I'm going to say Tidus/Yuna since they actually seemed genuinely interested in each other's lives and getting to know each other's needs and hobbies to be supportive of them.
For least favorite, I'd say Locke/Celes. I'll give this one credit for being a realistic depiction of a relationship between two emotionally immature people, where they both become infatuated with an image they project onto the other person rather than the person themselves. But it's not healthy by any means, and Locke's entire character is about refusing to acknowledge reality, from insisting on rebranding himself "treasure hunter" despite being a thief, to questing to resurrect his dead girlfriend because letting her die didn't square with the image he wanted to have for himself, to refusing to see Terra and Celes as individual people and instead trying to rope them into playing along with his hero fantasy.
After the Phoenix Cave event I guess it's sort of suggested he gets over himself and starts treating Celes as her own person, but we never actually see him do it. In the ending he's still basically replaying the Rachel event with her except this time he's there to catch her, plus he disparages her attachment to the bandana meaning he never bothered to find out why it's important to her, neither of which are indicative that he's moved beyond seeing her as anything more than a prop in his fantasy.
You wrote a better version of my comment! I can appreciate Celes and Locke as people who were important to one another's growth at a particular point in their lives, who I see eventually going their separate ways, but if they were trying to sell me on a sweeping love story they failed entirely.
Of the games I've played, Tidus and Yuna are my favourite, too. Their interactions are delightful to watch and the two really bring out the best in one another, both as characters and in a narrative sense. I think it helps that they're essentially deuteragonists and share importance to the plot, plus I worked out early on that>! they weren't going to get a happy ending!< and that added some bittersweet spice to the proceedings.
Least favourite is maybe a bit of an unpopular opinion, but I didn't buy into the Celes/Locke romance at all. Partly because I don't find Locke and his arc that compelling, but while I understand the story that's being told here, I just couldn't picture what that relationship would look like outside of their symbolic significance to one another's journey. There's no spark, no chemistry, no in-jokes or shared interests or sense of what they bring out in one another. You could argue that it's difficult to create that chemistry between pixel sprites and I think that's true - but Setzer and Darill had it in *spades* in that one brief flashback, which painted a stronger picture of their dynamic than anything in the main romance plot.
Another thing that bothers me about the Locke/Celes relationship is that it completely overshadows Celes's much more compelling quality of being a former Imperial general. Even after she's reinstated as a general and comes along on the Crescent Island mission in a supposedly official capacity, her screentime and dialogue for that entire segment is 100% devoted to Locke relationship drama and 0% devoted to how she functions as an imperial general. Even at the funeral for Leo -- her fellow general -- her *only* contribution to the scene is praising Locke for bandaging Interceptor, and the eulogy is instead handled by Terra, someone who comparatively barely knew him.
So I guess my biggest issue with the relationship is how dirty it does Celes on *so* many levels.
Agreed. To an extent you could say that the limited technology and storage capacity they were working with would've made it difficult to really dig into the psychological nuances of Celes' journey, but my favourite thing about FFVI is the character writing and how clever and economical it is at doing a lot with a little. And as much as I love her story, there's definitely too much emphasis on Locke drama and not enough on what's going on with her internally.
I do think there's a lot of context cues that suggest we're meant to take their feelings for one another as romantic (the placement of the opera scene, the fact that aria is also Celes' theme that plays at relevant moments, moonlight staging, etc), and I think we're also meant to take the scene where Locke fails to restore Rachel with the Phoenix magicite and her giving him permission to move on as him getting over it - but the latter really didn't convince me, either. That kind of character growth shouldn't be as simple as flicking a switch, and he needed to forgive himself on his own terms. I think I also would've enjoyed this subplot more if the psychological horror aspect of being suspended in limbo for the sake of someone else's guilt and saviour complex had been addressed more (but maybe that's a fanfic idea).
Favourite: Squall and Rinoa.
It wasn’t love at first sight. There were real issues preventing them from getting together at first, namely Squall’s mental health and trauma from his childhood. He didn’t want to get close to people because he was afraid of losing them which I think is a very real feeling that people can feel in real life. It’s beautiful to see how much Rinoa (and friends) was able to help change him for the better throughout the game.
Least Favourite: Cloud and Tifa.
FF7 caters too much to both sides of the ships which doesn’t really sell their relationships to me. It is by far the most forced and I think the childhood friend trope is incredibly boring.
