Lurker > colliding

Anagram posted...

I dont know how much crossover there is between life simulator fans and Lord of the Rings fans.

I dunno, this seems like a match to me

Also I used to own that strategy guide. I miss it dearly.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/2/21475e3a.jpg
Main Character 4
Yuffie Kisaragi

It's the white rose of Wutai, fresh out the trauma of Intergrade and ready to join the party for real this time. Both the interquel and Rebirth do a fantastic job of making Yuffie feel youthful, energetic, freshly traumatized, and secretly more mature than she lets on.

While I think it's a little surprising we don't first meet her in a forest, I like the way the game slowly introduces her to the party. From Under Junon, to Rufus's attempted assassination on through Costa Del Sol.

The sheer triumph of making Yuffie not only important but relatively likeable is frankly miraculous. I liked Yuffie in the original, but there's no denying that she was 1) optional and 2) less cool than Vincent by a country mile. Therefore, she and Cait Sith basically fought each other for last place in mine and probably a lot of other character rankings. In Rebirth she's not only not last place, but there are reasonable arguments that she's the best character in the game! Which I disagree with, naturally.

She is often a big part in funny scenes, though I'm not sure I would say that she herself is funny. Case in point: when she finally joins the party after a long cinematic intro, Cloud says "cool" and exeunts stage right. Or when she picks fights with Barret and he picks on her like a little sister. These are definitely lighthearted and fun scenes where she really adds to the dynamic of the party. She's still the same Yuffie from the original, overconfident and materia obsessed, but there's a real depth to her here that's lacking in OG FF7. Which might come around to bite the devs if they're still planning on Yuffie "betraying" the party and stealing their materia in game 3.

That being said, there's some clunkers in here too. I'm a sourpuss who gets annoyed by meta-jokes and fourth wall breaking, cause I think it's kinda lazy. It's one thing for Yuffie to hum her own theme song and make jokes about Cloud having a thing for Tifa. It's another to have her come up with multiple songs and have her repeat those songs a few times too many. In short: she annoyed me sometimes, but isn't that part of her character too? Therefore, I can't be too mad.

In combat, Yuffie wrecks shop. She's my favorite character to play as, even without the busted Brunel Form cheats out there. She might not hit hard, but who cares when you've got doppelganger.

Hint for NPC 7: A man named after a defunct restaurant chain

"Yo hands" feels bad in an appropriative way tbh. If they wanted to convey slurring they should've gone with "yr hands"

everything else is okay

7.5

Would love to see Aura back but that seems unlikely (as unlikely as anything related to AA7, which is very unlikely).

I basically agree with everybody else about the Phantom. The case does have some genuinely interesting stuff. Edgeworth is really good in this one.

ScepterOfLove posted...

This has GOTY potential

I'm hesitant only cause I think I'm sick of persona and everything seems a bit busy for my tastes (the UI, the menus, the hub area)

Isabelle
Joel

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/b/b83b021d.jpg
Minigame 9: Battle Arenas (Musclehead Colosseum, Chadley Simulator, Corel Prison etc)

This category basically refers to anytime the game placed you in a series of battles. Some of these were annoying (that damn mindflayer battle, the two Test Zeros, the landworm fights) but for the most part they were a good challenge (plus opportunities to listen to some great tunes).

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/d/da005920.jpg
Minigame 8: Fiend Intel, Classified Intel, and Summon Battles

This category refers to the on-map fiend intel fights, the classified intel bosses, and the summon battles. The classified intel fights were all a little too easy (but then again, I was probably overpowered from 100% the world intel). There could have been a little more variety in the fiend intel conditions (it's mostly time limit, pressure, and stagger). The summon battles ruled.

Basically, any and all situations where the side quest involved extensive amounts of playing around with the game's excellent battle system, which I'll spend the rest of the post discussing.

I think it's definitely the best Action RPG battle system of all time, and maybe the best battle system ever created.

