when he finally learns enough to see it for being the dark, corrupt, organization that it really is - and one that he's been fighting for the whole time. Despite all that, and the wrongs done by them, his own spirit that never breaks, and he passes that on to Cloud, (along with other things) which is what Crisis Core's all about.


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[Tifabelle]

We complain that Cloud's a pissy bitch, and then complain that Zack's too cheerful and immature. WTF is wrong with us, lol.

 

[OneWingedDemon]

It's because SE is known for creating caricatures instead of characters sometimes. I understand why they made Aeris bounce off the walls in FFVII, she had no time, but they've no excuse for some of their other characters. Especially main characters.

That having been said, Zack ain't too bad. He's a kid when you first meet him.

 

[Ite]

Yeah, exactly. He's a kid. Take one look at the Cactuar animation and tell me you still take SOLDIER as seriously as you did in FFVII.

 

[X-SOLDIER]

I absolutely do.

That would be like me basing my opinions of SOLDIER on Sephiroth and his psychotic mommy issues, Genesis and his obsession with Loveless, or Cloud's high superior/nonchalant SOLDIER persona. While they are (mostly) SOLDIERs, their individual personal attitudes don't make SOLDIER any more or less than I ever thought of them.

That's like saying that Heidegger's laugh directly affects the credibility of the ShinRa army. The Army is still the same faceless, murderous military that it's always been, and SOLDIER are still an elitist fighting unit. If anything, Zack showed the complete destruction of humanity from SOLDIER and ShinRa, especially the attitude in the HQ throughout the game as the public is slowly kept out and locked down. You're overlooking the evolution of the world around Zack. He's NOT the poster child of SOLDIER. He's the exception and representation of everything that SOLDIER no longer is by the time FFVII takes place.


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