Board 8 > Ranking 69 NPC's from Final Fantasy VII Rebirth (plus minigames) (spoilers)

(+) Yeah! (+)

Ultimaphazon posted...

Heidegger is pretty disappointing, honestly. In the OG, he and Scarlet always felt pretty equal to me, but Rebirth and the Remake DLC have made Scarlet so much more prominent in the new games, while Heidegger just gets nothing interesting.

Yep. I have literally nothing to say about Heideigger because he really is just 'there' while Scarlet gets major rivalries with party members (I enjoyed Yuffie and Barret starting to bond over their shared hatred over her).

Loved Gongaga, probably my favourite area, but it could definitely have used some mechanics to make the exploration a bit less frustrating for players who don't enjoy getting lost. Personally I quite enjoyed the winding paths and having to do some backtracking to figure things out. The environment and soundtrack though? Out of this world good (n.b. the background theme developing as you unlock towers is a beautiful touch). One of the bits of the game that felt truly next gen, with the detail and verticality everywhere. Cissnei's one of the few things I liked in Crisis Core so seeing her was good too, and Aerith meeting Zack's parents was a good character moment.

And Gongaga's a nice and relaxed area to be in - Costa del Sol has a busy party town vibe, as does the Saucer, so it's the first genuinely restful place since Kalm (so of course Yuffie hates it and starts singing her theme tune...). Quests stronger than Cosmo's or Nibel's too (although weaker than Corel).

And I enjoyed the mushroom mini-game! Quite creative and mercifully only used once in a low pressure way. Damn this game just had so much in it.

In the og, after the boat ride between Junon and Costa, I don't think you see Heidegger again until like Northern Crater where all the directors show up. He just doesnt do much after the parade.

Is it only Scarlet that shows up in Gongaga?

colliding posted...

(Minigame) 29. Picking Mushrooms in Gongaga

Easily the worst quest in the game. But just the mushroom part, and not even the pulling of the mushrooms. The stuff with the cute doggo was good.

BK is correct, and yes only Scarlet in Gongaga. Remake even gave Heidegger more to work with than original, thinking of chapter 5/Crab Warden, run up to Airbuster, and final showdown in the lobby - none of that was in original game. Then this game had the subtraction of no Costa del Sol scene/hilarious freakout after Rufus departs.

Would've been nice if they shoehorned him in somewhere but opportunity just didn't present itself, I guess? Scarlet is just so much better so it's all good...

Can listening to the dog song be counted as a minigame

_stingers_ posted...

Can listening to the dog song be counted as a minigame

hmmmm wait and see

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(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.

I think cactaur crush was kinda hard, it took me a few tries for aeriths on hard mode

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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.

I don't really care much for Sephy (or Jenova) in this game, but perhaps he'll be better in the 3rd game when it's clearer what's going on. His great moments from the OG (blood on the floor in the Shinra tower, Midgar Zolom, Shinra mansion flashback, Nibelheim flashback, Forgotten Capital are universally worse here. Rufus and Hojo make better villains.

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(NPC) 45. Chloe
Not a lot to say here that won't be discussed more with her brother Billy, but I appreciated the level of detail the game gave to this completely non-essential character. She is somewhat important to the Rebirth gameplay experience though, since she gives you the first side quest (and one of the best ones in the game actually). That first quest, where you have to create a flower crown for her, lets readers know to expect some pretty great character moments alongside some typical "go here, grab this item, fight some monsters" gameplay.

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44 . Broden, aka Johnny Depp

As far as Rebirth-specific original characters, Broden is pretty middle of the road. Like Chloe, he's an extremely early addition to the game's cast. He runs the inn in Kalm, is former Shinra, and probably has ties to Avalanche. Going through the intel of the Grasslands region reveals more about him, and he's actually a surprisingly tragic character. When he reappears out of nowhere as a robed figure, only able to say "reunion," it actually did make me feel kind of bad for this guy, and particularly the NPC's who tried to help him in those grasslands side quest.

