Lurker > colliding

I don't know what a hot sandwich is according to some of these answers. BLT's are cold I thought.

Cheesesteak
Grilled Cheese
Meatball Sub
French Dip

Loved this show.

8.5/10

Definitely the highlight of the game. The Maya twist was legitimately affecting in a way that surprised me.

NPC Power Rankings.
69. The other Shinra grunt from Nibelheim
68. Garth
67. The Intergrade Squad (Nayo, Billy Bob, Polk, Zhijie)
66. Myrna
65. Jules
64. Seto
63. Leslie
62. Tifas Dad
61. Sonon
60. Esther
59. Captain Titov
58. Madame M
57. Lifestream Whales/Weapons
56. Wise the Robot
55. Zangan
54. Piano Guy (Dorian)
53. Reeve
52. Andrea
51. Chocobo Joe
50. Clouds Mom
49. Choco Bill
48. Heidegger
47. Mayor of Nibelheim
46. Kid G
45. Chloe
44. Broden
43. Don Corneo
42. Wedge
41. Rhonda
40. The Fair Family
39. Scotch and Kotch
38. Dr. Sheiran (Med Sheeran)
37. Gus
36. Bugenhagen
35. Lodbrok
34. Costa del Sol Girls (Naomi, Fran, Yorda)
33. Marlene
32. Jessie
31. Gilgamesh
30. Chocobo Sage
29. Regina
28. Priscilla
27. Gi Nattak
26. Kyrie
25. Becks Badasses
24. Chocobo Sam
23. Chocobo Billy
22. Reno
21. Elmyra
20. Ifalna
19. Cissnei
18. Dio
17. MAI
16. Johnny
15. Scarlet
14. Shinra Middle Manager
13. Dyne
12. Lidrehl
11. The Commander and the Adjutant
10. Chadley
9. Palmer
8. Tseng
7. Hojo
6. Roche
5. Rude
4. Midgars 7th Division
3. Biggs
2. Elena

Minigames
40/ 39. Underground tremor monster / Following a trail
38. Unlocking Chocobo Stops
37. Taking pictures for quests/snaps
36. Chocobo Treasure Hunts (random and specific zones)
35. Wheelie Master
34. Looking at notes
33. Chicken Luring
32. Gears and Gambits
31. Pirate Rampage
30. Caches
29. Mushroom picking
28. Cactuar Trials
27. Playing as Aerith
26. Chocobo Stealth Sequences
25. Minecart Sequence
24. Buggy Escape
23. Leapfrog
22. Towers
21. Following the Robed Figures
20. Chocobo Gliding
19. Playing as Cait Sith
18. Speed Circle
17. Fort Condor
16. Red XIII League (Run Wild)
15. 3D Brawler
14. Mako Springs
13. Summon game
12. Breaking the Boxes (Desert Rush)
11. Loveless QTEs
10. Moogle Round-up
9. battle arenas
8. Unique Monster Hunts/fiend intel
7. Dolphin Riding
6. Crunches
5. G-Bike
4. Junon Parade Performance
3. Chocobo Racing
2. Playing the Piano

Main Cast
11. Cid
10. Sephiroth
9. Cait Sith
8. Vincent
7. Red XIII
6. Zack
5. Tifa
4. Yuffie
3. Cloud
2. Barret

If the board is still here tomorrow, I'll post the #1 write ups. If not, then it's been fun.

BK_Sheikah00 posted...

Larxene time

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/e/ef7117b7.jpg
NPC 2: Elena

The devs absolutely crushed it with Elena. Kind of similar to Yuffie, they took a character whose main quality was being annoying and made her not only likeable, but superior in many ways to her more established peers. A lot of it has to do with her VA; I'm not going to look her up but she does a stellar job with capturing her smugness in a cute way.

She definitely has the most actual personality out of any of the villains in the game, though she probably doesn't have the layers of the list's number one (it should be an easy guess now who this is). She's a rookie. She's a brat. She likes ice cream, but not vanilla. You can knock her off the platform in the Mythril Mines battle apparently.

She's a bit of a "Karen," haircut and all. But she's a sympathetic one. It's telling that mind controlled Cloud has to be stopped from killing her in the Temple of the Ancients.

