Lurker > colliding

MartinFF7 posted...

https://streamable.com/fxiul1

(first thing i thought of with all the eclipse talk lately, lol)

I was on vacation for a couple of weeks, resumed the quest for platinum (and 100% playlog just because) on returning home. put off trying Rulers of the Outer Worlds as long as I could and finally got around to it and did it, after many hours spent... pure cheese strats helping to breeze through the first four fights, couldn't get through 5th until seeing a video that was just showing a straightforward -aga stunlock and worked like a charm. What a relief that's over with.

....still have some painful solo challenges and the legendary challenges to go (and Chapter 14 hard mode) but the end is in sight.

Also agreed, though where I'm a little stumped is whether it's just your consciousness that can move between worlds or your whole physical body. Like, we saw Cloud and Aerith take over the comatose ones in the Zack-verse. My impression of Biggs re-telling his story sounded like a similar deal for him.

Except the Cloud in the Zack-verse has two shoulder pads, but when it's Cloud and Aerith on their "date" it's just one shoulder pad. Infuriating.

However, while I was assuming the Zack and Aerith fights w/ Cloud at "edge of creation" were fights in his mind w/ their respective consciousnesses teaming up with him, Zack's whole body and not just his consciousness was being sent to and fro in that final battle sequence & in the ending?? I also thought maybe only Cloud could see Aerith because her consciousness was still residing with him after the final battle but the fact Red XIII could sense her is like, yeah... lifestream ghost? Maybe without a body to consciousness-shift into, the other Aerith is just a ghost in our world that only Cloud can see due to the fate-breaching event?

I think we're supposed to think that all this actually happened. I thought that Remake's final battle was all in their heads/pocket universe stuff but nope, that all literally happened. Therefore I think all the party members literally traveled through dimensions. I think what happened is that the worlds did actually merge at the end of the game but only Cloud is able to be in both simultaneously.

Also means there are two different Aeriths right now, technically? "our" Aerith who died and is in the lifestream, and "other" Aerith who's in the world where she survived, popped over to help Cloud in his final battle, and goes back to her "second home" in the other world at the game's end?

Bingo, though "other" Aerith is ostensibly exactly the same as "our" Aerith, and "the other world" is our world, just like a layer on top of it. Who knows though. It's manufactured to try and keep people talking for two years.

MacArrowny posted...

Why not just ghost Aeris? We already saw her as a ghost in the original FF7 ending and Advent Children

Because we DO get the scenes of Cloud blocking the sword/Aerith waking up. It could be the devs just messing with us and Cloud seeing things. I think there's more to it.

foolm0r0n posted...

Just finished. The timeline stuff was weird but I think it ended up pretty straightforward by the end. The lifestream is a multiverse that only Aerith, Zack, Cloud, Seph can traverse.

Maybe. I don't think too hard about this stuff because I know it'll probably disappoint in the end anyway. Regardless, I definitely don't buy the whole "Aerith at the end is just Cloud being delusional" idea. It's either an AU Aerith or it's somehow Remake/Rebirth Aerith in a pocket universe or something.

I don't fully get where/what Sephiroth actually exists in this game though. The final fight is him, but every other time is just Cloud being puppeted? Or sometimes it's a random zombie guy like when he stabbed Tseng?

Yeah this has always been confusing even in the OG. I think the "endgame" Sephiroth battles (in both Remake and Rebirth) are what I'm calling "lifestream Sephiroth." This is also the figure that Tifa sees in Chapter 8. In game there's presumably also a Sephiroth that is controlling all the robed figures and is currently chilling in the Northern Crater.

Also everything about the black materia confuses me. Everyone spent that whole time going through the temple and fighting for it, and then they decide to just put it back because it's not that important? Why the F did Aerith say it was fake? Why did they just toss it around like a toy?And kept letting Cloud get ahold of it even though it obviously was making him psycho for the last 3 chapters?

Aerith said it was fake to try and get Cloud to stop being weird about it. They tossed it around like a toy and escaped the Temple because it's a trope. The party at this point is both 1) scared of Cloud and also 2) trusts Cloud very much despite his craziness. They also presumably "need" him for his Leet Soldier skills. Yeah, I know, pretty flimsy but I'll roll with it since it's basically what happens in the original.

And finally I don't get Seph's motivation at all. He didn't actually try to get the black or white materias for himself. Why did he need to kill Aerith? What about the alternate dimension Aerith who survived?

