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Lmao hating on rebirth because of aerith and cloud’s relationship is hilarious when their relationship has always been one of the main focal points of ff7. Tifa is not the main love interest or female main character, if SE wanted to make tifa and cloud a thing they would have made them canon in Advent children or in Dirgent but they didn’t. Rating the game lower because of your delusional biases is so cringe

Jake, go Displate and leave the framing world behind!!!

If this was a live service game I feel like these time wasters would be viewed very differently.

Can’t have this conversation with Ralph (yet).
He’s still in the “new shit” buzz while Tam is long since over it and has thought about it in retrospect.

Lol the trailer ad that played for me before this video played was for the new “First Omen” movie which features the actor who voices Cidolfus in the English FF16 (Ralph Ineson). 😅

We need a FPS livestream of Jake, Lucy, and Ralph playing Helldivers

What Ralph said about how he felt leaving the theatre after seeing Dune 2 and it being the equivalent or close to the seminal experience of seeing Return of the King, is EXACTLY what I said when we left the theatre after seeing it. It really is one of those special rare seminal moments in film history

52:31 In regards to FF16 I disagree completely, the story is the worst thing about FF16 it’s really really bad. commitment was the last thing when it came to that game story, they didn’t commit to anything, the politics were thrown off and removed halfway through the game and didn’t matter at all like ypu talk to Vivian and she tells you what’s happening but it doesn’t effect you or the story or anyone it’s completely pointless, the time jumps makes you less attached to the characters especially when a huge time jump happens and the characters act exactly the same, they didn’t commit to the villains ( Hugo, Benedicta, the Empire, Annabelle) or the revange story you are immediately told that Joshua is alive and Ifrit is clive, the branded story line, literally Nothing they commit to nothing. Everything I would forgive except for the story in a Final Fintasy game if the story is bad then everything else is bad. And the story was the worst. FF15 was terrible but the story was actually good and that’s why I forgive its huge short fallings. FF16 is unredeemable because of its ass story.

If the person from user 1 one just has a ps5 then the Portal is a GREAT addition for quick pick up and play.
To the Podcast – what are ya’lls thoughts on that accessory? Interesting that haven’t heard anyone talking about it or review it? Did Gameranx review it and I missed it?

Fantastic Podcast as always everyone.
Hopefully the fly left or maybe you adopted him lol

ff 7 story wins, ff 16 gameplay/boss wins. thats the end of it

If Rebirth is better than 16, you would have seen it in the sales Ralph. Not much more of a counterpoint than that is needed, based on Pokemon & Legend of Zelda being what they are & the sales are always held up as the proof of quality.

I like both for different reasons either way

55:06 I thought that was the whole consensus of Nier automata, brain dead gameplay but exceptional story, I also could be totally wrong 😅

Warning: they say this is a spoiler free FF VII talk, it most definitely is not spoiler free.

It sucks that gene who reviews games skips all the side content when its half of what makes final fantasy final fantasy.

Damn it! The white borders tricked me into cleaning my monitor.

How bitter and cynical do you have to be to talk trash about Aerith…she’s literally written as one of the most innocent and loving characters ever and yet you believe she’d be engagement baiting? Good lord

In regard to playing games with a full time job, I also time block alot. I tend to focus on a few games at once and put it in on my schedule. The other issue I had was that sometimes you kind of forget what’s going on because sometimes you might get a bit side tracked by life or feel like playing something else and so I use steams note feature on the overlay to keep track of what I’ve done and where the story is going so far.

THIS is what a Final Fantasy game is supposed to be, not that crap they tried with 16. I hope this is the direction of mainline FF going forward.

The answer to the question at 1:04:45 is that our society needs to take a good hard look at itself and ask if they wish to continue to slave away for a system that ultimately, robs us of our humanity and our humanly qualities. Are we truly alive? Are we still living? Or do we just exist in servitude to some billionaire whom, for all intents and purposes, might as well be mortal demon-gods in our world that will not acknowledge any of our meager existences, yet will extract all of our life force from us until we are but a husk and discard us without so much being aware that we were ever alive. Is giving away so much of our time and energy to these entities, to the extent that we do not even have the time nor will to play the things we once enjoyed, worth it?

My favorite part about the VII-RE games is the combat and Materia customization some endgame bosses like Weiss are something i enjoy a lot too (please don’t spoil me if Rebirth has something like Weiss i wanna know and still haven’t even finished the main story of Rebirth)
my favorite part about XVI is the over the top amazing boss encounters the M-Rating plus Medieval Setting and Dark Fantasy
absolutely love both games and i also loved XV to death all 3 have their flaws but still manage to be amazing games each with their own things to offer some studios do nothing but to give the same games even if they do it through a different IP so to me it’s amazing that Square Enix always changes stuff up from entry to entry enough so that most of these games never feel samey at all

Ralph is was holding you in high regard, but not even mentioning Sweet Baby Inc told me what direction you prefer to go, honestly disappointed.

I share the same view as Ralph that 100% a game makes the experience less. I know many people love 100% games and play games multiple time but sadly that is not for me.

I usually play games max for like 40 hours. I have played ff12 for 55 hours or so and that is the longest time I have on a single player experience. I usually try to do some side quest and then do the main quest in between.

I find out that if I do too many side quests and leave the main quest unattended then I hit the 40 hour mark and that is when I start getting bored with a game and I just quit the game. There have been many classics I have simply not finished.

People always ask me why I play games if I don’t finish like many of them. But the thing is I had a blast for the 40 hours I played and in the end I play games for entertainment and that 40 hours of fun I had is enough for me. I never play games as an achievement and never felt I wanted to 100% a game ever.

I wouldn’t mind if Tam was on here more often. Maybe every other podcast or so.

Sorry but not touching the final fantasy 7 greedy cash grab. I would rather replay the original again. And the way they are going with the stupid story? Nope.

It makes me happy you guys are discussing the narrative of FFVII and what it could mean, even if not everyone likes how it played out. Normally the discussion of a AAA-Game revolves around bad gameplay(loops), predatory micro-transactions, failed day-one-patches and … broken promises. I feel like they made a very good game that is deserving of the AAA-Title without any deductions. I guess this is a win.

i’ve never seen a podcast so quickly lose potential. Pls Ralph get your boys or something this is DIRE. These gamespot guys are as interesting as cardboards.

“4 Asians, one of them Japanese, none of them can speak the language but they’re all trying to figure out the plot of Final Fantasy”
If that’s not a solid idea for a hit podcast I don’t know what is

Jake Baldino looks like Batman, in a zoom call. Like at any moment a light could come through the window light up the rustic chair and he’s “gotta go guys, *justice* is calling” cape flap, smoke bomb, gone. Sick.

Rebirth has Tifa in a bikini argument over

INDIE – Slay the Princess

thanks

Lucy’s face @ 2:19 😂 Ralph forgot to PAUSE

so close to 1 million! by far my favorite channel on here and y’all deserve it. keep it up!!

Why is Tam on so many podcasts? Guy is miserable and hates fun in games, dude shit on gold saucer 😂

Tam is a pretentious twat, I’ve not beaten the game currently at chapter 10 but the story and characters has been an absolute blast so far with tons of amazing moments

Tam can keep saying the story is meaningless nonsense all he wants throughout the game but most people including me found it to be some of the best moments and funnest experiences had in an rpg in years

And herein lies the problem. Tifa fans annoyed that Rebirth is so Aerith focused. Hate to break it to y’all but she is the main character of the story. Always has been. Leave your headcanon at the door.

Sorry team, I’m just here for Tam and Gene this week. Also, where can I petition for a weekly podcast instead of bi-weekly?!

Guess in the only one who found that Queens blood card game dreadfully boring in ff7 Rebirth.

I have a feeling this podcast won’t last

The chemistry doesn’t work for me.

FF7 Rebirth is a million billion times better than FF 16. FF7 Remake + Rebirth story, mini games and combat system is miles above any other FF game ever.

No wonder Shill Up is still seething about FF16 this much. Combat (and the same director) is very similar to the DMC5 which he described as “button mashy garbage for weebs” 🙂

Denis Villeneuve a god among men

Dune really just is that movie

If FF7 Rebirth better than 16?