I like her!

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/8/8a706fff.jpg
Minigame 2: The Piano

A polarizing choice, I know. I loved the piano. I loved playing the opening notes to "Welcome to the Black Parade" by My Chemical Romance at every piano I came across. I enjoyed spending 35 minutes getting "A" rank in "Two Legs, Nothin to It!" As someone who's ass at rhythm games, it was challenging enough for me to want to keep playing. (I definitely gave up on "Let the Battles Begin" though).

Kirk Hamilton of the Triple Click podcast hates this minigame because he's a professional musician and its nothing like a real piano and it's actually harder to learn to play this than an actual piano. To that I say, who cares? It's amazing how much they were able to put into this. It's amazing that I can look up videos of people making up their renditions of "Eyes on Me" or "Dearly Beloved" or the MGS2 theme on youtube.

No more hints! If you can't figure out the number 1's by now you've got some issues.

MacArrowny posted...

kinda wild that you don't say once in your writeup that you like your #3 NPC :p

I'm rushing because I feel the closure of Board 8 above me like the sword of damocles

but yeah, I like him! I like the way they write his survivor's guilt. I like how he teases out the mystery of Cloud/Zack/the Aerith pocket dimensions. I like that he dies again apparently though I think Zack just ends up in world with another Biggs in it somehow. I like how this apparently is "actual Biggs" transported into the pocket universe, the same way "actual Cloud" comes into the pocket universe at the end.

Maybe all the "fuck fandom" posts are actually going to get us deleted faster?

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/7/76f10809.jpg
NPC 3: Alternate Universe Biggs, aka Biggs

Like the Zack-verse, aka Terrier verse, Board 8 is a brief and temporary world that has accepted its own destruction, so I better power through the list.

Biggs living at the end of Remake was honestly an even bigger WTF moment than Zack surviving. Out of the Avalanche trio, he's probably the one you least expected, unless you're a huge Charlie Sheen fan. And yet ,he's also the one who makes the most sense in hindsight, given what Biggs does in the Zack sections of Rebirth.

Remake established Biggs as a worrier / obsessive type, and so it tracks that in Rebirth he's obsessing over why he's still living. This isn't answered particularly well for us, except we can assume that whoever brought him back (Aerith one assumes) brought him back for a reason. It kind of makes sense that Aerith would bring Biggs back in her vision of Sector 5, considering that Biggs helped out at the school and I guess is in a relationship with bee-girl (sorry bee-girl, I'm completely blanking on your name).

What I'm not necessarily down with is the idea that Biggs was brought back solely to get Zack to jump into the Sector 6 mako stream. I don't believe in the omni-Aerith 4D chess stuff. I think Biggs is more of a metaphorical character - symbolizing how even normal people are important - more than an actual macguffin/plot device.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/c/c78ea542.jpg
Minigame 3: Chocobo Racing

As good a Mario Kart clone you'll ever see, chocobo racing is a joy in this game. There's a surprising amount of depth to the chocobo loadouts, with each bird having their own stats and each piece of armor providing a different benefit. That being said, the first bird and the armor that you get from just completing the races in order seems to be the most effective tactic available, so maybe it's not all that detailed?

But boy is it fun. Also the cactuar doors are fine. Quit your bellyaching and just stop running into them! This probably would've been first if it was a bit more challenging and if they added multiplayer.

Finally: they remixed "Crazy Chocobo!" This game was made for us Board 8 adult children, and for that I'm extremely thankful.

Hint for NPC 2: Basically a Kingdom Hearts Character
Hint for Minigame 2: Dearly Beloved

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/2/27ab6468.jpg
Main Character 2
Barret Wallace

Two t's or one t, that is the question. I find myself always misspelling Barret's name. It's just one of those things.

This game really cements Barret as the true heart of the party, in my opinion. Here's a guy who comes across at first as pure Id: uncontrollable rage, braggadocio, righteous indignation... a terrorist. As the game proceeds, Barret emerges as someone with no choice but to fight further, a man who has someone he has to protect. And ultimately maybe a man who can hopefully find some alternative to fighting someday.