Maybe more later, but also there's a line right after Aerith beefs it about despair being the thing that really causes the worlds to merge. Lifestream Sephy is all about eliminating all other possibilities besides the one where he wins. Killing Aerith was apparently the thing that gets him there. Seph is aware of alternate dimension Aerith (he "underestimated her") so presumably he flew off at the end to do some planning. He doesn't try to get the black materia because that's what Cloud is for.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/4/418336cf.jpg
Main Character Ranking
9 . Sephiroth

It's fitting that Sephiroth be ranked ninth on the main character ranking, given his status as a Noble Niner. I would say he's definitely on the weaker side on that list too. Of course, there will never be another character battle again so who can say, really.

Even if the game hadn't blessed us with playable Sephy in the Nibelheim flashback, I still would've considered him a main character. You really want me to put Sephiroth on the same list as the likes of Mayor Kapono and the Haunted Hotel concierge? Also, they're not on the list.

This is such a long game I honestly have no memory of Sephiroth gameplay (also I haven't done any of the hard mode stuff, so there's that, which probably colors some of my feelings on the minigames). I do remember not being wowed by his moveset. Granted it was early going and basically tutorial-level battles the whole time, but he definitely did not complete in the way the actual playable characters feel. Dat synergy ability though.

As for his story moments... he's classic Sephiroth. He's vague and mysterious, and he can body snatch a robed goon whenever apparently. Which begs the question... did Cloud actually kill Midgar Zolom? Or was it a random Shinra goon? Who actually "killed" Aerith in the Forgotten Capital? Was that also a random robed dude? (post Temple of the Ancient spoilers). This is a mystery that has been around since the original FF7. I thought the game would do more to "show" that it wasn't actually Sephiroth doing this stuff, but a Sephiroth clone/robed guy.

The game DOES give him some interesting moments in the flashback. There's a couple times in the hike to the reactor where Sephiroth tries and kind of fails to be a regular human being, and that's great. It's pitch perfect characterization for an awkward genetically modified war hero bred only to dominate that he's having trouble with social cues.

There's also some cool stuff in the ending. I did not expect the game to give us the OG final boss fight for the end of Rebirth, but it makes sense. It also basically forces them to come up with something new for Part 3, which is good news for everyone (and to me suggests that not everything is as it seems with the Aerith stuff). Anyway the fights themselves were EXTREMELY cool, from the messed up Safer Sephiroth stuff to the Cloud/Zack and Cloud/Aerith duels. It was basically all I could have asked for: thoughtful fanservice. I'll probably talk more about the ending whenever I get around to Cloud and Aerith's rankings.

Ultimately, I'm ranking him at 9 because he's a bit overrated in my opinion. He's iconic for two reasons only, those being OG FF7 fire cutscene and end of disc one. Beyond that he's kind of dull! After the Nibel flashback, Sephiroth is just here to make casual pop-ins to Cloud's messed up head. Which is true to the original. So yeah 9 sounds right.

Hint for NPC 45: Sephiroth is yet again directly above a flower girl.

Now I share give foolmo despair

_stingers_ posted...

Can listening to the dog song be counted as a minigame

hmmmm wait and see

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/a/a2ae7ebf.jpg https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/6/661e3b36.jpg
(NPC) 46 . Kid G
(Minigame) 28. Cactuar Trials
I honestly didn't plan on the lists converging like this, but somehow it happened.

The mad lads actually did it. They gave us a backstory for the goblin enemy that we all farmed for Zeio nuts back in the day.

At Gold Saucer's event square, you can watch a little skit on Kid G's backstory. There's something here about him being the chosen cactuar hero or something. To be honest, I spaced out. And then I met this guy from within the depths of an old mako reactor, fallen into disrepair. And I DID think this was Haley Joel Osment for a second, which would've been so cool if we had a weird Sora cameo, except Sora was a goblin named Kid G.

Speaking of, how cool would Sora DLC be for this game? It would be great cross promotion for Kingdom Hearts IV, a game that Square Enix assures me is real and not just an advertising strategy for mobile games.

I kind of hate Kid G due to his protorelic quest. There's just a lot of different parts to it. First you gotta lift the green crystal and follow the light, Tears of the Kingdom style. Then you gotta fight some cactuars at the cactuar rock. Then you gotta do a cactuar impression (which is admittedly pretty cute). Then you have to do "Cactuar Crush" with either Yuffie or Aerith. Of the two, Yuffie's is probably more fun. Neither is particularly difficult. It's just a lot. And you have to do it four different times!

