One question I find particularly interesting is that I can't quite put my finger on why FF13 is not this vibe. I don't feel it in FF13, but it feels like 90% of the surface level qualities of The Vibe are present there, and that's as somebody who both likes FF13 and its vibe. Maybe it's just too high poly, too modern, too close to the contemporary AAA, and The Vibe is kinda allergic to those things.

Posed this question to friends and there seemed to be a consensus that the vibe implies a melancholy as an essential element which I think is close to correct but doesn't explain why SA2 is so firmly The Vibe. Maybe it's just so firmly the vibe in every other way it makes up for it?

@catonline878 I think the inherent melancholy is a big part of it, but it's moreso an unapologetic sincerity and bearing one's heart on one's sleeve more than anything... FFXIII is very concerned with the rhyme and reason of its world and explaining everything in depth, whereas I think a big part of The Vibe is just Going For It and expecting the audience to catch up and Get It as they go along... which is why I think The Vibe extends itself well to distinctly weird games like FFVIII. FFX is very thorough with its worldbuilding too but I think it actually does something really interesting in Tidus being a clueless outsider who needs to have shit explained to him like he's a little kid, because his character arc is about reclaiming his agency and individuality and becoming the protagonist of his own story (after taking a backseat to pretty much everybody and being a passive observer in all facets of his life, from living in Jecht's shadow to Yuna being the protagonist of the actual capital-s Story, to even things like Seymour intervening in his romance with Yuna).

FFXIII definitely has that vibe in spades in certain parts though - really I think the flashback scene where you're playing as Snow and wandering around on the beach as Serah's theme plays is a really good example of the sort of things The Vibe invokes as far as emotional storytelling goes. FFXIII's character writing is also a bit spotty in terms of pacing and execution to the point where I don't think XIII has the strong emotional payoff these games here usually have, and IMO games that have The Vibe are very character-focused to the point of usually doubling as character studies

@straylight This is a very good explanation that clarified about exactly what I like in The Vibe. Thanks! I feel like FFXIII is very surface level-ly the vibe, its got the right colors and designs, but it is indeed the particulars of its writing that are the thing that makes it not so.
FFX dog... they fucking did it that day. They put it all in that one. Everything I like is there.

@catonline878 my pleasure! like I said in my description this is something I've been chasing and taken with since I was single-digits so I'm glad to talk about it and feel it out some more, haha.

fucking right? once in a lifetime type shit. best FF by a mile for my money and it's not even my FAVORITE game in that series