To begin, the fact that this game has 7 playable characters who are all viable and play different from one another in very clear ways is mind boggling. But then add to this that you can switch between them at will. Add to THIS, that you can do team-up attacks. It was one thing in Remake, where you were basically locked in to your party all the time. But in this game there are so many varieties in how you play based on who's in your party and your actual playstyle. Switching between your party members is so fun because it's testing your ability to play multiple types of characters. So instead of doing the same thing in a battle, you're switching from stagger/dps to tank to caster/healer. The actual pace of each character is completely different, so it creates a high level of variety within the battle itself. It's like switching in Tales games, except every character is actually fun to play (sorry, cheap shot).

Secondly, tactical mode/ATB remains the best hybrid turn-based/action RPG mix I can think of. It feels even better here than in Remake. Everything really has been tuned since Remake, by the way. The game's harder, magic is toned down but still pretty strong. The best change is how they've clarified the relationship between pressure and stagger. Each enemy has a unique condition for pressure, which can be from elemental weaknesses to attacking from behind, etc. Stagger is a necessary evil since you want to actually be able to use attacks and not end fights with the square button. Feeling frustrated over stagger was extremely rare.

Did I mention they actually came up with legitimately cool synergy abilities that were not only fanservice galore but tactically important (granting free mp, raising limits, etc)? It's flashy, but it still requires strategy and paying attention to materia set ups and equipment.

Hint for Main Character 4: A character whose name I mispronounced regularly until the Remake

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/e/ee618ebd.jpg
NPC 9. Palmer

Palmer is this high in honor of all-time great B8'er Heroic Palmer.

But also, I genuinely laugh at every scene this character is in, both in Remake and Rebirth. Joke villains can be hard to get right. It's easy for them to just be annoying and aggravating, but the perfectly walk the line with Palmer. He's not sympathetic at all, but he's also not a character you hate, the way you hate the other Shinra board members.

No one takes him seriously, not the main party, not the Turks, and not the other board members. He's a perfect characterization of a vestigial corporate shill in charge of a seemingly worthless department. He's just along for the paycheck. Palmer's always been an accurate commentary on governments that prioritize the military industrial complex and short-term gains over long-term progress. All this to say he's the perfect yes-man.

I'm glad we got the Palmer fight when we did. It just gives them a chance to bring Palmer back for more when we finally get to Rocket Town. It was also challenging, like I mentioned earlier. I almost died to Palmer twice, once in the actual battle and once in the minigame afterward.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/a/a9245ec7.jpg
NPC 8: Tseng

Here's some stuff I had wrong about Tseng, based on my understanding of the original game. First, he's not old. Silly me, when I first played the original game, I though surely Tseng was an older guy. Of course, these are JRPG's, and once you turn 30 you're basically an old person. But I really always pictured him as kind of an old samurai type guy, so I don't quite like how much of a babyface he is.

Secondly, Tseng doesn't die in the Temple of the Ancients in the original either. I knew this from Advent Children, but also, I hate AC so in my headcanon, Tseng dies. It's just better if he does, if I'm being completely honest. I think Tseng probably should've died here too, but obviously I'm eager to see how the Turks continue to evolve in the third game.

We get to fight Tseng in Rebirth, finally. While it was cute seeing he and Elena fight together, I feel like he was weirdly a non-factor in that fight. I want to say he never attacks Aerith, which would be a cool detail, but I'm pretty sure that's wrong.

Even moreso than the rest of the Turks, it feels like there's a good person somewhere inside him that is forced to be this morally grey/villainous person for the greater good. I totally buy the idea that he actually cares about Aerith and Elmyra while also thinking that he has to work for Shinra and regularly kidnap her.

Hint for minigame 9: Where's omnislash?