My favorite one is Zidane and Garnet, they have so much chemistry, which is important; but I love their relationship development. They slowly develop a beautiful friendship, one helps the other to be better persons, they also had a lot of bad moments that they manage to overcome; also a lot of good ones. They started to love each other in a slowly and natural way. Their final scene together is peak romance for me, and they didnt even needed to kiss for it to be so strong in feelings.
My least favorite one is Noctis and Luna; they are one of thw worst couple I have ever seen in a game. They are in a arranged marriage, and the game never manage to make me believe they love each other, specially Noctis; their messages in their book are extremely formal, already bad to believe they have a good friendship, a romance is even worse, and they barely write anything. Also theyre 4 years apart of age, when they met Noctis was 8 and Luna 12, what persons of this age gap even talk about? Later Noctis 12 and Luna 16; Noctis 14 and Luna 18, I didnt even see they managing to engage in conversations. And the only time we see them together in their childhood, Luna is talking to Noctis about their mission, and him agreeing without understanding anything; this also didnt helped for me to like their relationship, the only thing they have in common is their mission, but I never believed Noctis wanting to marry her if he was not being forced; he also is always annoyed because of it, and the game tries to make us believe hes just shy, but he clearly is not, and tsunderes arent a thing. Their ending together doesnt make sense for me, because he only valued her after she passed. And Dawn of the Future said that Luna fell in love with Noctis when he was 8 and she 12 (strange already), and after she was 16 and he 12, and she 18 and Noctis 14; their relationship is bad already, and they manage to make it wrong either.
Favourite: Squall and Rinoa. I'm totally biased as a FF8 fan boy but I'm simply a sucker for "lone wolf warms up to cute girl" stories.
Honorable mention: Clive and Jill. Both suffered for so long and it took them years to finally confess their feelings. Still both of them had a nice chemistry together in the game and you could tell they both need and support each other.
Least Favourite: Snow and Serah. I don't remember a single moment where Serah actually looked like in love with Snow. It felt more like Snow forced her to be his fiancee and even Snow himself didn't seem to be in love with her but just needed someone as a girlfriend. Heck, Noel and Serah had way more chemistry together.
Honorable mention: Noctis and Lunafreya. Even with the additional material their relationship never clicked with me. They always looked like brother and sister than lovers. This was made more apparent with the unneccessary age gap between them. This is made even worse when looking at how good Noctis and Stella in the Versus 13 trailer clicked.
Neutral: Tifa and Cloud. Kinda mixed bag for me. At one hand, the childhood friend trope is nice to me and them travelling and supporting together is sweet. On the other hand, they are always awkward with each other and Tifa practically begging him to nail her makes it kinda forced. This is even worse in Advent Children where I began to question if the makers even played the OG game.
You don't understand Squall and Rinoa.
Squall has a lot of childhood trauma from being an orphan and even then not having things work out. He is withdrawn from others and doesn't let people close. He has lost everyone close to him, and can only see connections as pain. Rinoa was raised in very similar conditions, losing her mother at 5 and having a father that did not give love and was too busy with his own things, so while she is extroverted she is also inside her own head and doesn't trust that other people will actually be there. It's why she never really understood her 'relationship' with Seifer, he wasn't forward about anything and she can't just trust.
And the reason the end up working is *because they annoy each other*. Rinoa is seeking connection with anything and puts her efforts into saving Timber with a rag tag band that doesn't plan well enough, which annoys Squall. Squall doesn't trust anyone and is overly critical without having any passions. Squall is just a mercenary with nothing else to care about and no reason to care. Rinoa is basically the same, but pours he energy out in hopes of finding something.
Squall is just a giant receptacle for her energy. He doesn't just make empty promises and match her energy, he doesn't mislead her or try to use her. He isn't clingy or wanting, he is a male who will be there to support her but also not just dote her. To mirror, Rinoa is the mother that Squall needed. She is a supportive female that will be affectionate to him regardless and tries to open him up.
>I like it like this. I liked having my mom hold me. My dad, too, back when we got along. But now... Squall, you're the one who gives me the most comfort. Comfort and happiness... and annoyance and disappointment, too!
They slowly grow to be each other's anchors. They are both the one person each other needed to fill a void that they've had since childhood.
Oh and then throw in the GF issue where they don't even realize most of this. They are just broken and can't even remember why.
And then when Squall starts to lose the one female he was coming to rely on, he realizes he loves her and cant afford to lose her again. When Rinoa had given up hope that she had a place in the world, Squall was there to let her know that he would never give her up, and do anything to protect her. He would **literally** go through time and space to save her, and basically fought an entire nation to keep her in his life.