Yes. Is that even a question.

16 is in the worst 5 Final Fantasy titles.

9:42 Absolutely. I never 100% games as well. It definitely ruins the game. I just cannot understand people who collect all korok seeds in Zelda games and complains.

FF7 Rebirth impressions too spoilery come on guys! At least make mention of that in the info.

You guys dumped that one criminal that you used to co host with?

the vibes are immaculate

“Aerith is more annoying in this one, it seems like they’re actively pushing her on the player and she’s being too clingy with Cloud.”

You mean like… in the original? How she has misplaced feelings for Cloud bc [redacted story reasons] that make for a conflicted love triangle? Idk, that stuff all seems entirely in line with the original VII. I keep seeing this take but like… Aerith was always the annoying overly-eager girl with a crush in the original. Did people forget that? Even the parts at the end Tam is alluding to make sense in that context.

I got Barret for my date ;/ I wanted Aerith!!!! :/

Rebirth wins by miles in every single regard.

Lucy lowkey looks like a baddie every episode, ngl.

I’m already bored of helldivers after about 9 hours. I have np idea how people are dumping so much time i to it. There really isn’t much to it.

My IMAX screening of Dune 2 paused at the halfway point, then proceeded to play the same scene on a 5 sec loop until they turned off the film. They gave us the option to see a later screening or a full refund. I went as a work activity so we took the refund. I did like what I saw though!

There’s nothin to compare because ff7 is simply better. So im skipping this video

Support Classic Game Room

Lucy might be my new favorite voice in games media. Every monologue she goes on is so fantastically insightful and down to earth

For me, Rebirth is a lot of barely anything happening so far. Kalm is a great start. Junon is a parade. Okay. Corel barely anything happens in that town. Costa Del Sol and Golden Saucer just take up so much time and that’s where most of the game seems to have happened. And it’s all just mini games I do not care a wit about. Toning this down for the first installment was brilliant, why did they swing this hard in the other direction. I didn’t love that about the original either.

Gongaga is the only cancer zone ;/

Ha! I am playing Balatro on my Steam Deck right now. I agree with Ralph that it does help with busy schedules. I also agree with Lucy that Balatro is really well done, and addictive.

Does Mr Seth Rosen know he’s game is 30% more expensive on PS vs Steam?

The way he talked about how gold saucer was annoying and what he said about the minigames instantly told me that he doesnt get ff7 at all. So i cant really take his opinion seriously. I havent finished the game yet but people dont seem to understand that they have a 3rd game to sell, you guys want a definitive ending, all the answers and it was obvious from the beginning that we werent going to get them at all.

Ughh we get it TAM.
The crew starts to laugh and enjoy talking about the game, then he comes in to reiterate AGAIN and AGAIN that he’s not happy with the games direction and distractions. My God, get this dude out of here.

You guys need to edit these. Podcast doesn’t start until around the 10min mark?!

I am on chapter 10 and I haven’t found Aerith annoying, I actually find her really cute and gives off girl next door vibes, she is a little cheeky at times but that never bothered me. I think I prefer her to Tifa

Baldino was his name-o

Survival games aren’t adaptable to AAA gaming because they are extremely hard to extract value from. It either turns into a single player open world survival crafting action game, or a looter live service, abd eventually the survival aspects eventually just get dropped or minimized to irrelevance because they don’t allow the publisher to sell a battle pass, skins, or seasonal content.

skill up, why haven’t you mentioned anything about sweet baby inc or the woke crap going on in the industry? don’t be a shill man

15:00 – Dont you enjoy the act of playing a good and well made combat system? Why dislike pure combat challenges? This is a big part of Final Fantasy games…

How dare you!

Still nothing on ESG/DEI/SBI, ruining the very games you guys love to talk about? You corpo-types are all the same. I’m out.

This video would be better if it were 10 minutes. Not in line with your other video lengths

Rebirth is miles ahead of XVI in almost every single way. Not even in the same league as video game experiences. Rebirth is a truly glorious RPG, XVI is a very shallow action game with mediocre and easy combat. It looks nice and has great music (good voice acting too), but that’s about it. Whereas Rebirth is the whole package, with brilliant combat that can be decently challenging when it needs to be.

Anyone who thinks that FFVII Rebirth and FFXVI can be compared as equals is either a child with no developed understanding/taste or a complete idiot. FFVII Remake trilogy is the first true Final Fantasy in the modern era of video games.

june two

Good episode!
Well, apart from hosting terrorist supporting Tamoor Hussain.
Glad the chapters are there to skip this part.

I appreciate mini-games, they break up the monotony of the regular formula but this game has waaaaay too many. Costa Del Sol was particularly difficult to get through

Im so used to them referring to us as “users” i dont even blink when they call us that anymore lol

Very very unpopular opinion: Tam seems to be always defending his take.

I’ve put 45 hours into Pacific Drive already and I still have half of the last zone to go, I want to wring everything out of it before I finally finish it.

Talk about Sweet baby inc you pronoun sellouts

Gene is such an awesome guest. Please have him on more often.

value depends on the players themselves

The rufus fight in chapter 12 is genuine dogshit 😭😭

I know this sounds weird, but I don’t like all the interviews. One is okay, but two are just too much for me. I am not so adaptable with listening to different people and so, I just mostly skip them. I really just like the three of you talking about games you like or don’t like and I am more interested in what you think.

Bedtime Balatro on the switch has become a routine

VII is better and its not even close.

I don’t care what anyone says, FF16 is in my top 5 games of all time. And that list includes Elden ring, bloodborne, FF16, fire emblem radiant dawn, and super Mario odyssey

Good podcast.

I’m so glad someone else does not enjoy Aerith. She has been battling valiantly for the worst interpretation of the original characters since they started making this abomination of a remake

To me there are almost no games worth 70$. At best we get 1-4 of them a year and even than i often wait for sale because i got stuff to play. I don’t get hyped often and even when i do i still wait and see because i got burned more times than not. Right now im playing helldivers 2 and im buying dogma 2 day 1 because i loved dogma 1, had over 300h in it and stopped only because i got my hands on dogma online when it was still alive. I skipped FF7 since there is no way i will finish that before dogma comes out.
I mosly play AA and indies because i like stuff similar to barotrauma, rimworld, space haven, oxygen not included, stardew, starsector or subnautica and we don’t really get AAA like that often.
It might be partially because im form a shitty country and grew up poor so my value of money is different to the point i see cinema as wast of money/luxury.

1:05:00 Jusant is one of the games that are short and also Sable.

exciting to see Gene on here as a subscriber to both skill up and wapo!

Ayo

Jakes cat does what mine does whenever I’m on my PC playing a game because I’m not paying attention to her. 😅

We have Jake demanding more guns and yelling at the older generation for stealing his pension. Peak American.

1:44:58 The best random moment right here.

FF7 vs FF16: One of them is actually a FF-game. The other one…not so much. Simple as that.

Zendaya is effin trash mate, she’s the worst part of that movie hands down.
PS: Shogun is WAYYYYYY effin better than Dune2: electric boogaloo

I knew there was a reason I clicked with Ralph’s taste in games… FF8 was (and still is) my favorite Final Fantasy game. I loved 7, but back then, the Japanese to English translations were still really rough in gaming, and to my 12 year old brain it was just too goofy.

FF8 had a leap in graphics, going more realistic, along with the slightly more interactive combat via the Gunblade and the extra challenge in combat trying to stay alive long enough to draw out a rare and powerful magic from an enemy even though it meant extending the fight while also giving up at least 1/3 of your actions to do so. Then of course, you have what may be the most ingrained cinematic in gaming for me personally….when the Ragnarok first makes its appearance.

8 was the one that made me a lifelong RPG fan.

We are not dropping off Helldivers 2, you have time Ralph. For Democracy!

What Gene said about playing the OG in a language he didn’t understand is exactly how I experienced games back then as well… English is not my native language, I became fluent only around 15 years old (gaming helped a lot with that). It was just me and an old English-Portuguese dictionary, and I kept pausing to translate all the time… I had so many questions when I finished FF7. But I loved it. I’m a huge FF7 fan boy, I’m unable to see any fault in it. It’s perfect to me

No mention of the Sweet Baby fiasco/controversy/discussion?

