Final Fantasy X-2

Ah, Final Fantasy X-2: a classic story of turmoil after freedom. (see also: Iraq) What’s interesting about this game socion-wise, is that it has very deep political undertones. There is a Left-wing faction (the Youth League) and a Right-wing faction. (New Yevon) Yuna is presented as being somewhere in the middle: she gets to choose which side she’s with and any discussion about her own views outside these choices is carefully avoided. In this sense she has, while not quite universal appeal, a player-amneable appeal: if you want her to go to the Right, she’ll move to the Right; if you want her to go to the Left, she’ll move to the left. (although, Mitt Romney… hmm.)

What I got most out of the game was just how dependent the people were on their leaders. This exagerrated situation allows for the concrete observation of higher-order leadership traits. For example, each member of the FF-X cast had the self-assurance to do what they felt needed to be done, Tidus or no. This self-assurance is indicative of the primary leadership trait, tactical improvisation. (made by dodging/countering (dodging/countering…?) the attempts of contrary functions to overcome each other.) However, Yuna and Tidus were clearly in the lead. I account their leadership to Yuna’s inspirational appeal…; haven’t played through X yet so I can’t say much about Tidus.

Yuna remains in the lead and I’m divided over whether she’s a creative leader or a consensus leader. I actually suspect that she’s the consensus leader who unites the (ideologically constrained) creative leaders of the two political factions. My original assertion was that she is a creative leader; indeed, I considered the creative, transcendent relationship to her own duality (and all the mysterious forces thus invoked) to be proof of the creative leadership phenomena. That she was confident of her capacity (particularly evident in her belief that everything is connected; remember she’s an INFj with ESTj dual function) to chart a course into the unknown was a clear departure from those around her: she was clearly unafraid of her dual function and all too willing to seek it out, wherever it lead her. This is the defining trait of the creative person, and it was her confidence in leading others down the same path alongside her which makes her a creative leader.

The primary conflict of this game is that of the animus, which is portrayed as Shuyin/Tidus: Tidus is the light side of Yuna’s soul, so to speak, and Shuyin is the dark side. (light -Te vs dark -Te.) [more on this later]

Something I found very meaningful was the problem of Garik. Garik is young Ronso creative leader who was one of the survivors of Seymor’s extermination of the Ronso. An ENFj shadow type, he shares profound similarities to Adolf Hitler. He would carry out the rage of the Ronso against the Guado, if not for Yuna’s interference. Yuna’s defeat of Garik (under very difficult circumstances; Garik is a fierce opponent) persuades him of her strength, particularly that it is superior to his. This placates his id in large part: ENFj id says “the strong rule”. (as per ISTj Stalin-esque “strongman” duality) Therefore, Garik must respect the dominion of the superior Yuna on basis of her proven supremacy. However, Garik is not completely placated: his rage has no outlet. The future looks bleak for this shadow type whose instincts have been chained: the burden of leadership — the leader is a vessel for the hopes and dreams of their followers — weighs heavily on his +Fe mind, which can find no outlet now for its rage at the +Fi injustice the Guado have inflicted. He needs a vision for a new future that will assauge the Ronso’s rage with the glimmer of new hope; something only Khimari can offer. The situation is ripe for Garik’s rescendent function — +Fe is suppressed in favor of -Fe, which ready to accept a new outlook if only the prospect of a greater harmony is offered. Khimari offers this future of harmony to Garik — the Ronso will survive by learning about the world around them, and coexisting with it — and gives him something positive to inflate his +Fe with, whereas before there was only negativity, rage, hopelessness. Garik honors Khimari by leading the Ronso youth in a magnificent celebration of the Ronso state and Khimari’s rule over it. The social and the instinctual are united as one.