At the end of all of this you fight Kid G, which isn't hard. Then you fight him in the Chadley simulator, which is much harder.

Hint for Main Cast Member 9: His hair was long... and grey.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/c/c4f63f13.jpg
(Minigame) 29. Picking Mushrooms in Gongaga

Let's talk about navigating Gongaga. It's challenging. On the one hand, I like it, since it requires actual exploration instead of just going straight to an icon on a map. As a jungle, it makes sense that exploration should be difficult. On the other, it sure would be nice if it wasn't such a strict maze. Some mushrooms launch you five feet, others launch you five hundred it seems.

Speaking of mushrooms, Cissnei sends you on a quest to pick up some mushrooms so she can salvage her stew. This requires finding your way through Gongaga to get to the right area (the hardest part), fighting some tricky jellyfish monsters there (hint: use spell blade), and then ripping these suckers out of the ground. You have to judge how much "give" there is in a given direction and then pick them in that order. It's a little tricky. I for sure messed up on the first one.

Ultimately it's a little forgettable. However, it's neat that they made up this puzzle instead of you just going to a place on the map and picking up an item.

Hint for character 46: I thought this character's VA was Haley Joel Osment at first, which would've been wild

Final Fantasy VII
Castlevania; Symphony of the Night
Metal Gear Solid
Tekken

does the world remember coffee? does it know that my decision is what caused it to disappear forever?

if so it's a death sentence

_____Cait posted...

AI art all looks the same, and is easy to spot. People are already sick of it and dismiss it when seen.

not to the masses. the thing about AI is that people in charge don't care if it looks/sounds bad as long as they don't have to hire and pay bennies to someone.

it's 100% the stroke probably and nothing personal. i've had to deal with this myself with my mom.

unfortunately you will have to get used to the fact that she's different now/not the person you remember. there's no easy way out.

definitely get a therapist/someone to talk to. If she's capable of living on her own or with her partner that's good.

ItzKnightz posted...

Ranking them by number of people chosing their own character and voting for them.The character has to be either in dlc or main game

not enough people post here for this to work I think but I'll go with Shulk

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/a/aff15dd5.jpg
48 . Heidegger

Playing the OG FF7 as a kid, I had no idea that this character was named after Martin Heidegger, one of the most "important" philosophers of the 20th century (scare quotes because what philosopher actually is important in the grand scheme of things). So it was wild as a college sophomore to be reminded of this absolute chucklefuck while trying to understand concepts like phenomenology and "being."

Heidegger's name is part of a pattern within the fascist undertone of the Shinra Electric Power Company. Shinra is and always has been an evil empire with layers. On one hand, it represents the domineering force of unchecked capital across the world. On the other, it conjures Nazi-esque rhetoric, particularly in its discussions of genetic experimentation on the Cetra. The Turks could be seen as a reference to regime toppling exercises undertaken by the CIA in South America. Heidegger's physical appearance seems Stalin-esque.

He's also rather clownish, second only to Palmer in terms of "Shinra board joke villains." In Rebirth his biggest moment is almost getting run over by a bike again.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/2/28f01c5b.jpg
47 . Mayor Zander, aka the Mayor of Nibelheim

Insert "moments before disaster" meme. There's also a pretty good line of dramatic irony in the introduction, where Zander says something along the lines of "I'll remember meeting Sephiroth as long as I live" or something.

In a game full of unnecessary mayors, Zander is probably the most memorable due to the vicious nature of his demise. I wasn't a huge fan of how slow the game made me walk/crawl during the Nibelheim burning sequence, but I did like the L2/R2 scene where this guy gets his block knocked off. Sephiroth really didn't need to step on this guy's hat afterwards. That's just cold.

There's a world out there somewhere where Zander kills Sephiroth. Let that sink in.

Hint for minigame 29: Hog's Gotta Hunt

are you ranking them or are you just taking a poll?

4/10

thematically interesting and tonally unnerving but pretty bad

Horizon is terrible, sorry if that offends you

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/8/8b123521.jpg
(Minigame) 30. Caches

Again, maybe not a minigame in the strictest sense of the word, but nevertheless a side task that the world map offers up for careful players who aren't bum rushing the story. These are sort of like Xenoblade's scenic spots, with an added impetus to open all the chests in the area. Some cache locations are more impressive and more of a puzzle than others. In some, you'll basically see all the chests right in front of you. In others, you'll have to search around.

