Yuri Lowell: Why you might relate to him more as an adult than you would as a teen.

[rumynoir]

I doubt I’m the first one to say this, and I don’t think I’ll be the last:

If I played Tales of Vesperia when I was a teenager, I don’t think I would’ve connected to Yuri Lowell as much as I do now. In fact, I see more of my teenage self in Rita Mordio, which personally, is extremely frustrating knowing that I was so much like her when I was younger. ...Yes, that heavily, heavily includes the exhausting tsundere behavior that is so deeply rooted into her personality. If I could kick 15-year old me in the ass for being an utter brat, I would do it in a heartbeat.

...I digress.

Unlike most RPG-protags, Yuri is an adult. Most of his growing is already over and done with. He doesn’t have to learn about the meaning of birth like Luke fon Fabre. We’re seeing Yuri right in the middle of an existential crisis. He’s the type of character you’re going to see in yourself after you’ve lived a little. And by live, I don’t mean absorbing politcal, activism bullshit on twitter or social media. I mean gone out and got slapped around a bit by Real/Offline Life.

But before I get into that, we need to look at Yuri a bit closer:

( Read more... )