I feel that Australian rage when a fly just won’t leave you alone! I get it, we are all stinky! Get out!

Second reference Kyle “Cloud Arms” Bosman! He’s a perfect guest for your podcast! Plllleeeeeaaaasee, have him on! It’s a match made in heaven! Pretty please!

Story Quests Map Intel Chadley

Haven’t played rebirth but I have played 16 and it’s incredible. Only final fantasy game I’ve finished. Voice acting, characters, combat, bosses, hunts and I loved the side quests as well. Clive is one of my favorite characters in a game. Loved Jill as well. Cid was so good.
FF7 remake is a disaster. I’m playing it side by side with the original and the original is miles better. I can’t see how rebirth fixes the issues remake had. But too much hate on FF16. Way way too much hate. It’s absolutely incredible.

wtf chapter 11 was my favourite chapter in the entire game. it was an utter masterpeice. for some reason i always end up disagreeing with so much of this chicks gaming takes

Ghost of Tsushima was not Ubisoft, it was Sucker Punch/Sony. Ubisoft sucks and they owe me money. That being said, the group is correct, the pacing of the story in Rebirth goes off the rails in spots and you can see the next game’s play coming from a mile away, however it’s still a great game but not a classic because so much effort was spent on pointless aspects rather than what’s most important which is hard to forgive given they had a near-perfect original game to build from. 8/10.

16 isn FF for me. its like the adventure and repetitive game with shallow combat systems. Its simply the worst in FF franchises.

They’re both great games

FF7R2 story is garbage?!? Who could have foreseen that coming /S

Wasn’t Ghost a Sucker Punch game not Ubisoft.

Huh, didn’t peg Lucy as a smut reader for some reason 🤔

Sorry America, no guns.

FF7R trilogy is a sequel to the original story. You can have fun with it w/out playing the original, but there is a ton narratively you’re not going to understand.

Blue & Red = Purple Reign

Ralph: I’m really feeling the FOMO
Jake: it’s ok buddy, cant experience everything.
Lucy: EVERYONE is playing Balatro Ralph

Clive rules! Cloud drools

They’re both shit.

Ralph is a good movie reviewer too !

Nope, the combat is still absolute trash.

It’s one of the weakest episodes you’ve done. Everyone is boring and tired… Jake is falling asleep after a bad hangover, Ralph is elsewhere totally unimpressed, and Lucy is too busy looking at herself on the screen… I feel bad for the viewers who lost their precious time with this uninspired nonsense.

To add to what Gene was saying about the parallel story beats the game is definitely going to have “middle child syndrome” like Empire Strikes Back where people hated it initially until we got the final chapter. We’re still at the “what in the hell is going on? What is this alternate timeline nonsense?” part.

Day 16 of begging Skillup to review Talos Principle II. One of the best modern puzzle games ever made.

Tam legit feels like someone who struggles with emotions and just enjoying the moment. Pointless stuff is not annoying if it’s fun, learn to have fun. Jeeze.

SkillUp, what are you doing? Where is your review of this game. You praised Remake to the high heavens, deservedly, and this game is even better. Where is the strong recommend video? I’m not going through 2 1/2 hours of disorganised chatter to hear the 15 seconds of your concise opinion. I want to know what you think of this game in a digestible format. Please review it. Thank you.

both games are a mess
FF7Rebirth : padded hell, open world ubi design, story doesn’t add up, the changes make it worse and lose the execution that originally worked, mini game hell, still incomplete game sold at $70, looks worse than the first remake at times

FFXVI : padded design, somehow misses the point of the war, wastes story beats, not having a party actually loses meaning as our perspective largely is just with Clive, weaker characterization of other members, wasted opportunity on the war, the crystal and moral ethics of what they do to them and “this is final fantasy” line is cringe

neither are good, people may like them, enjoy them, find them “not the worse” but they are both bad padded messes that show how lost Square Enix is with this franchise – imagine Persona being this aimless and missing the point and you see how bad it is in this franchise

34:00 that hot take on the gold saucer being shit just had my soul leave my body, no longer taking anything he takes serious

My headcannon is that since we’re following those very slow walking hooded weirdos, we just have a lot of time to kill. “They were walking towards Coral.” Well then we have 12 days to kill. It kinda solves the pacing so far.

Paul is a little boy yelling, that why he’s like that.

I genuinely believe people who are defending FF16 are just blinded by graphics and the pompous Eikon „cut scene“ fights. The game was objectively bad and boring and FF7Rb is a big step back inter right direction.

As an American, I second Jake’s question about why Balatro has no guns

Oh man, I just completely disagree with everything about dune. Was literally falling asleep during both movies.

Many are commenting about the history/variables of ff16 vs ff7r, and they’re great talking points, and context is important. Yes, it’s wholly important to appreciate and understand the variables that affected the games, but, it’s the same asking price and for someone new, 7R>16.

In my head it’s kind of like Resident Evil:Village vs Resident Evil 4 Remake, both are good games, but RE4R is vastly superior and makes Village look lukewarm. Were you recommending a game, you wouldn’t recommend a game based on the history/dev pipeline, you recommend it on/against what’s already on market and it’s own merits.

It’s not fair for 16, but so is life, and technically speaking, 16 should’ve been way better than what it is. Hopefully, future series entries learn something.

I am enjoying FF rebirth so much and it is giving me the awed feeling of 21 yo me playing rhe original in 97′. Then I stupidly think I’ll play 10 mins of the Unicorn Overlord demo. Buy the game at 12:10am missing out on the Leifthrasir/Dragon’s Crown pre order extras. Curse. Play. Play. Don’t sleep. Remember I am a responsible single dad with a 4 and 6 yo. Quietly think ‘sod it I have a lifetime to spend with them’. Get 1 hours sleep. Try to fob my kids off with the new season of fortnite on the Switch in their room. Fortnite delayed. Build (real world) big Hot Wheels track and Lego village to divert kids attention. Play more Unicorn Overlord. See this video, feel crippling guilt that I left FF rebirth. Decide I CAN and WILL play both to death and forfeit sleep for a month. I still bloody Love games as much as when I had a Spectrum 48k+ with Laser Squad, Target Renegade etc. Enjoy everyone.👍👍

just completed the chapter with the throwing boxes and it felt like 10 hours. i almost threw my controllers with that shit. not fun at alllllllllll

Gaussian is pronounced “G-OW-sian.” It’s a reference to a famous mathematician named Carl Friedrich Gauss.

The only reason Gene likes the Chadley character is because he mainlines the story. If you 100% every area he is a broken record and drives you nuts.

I feel like I’m the only one who’s not fan of queens blood and think it’s overhyped even though I’ve beaten many challengers.

Rip toriyama

Didn’t ask him about Roadside Picnic

The pacing issues are really a non issue, that’s what jrpgs have always had. All the FF games since XIII have not really been jrpgs. They’ve been hallways, no choice, no adventure, very little side stuff, but mostly direct story path with a lot less pacing issues.

I think that they’ve finally been able to translate older jrpgs into the new generation, it took them a lot of games to get here. It’s awesome it happened with a FF7 remake.

No comparison XVI is one of the worst games I have ever played for numerous reasons such as awful cheesy characters with terrible voice acting and a very weak story on rails and VII original and remake/rebirth is better in every imaginable way

I played original ff7 and a lot of other like 10, 12, 16 and etc. New story elements related to Endings in both remakes are bad writing. I do not understand why in this video every one tries to justify it

FF16 is ultimately a pale imitation of modern blockbuster games like GoW and LoU. The whole things just feels shallow, including the gameplay. They tried to make an action game but it just plays like a mindless button masher. Like Tam said, you can probably go through the entire game just by palming your controller and it would barely matter. The comparison to Bayonetta is unfair cause frankly, even Bayonetta has more depth. Then there’s the “open world” and map design which makes even the likes of Ubisoft seem competent.

In comparison, FF7 Re in its entirety just oozes personality. The characters are actually memorable and nuanced. The story, though made unecessarily convoluted through Nomura’s typical meddling, is still leagues better than FF16’s amateurish attempt at a GoT style political high fantasy.