The game mentions that there's a difference between robed figures based on their tattoos. I took this to mean that all Soldiers eventually undergo cellular degradation, but only those who undergo the specific Sephiroth treatment get the S-tattoo. I'm a little confused about this. So basically Broden is "typical soldier" while Roche is something completely different.

Hint for minigame 27: A party member gets their own dungeon (but it's probably not the one you think).

colliding posted...

and one of the best ones in the game actually)

One of the worsts one in hard mode actually lol

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(Minigame) 27. Playing/Praying as Aerith

I really like the idea of everyone having their own "take the lead" section in the game. From a gameplay and story perspective, it just works to throw in this kind of variety. I also like when games "force" a split party but I've liked that since the first time I played Final Fantasy VI.

Some results are better than others. Only two would qualify as "different" enough from the main experience to count as a minigame. Yuffie's section is not a minigame. Red's is not a minigame because you can climb on walls. The two that are minigames are the much maligned Cait Sith section and the less discussed but even worse Aerith section in the Temple of the Ancients.

More on Cait Sith gameplay eventually. Aerith's unique gameplay mechanic in the final dungeon is cool from a storyline perspective but a pain to actually execute. It simply involves holding triangle to suck up green dots around you. Imagine if in Kingdom Hearts you had to hold triangle for two seconds in order to pick up Munny, instead of it just automatically being sucked into your body. Just let me walk over it, or at the very least, let me pick it up with a single tap rather than a hold. There's just no reason!

After you pray, you then have to redistribute your gathered up green juice/lifestream energy into containers by rotating the control stick in a circle for a surprisingly long amount of time. I guess this is to simulate waving a wand/staff around, but instead of adding to the immersion it has the opposite effect. Everything's just too slow. So: cool idea, bad execution.

Hint for NPC 43: Jiggle physics at their finest

Aerith's section worse than Cait's???????????????????????????

Damn that's a hot (and wrong) take.

BK_Sheikah00 posted...

One of the worsts one in hard mode actually lol

Oh my god if there had been any other quests like that on hard mode I would have given up. Trying to think of a worse hard mode quest outside of Can't Stop Won't Stop...

Totally with you on Aerith's mechanics being way too slow - just let me run near the spirit energy or w/e and be done with it! But at least it's nothing more than a time waste...

Like, its slow but its certainly not ACTUAL TORTURE like the Cait Sith BS!

i get your complaints with aerith's section but i dunno, the stuff worked and made a lot more sense than cait throwing boxes at switches while barret stands there watching

Barret DOES love shooting boxes. I don't know how he could contain himself there.

Tag

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(NPC) 43. Donald J. Corneo

What a piece of work this guy is. Everyone's favorite sleazeball is back for Rebirth, despite Wutai not appearing in this game. Putting Dio and the Don in a rivalry together for the naming rights to the Gold Saucer actually makes a heckuva lot of sense, so kudos to the writers. There's a certain poetry to the Dio and the Don as funhouse mirror images of each other: both rules of their distinct pleasure districts. Both The Gold Saucer and Wall Market are places to unwind, to wonder, to be transported and to pursue dreams. They couldn't be more different, and yet they're the same.

Corneo himself doesn't actually do a heckuva lot in this one though, which made me wonder if his Japanese VA passed away or something.

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42 . Wedge, aka Badger from Breaking Bad

The game does manage to resolve some dangling plot threads from Remake, including the fate of poor old Wedge. Yes friends, he does ultimately go splat after all. Which does kind of make us wonder what the heck all that escaping fate stuff was all about anyway. I'm pretty sure they're going to continue to pursue this stuff in the third game, and that this is simply the Empire Strikes Back low-point of the whole thing. But also it's quite possible that Wedge is just dead as a doornail for good this time.

I enjoyed his flashback scenes and in general I like Wedge a lot! The sandwich stuff is weird though. So in the NIbelheim flashback, Cloud can eat a weirdly detailed gigantic sandwich in one bite that says "tastes of home." This seems like it'll be important for when you go back to Nibelheim later, but it isn't. We also see Wedge eating the same weird gigantic sandwiches in the flashback. I know they're just weird bad reused assets but they're so glaringly weird. Anyway.