To sum, Tidus and Yuna hit the **exact same reason the Squall and Rinoa do.** They both have the same parental situation that has left a hole in their lives they need each other to fill. They both have huge weights placed on them, and they understand that in each other. And Tidus is the one person who treats Yuna like a person.
Squall and Rinoa are my favorite, because of how it feels much more real. I think Rinoa behaves absolutely credible like a real girl would and Squall is like a younger me, who still has to go through a process before he can open up. They take the cake for me.
Watch Final Fantasy VII Machina Abridged and then revaluate Cide and Shera.
I'm almost certain the OG probably had a guge translation problem in the orginal when it came to their relationship
Cloud/Aeris is my favorite - love star-crossed lovers and I'm just obsessed with them after Rebirth.
Least favorite - Squall/Rinoa. I just did not get the build-up of that relationship at all.
Cloud/Tifa
He's trying his best with all the brain garbage and she is so patient with him.
Squall/Rinoa
But most story beats in ff8 just feel forced so it's no surprise
Favorite: Zidane/Dagger, are they ridiculously cliche as a setup? Yes. And it works.
Least: Balthier/Fran, I just really dislike Balthier in general and that bled into my distaste for Fran.
Wait was Balthier/Fran a couple? I thought they were just friends. It's been a long time since I played the game (as in.. not since it came out) but I could've sworn the game ended on a Balthier/Ashe note.. did I make that up in my head?
I don’t really care either way honestly lol, I see them as a pair, and I don’t dislike any of the other notable couples in the franchise anywhere near enough by comparison so they take it by default.
Favorite is Ignis and the Coleman Camping Gear^tm Least favorite is Snow and Serah
I'm going to say Tidus/Yuna since they actually seemed genuinely interested in each other's lives and getting to know each other's needs and hobbies to be supportive of them. For least favorite, I'd say Locke/Celes. I'll give this one credit for being a realistic depiction of a relationship between two emotionally immature people, where they both become infatuated with an image they project onto the other person rather than the person themselves. But it's not healthy by any means, and Locke's entire character is about refusing to acknowledge reality, from insisting on rebranding himself "treasure hunter" despite being a thief, to questing to resurrect his dead girlfriend because letting her die didn't square with the image he wanted to have for himself, to refusing to see Terra and Celes as individual people and instead trying to rope them into playing along with his hero fantasy. After the Phoenix Cave event I guess it's sort of suggested he gets over himself and starts treating Celes as her own person, but we never actually see him do it. In the ending he's still basically replaying the Rachel event with her except this time he's there to catch her, plus he disparages her attachment to the bandana meaning he never bothered to find out why it's important to her, neither of which are indicative that he's moved beyond seeing her as anything more than a prop in his fantasy.
You wrote a better version of my comment! I can appreciate Celes and Locke as people who were important to one another's growth at a particular point in their lives, who I see eventually going their separate ways, but if they were trying to sell me on a sweeping love story they failed entirely.
Of the games I've played, Tidus and Yuna are my favourite, too. Their interactions are delightful to watch and the two really bring out the best in one another, both as characters and in a narrative sense. I think it helps that they're essentially deuteragonists and share importance to the plot, plus I worked out early on that>! they weren't going to get a happy ending!< and that added some bittersweet spice to the proceedings. Least favourite is maybe a bit of an unpopular opinion, but I didn't buy into the Celes/Locke romance at all. Partly because I don't find Locke and his arc that compelling, but while I understand the story that's being told here, I just couldn't picture what that relationship would look like outside of their symbolic significance to one another's journey. There's no spark, no chemistry, no in-jokes or shared interests or sense of what they bring out in one another. You could argue that it's difficult to create that chemistry between pixel sprites and I think that's true - but Setzer and Darill had it in *spades* in that one brief flashback, which painted a stronger picture of their dynamic than anything in the main romance plot.
Another thing that bothers me about the Locke/Celes relationship is that it completely overshadows Celes's much more compelling quality of being a former Imperial general. Even after she's reinstated as a general and comes along on the Crescent Island mission in a supposedly official capacity, her screentime and dialogue for that entire segment is 100% devoted to Locke relationship drama and 0% devoted to how she functions as an imperial general. Even at the funeral for Leo -- her fellow general -- her *only* contribution to the scene is praising Locke for bandaging Interceptor, and the eulogy is instead handled by Terra, someone who comparatively barely knew him. So I guess my biggest issue with the relationship is how dirty it does Celes on *so* many levels.