Livestream confirms it's basically Persona 6 but here's some interesting highlights:

• battle system is like kuro no kiseki. you can kill weaker enemies with sword slashes and go into full battles with stronger enemies.
• personas are now archetypes, and these are gained by interacting with people (social links)
• archetypes can be equipped on all the characters, so you can basically customize the party in a number of different ways
• they said that there are story dungeons and quest dungeons. I assume story dungeons are original while quest dungeons could be randomly generated.
• the music slaps

Toy Story
Toy Story 2
Toy Story 3
Toy Story 4

there are people who think remake is better than rebirth. they need jesus

no but the game is

5

good tension but I hated the way the structured the cases in this game. It's why 5-3 is the best one

I mean, if Jason Schrier didn't like it that's a bad sign since he's probably the most well-known spokesperson for suikoden in 2024

I bought this to support the idea of more suikodens but I also kind of expected it to be bad/disappointing. It's really hard to capture the magic of the old games

with cactuar doors, on normal chocobo racing is so easy that the first round can be spent just marking where the doors are to be ready for them. I was frequently in like 8th at the end of the first round and still able to be in first for the ending. it's really not that bad.

Metal Gear Solid 4

I honestly didn't think it was that terrible. I went to the bathroom a lot and I was hungry but that was it. Just replay the AA games or something

8

I like this one a lot. Great characters, good pacing.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/0/0618d100.jpg
Minigame 10. Moogle Round Up

I had a great time playing tag with these cute little critters. I think the difficulty was just right. I only failed once and only at the top mayhem level. It's kind of annoying how you can't terrain action over the fences but that's the game.

Now, as for the redesign:

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/6/6bdec397.jpg
People are upset about this. Not me though! I love it! It makes the game funny and not serious, which is important for a side quest, honestly. If the moogles actually looked like moogles, and not weird muppets with human eyes and teeth, it would lose some of that weird meme humor.

If you clear all the mog houses, the big reward is that Cloud gets turned into a Moogle and learns how to fly. It's probably the last good thing that happens to Cloud in his life. It's a great reference to the original game's weird Mog House arcade game. I still don't understand what that game was about, and I'm glad we have this instead of some weird kids book about a Moogle who can't fly so you have to feed him kupo nuts.

Hint for NPC 9: This guy has the worst luck with hotels

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/9/96d84dc5.jpg
NPC 10. Chadley

I actually didn't like Chadley in Remake, so I'm honestly as surprised as you are that he made it this high. In the last game, I did find him kind of weird and annoying. What is this kid's deal? Is he a robot? Is he just strange? It felt like he was weird for the sake of being weird.

And maybe that's where the growth comes in. I love the idea of Chadley being Hojo's Pinocchio (Lies of Chadley DLC anyone?). When we first meet Chadley in Rebirth, he's expressed a sense of self-individuality and optimism that's refreshing for this type of character. The game also hints at some strings still being attached in the Nibelheim protorelic quest. Seeds are being planted for even more Chadley development in part 3.

Speaking of seeds, if you read this game primarily as an environmental text, as I do, Chadley is a great addition. In an environmentally-conscious game like FF7, where images of eco-terrorism and indigeneity about the planet get thrown around hither and yon, it's great to have a techno-utopian mouthpiece as well. The reveal at the end, that Chadley is building an archive to remember the world in the event of mass destruction, is touching.

I also just don't find him annoying in the way others do. I definitely see how he could be, but I found him mostly funny. I liked his back and forth with MAI, I liked his tonberry costume, I liked his weird little theme song. I liked how he told me all about summon lore. He's half-gameplay mechanic, but that doesn't mean he also isn't a good character.

Hint for minigame 10: They should've kept the original design for the Sonic movie.

Athena
Arthur

MacArrowny posted...

Hot(?) take: Loveless was kinda boring and Aeris's song there sucked.

It's no Eyes on Me or Suteki da Ne (or even a Melodies of Life). I still liked it though cause I'm a sucker for cheese.

It's definitely better than Hollow! Also I like it more than most FFXIV vocal songs I've list- *gets assassinated by FFXIV fans*

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/b/bb281cad.jpg
Main Character 5
Tifa Lockhart

Beauty and brawn, all in one complete package! Rebirth does a lot of really interesting stuff with Tifa, that moves her beyond just being pure eye candy. However, the game also puts her in some situations where she underwhelms.