Hint for minigame 26. Cloud? Cloud!? CLOOOOUUUDDD!?

Wedge is way too high. I'd rank pretty much every NPC you've done so far above him.

I was struggling to think of the jiggle answer until I was watching a video of someone's Chapter 9 remake run last night, and once the Don (and his stomach) came into play I was like, ok that's it, lol.

I feel like they did what they could with him in the game, esp. since that's all new material for him? can't think of anywhere else they could've inserted him unless he tried setting up shop in Costa Del Sol first, maybe? he's got his set storyline material for part 3 at least.

corneo showing up at the gold saucer makes so much sense that i wouldn't have been surprised if it was some sort of carry over from the original that i forgot about..

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(Minigame) 26. Chocobo Stealth Sequences

I wish I could tell you this was the last Chocobo-related quest on here, but we all know it isn't! Technically there are stealth sequences that aren't Chocobo related (I'm thinking of the Burke's Bandits sneaking mission), so you can include all of that here.

For the most part these were fine. I thought the Nibel one was a welcome variation. The only one I really disliked was the Junon one, because you really gotta hug that cart to avoid being seen, which wasn't super communicated well. Besides that one I thought they were a fun challenge. I know some people hate these and would have preferred that you just get them automatically or something. In many ways I find it less annoying than taming a horse in BOTW/TOTK.

HInt for NPC 41: This character and Barrett would make a cute couple

I enjoy Corneo as a villain: a nasty piece of work who lives to exploit people for his gain and satisfaction. His appearance in the Corel protorelic quest was a bit weird though.

Wedge was great in Remake but I more or less blanked over his brief showing in this. I think he was taken out by a Whisper? Ugh.

Accel_R8 posted...

Like, its slow but its certainly not ACTUAL TORTURE like the Cait Sith BS!

For real wtf lol

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(NPC) 41. Rhonda

First off, let's acknowledge that without Rhonda, we would've had to wait a lot longer to hear the best track in the game, which is "Fight For Us (Bow Wow Wow)(Battle Version)." There is no debate about best music in this game, because it is universally agreed upon that this song slaps.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ftFF70_9cog

Secondly, Rhonda's a total babe who just so happens to be the security guard/mayor for Under Junon, which, as far as towns go, might be the best in the game. In terms of story significance, my memory is a little hazy, but she hires Yuffie to assassinate Rufus? And she pays her with our bounty money? But this was all a false pretense to try and get Shinra off our backs? I don't really remember and it didn't quite make any sense but regardless. Good character.

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40 . Zack's Parents, aka the Fairs

In the original game, meeting Zack's parents in Gongaga is a strange yet powerful scene that adds to both the mystery of the plot and the characterizations of Cloud and Aerith. In Rebirth, the scene is still fairly powerful, particularly since it is playing on existing player knowledge of all the parties involved (plus Cissnei too). I was particularly taken aback by the moment when Cloud starts talking mad shit about Zack and saying he was probably dead (before the game abruptly cuts him off with a headache). I also really think this scene is better than the original in terms of giving us Aerith's perspective on everything. One of the great aspects of Aerith's character in this game is how self-aware she is, when she knows she's doing something selfish or feeling irrationally (like here and later in Nibelheim). I guess this is technically more about Aerith than Zack's parents themselves. Oops.

Hint for minigame 25: A JRPG Staple

Recap:

NPC's:
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
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

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
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

Main Cast
10 Cid
9 Sephiroth

So who isn't in the main cast, Zack or Vincent?

OOPS

11 Cid
10 Sephiroth

Thank you

I figured Zack wouldn't count

Does that mean you forgot to rank Vincent wow

no i'm just really bad at counting.

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(Minigame) 25. Minecart
and 24. Buggy Escape

Lets talk about these together, since both are Barret-centric minigames on rails. The minecart is inspired by the original game, which did feature a minecart ride on Corel mountain. This one is a little more detailed, where you can choose whether to pursue the "Yuffie" path or the "Barret" path. The Barret path should be considered the canon route, imo, since picking on Yuffie is always the way to go, and Barret was feeling down anyway. You pretty much just shoot boxes for possible items. The reward is all story-based.