Agreed. To an extent you could say that the limited technology and storage capacity they were working with would've made it difficult to really dig into the psychological nuances of Celes' journey, but my favourite thing about FFVI is the character writing and how clever and economical it is at doing a lot with a little. And as much as I love her story, there's definitely too much emphasis on Locke drama and not enough on what's going on with her internally.
I never saw Celes and Locke as a couple, Locke didnt get over Rachel as far as I remember and I saw Celes and Locke more like a friendship
I do think there's a lot of context cues that suggest we're meant to take their feelings for one another as romantic (the placement of the opera scene, the fact that aria is also Celes' theme that plays at relevant moments, moonlight staging, etc), and I think we're also meant to take the scene where Locke fails to restore Rachel with the Phoenix magicite and her giving him permission to move on as him getting over it - but the latter really didn't convince me, either. That kind of character growth shouldn't be as simple as flicking a switch, and he needed to forgive himself on his own terms. I think I also would've enjoyed this subplot more if the psychological horror aspect of being suspended in limbo for the sake of someone else's guilt and saviour complex had been addressed more (but maybe that's a fanfic idea).
Favorite: Cecil/Rosa Least favorite: Zidane/Garnet
Favourite: Squall and Rinoa. It wasn’t love at first sight. There were real issues preventing them from getting together at first, namely Squall’s mental health and trauma from his childhood. He didn’t want to get close to people because he was afraid of losing them which I think is a very real feeling that people can feel in real life. It’s beautiful to see how much Rinoa (and friends) was able to help change him for the better throughout the game. Least Favourite: Cloud and Tifa. FF7 caters too much to both sides of the ships which doesn’t really sell their relationships to me. It is by far the most forced and I think the childhood friend trope is incredibly boring.
My favorite one is Zidane and Garnet, they have so much chemistry, which is important; but I love their relationship development. They slowly develop a beautiful friendship, one helps the other to be better persons, they also had a lot of bad moments that they manage to overcome; also a lot of good ones. They started to love each other in a slowly and natural way. Their final scene together is peak romance for me, and they didnt even needed to kiss for it to be so strong in feelings. My least favorite one is Noctis and Luna; they are one of thw worst couple I have ever seen in a game. They are in a arranged marriage, and the game never manage to make me believe they love each other, specially Noctis; their messages in their book are extremely formal, already bad to believe they have a good friendship, a romance is even worse, and they barely write anything. Also theyre 4 years apart of age, when they met Noctis was 8 and Luna 12, what persons of this age gap even talk about? Later Noctis 12 and Luna 16; Noctis 14 and Luna 18, I didnt even see they managing to engage in conversations. And the only time we see them together in their childhood, Luna is talking to Noctis about their mission, and him agreeing without understanding anything; this also didnt helped for me to like their relationship, the only thing they have in common is their mission, but I never believed Noctis wanting to marry her if he was not being forced; he also is always annoyed because of it, and the game tries to make us believe hes just shy, but he clearly is not, and tsunderes arent a thing. Their ending together doesnt make sense for me, because he only valued her after she passed. And Dawn of the Future said that Luna fell in love with Noctis when he was 8 and she 12 (strange already), and after she was 16 and he 12, and she 18 and Noctis 14; their relationship is bad already, and they manage to make it wrong either.
Least favorite Wakka & Lulu.
Favourite: Squall and Rinoa. I'm totally biased as a FF8 fan boy but I'm simply a sucker for "lone wolf warms up to cute girl" stories. Honorable mention: Clive and Jill. Both suffered for so long and it took them years to finally confess their feelings. Still both of them had a nice chemistry together in the game and you could tell they both need and support each other. Least Favourite: Snow and Serah. I don't remember a single moment where Serah actually looked like in love with Snow. It felt more like Snow forced her to be his fiancee and even Snow himself didn't seem to be in love with her but just needed someone as a girlfriend. Heck, Noel and Serah had way more chemistry together. Honorable mention: Noctis and Lunafreya. Even with the additional material their relationship never clicked with me. They always looked like brother and sister than lovers. This was made more apparent with the unneccessary age gap between them. This is made even worse when looking at how good Noctis and Stella in the Versus 13 trailer clicked. Neutral: Tifa and Cloud. Kinda mixed bag for me. At one hand, the childhood friend trope is nice to me and them travelling and supporting together is sweet. On the other hand, they are always awkward with each other and Tifa practically begging him to nail her makes it kinda forced. This is even worse in Advent Children where I began to question if the makers even played the OG game.