I really hope that Square just forget about FF16 and reference FF7 Re for the direction of future FF games.

Flynal Fantasy

Dunno why but found Aerith annoying in Rebirth not sure if it’s her voice or she had to many lines in this game trying to make
player have some connection. nope.

Friends Per Second: Lucy’s Gambling Awakening

I love yall to death, but I will not stand for any Hate towards A.C Mirage.

damn Lucy acting more or less upset she got Aerith as her date is a bit of a shame, her’s is so sweet after just pouring her heart out for cloud during the loveless song

On the minigame front, 4-way soccer with asymmetrical teams was something I never knew I wanted.

My dream game would take the elements of both 7 and 16. From 7 the level design, mini games, charm and side quests. From 16 the storytelling, art direction, and performances. Then I realized something that game is just ff14

For me so far, 16 is better. Better pacing, better performance, better combat. Way more invested with the story. So far FF7 Rebirth has been ok, but just okay. I’m sure it will get better but so far its not moving the needle for me like FF16 did.

My boy is getting close to a mil!

People ask the dumbest questions…

Ralph is the first Anglophone I hear pronouncing Villeneuve correctly

Ralph, I read Roadside Picnic after your recommendation. You should read Metro 2033. Inspired the games and references RP. Very much in the same vein.

I do love the puzzle cat hide and seek games!

This beard guy is just f annoying

yikes what a mess let’s compare 2 good games and convince ourselves we don’t like them at all. It’s wild how final fantasy gets put on blast while blowing other games out of the water in many aspects

I have not finished it yet. I am in the last quarter of the game. It is absolutlely a step up from Remake which I consider average to above average. Even if the third game misses the mark I have to give credit to the journey the devs took to finish it.

2:00:33 Kyle Bosman is honestly the GOAT

finished the game last night and 200% disagree with tam hard. the ending was fantastic and I played the OG as well

Final Fantasy has been trying to find its identity since after 13 or maybe even 12(heck I’d stretch it to 10). Some were wins and some were epic failures but Square has been experimenting a lot and had never stuck to a formula nor returned to their vision during the golden years…until now. now that the technology, talent and production has caught up I can see them taking final fantasy back to its original identity. Massive worlds, airships(this is confirmed for part 3), compelling stories, lovable characters and fun mini games.

That being said, if they do stick to what they did in rebirth and what will happen in part 3, my prediction is that future ff games will all be multiparts with at least 2 parts per iteration.

I agree that June was a very good movie. Why pronounce the ‘D’ when you can just turn it into a ‘J?’ Juring June 2, I jrank so much soda that I jeemed it necessary to pee twice. Jang!

I won’t lie the comments at 55:00 sound like prime ‘Videogame journalist’. Yes you don’t need to engage much with the combat to finish the game. However if you have any intentions to finish the game with any amount of style you would need to deeply engage with the combat system.

I mean the game even tracks how well you play and adds a score to it. Come on😂

jake man are u good? u look so done man…

What card game did Lucy mention?

Where is your friend Jirard ?

I thought this was a review. 😮 Best surprise ever. So awesome to see/hear you guys. I got my copy of Unicorn Overlord today. It’s amazing. I hope you’ll be talking about it on the next episode.

For a short game recommend: ‘Small Saga’ on Steam. Its a 7-10 hour RPG set in the rodent world. mice, rats, cats, etc.

Ghost of Tsushima is Sucker Punch a Sony first party

oh how needlessly forgotten FFXI is. FFXIV wouldn’t be what it is today without it. It is the most condensed FF experience you’ll ever have.

Hope to join the gaming industry one day hoping to get into voice acting and covering games and gaming news

Just some feedback, the developer interviews are my least favorite part of the podcasts. I’d rather just listen to the parts where you all talk about games and news.

Talk about frames per second, look at Tam’s collection!

RIP Akira Toriyama

no one gives those Eikon battles in 16 enough credit. the feeling of power you get in those moments are unmatched. FF16 is a power fantasy and they nailed it.

You literally have to play queens blood on the costa del sol cruise no? It sure felt that way to me – of course I LOVE QB – but it seemed necessary to progress the story?

I love both VII Rebirth and XVI for different reasons, XVI was one of my top games from 2023 and Rebirth is looking to be one of my top games from 2024.

Can’t believe Tam would do that to his cat at 7:17

“No spoilers but let’s talk around the ending for like 10 minutes”

DON’T FORGRT DUNE MESSIAH IS CONFIRMED. So it’s going to be a trilogy

FF16 is a piece of sh1t when comparing to FF7 Rebirth.

Baldino was his name-o😂

Both good ff games but horrible open world games.

Final Fantasy VII Rebirth vs Final Fantasy XVI: This was Ralph’s idea, wasn’t it? I can understand XVI not being your cup of tea, but let it go, man.

Been gaming for 40 years and i can honestly say that i’ve never played a game before that feels like this much of a SLOG!

I got to Gongaga region looked at the size of the map and just went “Yep, i’m done”.

There’s just something really ‘off’ about this ‘game’ that i can’t quite put my finger on.

Deleted it and fired up a third playthrough of Bloodborne to remind myself what a true masterpiece of gaming feels like to play.

So long busywork, slow walking and cutscenes (and £70) it was nice knowing you.

Great episode. I liked hearing from absolutely everyone here and how open minded everyone is about everyone else’s opinions.
+1!
Edit : 1:33:22 – 1:38:20 – Ralph what the hell, he just said the game saves at the beginning of every map, not every run ^^’

love how these big “gaming” channels turn a blind eye the sweet baby inc stuff

You guys should talk more about Apple Arcade games and Netflix games that go under the radar

The more I hear Tam talk about the game the more I’m confused with his score of 8 Out Of 10. I feel like he genuinely feels it’s like a nine, but at the same time I can see that the ending really hit him that hard that he bumped the score down quite a bit. I’m in chapter 4 by the way, still going strong.

April is chill!… thank GOD.😅. like a dragon infinite wealth, ff7 rebirth, rise of the ronin, pacific drive & south park snow day can now be completed

Jake fr got some of the funniest lines that he just says with no buildup lmfao

Great episode. At least where I am in life right now, spending 20 hours on subpar or filler content seems crazy. So many movies or other games in that time 😅

So, like Remake, they made a very good game and f*kup the ending. I should have a better experience with Rebirth than when I played remake thanks to that.

Ralph nailed it. Rebirth brought back all the elements of a classic FF. Maybe it doesn’t work for everyone but as a FAN of FF. That’s what I’ve wanted for years now. Easily the best FF since the glory days.

I’m also still trying to understand how FF16’s slavery with no layers and might makes right (non satire) is an interesting concept of world building and lazy writing. PS I couldn’t finish the game after act 2 so if its explained later let me know.

Short and good videogame: superliminal

I walk up to the bartender in Kalm to complete a quest. As I turn to leave, I see Aerith & Tifa chatting quietly in the corner while Barrett & Red share some beers tableside.

*_Rebirth_* sets a new bar for party-based RPGs and they way they make you feel like you’re part of an adventuring party. Theyre *_always_* there in the background, even during combat.

FF16 wasn’t afraid to show gore and violence unlike the sanitized toned down FF7R.

Oh yeah and it had an actual good ending.

Hey! Gene Park as a permanent replacement for the grifter sounds is chefs kiss 🤌🏽 Tamoor… meh honestly the guy gets it wrong on games like 90% of the time.. his comments about AC6 during its marketing cycle were something like “this won’t be the Armored Core entry that takes it mainstream”

Miyazaki: hold our beer – sold better than the combined franchise lol

I actually really liked FF16, but there really is no comparison to FFVIIRebirth. There’s just sooo much more game and substance in Rebirth. Feels like they had a small team working on 16 while the bulk of the team was on Rebirth. Also the hybrid combat system in Rebirth is chefs kiss.

From the outside, it sounds like FF7Rebirth has the story of a modern Disney movie and the quest design of an Ubisoft game, it’s really hard to imagine why people like it so much. But I’ll find out eventually on PC

Haven’t watched this yet, but does Ralph mention when his review is coming?