A similar mechanic is employed at the end of the chapter, when we get access to the buggy and escape from Palmer. This is much more active than the minecart, where you have to dodge missiles, shoot goons, and take down Palmer once again (in minigame form). This should maybe be higher, but to be completely honest I was pretty bad at this (again, I'm not good at shooting games) and actually almost died.

Hint for NPC 39: Basically run dmc

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39 . Scotch and Kotch

They're actually more Beastie Boys than Run-DMC to be honest. Weirdly enough, these guys are more prominent than Corneo himself in this game. They're also in many ways more interesting and memeable. Anyway, yes, their rap was corny and terrible but it speaks to the quality of the localization that it makes sense and actually captures that early Beastie Boys style fairly well.

Also never forget Kotch locked on the torture slab in Don Corneo's basement. Nasty.

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38 . Dr. Sheiran, aka "Med Sheeran"
Let me just say I was really proud of this pun.

They really did not do as much with Doc Sheiran as I thought. It's kind of weird that the same guy who fixed Barret's arm also saved Tifa's life. Although I suppose based on the new World Map that Corel and Nibelheim are pretty close. Still, I think his character would make more sense if he was a Shinra shill and was at both disasters. Maybe after seeing both, he leaves the company and switches to becoming a back-alley slum doctor. But no, it's just a weird coincidence.

What'll be really wild is if he ends up also being the Mideel doctor who take care of Cloud during his "urgh gyagh" phase. Then they might as well just bring him on the Highwind, make him the Tony Tony Chopper of the group. There's a lot of potential with this character still.

Hint for minigame 23: Mario would be proud

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(Minigame) 23. Leapfrog

Heck, I'm just going to keep posting since I don't have anything better to do. This is probably the wildest quest in the game in terms of sheer WTF-ness. So, in Under Junon, there's a weird area called the Kid's Korner full of pink smoke that turns people into frogs. I'm sure that there's absolutely no long-term drawbacks to purposefully turning yourself into a frog over and over again as a youth.

I'm sure there also aren't any drawbacks to getting your frog-ass knocked halfway across the ocean by a giant metal gear either! Or at least I hope so since it will happen a lot. There's also a second version of the game that's basically stay on the spinning cylinders for as long as you can.

There's also a tiny quest where you have to fight as a party of frogs to actually unlock the game.

It's cute and weird but I could have done without this one.

Hint for NPC 37: Crime does pay

colliding posted...

The minecart is inspired by the original game, which did feature a minecart ride on Corel mountain.

uh.... no it didn't? unless I missed something for 26 years, lol. Or maybe you're referring to the train in disc 2.

that did remind me of another great attention to detail point, original game had a rising path on the tracks with a gap (with a treasure chest on one end and Transform materia on the other iirc) and that was replicated perfectly with the Barret path, nice. And the Gigatrice fight filling in for the optional "I'm taking the treasure" where all the characters say really weird lines, especially Barret, lol.

colliding posted...

Hint for NPC 37: Crime does pay

thought this was Gus and almost went apoplectic, lol. surely enough other criminals to fit the bill...

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37 . Solemn Gus, aka Mr. Coates

Solemn Gus is voiced by Jonah Scott, not Troy Baker! Not Matthew Mercer! But if Atlus ever needs a new voice for Kanji, call up Jonah, cause he sounds exactly like those dudes here. (No disrespect to Jonah Scott, who's done a lot of great VA work).

Not sure why they decided to rename Coates, but I do approve of the decision. This guy was super hateable. He's also a villain who doesn't get his comeuppance. If you did get rid of Coates/Gus, you'd imagine that Corel Prison would completely fall apart. He's kind of like a Jabba the Hutt type if you think about it. And like Jabba the Hutt, he loves money and loves to kidnap girls and have you fight for his amusement.

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36 . Bugenhagen

You may think that it's a bit early for Bugenhagen to appear on this list, given how he's somewhat of an iconic and important character. I'm surprised too! I won't say they ruined Bugenhagen in this game, but he's certainly different in a way that isn't completely successful.