Rebirth features Tifa coming into her own as a thinker. This is clear from the very opening scene where she confronts Cloud about the Nibelheim stuff and where he's been for 5 years. The game shows Tifa attempting to come to terms with her decisions and be more assertive as a person. The early scenes between Tifa and Cloud in Kalm and Under Junon are really well done, because they effectively utilize the romantic tension in an actual subversive way, like when Cloud calls out Tifa for "testing" him again. I liked the dynamic of them pseudo-fighting/being upset with each other.

This continues through Gongaga, where Cloud goes full Sephy and Tifa has her lifestream freakout. But here's where Tifa kind of loses me. She commits herself to helping Cloud - which is fine - but she also becomes a lot more passive I think. She lets herself get kind of bossed around by Bugenhagen in Cosmo Canyon, which is one thing, but she also gets looked down on by random hippies too. In the return to Nibelheim sequence, when Cloud "remembers what happened to Zack," she is continuing to play along even when she knows that Cloud is still remembering it wrong.

This marks the second FF game in a row where the main female character is uncomfortably submissive. To be clear, I'm not saying that Tifa is as bad as 16's Jill, who I think is completely embarrassing. But I also sense that we're supposed to think that Tifa is being admirable here for being silent and unflinchingly supportive, and quiet and shy and blah blah blah trad wife grossness. And maybe I'm off-base (considering her swimsuit attire), but I can't help but feel they've made Tifa actually a little too demure, personality-wise.

I do love her relationship with Aerith. Making them best friends is probably the single-smartest decision from the Remake project. They really do feel close in ways that both of them needed. They seem to bring out matching qualities in each other, if that makes sense.

Playing as her is pretty much like it was in the original. She's the stagger queen. Unbridled Strength is so fun I kind of forget to use her abilities. She's fun, but a bit simple.

Hint for NPC 10: If he's Hojo's Son, does that mean he's also Sephiroth's Brother?

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/3/387d3f54.jpg
Minigame 11: Loveless QTE's

The Gold Saucer theater sequence is better here than in the original, although I would've liked seeing Cloud and Aerith spin off the stage or something. It's maybe a bit too long, which makes it hard to save scum to see what happens when you choose the "joke" answers, but I guess that's what Youtube is for.

Other nice things about Loveless: I really loved Cloud's FFXVI costume. Cait Sith makes a nice fool. It's an appropriate balance between hammy cheese and foreshadowing.

The fights themselves are pretty well choreographed; unfortunately, since the player has to focus on QTE's they miss most of the best parts! Also there's another minigame that does basically the same thing in a better way.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/f/fd5e4ae9.jpg
NPC 11. Junon Commander and Adjutant

Let's put aside for a second how the fanbase immediately developed a collective crush on this character. Junon was such an extremely well-executed sequence of events. Unlike Dyne/Corel, it felt different from the original yet also pitch perfect to the madcap energy of the original, which featured the commander and her adjutant basically bullying Cloud for 20 straight minutes. Telling him to stand up straight and spin a rifle better. Constantly blowing the whistle at him. All to get the best out of him.

So why not go ahead and make her super hot? It's the Mitsuru connection I think. I hear this voice and I'm transported back to a different era in the waifu wars.

While the Commander steals the show, the Adjutant also deserves recognition for the completely unhinged energy he brings to the table. It was great seeing them come back in Chapter 12 and I eagerly anticipate them returning in the submarine mini game in game 3.

Main Character 5 Next. It's a girl.

i mean yes, it's clearly Haggar

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/b/b67bbde1.jpg
NPC 13. Dyne

It's hard to ruin Dyne, but this game sure did try. First off, it was a bad narrative decision to actually show Barret seeing Dyne in the Gold Saucer. I suppose for people who played the original this is a nice "extra scene" we didn't get to see, but it sacrifices the tension of thinking "wow, what if Barret actually did go off the deep end and shoot up a bunch of people." Instead it's obvious from the jump who it is.