Tbh I’m mad. This guy worked on an amazing game like Don’t starve and the dlc and such. But he decided to make Pacific Rim PS4/pc exclusive?? Why man I played don’t starve on PC and when it finally came to Xbox ALL my friends got it and we loved it. Shame, I hate exclusivity

So Ralph is the anti-completionist

Ima huge FF fanboy, so I can generally find things I really love/appreciate about each – and 16’s no different! The absolute gorgeous and incredible spectacle they display with their graphical and theatrical portrayal of the summons and lore of that universe was amazing.. However! I can also recognize some basic things they could have implemented as well.
Team play shoulda been a thing. They recognized that in ff15, and eventually added swapping in with ‘the bros’ during the DLC.. and even with ff7 remake, party swapping is quickly becoming near standard gameplay addition, being able to break away from the ‘single player’ expertise by just using Clive, we shoulda have been able to switch to Jill and Cid, even if it just meant using their singular eikon abilities, would have granted access to shiva abilities waaay sooner in the game and it’s a fun way to introduce and pull off team up and timing attacks etc..

Hopefully they can add something like that in the future- but I think they’re pretty much done creating content for the game

And rebirth ofc, is living up to all the hype I been hearing so far, so looking forward to continuing that journey

@skillup Where’s the review Shill?

Cool to hear some The Finals love. I have been having the most fun I’ve had in a long time with that one.

I thought I was crazy or high… Or everyone just spoke over Jake constantly for some reason 😅 wasn’t bad enough that I didn’t fully enjoy the stream but it was surprising for sure

09:43 is the worst take in the history of videogames. Who says something like that?

I refunded Pacific drive because of I thought there was no saving on expeditions. Might pick it up now. But that is a massive over sight really disappointing.

rebirth is so boring compared to ff16

Regardless of any comparison, 16 always looked like a PS3 game in game design and level design.

They clearly held back with 16, to the point where it feels like it was made in the office’s basement by a team of 3 people and a composer.

Rebirth open world dropping pins and stuff reminds me of doing random stuff in Tears of the kingdom with the towers

FF16 is the most aggressively mid game I’ve ever played.

I don’t really agree about Tam’s assessment of the story. This section of the story in FF7 is purely about character building. Learning about everyone’s histories and all of them coming together. It’s the empire Strikes back. It’s the character drama chapter. That’s why it’s rules.

Do modern Final Fantasy fans just hate everything about Final Fantasy or what? 16 & Rebirth were made by entirely different teams. The comparison is stupid to begin with & they’re both excellent games in their own ways. They just so happen to share the same franchise name. Stop this discourse already

Dang I felt so young when Ralph said he spent his 20s playing vanilla WOW and I’m like I’m spending mine playing final fantasy rebirth (I’m 23)😂

Artful Escape from a few years ago is a cool short game that blew my mind

The game expects you to have played the original

“I love Balatro, I don’t really play poker” seems to sum up the audience of people who love this game. As someone who plays card games a lot, Balatro got boring really fast. Everything being based on poker hands means there’s only so much math/variety in your strategy, and if you’re familiar with it, it feels “solved” pretty fast. It took me less than 2 hours to win a run the first time. And sure, there’s endless mode and different challenges, but the fundamental math stays the same.

Chapter 11 onwards ruins the pacing? Lucy, there is almost no actual story progression in the first 25 hours of this game.

You get the opening thing which gives you a bunch and then nothing related to the main story for literally 20-30 hours depending on open world stuff.

I am so appreciative for the way that Skill Up talks about Final Fantasy. I completely agree with his take on how FF7 Rebirth reminds him of how he felt when he first played 10. The modernization of the ideas that are central to a Final Fantasy game. 8 and 9 will always hold a special place in my heart but 10 really sparked something for me. FF7 Rebirth is making me feel like a kid again and just in awe with the franchise. The game has a charm to it that is hard to ignore. It leans into the over the top wonder. I don’t see Golden Saucer and Costa Del Sol as pacing issues. There is so much heart in the those moments. I was so captivated by the sheer wonder and charm of it all. That feeling just never went away. Every aspect of the game is dripping with it.

Regardless of how you feel about the story and characters and direction they may or may not take, I truely think they have landed on a modernized formula that they can use moving forward. They have some amazing game systems and easily the best combat in the series. If they can fine tune and refine some of the “open world” elements they will have an absolute banger Final Fantasy. Maybe they take some inspiration from Xenoblade’s open world design.

The whole game is probably just clouds coma since the beginning from disc 3

I really like both. Obviously FF7 is overall the better game, but FF16 had some of the best boss fights I’ve ever seen. It felt like was playing God of War 3 or Asura’s Wrath

Lucy has read house ov leaves. Uhhh, a woman after my own heart x that book iz pretty much a video game though

After beating 16 I cant say I disliked it as a whole, but there were times (generally during sidequest) that I really had to force myself to play through. The open world was way too large and empty making the linear parts of the game somehow the highlight.
Also the amount of active eikon abilities you could have made combat incredibly repetitive and same feeling from fight to fight, especially once you have odin. Felt like I was playing the MMO with the consistent cycling of the same skills over and over until boss health reaches zero.

Sure you could NOT use the OP odin skill but then the battles would just drag out longer and some of the boss health pools are ridiculously high as it is.

Tldr: this game likes to waste a lot of your time in between some legitimately fantastic action sequences.

I LOVE these episodes so much better since The Completionist was removed. The guy was just an arrogant arse and these 3 just bounce off of each other so much better

I like Rebirth way more than I liked 16. But 16 is a way better complete game lol. Rebirth is a goofy side quest music delivery system disguised as a video game. It’s like comparing Yakuza to GTA. They are not the same things.

Not sure why you even compare the 2 since you already shit on XVI in a previous video 🤣🤣 each were good in their own right

Small shout out to Stu!
Keep up the good work 😌

Look, you both can say Dune wrong but Batista is the line. Give him his respect. lol

I don’t get why there has to be a competition. I’ve enjoyed both of them a lot. They just focus on different things.

FF7 is good for the traditional FF style with lots of mini games and party management and exploration.

FF16 is good for something different with a focus on being more action oriented, with a lot of technical depth that you can engage with if you want but isn’t required, and boss battles that are arguably the best in FF or in gaming in general.

FFXVI is the first Final Fantasy I’ve ever completed. I really didn’t like the game overall but the ending was pretty good storywise. My biggest issue is that the world is supposed to feel dark and gritty but there’s next to no nuance here. People always compare it to Game of Thrones but I think FFXVI really failed to achieve a gritty dark worldview since its bogged down by typical good vs evil story tropes. There’s next to no gray area for the protagonists and antagonists which is fine in other stories but they provide worthwhile heroes to love and villains to hate instead. FFXVI failed to do either so it just left me detached from everything. Only reason I beat it was to be able to cement my feelings on it overall.

Lucy hang the curtains you just need to fix the holes

I feel like yall have the same theory about the third game that I do in regards to the parallel story. I’m simultaneously excited for it and don’t want it to happen because of how trendy it currently is.

Just gonna avoid this video… I personally hate nomura and co… Games. And just like rebirth the storytelling left ALOT to be desired. I prefer 16 cause its adult storytelling for ADULTS… Anyway enjoy your video chaps

I really enjoyed 16. I liked the setting quite a bit. Story was good and I got invested in the characters journeys. Eikon battles were excellent and the story segments when infiltrating a city to destroy the crystal hearts was a lot of fun. Hunts were also really fun.
Some negatives were the bland side quests and not having any reward for exploring the vast areas of the world.

hmmmm the only American really wants guns in his games

2049 better than original Blade Runner?!?! Yes. All day long. The original is a terrible bore. I think you needed to see Blade Runner _at the time_ to see it as great, but trying to watch it in the modern era… oof. Not to mention the, let’s say, questionable approach toward the notion of consent, in a certain bit. 2049 wins hands down.

love that it cuts to the intro right after lucy compares herself to her mother lmao

“From flies to Fly-nal fantasy” would have worked better Lucy xD

Ok so did anybody notice the tiny smudge-dot in the upper left corner in the white space above the video space? Because i have not been able to keep my eyes off it lol

Tamoor is wrong. The meta narrative is not driving the story forward. The chase of SEPHIROTH and the Shinra push from behind is driving it forward. That was the same in OG. I respectfully believe that Tam didn’t understand the narrative of OG or Rebirth. That’s ok and I’m not hating, and maybe Rebirth didn’t do a great job of explaining motivations all the time, but it’s subtle and it’s there.