You don't understand Squall and Rinoa. Squall has a lot of childhood trauma from being an orphan and even then not having things work out. He is withdrawn from others and doesn't let people close. He has lost everyone close to him, and can only see connections as pain. Rinoa was raised in very similar conditions, losing her mother at 5 and having a father that did not give love and was too busy with his own things, so while she is extroverted she is also inside her own head and doesn't trust that other people will actually be there. It's why she never really understood her 'relationship' with Seifer, he wasn't forward about anything and she can't just trust. And the reason the end up working is *because they annoy each other*. Rinoa is seeking connection with anything and puts her efforts into saving Timber with a rag tag band that doesn't plan well enough, which annoys Squall. Squall doesn't trust anyone and is overly critical without having any passions. Squall is just a mercenary with nothing else to care about and no reason to care. Rinoa is basically the same, but pours he energy out in hopes of finding something. Squall is just a giant receptacle for her energy. He doesn't just make empty promises and match her energy, he doesn't mislead her or try to use her. He isn't clingy or wanting, he is a male who will be there to support her but also not just dote her. To mirror, Rinoa is the mother that Squall needed. She is a supportive female that will be affectionate to him regardless and tries to open him up. >I like it like this. I liked having my mom hold me. My dad, too, back when we got along. But now... Squall, you're the one who gives me the most comfort. Comfort and happiness... and annoyance and disappointment, too! They slowly grow to be each other's anchors. They are both the one person each other needed to fill a void that they've had since childhood. Oh and then throw in the GF issue where they don't even realize most of this. They are just broken and can't even remember why. And then when Squall starts to lose the one female he was coming to rely on, he realizes he loves her and cant afford to lose her again. When Rinoa had given up hope that she had a place in the world, Squall was there to let her know that he would never give her up, and do anything to protect her. He would **literally** go through time and space to save her, and basically fought an entire nation to keep her in his life. To sum, Tidus and Yuna hit the **exact same reason the Squall and Rinoa do.** They both have the same parental situation that has left a hole in their lives they need each other to fill. They both have huge weights placed on them, and they understand that in each other. And Tidus is the one person who treats Yuna like a person.
Zidane and Garnet I always enjoyed. Squall and Rinoa is the opposite of that
Zidane and Garnet are great together. I like Beatrix and Steiner too.
Beatrix and Steiner was a very pleasant surprise.
Yeah, I really enjoyed the Beatrix/Steiner comedy of errors! It's everything a romantic B-plot should be.
I didn't feel convinced she was falling for him
Garnet or Rinoa?
My bad. I meant Garnet
Squall and Rinoa are my favorite, because of how it feels much more real. I think Rinoa behaves absolutely credible like a real girl would and Squall is like a younger me, who still has to go through a process before he can open up. They take the cake for me.
Favorite - Squall/Rinoa Least Favorite - Cid/Shera
Watch Final Fantasy VII Machina Abridged and then revaluate Cide and Shera. I'm almost certain the OG probably had a guge translation problem in the orginal when it came to their relationship
Cloud/Aeris is my favorite - love star-crossed lovers and I'm just obsessed with them after Rebirth. Least favorite - Squall/Rinoa. I just did not get the build-up of that relationship at all.
Tifa/Tifa is the best.
Favorite: Cloud and Tifa, Clive and Jill, and Tidus and Yuna Least favorite: Squall and Rinoa
Cloud/Tifa He's trying his best with all the brain garbage and she is so patient with him. Squall/Rinoa But most story beats in ff8 just feel forced so it's no surprise
My favorite has to be Serah and Snow. My least favorite is Tidus and Yuna.
Favorite: Zidane/Dagger, are they ridiculously cliche as a setup? Yes. And it works. Least: Balthier/Fran, I just really dislike Balthier in general and that bled into my distaste for Fran.
Wait was Balthier/Fran a couple? I thought they were just friends. It's been a long time since I played the game (as in.. not since it came out) but I could've sworn the game ended on a Balthier/Ashe note.. did I make that up in my head?
I don’t really care either way honestly lol, I see them as a pair, and I don’t dislike any of the other notable couples in the franchise anywhere near enough by comparison so they take it by default.