Secondly, really everything about the violence is neutered in intensity. I'm not saying I need to see tons of blood and dismemberment, but certain iconic scenes need it (the blood trail in Remake, the crime scene in Gold Saucer).

That being said, what makes Dyne good in the original game is still here for the most part. Him being "Barret's Zack" essentially. I like how he wasn't completely redeemed at the end, and how he actually twists the knife in Barret with the Cowboy Bebop carry that weight comment. Also, I have no issues with Dyne's new death by cop, since it leads to the fun stuff later (Palmer, Buggy escape etc).

The battle itself was a little too easy (Barret seems OP in normal difficulty a bit). I thought it was cool how Dyne inherited Captain Kidd's devil fruit powers.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/9/9ec1332b.jpg
NPC 12. Lidrehl Balmon

The award for biggest singular surprise goes to the first time the game went to static after a Queen's Blood match and I thought my TV glitched. The fact that this game went so hard on Queen's Blood for absolutely no reason is incredibly good.

Also, the fact that this guy gives such clear Alan Wake vibes despite the fact that there's no way that was intentional is such a cosmic coincidence I can't NOT reward him with a high ranking.

In a game full of good side quests, the Queen's Blood storyline is at the pinnacle. It's tense, atmospheric, mysterious, and fun the entire time. It also balances that line of not taking itself too seriously too. This could've easily been a huge pain in the ass, but it never felt that way.

Next is runner-ups for the Top 10!
Hint for minigame and NPC 11: a couple of cuties

Rufus Shinra's speech in Rebirth was actually really good

I don't understand how the current model for TV is remotely tenable. A billion different streaming services and huge stuff coming out with barely any fanfare.

Like ten years ago something like The Sympathizer would've been huge, and now it barely has any sort of cultural impact.

The media is really weird right now

2B
Estelle

4/10

uh oh, I'm in the minority opinion that doesn't like this one. too obvi and also I just don't vibe with the whole yokai/professional wrestling set up

4/10

It's so needlessly confusing. But after AJ and E1 it felt like a miraculous return to form.

+5 Dragon Quest IV
+4 Castlevania III
+4 Final Fantasy
+3 Mega Man 2
+3 Ninja Gaiden 2
+3 Little Nemo
+2 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Arcade Game
+2 River City Ransom
+2 Dragon Quest III
+2 Tiny Toon Adventures
+1 Super Mario Bros. 3
+1 Contra
+1 Mega Man 3
+1 Snake Rattle n Roll
+1 Chip and Dale's Rescue Rangers
+1 Ninja Gaiden 3
+1 Double Dragon 2
+1 Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?
+1 Crystalis
+1 Bionic Commando

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/a/a44dedb0.jpg
Main Character 6
Zack Fair

You're not allowed to take my images. How dare you make me find another image of Zack Fair that doesn't say "Me? Gongaga" at the bottom.

My relationship with Zack is complicated. I loved the twist in the original game. It really freaked my bean when I was 15. But I also didn't give a shit about him as a person. It was cool that he was Cloud's doppelganger and he died. That's it. I didn't need to know anything more about him besides what was given to us in the original.

Then came Square Enix's "Zack push," where they come out with Crisis Core, they shove him into Kingdom Hearts 2. Couldn't care less. The issue is he's too goody-goody, honestly. He's something of a typical anime protagonist (dumb as hell, perseverance trumps everything, makes friends super easily, his enemies respect him, probably eats a ton of meat).

That being said, I liked the twist at the end of Remake where Zack lives. It really opened up a ton of narrative possibility that, to be quite frank, Rebirth doesn't do enough with (but I'll save that for ending talk). Zack's status as trad-protag works in Rebirth because it's a clever juxtaposition with Cloud's attempt to "play a part." Zack - the actual "hero" - is trapped in a world that's falling apart, while Cloud - the Avatar - is going on the heroic journey. It creates a lot of real interesting tension.

