Final Fantasy XIII Vs Persona 3 [SPOILERS FOR BOTH GAMES]

[Tsunami Shijo]

So my roommate has been playing Persona 3 lately, and something came to my attention. Namely, the fact that the stories of Hope and Snow from FFXIII are nearly identical to the stories of Shinjiro and Ken in Persona 3.

Now, I haven't played either of these games, but I familiarized myself with FFXIII's story and my roommate gave me the lowdown on the story from Persona 3 when I pointed out the similiarities to him. So, spoiler warnings ahead for both games. Hopefully people won't mind since they've both been out a while.

So, in Persona 3 there are two playable characters named Shinjiro Aragaki and Ken Amada. For most of the game the two characters don't seem to have any direct relation and each join the party for their own reasons, though it's hinted that the two are connected somehow. Later in the game, an event occurs where Ken asks Shinjiro to meet him somewhere.

It is revealed that Shinjiro actually killed Ken's mother by accident, but Ken blames him and the only reason Ken joined up with the group is so that he could confront Shinjiro and seek revenge. Shinjiro expresses deep regret over the death of Ken's mother (the accident was caused by Shinjiro's inability to control his summoned Persona, and it killed Ken's mother), and accepts Ken's resolve to kill him - but gives him a warning that it might only send Ken into a cycle of killing. The confrontation is interrupted by one of the villains in the game, and the scene ends with Shinjiro sacrificing himself to save Ken. Ken later resolves to forgive Shinjiro for his actions and becomes stronger because of it.

Now I paraphrased that all because the whole thing is a little more complex and I don't want to give to much away, but that is the gist of it.

Now, Persona 3 was released in 2006, three years before FFXIII was released.

Hope and Snow have a very similar story and character dynamic going on. Though some details are different, such as the time of the mother's death, the personality of each character, etc, the scenario is almost exactly the same and ends almost exactly the same.

Hope's mother joined Snow's resistance group, and as a result of Snow's carelessness ended up losing her life in an attack. Hope witnessed the whole thing, and ends up joining the group to confront Snow and exact his revenge. He also waits a long time to say anything, and when he does confront Snow they are interrupted by an enemy attack during which Snow throws himself in harms way to save Hope. Hope eventually forgives Snow, and grows more mature because of it.

There are a handful of other small details as well that I noticed, though they don't draw such a direct parallel. Shinjiro's motivations for fighting are based on the loss of a lover, who also happens to be the sister of one of the other guys in the party. The character dynamics there don't work the same way as Serah/Lightning/Snow, because Shinjiro and the brother are on good terms and the genders are changed around, but the similarity is there.

What also was a bit baffling was the character designs; though not exact, they contained some strange similarities.

Both Snow and Shinjiro wear coats and a black beanie with long unkempt hair sticking out, while Hope and Ken wear orange tops, shorts, and sneakers. And while it's a bit of a stretch, Shinjiro dresses in red and black, and in FFXIII-2 Snow's design was changed to give him a black and red color scheme. Also very weird age differences: Shinjiro is 17 while Snow is 21 (older male) and Ken is 10 while Hope is 14 (younger boy). Snow is 7 years older than Hope, Shinjiro is 7 years older than Ken, and Snow and Shinjiro are 4 years apart while Ken and Hope are also 4 years apart.

While I'd like to believe that this is just a matter of the two games sharing similar tropes, it feels more like the stories for these characters were ripped from Shin Megami Tensei Persona 3. In Japan the SMT games are by no means obscure and the franchise ranks third as far as RPGs go, with FF in second and DQ in first. While support for FF has been waning both in Japan and especially the states, the SMT games are going strong in Japan and gaining popularity over here. Atlus has a very solid portfolio of RPG games with great stories and characters and this makes me wonder if this is a sign that some people in Square are getting desperate for ideas.

 

[Hisako]

I think they're very valid comparisons, but I'd hesitate to say they were "ripped" from Persona 3. Personality-wise, Snow is pretty much the polar opposite of Shinji - extroverted, bold, and open.

The context of the stories also changes the way the character dynamic is presented. Persona 3 had a habit of not actually revealing character motivations up front and saving the revelations for later to heighten the drama. In Final Fantasy XIII, we tend to be privy to most of the protagonists' machinations and thought processes. The game spends the greater part of the first two discs watching Hope fume silently, tailing Snow around while he gallivants around like a clueless jerk. And we as the audience are basically following one long gag of dramatic irony, as we all already know why this is happening.

The whole deal that goes on in Persona 3 is more introverted, imo. There are some definite similarities, I think, but not enough for it to be plagiarism.

What's also interesting, though, is that both Ken and Hope partly have inferiority complexes, or at least feel the need to become equals to that of their adult peers. Both are indulged in these pursuits (by the protagonist + Shinjiro in P3 and Lightning in FFXIII), and both overcome this insecurity one way or another.

Spoiler

Also, Shinjiro straight up dies.