There are several unforgettable small moments with Barret in this game. Under Junon's dog quest, where he confesses all of these relatable fatherly fears about Marlene growing older. His weird uncle/older brother banter that he has with Red and Yuffie. The sailor suit. The way he cries after Loveless. The way he climbs up ladders with one hand.

I already mentioned how the Corel/Dyne stuff was largely worse this go around, but not a significant downgrade in the way Shinra Mansion and Cosmo were downgrades. The original pathos of the story is still present in Rebirth. The thing about Barret is that he was duped. He bought in to the Shinra propaganda and it cost him everything. So all of Remake's rhetoric about the planet and planetology is really a cover for this core of regret and loss that he is only gradually finding himself able to approach. It really is an underrated arc. We haven't gotten here yet, but this culminates in him not taking the leadership role once Cloud gets k.o.'ed by mako poisoning.

The ignorant masses sometimes claim that Barret was a stereotype in the original game. He wasn't, but Remake/Rebirth unveil een more layers to this guy beyond "angry Mr. T type." Unless the T stands for trauma I guess.

Hint for NPC 3: Remake's biggest mystery, not quite solved.
Hint for Minigame 3: In the Drift.

falcons lol

are they gonna have penix sit for a year or two behind cousins?

lol I can't believe they kept in trauma-gon's ultimate move. does he turn into shriveled up corpse after he wins?

6

It has its moments. Kira's pretty good. Barnham is super underrated. The group testimonies in Layton aren't as good as they are in GAA that's for sure.

curious to see what the titans do here

Phelps
Papyrus
Edelgard

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/a/ad076cde.jpg
NPC 4. Midgar's 7th Infantry
Minigame 4. Junon Parade Performance

Another area where the two lists overlap like kismet. I think Junon is (rightfully) thought of as the high point of the entire game, and a huge part of it is due to the Midgar 7th Infantry. I've already mentioned the Junon Commander and the Adjutant, but I should at least mention them since they start us off on this journey. Cloud essentially transforms into Emilio Estevez from the Mighty Ducks, tasked to inspire a bunch of misfit soldiers into ship into shape for the President's inauguration.

The personalities are great, from a bunch of Rufus stans arguing in front of a cutout, to a bunch of gossips at a bar, to some lazy bums goofing off. One look at the Captain helmet has them doing their ridiculous march off-screen. It's hilarious and endearing. They're innocent naive goofballs who are unquestioningly devoted to Cloud.

The speech before the march is probably the best Cloud moment in the game, because you can sense that this was probably a dream come true for "real Cloud." Becoming a squad captain, being respected by his troops, giving inspirational speeches. He really gets fired up at the end.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/6/65155056.jpg
Then we get to the actual Junon performance, which is like Loveless and the Honeybee Inn dance but better because it has some measure of customization involved. Plus you get that awesome Junon march music in the background. You can choose an easy route or a hard route based on the number of Midgar 7th Infantry you find; if anything I was a little disappointed since I chose the hardest route and messed up a couple times but it didn't really seem to matter. The game is very generous with positive vs. negative reactions. If you get a perfect can you beat Roche for the first award? Serious question.

The game doesn't stop there though. The Midgar 7th actually joins the party for a memorable sequence of battles and let me tell you I protected them with my life. At the end, Cloud has to leave them behind in a legitimately touching scene. At first, the game fakes us out into thinking we'll have to fight them, which would be truly tragic, but in the end their devotion to the Captain pays off, and they salute one another in a scene that truly conjures the end of MGS3.

All in all, from the initial meeting with the Junon Commander, to gaining the approval of her and the masses, to fighting alongside and forging a bond with the squad, it's a sequence that succeeds beautifully in very quickly endearing you to relatively non-important characters. It's honestly a masterclass in storytelling, particularly when juxtaposed with the Rufus assassination/proxy war subplot.

The popular fan theory now is that after the submarine stuff in game 3, the Midgar 7th Infantry will somehow become the crew for the Highwind. It's a perfect idea, which means it probably won't happen, but we can only hope they come back in some form.

Hint for Main Character 2: Future so bright...

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/b/b69b7198.jpg
NPC 5: Rude

"Shave it clean and make it gleam" indeed.

