Story Thread [SPOILERS WITHIN, YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED]

[DZComposer]

Note: For this thread, the spoiler tag is not necessary. If you do not wish to see story spoilers, please do not read this thread.

What do you guys think about SFZ's story?

I'm happier with it than past ones. It makes the CDF actually worth something, hints at possible political tension between Andross and Gen. Pepper prior to his exile, and still manages to maintain a level of mystery around James McCloud.

Sadly, the events of the lead-in the the last mission kill the cliffhanger in the anime, but I'm still hopeful for more.

And James. Wow. It really looks like he survived the betrayal. This is why I hope to see the anime become a series, because I would like to see an explanation that doesn't make James look like a dick for making his son think he is dead. Of course, if he did survive, it looks rather difficult for him to have survived the escape at the end of the game. I guess sacrificing himself for Fox would make up for pretending to be dead. But I dunno.

[Scourge]

There was a little bit of me that was disappointed that the game didn't diverge from 64's plot more, but I came to the realization that the series needed a revival in it's barest and best form to re-attract buyers to allow for future games, which I'm personally fine with. Zero's plot works, and it works well.

I'm a little upset by Venom's status downgrade from actual earth+ sized world to a small planetoid turned death-star teleporter, but I can see why (although I still really want to know where Andross's fleet was built >:[ )

As for the James bit: they left it more or less ambiguous as 64 left him, if not better off but I think I can live with that.

All in all, I was hoping for a little more in terms of the story but parts of it did genuinely surprise and excite me so I can't complain too much. I guess I was just hoping for a little more to be honest: whats there works and works well, but maybe my expectations were just peppered (heh... peppered) by a literal FUCKING DECADE of waiting.


Now, with all that said, nintendo has a base on which they can base a whole new life for the franchise on- let's hope they get platinum back to co-make the next one.

[SF Redd]

I'm not sure how I feel about Venom being literally a backwater little rock in space turned teleporter. I'll have to contemplate that a bit more.

The James thing was very interesting to me. Here's my speculation: Zero is drawing elements from 64 and the SNES canon. At face value, it seems like the situation with James is completely taken from 64. DZ said that it really looks like James survived the betrayal, but if you look closely at James' Arwing, you can see that it's got a strange blue aura around it. I'd wager that James is possibly semi-trapped in another dimension, like in the SNES canon. Just something to think about. I've not put an awful lot of thought into that yet, either, so there may be discrepancies.

[Mecha-Katt]

I do agree with everyone here..I was also expecting a..bit more out of the story?!..Perhaps I was expecting too much Lylat Wars with a secret real boss. ( I also was looking forward to see the animated shorts ending to be explained in the game..sadly not..)

Also we've heard Pepper's side of the story, but I am still curious as to how Andross would describe it. A Teleporter as a thing of peace..I hardly believe this, but again, I may look too deep into it.

The thing with James..well..Lasershots went through him (...I'm sorry, I HAD to try out..I was curious ._. )..and the fact that Andross saw him too..perhaps he isn't only a ghost but..Alba brought up a good point, the whole plot that was brought up in Starwing also came to my mind and I thought..perhaps James is trapped somewhere else..who knows..

Oh one more thing: The ending with the Walkers..that was really amusing to watch! xD

[Robert Monroe]

I didn't have much expectations for the story but it does feel like the animated short film kinda hyped up more than what was actually there lol. Andross was at least emotionally invested in what was going on this time now instead of just being ONLY I HAVE THE BRAAAAINSSSS, talking shit about Pepper and all. The lines were all good, but little was made of it. I think I would've liked Fox talking back to Star Wolf at least, especially Pigma.

 

But hey, nothing was obscenely vapid or mismanaged or otherwise hairpulling awful like Command or Assault was.

[Mecha-Katt]

I liked Andross' monologue a lot, though I did hope that Fox would at least response to it..but he was too busy killing that guy..and yes, same with StarWolf/Pigma..after all, that swine was responsible for his fathers possible death. Ah well.

[Robert Monroe]

I think maybe Nintendo was still going for the whole "Fox as an audiance surrogate" bit and our personal feelings and reactions are meant to stand in for Fox's own, but given Fox is a much more defined character than say, Link or Samus in this regard with actual writing I think it kinda derps.

 

Andross's monologue -was- cool though.

[DZComposer]

"A fox, taking orders from a dog. Is that really how you want to live your life, boy?" <- My favorite Andross line

Also, Falco drops his Final Smash line on Titania. "Personally, I prefer the air."