Zack's escapades in the Terrier-verse aren't exactly exciting, but they serve the important role of keeping players invested in the game beyond just replaying events from the original. I think they nailed his interactions with Marlene, Elmyra and Biggs. I liked Zack more in this game than I ever did before.

I still don't love Zack/Aerith. My interpretation of the relationship from the original game was that Aerith had a crush on Zack and so he was her "first crush." This is when I assumed Zack was older (like he was in his 20's while Aerith would've been a teen). Crisis Core suggests they were the same age and actually in an almost relationship, which I think is, I dunno, kind of dumb/too convenient from a narrative perspective.

Post Temple of the Ancient Stuff: It ruled. The Cloud/Zack fight, the Zack with Aerith help fight in the Church, the synergy attacks, the limit breaks. Truly a stand up and cheer moment. They gave Zack the line "who says the worlds can't unite again" which I would wager is a needle drop for the third game's title: reunite. Pretty good for a meme guy.

Hint for NPC 13: Better in the og game in almost every way, but still pretty high up.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/3/3b859f4c.jpg
Minigame 12: Desert Rush, aka "The One Where You Break Boxes"

Yep, Steiner called it immediately. I don't know though, I think I like this better than in Remake? Maybe it was just easier this go around, because after a couple tries I got a literal perfect and had like 10 seconds to spare. It was definitely easier than the Intergrade version of this, which I found entirely too difficult. I think it's largely due to this not actually being about "being fast" and more about being smart.

There was something almost zen-like about finding the perfect route and getting the timing of when to use Braver and when to just mash square. I had fun, but I guess it's pretty simple all things considered.

Hint for Main Character 6: Probably the most meme-able Final Fantasy 7 character?

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/4/49be021c.jpg
NPC 15. Scarlet

Due to Gamefaq's recent crackdown on "horny," it took a while to find a PG rated picture of Scarlet. Curse you femdom! I mean fandom!

Lady Dimitrescu. Kargath. That one tall character from Unicorn Overlord. Certain people have a certain type, and that's fine. I'm not here to yuck anyone's yums. Except Scarlet's like... a really really bad person. She could've just shot Dyne and Barret in the head and been done with it, but no, she shot their freaking arms off.

There's a lot of Intergrade carry over in this game, which makes sense. The game is really trying hard to more naturally include Yuffie into the mix, and playing up her rivalry with Scarlet is a good way of doing that. So the whole rematch in Gongaga was a pretty good moment I thought (it was also surprisingly hard). That being said, her armor in the third game better be called the Proud Clod or else I'm rioting.

Oh yeah, and her chest is a little much.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/5/52521b5a.jpg
NPC 14. Shinra Middle Manager, aka the Ultimate Party Animal

I am constantly impressed by the game's ability to surprise and delight me when it comes to Remake versions of OG FF7's cult classics. What a character arc this guy has. In the first game, he is classic Japanese salaryman, married to Shinra, all about that upward mobility. In Remake, he's turned over a new leaf, He's had it up to here with Shinra's planet-destroying nonsense, and he's living, laughing, and loving his way to a brand new identity.

Forget the beach conversation with Aerith in Costa Del Sol. It's all about the birth of the UPA. His quest was unfortunately glitched for me beyond all hope of repair when I came up with this list, so I've yet to see his finale. I have no doubt it doesn't disappoint.

Hint for minigame 12: Cloud Smash.

I always just sat there and listened to Mai to finish before every combat trial because I didn't want to hurt her feelings

this board is for rankings and reviews on everything you can think of (except no longer for girls or our favorite politicians)

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/e/e50849bf.jpg
Minigame 13: Summon Intel

It didn't strike me until Martin's post earlier that this is basically just the Lifespring again, except it's not just the same triangle prompt every time. I really enjoyed getting the summon intel before reaching the altar (again, thank you CHADLEY). I was worried at first that the "memorize the pattern" minigame would get prohibitively difficult as the game went on, but it never did. If anything, I wish these were a little harder to find on the map.

The music during this also goes super hard for no reason also. But then again, you could say that about the entire game pretty much.