For me FF16 way better also for more adults audiences FF7 more for every age

@8:14 Good on Lucy for upholding the proper Charlie Brown lore. This is why we respect the FPS strong, ethical editorial standards.

I’m a little doubtful I’ll finish FF 7 Rebirth before Dragon’s Dogma and Rise of Ronin come out. But also, April has Stellar Blade which looks like it could be pretty good. Plus, still pretty hooked on Helldivers. NG + for Spider Man 2 and Alan Wake 2 I still wanna run through. And I feel like there will be things announced for May/June, so I don’t think I’m catching up anytime soon.

I 100% FF16 and didn’t really love it, I’ve been thorough with Rebirth but not sure I wanna stick it out completion wise. But on the FF 16 discussion, I do see a lot of parallels with Rebirth but I do feel Rebirth has been better so far. FF 16’s opening hours were perfect, and while there’s a lot of great moments I feel like it was a bit of a let down from there. The height of the first hours made the rest of the game disappointing despite it not being awful. 16’s main story was great, though not quite as good as the opening throughout. Comparatively I feel Rebirth does do the open world, side quests (though writing for side quests were kinda better in 16), and combat better. But I still don’t love all the side content with Rebirth. Those stealth missions always pissed me off, and the climbing is so slow. I’ve been trying to do all the activities for leveling, items, and to make sure I have good party relationships (I really need that Tifa date but so far it seems Aerith has way more sidequests tied to her relationship, so I’m worried I’ll end up like Lucy/Tam) but I really feel it kills the pacing. I really want to progress the story, but it takes so much time to do. Also, find Chadley very annoying and the fact he narrates all the side content makes it less appealing. It’s creepy he made an AI copy of himself of the opposite gender that he talks to constantly. I didn’t find him annoying in Remake, but here’s a different story. Also, hated the way they did the plate falling in Remake. Really undercut the impact of it.

I do agree with Lucy, where I wish Remake and Rebirth were one game with less padding. And it was two games instead of three. But I haven’t finished it, I do agree with the level of imagination so far. So I don’t know, mixed feelings.

Facepalm

I’m currently playing through FF16. It’s an odd one. You’ll be having an amazing battle with something really big and big in spectacle, with amazing cut scenes then I’m off walking through an empty feeling world doing chores. The combat is great but some of the new power feel pointless I mainly stay with the Phoenix powers. I’m about 45 percent complete. Does it get any better?

Tam misunderstood the whole point of the OG plot and how Rebirth perfectly captures it. Not going to lie, I skipped every time he started talking after having listen to him waffle through each of his needlessly negative points. Please bring someone else who is just as good as Gene in next time! This ain’t it, chief.

8:15 whatcha shoulda said: “From flies to Fly-nal Fantasy” 🥴👨🏻🙇🏻‍♂️

Lucy marry me 😅

FF16 was so mediocre and forgettable I already forgot it exists

16 is better if you like action games, I don’t even plan on playing 7 pt 2 because it’s not up my alley. But 16 has an excellent action combat system

Hydrogen Bomb vs Coughing Baby

FF16 is an awful game.

A FPS episode drop on my bday, what a nice present! 🎉

While I absolutely love Rebirth, talk with Pacific Drive director is what I´m looking forward the most here.

Does the delay has anything to do with Elden Ring perhaps? 🤔

In regards to FF7 Rebirth’s story, particularly the ending (NO spoilers), I’m intrigued by what what they’re doing but I also share some of the concerns discussed here.

Fair to question whether this will ultimately enhance the story, or if it merely serves to get people talking and theory crafting for the next 4 years. I can’t lie, that has been a ton of fun to discuss with the community, but end of the day when the trilogy is complete the story needs to come together in a satisfying way.

That being said, and I can’t stress this enough, the game is an absolute blast to play. A tremendous achievement by SE.

regarding 2:08:55 and the helldivers and wow classic talk. Helldivers 2 has those organic gaming moments, as Jake mentioned, that make you laugh your ass off and are memorable. Its not directly scripted situations, its reactions based on the sandbox and programming theyve built. that’s the gaming magic that is hard to harness. and i relate it to Ralphs WoW classic mention. Wow in 2004 had the organic nature that the wow classic does not. Everyone is now min/maxxed and optimized to the gills. back in the early days unless you were in a guild trying to progress, most people had no idea what they were doing and as such they were there for the hang and the adventure into the “world”. That’s the stuff you can’t script. No amount of AAA cinematography will beat the mems with the boys getting killed by the undercity elevator or mercing aliens on planets and accidentally clipping one with a rocket.

I’m not shocked that the ending was handled poorly. I felt the exact same way about REMAKE. Once I thought about the ending, freeze framed it, replayed it I was able to finally infer what was going on. But I was able to think of a million ways they could have made it clearer (eg. a big point is that even in the original the planet is a sentient thing with a will, which is uses to summon the weapons and in REMAKE’s case uses its will to protect itself with the whispers).

GET SOME SLEEP!!!
both of the dudes look half alive at best

I think the side stuff boils down to, do you want the world setting expanded (eg. learning about the Junon midgar war)? Do you want the character relationships with cloud expanded (eg. sidequests)? Do you like the combat (eg. fiend events)?

My only complaint was that the initial start is tutorial (Nibelhiem), long open world, dungeon, long open world. Which even as an enjoyer of the backstory stuff was a bit much. But past that point it gets paced out. They could have circumvented that by adding a bit more linear content after Nibelhiem before the long open world (perhaps by making the bomb shelter a proper dungeon).

Short game recommendations:

Harvey Brown- I doubt you’ll find my comment, but to anyone searching for great, short games I have a few recommendations. Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons, What Remains of Edith Finch, Ratchet & Clank Rift Apart, Death’s Door, Fire Watch, Oxenfree, A Plague Tale, Outer Worlds, Hellblade, and Hi-Fi Rush. A little bit of every genre for you, if you’re looking for a great, short-ish game.

Go on Ralph, show us on the doll where FFXVI touched you…

Funny how these urinalists not mentioning that Sweet baby stink that is ruining our game industry and some of the reason why lay offs happen😂😂😂 Hilerious!

Square is wild for saying that this is good as a standalone, it references Advent Children, Crisis Core, Glenn Lodbrok is a oringinal character from Ever Crisis the FF7 Mobile game and his role is not that small, and there are parts of the story that aren’t that clear unless you read the FF7 Remake novel.

Gotta say as someone who has played the first and is playing through Rebirth, that conversation was skirting the line between spoilers constantly. I had to skip it, especially when people start discussing stuff about the ending, even if they were trying to be vague

Why is that ordinary gamer doing a British accent lol

I feel like I am the only one who loves the FF7 Rebirth ending and think it’s actually brilliant. Emotional, smart, and well done. All unexplained mysteries clearly feel like set ups for the third game that will be addressed then (I can clearly pin point that they will be addressed in the equivalent of the life stream sequence from the original game, even). I felt like the pay off WAS there, but I guess it wasn’t the pay off people wanted, which is the specific reveals and developments that will happen in the third game. Whether the third game sticks the landing or not still remains to be seen, and I think that ambiguity and lack of Rebirth standing alone as a “complete” story on it’s own is the real sticking points of contention here. Even if the plot falters in the third and final game, the experience is still a great one overall because the character work and relationships and growth is consistently great. And ultimately, that is what the story is about and what makes it meaningful.

SICK EM TORGAL!

Lmao we got a dude in these comments comparing playing XVI to eating literal shit. Is this what the SkillUp fanbase is, now? Going after people in comments for liking a game?
Ffs the game that came out is Rebirth, yet these people are still crying about not liking a game that came out a year and a half ago. I’m sorry it upsets you that we like the game but you gitta move on. You gotta be a special kind of demented to be going after strangers to flex your own game tastes.