[Mecha-Katt]

When listeningio to him, to my mind came:  ape/monkeys --> humans..and dogs normally take orders from a human, never the other way around..that is why Andross is having such troubles with it. So a fox taking orders from a dog is even more crazy and not understandable for him.

[DZComposer]

I saw it as foxes are creatures of the wild, and dogs are domesticated. A wild taking orders from a domestic, Andross implies, is weakness.

[Robert Monroe]

RUUUUUUUUUUULES OF NAAAAAATUREEEEEEEEEE

[Mecha-Katt]

4 hours ago, DZComposer said:

I saw it as foxes are creatures of the wild, and dogs are domesticated. A wild taking orders from a domestic, Andross implies, is weakness.

Yes..that is what I was trying to imply with it as well ^^ One leads to another.

[Animal Pilot]

My theory as to why Andross has his wired cyborg body in the Cornerian hologram/sound test but is a metallic floating head in the last level: When Andross senses that Fox is close to his throne room, he transfers a copy of his conscious mind into his weaponized boss battle form.

So what does that mean for a sequel? Andross is still alive since his real body wasn't presumably destroyed. But it benefits him to stay dead for a while so he can rebuild his army. 

[Patch93]

Maybe the wires connected to Andross's body are from the Telekinetic Amplifier he talked about in the SNES comic?

[Animal Pilot]

I assume the wires are so visible because he had to repair himself in a very haphazard manner with whatever spare parts he had on Venom and needed to remain plugged in to an energy source or stop functioning. What with being stuck in another dimension for so many years before he managed to escape and rejoin his waiting fleet.

[Roonifer]

I really enjoyed Zero. It was like a warm, fuzzy, childhood security blanket wrapping around me because I was once again experiencing Star Fox in its greatest form. The last time we had anything close to that was in 2005 and a lot of people argue that Assault wasn't even that great.

Like a good portion of you, I too am also kind of annoyed by Venom's downgrade. But I can't help but think that the reason it was reduced to a small planetoid-space portal-rock thing was because they were trying to stay true to their source material and wanted to keep the final Star Wolf battle on Venom. Obviously, full-sized Venom would be too large of an arena to fight Wolf, especially when he's using his Hunter transformation. So they shrunk it and used some weird Mario Galaxy-esque camera sequences on the TV view. Too bad they couldn't just keep a larger more explorable Venom for one playthrough, and shrink it for the Star Wolf battle like they did back in the 90's.

That's my take on it, at least. I still liked Zero a lot!!

[DZComposer]

The ripped model for Andross is surprisingly detailed, considering we never really see it in-game. It makes me wonder if there was another planned phase for that battle that they had to scrap.

Looks like he has no feet, though, so even with a body it seems he's still floaty.

Honestly, though, this design fits with my headcanon about Andross that he's wired himself into that giant head form.

[Animal Pilot]

That makes sense too. As long as Andross survived the explosion so we don't have to resort to something silly like a clone or his disembodied spirit to bring him back.

[Robert Monroe]

MORE POWERRRR HERRBERRRT

[Navis]

i like zero but the ending is disapointing. it's like a bad ending all over again.

[Robert Monroe]

What exactly was bad about it? I mean I guess I disliked how it was just pretty standard but I wouldn't consider it "bad".

[Navis]

not exactly bad. idk..

i was expecting something new.

[Robert Monroe]

I can get behind that. As said before, a lot of the buildup regarding the teleporter stuff kinda just piddled out.

[Animal Pilot]

I can understand disappointment in regards to the lack of branching good/bad endings, but I personally felt Zero's ending is better than 64 where they deviate for a few reasons:

1. Andross's real boss appearance isn't a giant floating brain, a big plus in my book. The whole concept of the battle arena, with Andross encasing himself in a shield and shooting lasers at you, is pretty great actually. 

2. The James McCloud stuff is handled better even with the little screen time he has. Leading you out of the explosion in 64 just to disappear for no reason was pretty anti-climatic. In Zero James sacrifices himself to stop Andross which gives you time to escape. The whole dimensional teleporter McGuffin gives James's appearance a sci-fi explanation which is preferred over a vague mystical one.

3. The chicken walkers at sunset are much more visually interesting than the odd running segment in 64.

 

 

 

[SF Redd]

1 hour ago, Animal Pilot said:

3. The chicken walkers at sunset are much more visually interesting than the odd running segment in 64.

I wish they were a bit faster during this segment.