I always enjoyed finding a cache, because they truly did feel "secret" in the way the other world map activities don't. Caches don't appear on the map when you activate the towers. This is one reason why Rebirth's world map is a step above something like Horizon or an Ubisoft game. There are landmarks that you can simply see, and you are rewarded (most of the time) for going there.

Hint for character 48: Gyahahahaha

2/10

yes, it is that bad

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/a/a573bd24.jpg
50 . Cloud's Mom

We've made it to the top 50! Maybe this list was too long. To this I say, maybe it wasn't long enough? There are people not on this list who I find myself having random thoughts about, but maybe that's a conversation for my therapist.

Cloud's mom is named Claudia, which is not great but what is great is that classic scene from the introduction where she talks to him about girls. It is one of many scenes from the original that is translated perfectly into the remake, despite the fact that the game has to deal with both new players and a fervent audience who knows all the twists. Her single scene in the game is both warm and tragic, and despite it's relative brevity, I find it to be extremely important in identifying Cloud's tortured psyche.

She also looks so much like Cloud it's scary. You ever seen these people in real life? Where the son and the mom look exactly alike? It's freaky.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/5/56c0ffb0.jpg
49 . Choco Bill

The devs really understand the importance of making the original polygon models translate effectively to the 4K PS5 environment. Hence, we get this immaculate specimen. Here are some things we can tell just by looking at Chocobo Bill:

• He cried when Jimmy Buffet died
• He eats the same thing every day
• He prefers the company of birds to people
• He grows his own greens if you know what I mean

Thank you devs for your fidelity to the source material.

Hint for minigame 30: cash me outside

Kingdom Hearts
Grand Theft Auto 3
Metal Gear Solid 2
God of War

I thought it was beating the high scores in the G-bike minigame in Chapter 12 before the quest activates at the end of the chapter.

also you can't clear the UPA scores anyway due to a bug!

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/8/84753678.jpg
Main Cast Ranking
10 . Cid Highwind

The way the developers have included Cid in this game is smart, though not completely satisfying.

In the original game, players do not meet Cid until after Nibelheim. The party arrives in Rocket Town, they meet Cid, they fight Palmer, get the Tiny Bronco etc. It's a good series of events that makes sense in the OG. This game coincidentally ends right after Nibelheim, so I completely agree that adding Rocket Town there would've felt like too late in the game.

The workaround is to have Cid be kind of the gang's de facto Frank Lapidus (yes, I wrote about L O S T for a living and so it lives rent free in my brain now). Before he becomes a series regular, he'll just be a cranky old pilot for a little bit. This does make him feel like a "real person," if the alternative is we squeeze him in last minute ala the original game. We assume his development/backstory is being saved for Reunite / Reunify.

Much was made of Cid being "toned down" for this game and, in this respect, the jury is still out. Since Shera isn't here, it's too early to say that Cid's not an abusive asshole anymore. He has a few choice lines towards the group that suggests he isn't exactly mellow.

We can all agree though that his shining moment is falling asleep during Loveless. That's the Cid we know and love, right there!

There is a wildly underexplored connection between Cid and Ifalna too, which is curious but seemingly amounts to nothing except "I saw your Mom at Shinra HQ once." I guess this is here to make Cid feel more endearing but I don't know if it works.

He also has a truly epic line of theory-crafting bait in the ending (post Temple of the Ancients spoilers) "What exactly did Aerith do anyway?" This could be referring to her praying/holy/etc, but it could also be referring to some other timeline/alternate universe stuff too. It's such a weird line of dialogue to throw out at the exact moment when the game is playing with the idea of Aerith being both alive and dead simutaneously. Curious.

All this to say: there's no way he isn't last place. Dude doesn't even sniff a battle, and we just haven't dug beneath the surface yet at all. I've made my peace with Cid and Vincent not being playable, but the latter at least had more to do.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/5/5afeefd2.jpg
(Minigame) 31. Pirate's Rampage

First off, I'll admit it: I'm really bad at this one. When it comes to shooting mechanics in general, it's not my preferred type of video game.You have no reason to believe me, but when I've gone shooting before with actual guns (I live in America after all) I do pretty okay. But first person shooting in video games has not, is not, and will never be a strength of mine. So yes, I suck, and I need to just get good.