I AM A FFXVI ENJOYER AND WE EXIST

Rebirth just has so much heart and soul in my opinion, it can be laugh out loud funny but also really emotional and moving. FF16 also has some really emotional moments, especially in the opening of that game, but it is so depressing and dire that I can’t really find any enjoyment in it. Gameplay wise I also think Rebirth is better and has much more variety with the bredth of minigames that I personally really enjoy, with chocobo racing and queens blood being the main standouts. With combat I see the positives of both systems, I personally like Rebirths a bit more but I can see why people would prefer 16. Going forward I think Square should try to emulate what they did with Rebirth more than 16; atleast with what they did with the characters, writing and minigames, it was a really good formula and I think it satisfies old Final Fantasy fans aswell as new ones.

Lucy has a great perspective on the industry and I really enjoy Jake, Ralph, and her on this show, but fuck Lucy is also gorgeous.

Where is Jirard?

On the Shogun subtitles thing and why Portuguese is spoken in English, I do believe they’re making any language that Blackthorne can speak English on-screen so that we as Westerners understand what he understands because he’s our POV in the show, it makes for his feeling lost in an unknown world where he can’t understand what’s being said pop a bit more for the viewer without fully removing the subtitles on spoken Japanese.

WOW, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth sold worst than Final Fantasy XVI, WHAT IS GOING ON 😱😱😱

With discourse, I think it’d be nice to actually have someone who like-liked FFXVI. But at the end of the day every Final Fantasy is different with its themes, gameplay, and very storied production histories so I like to think that there’s a Final Fantasy for everyone.

I think FFXVI is a very CBU3 game. As an FFXIV player, I think the issues that FFXVI has is largely present in FFXIV too. From something like sidequests may feel sauceless in terms of activity lots of “go here, talk to this person, go here, finish” because FFXIV is designed a lot like that, but they have a lot of heart that builds the larger world of the game. When spectacle happens, it SPECTACLES. And SO MUCH hand-holding for their more casual players, which is nice, but is so prone to complaints. Even with the combat choreography assistance of the folks from DMC, it kind of got mixed in to the damage sponge enemies that CBU3 designs.

I think a thing that largely lifts FF7 Rebirth is that its FF7. People already have expectations for it, built up with Remake and FF7CC Reunion. I agree that its incredible for that they’ve delivered so much of what was expected and beyond. But it also has that Nomura touch of storytelling very similar to Kingdom Hearts of “very vague shockers” that *may be* a lot clearer if you know how the original FF7 ends? My two bits about FF7Rs storyline is that there’s a lot of vagueness to spark conversations and the like, but ultimately I think its pretty much going to end the same way as the OG. Just a larger expansion on Cloud’s psychosis and whatever plot magic the Lifestream can do.

Its just kinda funny that throughout the podcast most of what they celebrated about FF7 Rebirth is all of side stuff you can do and very little of what the story offered? So very curious as to what they’ll think of Reunion which is probably like… FULL ON story being FF7s third and final act.

Tl;dr — I think FFXVI does a good job of creating an entire cohesive story with its world and themes with very rooted emotional stakes. And I think FF7Rebirth has hit a high bar on the gameplay cycle of a modern Final Fantasy. As other people have said, I hope someday we see a joining of the best of both worlds.

dear god don’t buy anything from michael’s. blick and jerry’s are nearly half the price. everything at michael’s is sold at retailer rather than wholesale, don’t do that to yourself.

Lucy’s face at 9:43 while Ralph talks about how 100%-ing games generally ruins them is just so funny considering the last few months for this pod. Great ep!

Hey Ralph maybe invite someone that actually enjoys FF16 before you do your little “comparison” section where you all just shit on it. Also anyone who thinks its combat has no depth clearly didn’t experiment with the Eikons very hard. I agree the normal difficulty is a bit on the easy side but the game is simply not “button mashy” for anyone actually willing to dig into it. Also it’s not an RPG and it’s fine, it’s a solid as hell action game that should be appreciated for what it is. As for Rebirth, I’ll play it eventually but aside from the combat I’m not seeing a lot of improvements from Remake which was ultimately mediocre. Not looking forward to being forced into playing a million minigames either.

People will say” oh this game sucks. They didn’t stick to the original. Too much meaningless things to do that doesn’t tie to the core story ”
And another guy “I beat Forspoken in only 12 hrs. It’s not a full price game.” Just for real. What’s wrong with more story content? If you don’t have time to play it then just don’t. I feel a lot of negativity came from journalists or reviewers that, being they have tight schedules, they often want games to be shorter and can move on to the next game. But that doesn’t speak for us gamers. We want as much as we can. Skyrim? Witcher 3? Tears of Kingdom?

Another thing they keep saying how Aerith is annoying. She isn’t. You guys are probably playing in English dub. I am playing Japanese. She is perfect. Yeah she is too excited for the sightseeing. Not much time has she given to Cloud. But still she is my number one girl in FF7.

comparing a sequel for a remake of an already beloved game to an original entry that started production before that first remake even began development is an oversight that’s expected from the casual audience, not people ingrained to video game culture 👀

Finally some good fucking food. My favorite vg pod. Thanks lads.

I still haven’t finished FF16. I just deleted it off my console after beating Titan.

I haven’t made it through much of ff7 reb but I have played the og version more then a few times and it should like the pacing is sole on the new ver. over-padding every area to have more story then focusing the main narrative and characters roles in that. I don’t think I will be extremely disappointed but its kind of off putting the game itself seems lost on what the og was trying to convey.

Since when can’t you put up curtains in a apartment you are renting seriously that makes no sense that’s the first thing you do when you move in you have every right to privacy

Another podcast that doesn’t need to exist 😂🤡🌎🔥

i thought this was your review for rebirth at first and the three-hour runtime had me very concerned for ralph’s mental state

FF16 did a few things correct. I think the world itself was interesting. Clive Redfield was a good protagonist. The boss fights are some of the best there is not just in a Final Fantasy game. I do think the boss fights rely on scale and spectacle. But that doesn’t necessarily take away from them. They weren’t really that difficult even on hard mode.
FF16 has the same problem that FF Remake has: uninteresting side quests.
FF16 open world aspects aren’t interesting either. You’re essentially just going from point A to point B to get a new cutscene, beat some small mobs and then get to the boss.

FF7 Rebirth is in the fortunate position to have learned from Remake and also being able to build off its existing game it’s retelling. The Open World is excellent and fun to explore. There’s enough variety in what you are doing as well as the side quests are some of the best FF has had in a while. There’s so many mini games scattered throughout the world.

Overall just in terms of the sheer amount of content, better side quests, imo more interesting characters, FF7 Rebirth is a better game than FF16.

For FF17, if they take a mixture of Rebirth and FF16, you’ll have an almost perfect FF game.

Respectfully, Lucy’s so cute

can we make this weekly? 😊

FF16 copy game of throne, compare that to FF7R multiversus approach they copy from marvel just to bring Zack character in some way 🙃
the narrative of FF16 much better than FF7 R, and sometime it feel like a dig at FF7R story, just listen to Clive line : “LIFE HAS A BEGINNING AND AN END”.
hate all you want on FF16, you just love FF7R because of the nostalgia nothing more…
you trying SO HARD to come up for a justification on why you hate FF16 and love FF7R why don’t you let it go ???

Well we cant compare because FFXVI is not a RPG game

If we compare to FFVII already dont hold up to standards as a rpg game, even with older titles
Yeah have amazing cinematics, the Eikon battles are outstanding, but is a Action game without almost any of RPG elements whatsoever
Even some pure visual novels are more rpg than that

and of course will be compared specially when is from the same company

2 hour of talking bs and bias lol

all that hate on aerith LUL tsk tsk

40:18 tam prolly was like “im not convinced, could you pull your shirt further up?”” 😏

I hated all the damn mini games, i forgot how many there were in the original. So annoying i gotta get good running Red around hitting balls to get good gear, or doing sit ups all the button presses omg i wanted to toss my controller

Without even reading comments or engaging with the topic Rebirth compared to FF16 is literally a hydrogen bomb vs coughing baby. I love action combat I don’t love ff16 and that story is so garbage for me. Magic racism? Killing crystals like cmon man what’re we doing here. Side quests too like FF7R’s aren’t amazing but you get what you put in – which can be as much or as little as you want with valuable rewards. FF16 has like 30 different upgrade materials that just pile up with no real meaning nor are they engaging. Flat empty open worlds with no life in them in FF16 with small combat encounters to then Rebirth filled with world building, clutter, and things to path through all over as well as combat/boss encounters, and mini games!