First of all, he's kind of a jerk! I haven't played the original in a while, but I don't remember him calling Tifa a dumb girl as much in that one. Maybe he was ditzy/weird/a bit kooky, but here he is straight up rude! Rebirth frames this as him being "stuck in his ways," and he does eventually apologize/learn from his mistake. But I don't know. Something is just... off with him.

I think the main reason for this is pretty simple actually. He feels redundant, because a lot of what he communicates in the original game was already covered in Remake by the whole Shinra Theater CG scene. By the time we get to Bugenhagen in this game, we already know all about the lifestream and mako and blah blah. So he doesn't really have anything new or important to say. Instead of making up something new or having him explain the whispers or the lifestream weapons (I was really counting on Bugenhagen explaining this stuff in this game), they just make him kind of a cantankerous old man.

All that being said, there's still something charming about seeing him float into the scene from offscreen. He's still important for Red XIII's storyline, but for the larger narrative his role feels greatly reduced.

Hint for minigame 22: Another open-world thing people complain about

MartinFF7 posted...

uh.... no it didn't? unless I missed something for 26 years, lol. Or maybe you're referring to the train in disc 2.

that did remind me of another great attention to detail point, original game had a rising path on the tracks with a gap (with a treasure chest on one end and Transform materia on the other iirc) and that was replicated perfectly with the Barret path, nice. And the Gigatrice fight filling in for the optional "I'm taking the treasure" where all the characters say really weird lines, especially Barret, lol.

thought this was Gus and almost went apoplectic, lol. surely enough other criminals to fit the bill...

oops,, sorry about Gus...

but also maybe I completely mandela effected a minecart sequence, but I'm probably thinking about some kind of lever/multiple paths through the tracks segment?

Rank the bosses.

You know, it just speaks to the strength of the NPCs in the game, lol. He's a one-note character played to the maximum of that note! (also I am inflating his value too much due to his theme song)

in o.g. Mt. Corel there were various points where you could fall down the tracks and scooch over to one side or another to pick up prizes but that was about it special for that. other than that you went a screen over to hit the button to lower the drawbridge before doubling back but that's about it... you got totally mandela'd I think, lol.

colliding posted...

This should maybe be higher, but to be completely honest I was pretty bad at this (again, I'm not good at shooting games) and actually almost died.

getting barret's approval from this is one of the 3 minigames it turns out i still have to complete so you're not alone

but I'm probably thinking about some kind of lever/multiple paths through the tracks segment?

i think the part that was true to the original is it shows the party members you've not selected waiting at this bridge point for you to hit a switch, so it is a perfect place to do a party split here

Haunter12O posted...

Rank the bosses.

Very quick with zero thought put into it and again, marked spoilers for post-Temple of the Ancients
Also I haven't done hard mode so this is all on Normal.

1. Jenova Lifeclinger
2. Sephiroth vs. Cloud/Aerith
3. The rest of the Sephiroth final boss suite
4. Odin
5. Galian Beast
6. Gilgamesh
7. Reno and Rude
8. Tonberry King
9. Scarlet in Gongaga
10. Rufus rematch

If I have to choose one duel, it's the Rufus rematch definitely. Maybe an unpopular opinion, but I don't think the Dyne or Roche fights work in this game because they're too easy. Again, maybe i should try hard.

There's plenty of Chadley fights or Colosseum fights that are much harder than any of the bosses. The only fight I think is poorly designed is that one where you have to kill the mindflayer before you kill the two side enemies... who also will self-destruct if they get close to you. That one just isn't fun at all.

colliding posted...

The only fight I think is poorly designed is that one where you have to kill the mindflayer before you kill the two side enemies... who also will self-destruct if they get close to you. That one just isn't fun at all.

this one is so ridiculous, i had to set it to easy AND use sleep

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(Minigame) 22. Remnawave Towers

First of all, let's play taps and say farewell to the youtube link that had the Salmon fight song. Square Enix is coming for it now that the soundtrack's officially out there. Good for them though, since I tend to agree that streaming has kind of ruined how people consume music.