But also: this doesn't feel good. The act of pressing R2 to shoot a gun to hit a target feels quite bad actually. (Note: maybe this is one of those games where I should have "turned off" haptics/adaptive triggers, but I never actually did that during any of my minigame experiences). So I don't think it's just me being bad at shooting games. I think there's something kind of busted with this one.

Plus they penalize you for being inaccurate, which is a cardinal sin for a sloppy gamer boy like me. This is one of two minigames where I did not actually achieve the "top prize" on my first playthrough, because I just knew it wouldn't be worth the hassle.

Next: Surprise Main Character Ranking! It's the worst of Rebirth's "main cast" (which may or may not include non playable party members and timeline hopping dudes with big swords).

_stingers_ posted...

Shoutouts to all my Roche enjoyers

He's great in Rebirth! You won't see him on this list for quite a while.

He was lame in Remake though.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/0/0fb875c8.jpg
52 . Andrea Rhodea

Imagine thinking Roche was iconic in Remake. Rebirth basically saves that character from the garbage pile. This isn't about Roche though. It's about everyone's favorite pansexual icon Andrea.

Andrea and Cloud's Honeybee Inn dance scene is totally iconic, punctuated with his progressive statements on gender, love, and beauty. To see him reduced to giving piano lessons to Tifa and getting schooled in a dance-off by Yuffie is homophobic quite frankly (tone: lighthearted). That Yuffie cutscene at gold saucer is still so weird. The last time we see Andrea he's basically sent spiraling into shame by Yuffie and then Dio. What a fall from grace for Honeybee Inn's regent.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/1/18d931df.jpg
51 . Chocobo Joe

Effortlessly cool, Chocobo Joe is here to dominate the Gold Cup atop his trusty black bird Hyperion. Like Esther, I'm a little surprised the game didn't go all in and the Chocobo Racing side quest. I was truly expecting even more of a Yakuza-esque side story involving gambling, scandals, breeding, affairs, forbidden love and wacky hijinks. We don't really get to understand Chocobo Joe's winning mentality, but we do get to see this man speed along the track, cracked on sylkis, decked out in his jockey regalia.

Hint for minigame 31: No amount of booty is worth this.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/c/c5724581.jpg
(Minigame) 32. Gears and Gambits

Another mini game that comes out of absolute nowhere. The plot reasons for it existing are murky at best. We're going through these Cosmo Canyon ruins, finding points of convergence in the lifestream, but the only way to engage with them is to send some AI bots in to fight some flans? And in so doing we get to have flashbacks of the old Avalanche crew? It's complete nonsense (the flashbacks are good characterization for Barret and Tifa though).

This game is poorly explained and seem extremely complicated at first. However, once you understand it, the execution of the game is so simple that it feels impossible to fail.Case in point: I completely misunderstood the "weakness" indicators the first three rounds. I thought a robot having a lightning bolt icon meant that it was a lightning type, when it was trying to indicate that it was strong against lightning (I think). Point is: it completely didn't matter the first three rounds, because Chadley's pre-programmed units wrecked shop.

Side note: Thank you Chadley for the pre-programmed Gambits, because going through the menu and setting up the bots was aggressively annoying.

The last round forced me to "learn" what was actually going on. The game gives the impression of depth, and for FFXII fans it probably does feel weirdly nostalgic. I can see a version of this game working, but it would require way more enemy types and gambits. Right now, it's kind of this weird thing that just exists. It just feels like a worse Fort Condor, which itself is a worse Fort Condor from Intergrade.

Hint for NPC 52: Arguably Remake's most iconic new character, fallen from grace

6/10

It's my favorite case from AJ so that's saying something. Stickler prevents this case from being more than a 6.

this is a fine complaint honestly

(also better call saul is better, just throwing that in there)

CassandraCain posted...

I really didn't like that aspect of the final battle, only three characters can really be set up with optimal materia at any given time. So requiring every member of the team for the final battle, while conceptually cool, it still dragged down the quality of the fights.

I just don't agree. I feel like all of my characters were wrecking shop by the end, I wasn't even trying for optimal builds or anything (played on normal). Liked the final battle having the random feeling of party members thrown into it.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/b/baea8d68.jpg
54 . Dorian, aka Piano Guy

There's something about the way this guy says "would you like to sh-are a perFORmance with me" that is utterly hilarious.