Hint for NPC 15: A Shinra Board Member

I kind of agree that NWH is just as bad from an asspull angle. NWH is super overrated. The main difference is that the characters in NWH are remaining true to themselves, while the ST had the characters basically floundering from movie to movie.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/c/c81cb942.jpg
NPC 17. MAI, aka Monster Assessment Instrument

Google FF7 Rebirth Mai and all you get are a bunch of haters. "Mai is the single worst addition in the history of FF." "Too bad we can't silence Mai." Those are from Gamefaqs. Board 8 is cultured, so obviously they're not from you, dear reader, but from your neckbeard neighbors on the Rebirth board.

First of all, how dare they. Mai's great. She often chimes in with some surprisingly well-written (but ultimately useless) information about the monster intel. There was nothing in the rule book that said the devs had to explain why there are evolutionary variants to elephadunks, and yet they did. Be grateful!

She also gets into some tropey anime comedy duo skits with her big brother Chadley. I thought these were often funny, though sometimes predictable/cliche. What helps her out is the spirit of her VA performance. Also: I see your posts saying Chadley sucks and I'm choosing to not address them until his appearance on the list.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/6/60800b4a.jpg
NPC 16. Johnny and the "Johnny Squad"

There's something nostalgic and comforting about a Yuri Lowenthal performance these days (besides Spider-Man, because no thanks). I feel like for Johnny, Yuri can just kind of channel an energy of Yosuke if he were on cocaine and ride it all the way through the recording session.

Johnny's likeability in this game is somewhat surprising, since I didn't really like him in Remake. I guess in that one he was pretty much just creepin on Tifa most of the time. Here, he creeps a surprisingly low amount, so I guess that's one explanation. They also show him attempting to mature as a person when he takes responsibility for bringing Hojo to Costa Del Sol (even if it was under the mayor's orders). Finally, they show him becoming a small business owner, as he takes over the house we could buy in the original game and turning it into Johnny's Seaside Views.

Of course, there's also the completely buckwild and slightly culturally opaque choice for Yuffie to make several Ninjutsu clones of Johnny, aka the "Johnny Squad" (which does unfortunately make me think of a pack of condoms for some reason). It seems like I should've hated this quest but I dunno. I thought it was a pretty fun way to make Yuffie feel like part of the party immediately after her joining.

Hint for minigame 13: A rhythm game (but probably not the one you think)

random encounters are fine as long as the encounter rate isn't too high. I'm of the opinion that games should have a turn off encounter toggle, or a "press x to skip battle" function (Wild Arms 2 style), or a bravely style slider or something.

Yeah I think people are generally pretty high on Bloodstained (despite its performance being god awful when I played it).

People didn't like Shenmue 3 right? I've never played a Shenmue game. Obviously M#9 was a dumpster fire.

I read one review already that was complaining about Eiyuden feeling like an old Jrpg. Which, hello? Come on.

There's no actual "saga" to the multiverse saga. They've yet to actually be able to build up to anything interesting.

If you just want to say "which has better movies" it's the MCU by far. If you want to say which is the better story, it's weirdly Star Wars ST, despite it being mostly bad.

6

like you said, it drags in the middle. also I didn't like Keyes

Ellie
Cave

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/c/cdbd4be0.jpg
Main Character 7
Red XIII, aka "Nanaki"

Remember earlier in the topic when someone asked who I forgot, Zack or Vincent? And I responded "no one, I'm just bad at counting?" I lied. I had actually forgotten to rank Red XIII. I'm sorry!

I have never particularly liked Red to be honest. Even in the original game, I didn't quite "get" him. I kind of thought his point was to be a "cool" character, like a test subject seeking vengeance against someone who wronged him. Or he was supposed to be the game's stand-in for a shaman.

This game makes it clear that Red XIII's role in the party is to be the dog. And that's fine! He's got a lot of good boy moments. He's also destined to be Barret's best friend, and that's also fine. As much as I think Red XIII's dungeon might've been more interesting if Aerith was the partner, Barret also makes sense. They have good comedic timing with one another.