FF16 better sry

I’m here for the FF7 chat. I’m only at Mnt Coral, enjoying my time, but there is maybe a little too much game here. I find myself just wanting to get to the next story beat, but unable to skip the side quests. I gotta be honest though, this is the one game (I’m counting the Remake trilogy as 1) you really should play the original first before diving in. You will miss out on so much if you’re new to the world of FF7. But to each their own.

Edit- I just finished the Rebirth conversation and enjoyed everyone’s take. I’m only half way through the game but so far I’m siding with Ralph and Gene. I think part of it is being such a hard core FF7 nerd this game is a dream come true, for me. It’s not perfect, but it’s as good as my 11 year old self dreamed a modern remake of my favorite game could be.

Great. This came in just in time for my cheeky 5K run 🏃🏻 🎧

Skillup being a real diva about that fly lol…amazing.
Also, it should have been fly-nal fantasy, not final flantasy…Lucy was so close.

Lucy there are clip on window blinds. no drilling required. instead the mounts are like a vice and clamp down on the window in order to stay put.
just search for “no drill window blinds/shades” and you’ll find them.

7 is better

I wasn’t planning on 100% the game either but something about it is making me 😂

Guy on top right just crying too much if he wants a linear game he should just go play the original or the last of us.

26:31 he’s talking about me 😂😂😂 I didn’t know how to read Japanese, but my dad bought me the game anyway. His reasoning “it’s the highest selling game in Japan!”

One is a dry, boring, miserable mess of tedium and shallowness, and the other is FF7 Rebirth.

spoilers don’t ruin games, I hate the spoiler-phobic nature of these discussions

I also did the openworld activities but i am not sure if i really like them. Like the life sources and towers, they don’t add anything. I am in the Junon region and i have the feeling that the story isn’t really starting. At this point i liked Remake more because the story was tighter and for me FFVII is all about the story and party interaction.

Make Tamoor a co-host already you cowards.

I was also looking for shorter games just because i feel everything i played recently were just these monstrocities that took way too long and really overstayed their welcome (looking at you final fantasy 15 and lost judgement)
Ghostwire Tokyo, Guardians of the Galaxy, Control, Nier Automata… all great games but turned out taking way longer than i expected. Currently going through the Tom Raider Survivor Trilogy. 1 was great and ended just at the point i was getting sick of it. Part 2 is getting to a point i just wanna scream “fucking end already”.
Also especially Ghostwire had no business being this long. It just pushed the whole Ubi formula hard and seriously at some point i just forced myself not to go after everything on the map and get to the end.
Still have Horizon Zero Dawn in my backlog and i fear it’s anothr 40h+ title.

I would like to thank Jake for saying coupon correcly

Chad Clive > Lying Hallucinatin’ ahhh Cloud

I would be down for FF17 to be a mad max like setting 😂

I would love to see this discussion continued with spoilers next week when everyone is done the game

You can just tact black out curtains to the wall.

I will never play either so I don’t care

Oh my god I think I had the same audio rendering issue just yesterday from After Effects. It must be a general Adobe thing going on.

I had like 50 short clips to export and only had time to scrub through each one real quick and it sounded fine at a glance, but the audio was skipping around and then cutting off, or missing entirely

Where do you ask questions for this podcast?

Rebirth was made for those people who like when “games don’t take itself too seriously”. Personally, I like it when games take themselves seriously and try to bring you into their world. It gives me the type of immersion I like. Also, I like full action combat games.

Rebirth completely lost me after chapter 11. It was one of my favorite games but after that, it dragged on to the point the game was becoming a chore. So annoyed about the wasted potential. They could have just told a straight forward story but of course they didn’t.

So, the thing is, XVI was intended to be an Anti-XV. No gimmick content, more focus on a fluent battle system, the story actually being in the game and overall the game was focused like a laser beam. The parts that are there, are working as intended, unlike XV which was overall a convoluted mess. The problem is, because of that, there is nothing whatsoever to break up the regular gameplay. No RPG mechanics to properly upgrade your character, no reason to ever explore the game world and no usage of your abilities outside of the battle. I mean yeah, not every game needs to be Kingdom Hearts 1 when it comes to making the most out of environmental puzzles, but still. And it doesn’t help that the Arcade Mode still actively punishes you for playing efficiently and actually damaging your enemies.

FF7R does a lot of things better, especially when it comes to tactics and RPG mechanics. It offers more variety, there are more reasons to run around the game world and I find the quests and characters to stick more with me. But when it comes to the Open World, then it is the usual Ubisoft checklist formula, quantity over quality. Also, some minigames and VR battles are just…questionable to say the least. I would have preferred for them to make the world a little smaller, make like a quarter of the collectables but make them more interesting. Finally, why the hell is that dodge button not working?!

If they had put more of FF7’s RPG mechanics into FF16, as well as did something to make exploring and quests more worthwhile and made the Arcade mode less tedious, FF16 would have easily become my favorite game in a long time. But currently FF7R is the better one of the two for me.

Tam and Gene! Favs!

I really appreciate how cautious you guys are to not spoil anything 👍 it was an enjoyable listen and even though people are saying it’s controversial it makes me even more excited to experience it myself

16 is the only FF i liked enough to finish and i Platinumed it.

One of the flyest episodes in a while

FF7 Rebirth is a great game. I still preffer the treatment SO2R had, but it’s really good.

I appreciated the story of FF16 more, it was like watching a 30 hour Final Fantasy edition of Game of Thrones. I didn’t play Remake or the original so i might just be missing out on context for the story. I do love FF7’s combat and just plain old gameplay far more than FF16 though. The combat is so insanely in depth and i freakin love the mini games. It’s crazy how Blizzard will spend hundreds of millions advertising and hyping up Hearthstone and Warcraft Rumble, while Square just throws QB and Fort Condor in their FF7 remake on top of 50 other creative mini games. I feel like FF16 is the great version of modern FF with a story that kept you on the edge of your seat most of the time, while FF7 is the perfect refinement of the old JRPG formula with one of the greatest combat systems ever designed. (I really do want a turn-based FF one day though.)

Imagine giving a masterpiece of a game like rebirth 8/10.
What a joke, Tam and gamespot.

I like the idea of Gene and the gang bringing along the Japanese friend so he can translate only to find out later he only knew English

I’d pay good money to have heard his interpretation of the story just from the visuals, that’d be a trip

Wish I could get into FF7 but I just couldn’t at all. Characters are so cringe and it feels like a game stuck in the past for better or worse. FF16 is my favourite ff and what I want in a game, complex story, mc I like, mature tone, violence and epicness.

I’m just saying, if you’re going to have a conversation about FF16 vs FF7Rb, you should probably invite someone on who actually wants to advocate for 16

I’ve played and enjoyed most of the final fantasy games but for me so much of 16 from the Ui, to traversal and how you interface with the environment, to the stripped down RPG mechanics, to the barren open areas and more made it feel like a high budget mobile game they ported to console.

Personally prefer 16 but to each their own

I enjoyed both thoroughly. 😊

GAMERS! USERS!!! 🎮

I just began chapter 8 and oh boy, very few games look as good and original as this chapter.

10 hours into Rebirth……I think I enjoy 16 better. I’m still processing. 😉

i need a real honest convo on why its okay for japanese games to completely whiff on story like they do, in games where the story is huge, but its okay to ignore

I was surprised how poor the graphics and game play was on ff16. IMO the ps4 ff7 remake looked and felt better than the ps5 ff16. And the gameplay and build crafting was so boring. It played like a mobile game rpg for fighting mechanics.

To me its kinda funny how the game that wasnt so combat focused (ff7remake and rebirth) has a more complex and fun combat than the action combat focused game (ff16). Besides that, both are equally good overall

16 had such good bosses, that it ruined all other games for me. Haven’t experienced anything like that since God of War 3.