Secondly, I like a tower. I know a lot of people are sick of them and I get it. But no one complains when Tears of the Kingdom and Horizon do it. So why are people coming out of the woodwork to complain about these? Some of them are like little puzzles that require a little bit of thinking. Even if they don't have a puzzle attached, I still find them fun, and I still get a nice positive feeling seeing them point to places on the map for me. What makes them good is that you can conceivably find the stuff BEFORE the tower, and the world is set up so that it does lead you to places without the towers just telling you to go there. OR you can seek out the towers first thing and play follow the icons. It's set up so that it allows for player choice and variability in style. What I was trying to get across re: Horizon earlier is that you really can't find anything in that game without the game telling you exactly where to go. Like if you just "look around" the actual horizon, you'll just get lost and stuck picking up meaningless junk all over the place. In Rebirth, you can see cliffs, houses, ships, strange inlets, plateaus, etc. But if you don't want to wander around the tower will just show you what's available.

Hint for NPC 35: God damn Nomura for trying to make us play awful spin offs

Steiner posted...

this one is so ridiculous, i had to set it to easy AND use sleep

I tried sleep but it was more effort than it was worth. Solo Tifa with Stagger accessories was what got it eventually for me. It took fifteen minutes and most of it was running around in a circle.

35 is too high for Glenn. He is the worst addition to the game.

Glenn was moderately intriguing at first, but got worse with every scene. The game would definitely be better off without him. Hopefully the writeup will go into what makes him better than characters who actually had a good scene, like Scotch and Koch.

colliding posted...

But no one complains when Tears of the Kingdom and Horizon do it.

The Tallnecks in Zero Dawn and especially Forbidden West were way more creative than any Remnawave Towers.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/9/973c16a1.jpg
(NPC) 35. Glenn Lodbrok, aka certainly Cloud's Dad

Look at this shitty design. What a punchable face. I had no idea who this guy was when he first showed up, but as soon as he did I said, "oh, that's boring."

That being said... there was a hot minute there where I thought this was actually going to build to something. First of all: he just looks like Cloud, and I've played enough JRPG games to smell a "surprise dad" twist a mile away. So I was expecting a grand reveal of some kind. Then, I really started going off the deep end, thinking about this this could actually just be an old Cloud from an alternate dimension with a new name. Real bonkers stuff.

I eventually beat the game, and it turns out this was Sephiroth the whole time? Trying to distract Rufus from him by making him start a proxy war with Wutai? And Glenn Lodbrok actually isn't an original character for this game but one of the main characters in "The First Soldier"? I raised my fists to the sky and screamed "NOMURRAAAAAAAAAA!" because he had done it again. He'd made a shitty mobile game relevant.

Edit: Because Mac requested it, I think Lodbrok deserves to be this high largely due to the mystery around him in the early goings. He also is tied closely to Rufus, who is an MVP in this game. Scotch and Kotch are the hypemen of the century, but I'd be hard pressed to say they deserve to be any higher.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/5/5827ec81.jpg
34 . Fran, Yorda and Naomi (Not Pictured), aka Hojo's Arm Candy
Before this game came out, there were three images from the original that everyone needed to see: 1) Barret in a sailor suit, 2)Red XIII walking like a person, and 3) Hojo having girls flock around him in Costa Del Sol. Of course, SE delivers on all three in spades. They maybe botched Midgar zolom and debatably the ending, but hell, we got Hojo's babes so that's really all that matters.

The girls are given a bit of a backstory and names, which is nice. They don't actually like Hojo, naturally, but are there entertaining him for the sake of the town. After the beach episode is over (and let's get it straight, Costa Del Sol in this game is for sure a "beach episode" in all senses of the word), the girls stick around to force you to go on dates with Aerith and accrue date points and play minigames.

If this were a waifu ranking, they'd all be pretty high up there. But unless someone begs me to rank the waifus, I'd rather not lower myself any further.

Hint for minigame 21: Now that's what I call Trolling, volume 7