That being said, I think they could've done more to establish more of a connection between Tifa/Red and Yuffie/Red. I can't think of any real good moments between those pairings. Except for maybe the very ending, where Tifa/Red are consoling each other over Aerith.

Many people are still complaining about the voice change. My opinion about the voice change is that it's perfect for the character. Thinking back on Final Fantasy VII, everyone remembers the twist that Cloud is not who he says he is: that he's actually kind of a shy kid pretending to be a badass. The thing that not everyone realizes is: that's everyone in the cast. It's maybe the game's main theme (besides the importance of the environment). Everyone is grappling with public and private versions of themselves. Everyone here has lost someone. By finding each other, their found family, they discover the importance of sharing that true self with one another. Their main antagonist is a person who never reconciles with that past version of themselves. So the voice change is fine, even if he does sound dopey. He probably shouldn't say "whee."

Playing as Red is extremely fun. He's a tank but he plays like a DPS. The first time I did Stardust Ray I audibly gasped because of how cool it was. I'm not quite sure how effective Siphon Fang actually is, but I loved the Vengeance Mode only abilities, and it just feels good to hold square and watch that little guy spin around.

Hint for NPC 17: My AI sister can't be this cute!

7/10

I think it's pretty interesting but also doesn't stick the landing at all. A lot of unachieved potential.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/0/026a6af7.jpg
Minigame 14: Mako Lifesprings

You're probably thinking this is too high, since all you do is press triangle three times every way the exact same time. But not everything has to be challenging or world altering. Sometimes you want to follow an owl to a lifespring, listen to the classic FF7 opening stinger, and get rewarded with a bunch of crafting items.

The real rewards here are some decent lore and quest progression. I really enjoyed learning about the Junon republic for example. I thought it was surprising just how much they went into the background of stuff I would never even have thought about. Also, I like how each area progress-locks you unless you do a number of different map related activities. Like you can't find the area's special monster unless you find a number of lifesprings for example.

So yeah, maybe to some it's boring, but I found it relaxing.

Hint for Main Character 7: Also a prime number

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/e/ea83d981.jpg
NPC 19. Cissnei

I played Crisis Core for the PSP back when it came out. Thankfully, I don't remember any of it. All I have is a general sense of "this is okay but also I wish it didn't exist." That being said, I kind of remember the generalities of the main characters. Angeal was Zack's mentor. Genesis was basically proto-Sephiroth. Cissnei was a Turk who quit because she liked Zack. That's the literal extent of my knowledge of the Crisis Core version of these characters.

In Rebirth, Cissnei is "surprisingly delightful" (surprisingly a Turk, Turkish Delight, get it?). In general, I approve of the way they expanded Gongaga as a town (even if I dislike navigating the area). It's great that Cissnei is here keeping watch over Zack's hometown, and I even liked how they gave her the "bad at cooking" trope. I also like her design.

I don't think the Gongaga protorelic quest was any good though? This one felt unfinished. They're supposed to be "Turk training simulators" but in practice they're just random battles. I feel like the original idea for this was going to be more "transportative," like you'd be in a VR version of Junon, and they'd give your party black suits to wear (how cool would "Turk" inspired alt costumes be?). And you'd skulk around a VR version of Junon to take out a terrorist leader. But instead they're just battles in the regular Chadley VR space.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/9/99520852.jpg
18 . Dio

What a ridiculous character. He's probably too high up, but, once again, I have to give the Remake project credit for being extremely true to the original while also making it totally sex-positive and not mean-spirited at all.

If you were expecting this game to give you a big traumatic backstory for Dio, you may be let down. But I don't think he needs that. What he did need was to be this game's Andrea: a loud dramatic beefcake with a heart of gold.

It's kind of surprising that he got beat up by the Turks. I'm not sure what happened there. I feel like he should've had plot armor for that. I was definitely expecting him to flex himself back into perfect health, Popeye style.

Hint for minigame 14: the owls are not what they seem