Rude's the Turk with the most screen time in Rebirth, probably. I mean I haven't actually measured it, but it feels like he's the most prominent. It's kind of a tough ask for Rude since he's normally the "quiet guy" to Reno. He would be boring if he wasn't so good at conveying a constant sense of "FML" to all these insane situations he finds himself in. He rolls with the punches, quite literally.

Rude gets some funny gags in this one. First, he gets his weird bar scene from the original game, updated for a newer and balder generation. This is pure Yakuza-humor and I am here for it. Second, he gets to go ice cream shopping for Elena and gets cut off when he asks if vanilla is okay. That doesn't sound funny when I retell it here, but it was pretty funny as it happened.

He also has a big crush on Tifa, and to be honest I... don't hate it? Cloud probably deserves to be forever alone, considering no one even commented on his write up.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/4/4757777d.jpg
Minigame 5: G-Bike

I feel like I'm extremely comfortable with the G-Bike minigame thanks to the UPA glitch. I beat the expert score, then ended up beating the UPA score like four times before I turned to gamefaqs and reddit for advice. So I've played this game a lot. It's actually extremely easy since as far as I know there's no real reason to go fast? The strategy of holding the accelerator and never breaking just doesn't work. However, if you go at half speed and grab all the G-coins (or whatever they're called) it's cake walk.

It's a well done game with a true sense of speed and pretty cool effects. The music is banging too. This has been a classic since the OG though. It's hard to mess this up (although I have bad memories of Remake and trying to get the "good ending" for Jessie's thirsty ass).

Hint for NPC and Minigame 4: The return of manly tears.

6

I guess I like this one more than most. I thought the characters were fun and the animations were good. Great soundtrack too! But yeah, it's a tutorial case

probably kid icarus uprising

NES
Playstation 2
XBox
Wii

Here's hoping the 7th doesn't get introduced 70% through the game!

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/5/5f375b61.jpg
Main Character 3
Cloud Strife

Poor Cloud. It's been 20 years since you won a character contest.

Despite the squeaking of his clothes, I enjoyed role-playing as Cloud once again. Picking up where Remake left off, Cloud is his broody yet affable self (for most of the game). The game really plays up the unreliable narrator aspect of Cloud, but it does so knowing that most of the game's audience knows of Cloud's unreliability. It's a really tough road to walk, and I'm pretty impressed by the devs in how they were able to keep the game relatively accessible for fans and new players.

It's not that Cloud is full or himself or lying. He's a naturally shy kid who also happens to have experienced extreme trauma and had his mind spliced with another dude. It's great how the game communicates this in subtle ways: the Zack-like mannerisms in the flashback, the way the game always shows Cloud putting his sword on as soon as he wakes up. During the Junon section, you can sense the "real Cloud" swimming around back there.

The game's willingness to balance the goofy with the melodrama is again a narrative strength. It would have been very easy for the game to lean in to the edge as Cloud starts losing himself to Sephiroth influence, but we wisely still get a bunch of scenes of Cloud cracking jokes too. Despite Cloud turning into an absolute shitheel, we pity him rather than hate him. This is potentially an improvement over the original game, where we are either confused or unmoved by Cloud's odd behavior.

That being said, once we get through Gongaga, Cloud kind of gets his blinders put on, and he becomes a little too obsessed with Sephiroth and the Black Materia. This makes sense plot-wise, but it's undeniable he kind of becomes a broken record. Aside from the date scene, Cloud becomes a little too serious (which is again, not unlike the original game). Cloud shines in Remake - in Rebirth, he's a little more clouded.

Hint for NPC 5: No Mopheads Allowed.
Hint for Minigame 5: You don't gotta go fast.

Bitto posted...

Tseng is the same age when Aerith is a child, so he probably is 40+ and just has a really good skincare routine. I think Tseng is too unflappable. I never feel like he breaks out of his very set characterization.

Just to follow up on this, this is what I thought too, but according the the Ultimania he's 30, and was 15 when he was first assigned to watch Aerith after Ifalna died!