On the one hand, blind pianist is a trope I never need to experience again. On the other... look at this guy completely wreck shop on "Let the Battles Begin."

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/6/64cd45c1.jpg
53 . Reeve, aka a completely normal Shinra Executive with no hidden identity whatsoever

Rebirth really dropped the ball with Reeve. He's barely in this one! He seemed like such an important character in Remake, since he's a Shinra exec with a conscience. In this one, all he does is attend a few meetings. Maybe they could've had him connect with the main characters or something. I feel like he could definitely end up betraying Shinra at some point as the principled company man trying to fix the issue from the inside.

He also photoshops the Avalanche posters to make the main cast look like Dollar General Wesker, Shulk in real life, and British version of the Office Tifa.
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/9/98c63f78.jpg
This scene really reminded me of that One Piece arc where the original wanted poster of Sanji was a terribly unflattering drawing. Suddenly the Straw Hats get ambushed by a guy who looks exactly like the Sanji drawing in real life. Comedy gold Reeve! Try to be more helpful next time!

Hint for minigame 32: Kept you waiting mon cherie

Novels? in my Final Fantasy? I don't think so.

Waluigi1 posted...

One of my bigger questions though is about Glenn Lodbrok... Like is he an actual person that exists? Or is he purely just a creation of Sephiroth to fuck around with Rufus for funsies? That was left very unclear. Though I did figure pretty early on that there was no actual leader of the SRC.

First time I saw this dude I was like "oh that's Cloud's dad"

Next time I saw this dude I was like "oh that's Cloud himself from an alternate dimension where he's trying to save Aerith by doing all kinds of weird dimension shenanigans"

Third time I saw this dude I was like "oh that's just a random dude from a side game I didn't play and this means that rufus has Sephy cells"

Apparently though his status as Cloud's estranged papa is debatable

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/6/6d47931f.jpg
(Minigame) 33. Chicken Luring

We've moved on from the "boring, inoffensive and/or forgettable" stage of the minigame list to the "actively annoying but with some merit" stage. When I got a quest about finding chickens in Gongaga, I expected I would maybe have to sniff them out via chocobo, or round them up Moogle style. When they introduced yet another new gameplay mechanic from out of nowhere I let out an audible "Are you kidding me?"

Let it be known that these devs know exactly what they're doing, which is trolling. This isn't even the most "trollworthy" minigame either, but it's clearly playing with the idea that "the players won't like this, but we're going to do it anyway, teasing and testing their patience all the while." There's a moment where the game tricks you into thinking you're going to have to lure this chicken an in-game mile's worth of distance, but it thankfully fakes you out.

In this game, you have to use a "clanger" to attract chickens in an actual "realistic" way. I mean, it's more realistic than Link walking up to cucco and just lifting that sucker above his head. To use the clanger, you have to walk backward, pull the clanger along, but not too far along, and be ready if this chicken sees red and decides to flip the fuck out. It's infuriating. I feel like most of the time I was being interrupted by something off-screen behind me, like I'd get screwed over by a random NPC or an invisible wall.

But the thing is... it's actually kind of fun? I wanted to keep trying despite how tilted I was getting. Players are also rewarded at the end of this quest with a semi-funny resolution that calls into question why we do these sidequests to begin with.

Hint for NPC #54: Behind the Ivory's short of tea and ray

Two legs nothin to it is the true final boss to this game

6/10

not the best first case! it falls victim to the same problem 5-1 ends up having, which is that it's too caught up in the big mystery it has weak internal logic

ctesjbuvf posted...

I think it's crazy how much worse a minigame Cactuar Crush is than anything else in the game combined.

no way (once you finish the game check out my official, non-debatable, minigame power rankings in the other topic)

Waluigi1 posted...

Ooohh ok yeah that would make way more sense lol. They're trying to fake me out!

Also that super fancy 'A few hours ago' transition was so weird and unnecessary lol.

I'm way too deep into theory-crafting and I started theorizing a connection between it and the beginning of loveless, which also featured a random clockwork/gear motif. I'm going to keep working on it though.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/d/dbe0e76d.jpg
56 . Wise version 3.0, aka Steampunk robot programmed only for cards

This is a joke character for sure. However, I found his schtick funny, if only because I smoked him at Queen's Blood both times despite him apparently programming superiority. Do I regret having Wise on this list and not, for example, the Singing Lady in Nibelheim? Maybe. However, there's something "classic Final Fantasy" about how random this dude is. It reminds me of how FFIV would have these extremely random NPC's in towns that made no sense whatsoever, and were clearly just a sprite they had cooked up.