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/9/9eedc80a.jpg
NPC 6. Roche, aka "Hello, my FRIEND"

I regret choosing this pic. I wanted one that captured his original reason for existence, which was to have a bike minigame boss. However, this pic lacks the sort of exaggerated facial expressions Roche is known for while screaming "MY FRIEEENNNDDD" in enthusiasm. I refuse to go search for another one though.

So yeah, I've mentioned this already but I did not like Roche in Remake. Unlike in Rebirth, in Remake there feels like a clear decrease in quality between "original main story" stuff and "new side stuff" (and another step down in quality when you get to "side quests"). To be clear, I don't think any of that game was "bad," but I do think parts of it were boring and felt like busy work. For Rebirth the devs did a great job smoothing everything out (although I know there are quite a few people who disagree with me on this based on the complaints about the "open world" stuff).

Roche benefits the most from this increased attention to developing and expanding on the side material. Someone in this topic called him basically a Kojima villain, and that's true. He's definitely got that Ocelot/Big Boss thing going on, where they're rivals but all they really want is to keep playing on the playground/battlefield together forever. Roche also does some crazy stuff with his bicycle at points that feels straight out of Revengeance or the Death Stranding 2 trailer.

Of course, what really makes Roche work in this game is that they turned him into a tragic character. Perhaps noticing that he himself is about to really suffer from degradation, and wanting desperately to continue "being friends" with Cloud, he seeks out Hojo for some S-Cell enhancement, which really only results in him turning (rather comically) into a robed figure. How do your clothes know how to magically change shape into a robe? Still, you're telling me that you get a free robe if you turn into a Sephiroth clone? Sign me up!

It makes me wonder if we're headed for a world in Part 3 where we somehow cure these folks. Alternatively, they all just keep appearing in the pocket universe and a big merge happens before/during/after the final battle. Regardless, I doubt we've seen the last of Roche.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/5/5100487a.jpg
Minigame 6. Crunches

You've mastered squats. You destroyed Andrea in pull-ups. Now you're ready for the ultimate in high concentration button pressing action: crunches! This was tough, I won't lie. I definitely felt the need to loudly swear against God a few times regarding the "half-press" option. And the fact that they switch from left to right is just cruel. However, when I actually beat it after about 10 tries, I felt like I had accomplished something. That addictive quality and that rush of success - it's probably the same as people who are really into Souls games feel. Now I kind of get their arguments against easy modes.

If you're having trouble, here's some tips. First, DO NOT TRY TO DO THIS WHILE TIFA'S IN HER SWIMSUIT (either one). Second, just say "left right" or "right left" outloud to get the rhythm down and make sure you stay in the right direction. It really wasn't that hard.

Next: Main Character 3 - A Male version of Lightning

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/4/4c38a593.jpg
NPC 7. Hojo

We can only assume Hojo's full name is Dr. Howard Johnson's. If you're under the age of 35 and/or not American you might not get this reference.

Hojo is once again absurdly evil in an over the top fashion. What a nasty little guy. They really played this up in Remake, but he's so interested in dissecting and fluids and flesh and stuff. Gross, dude! This is conveyed in a truly physical performance by this guy's character model. He kind of slides around the screen like a snake.

The biggest change to the Hojo mythology in this game is that he can apparently combine robed guys with little weird leech boys to make giant scorpion dudes. Other than that he's mostly in the shadows, except when he goes on his beach trip to Costa Del Sol and briefly turns into Dr. Robotnik.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/4/40709f5f.jpg
Minigame 7: Fun Times with Mr. Dolphin

This is a fun yet simple minigame where you ride on Mr. Dolphin's back, headbutting beach balls to gain speed. There's some ramps and hairpin turns. It's less about Mario Kart/racing game reflexes and more about just finding the best route and practicing until you get it right. It's basically a slalom, and once you know the pattern it's a matter of just moving the controller enough to get it right.

Hint for NPC 6: The award for most improved character from Remake.
Hint for Minigame 6: Sore shoulders.

I don't know how anyone walks away from the Nolan movies thinking they have "optimistic and uplifting plots about the triumph of good over evil." Unless LMS just messed up his sentences.

7

I don't really see the appeal tbh. Feels pretty average to me.

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*