Wise is the first "Queen's Blood" quest character on the list, and this also factors into his inclusion. I loved the Queen's Blood quest. It was such a pleasant surprise. Much more on this later.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/a/adb39f15.jpg
55 . Zangan

Whenever I hear this voice actor in things I always think of the "Let me explain" soundclip from Persona 5 Royal, when Sojiro gives you random coffee facts. So "Let me explain" Zangan. Or try to at least.

Will we ever learn more about Zangan? Or will he remain "the random guy who taught Tifa how to fight" in perpetuity? This game gives the impression that Zangan will receive development, but the most we get is that he leads outdoor calisthenics for Nibelheim. I would bet money that he shows up as a quest in the next game. In true Sabin fashion, maybe they'll lock Tifa's ultimate limit break behind a training arc.

Hint for minigame 33: Everybody's gotta eat

welp, I'm through defending LMS. congrats dude.

Wii Sports
Skyward Sword
Brawl
Xenoblade

10/10

takumi san was firing on all cylinders this game

TakashiMifune85 posted...

Is the consensus that XV is the worst non-MMO, mainline Final Fantasy game?

It should be consensus, but a lot of people say XIII is worse

It's far more likely that China and Taiwan would "peacefully" merge than any kind of bombing/invasion

Taiwan is small and it makes a lot of stuff. Destroying that doesn't do China any good.

yeah I also found 3D Brawler pretty difficult. the difference between a straight and a hook is like impossible to tell half the time. Ifrit was easier than Shiva though. Haven't played the rest.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/5/5d719943.jpg
(Minigame) 34 . Looking at Notes

This is kind of a "catch-all" category for whenever the game asked you to follow someones notes or polaroids to a place on the map by pressing the left directional button. I want to say every chapter has its own bespoke "note" quest. I think the most memorable of these is Gongaga's, which is the only one that is remotely challenging. The others basically rely on you being able to visualize the map differently. So it was basically just transposing a "bad map" onto a "good map." I think one of Bugenhagen's notes was upside down. So the game does some interesting stuff with this sometimes, but it's still kind of a chore.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/6/677b1184.jpg
NPC 57 . Weapons in the Lifestream aka "Space Whales" aka ... huh.

It's cool that they're explaining weapons and giving us more of them. I'm not sold on the design of these. I'm sure there's some mythical reference I should be getting with two big fish of light and darkness, some kind of yin yang twins thing. I'm sure Emerald and Ruby and everyone will look different and crazed in the next game, and these weapons are more like "normal" weapons?

Anyway, the new stuff in Gongaga is pretty compelling stuff if you ask me. First, Cloud gets his brain mind-jacked by Sephy, and goes full on Hollow Ichigo on some poor Shinra goons. Then, he gets pissed off at the devs teasing Tifa underboob for THE SECOND TIME this game, and so he attacks her so that she gets swallowed by a whale. Tifa, like Pinocchio before her, is then taken on a magical trip into her subconcious, where she gets to play out some moments for her past. The weapons are clearly associated with the whispers, and together they seem to govern the fate of the current world they're in. However, they're also actively combating Sephiroth/Jenova's black whispers. My current working theory is that Aerith in OGFF7 created a new world when she cast Holy. Sephiroth learns of this new world at the end of Advent Children or something and finds a way to project himself into this one.

Or something. It's fun to speculate on this stuff but also given SE's track history with high concept stuff like this it's usually better not to. It's probably going to be revealed that they're Aerith and Ifalna reincarnated. Anyway, you probably either think the lifestream weapons are hugely important lore beasts or you think they're hokey nonsense.

Hint for character 56: Complete. Queen's Blood. Domination.

still the best

Might not post tomorrow, so here's a recap:

NPC Power Rankings.
69. The other Shinra grunt (aka Sephiroths greatest failure)
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

Hint for Character 57: Lore or Snore, you decide

Minigames
39. Underground tremor monster
38. Unlocking Chocobo Stops
37. Taking pictures for quests/snaps
36. Chocobo Treasure Hunts (random and specific zones)
35. Wheelie Master

Hint for minigame 34: Who needs a map when you've got these