We dare to compare: Final Fantasy VII Rebirth vs Final Fantasy XVI | Friends Per Second Ep #40

Thanks to Squarespace for sponsoring the video. If you want to set up your own website (and get a discount while doing it), hit this link for more info: www.squarespace.com/skillup
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Big show this week! First up we're joined by Tamoor Hussain of Gamespot and Gene Park of The Washington Post for a deep dive discussion into Final Fantasy VII Rebirth (spoiler free). We all love it to different degrees, but some pacing and story issues threw a few of us. We also spent some time comparing the many (many) things that FFVII Rebirth delivers that FFVXI didn't.
Following that we were joined by Seth Rosen, game director for Pacific Drive, a game that both Ralph and Jake reviewed and loved. It was a great chat delving into how the game came about, the biggest challenges developing it and how the studio is responding to feedback since launch.
#FinalFantasy #PacificDrive #Dune2
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Timestamps:
00:00 Intro
7:17 Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth Chat w/ Gene Park and Tamoor Hussain
01:03:07 Squarespace (ad)
01:04:45 User Question 1
01:14:17 Interview With Pacific Drive Game Director Seth Rosen
01:54:10 User Question 2
02:02:38 What We've Been Playing
02:16:45 Show And Tell
02:35:51 Wrap Up
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Let's meet our hosts!
- Jake Baldino (aka the Before You Buy Guy) is pretty much the most watched reviewer on KZbin across both Gameranx and his personal channel ( / jakebaldino . If you're obsessed with Delorians, The Mummy and Pizza you can discuss that stuff with him directly over on Twitter: @JakeBaldino
- Lucy James is a Senior Producer at Gamespot and a Creative Producer at Giant Bomb. She's actually, like, experienced and credentialed and has real life skills and stuff, while the rest of the gang would be funemployed if the YT algorithm didn't kiss them for random, inexplicable reasons.
- Skill Up used to work at McDonalds but he got fired for skimming too many chicken nuggets. He says he regrets it since he hasn't had a better job since.
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Listen to the Friends Per Second Podcast on your favourite podcast platform: linktr.ee/friendspersecond
Follow on Twitter: / thefpspodcast
Follow on Instagram: / friendspers. .

[@SkillUp]

Thanks to Squarespace for sponsoring the video. If you want to set up your own website (and get a discount while doing it), hit this link for more info: www.squarespace.com/skillup

[@finnstagram613]

Checking KZbin everyday to see if your review of rebirth is up yet! Are we still getting one?

[@lukebradich5546]

​@@finnstagram613🎉😅😅😂😂😅😅😢😮😮😢

[@TremorBoria]

Hey Ralph if you decide to Helldivers 2 and everyone’s moved on, I’ll play with you man. ☺️ Lmao. I got nothin goin on sir.

[@fernandozavaletabustos205]

I can imagine future Square Enix games (not only FF) can learn and incorporate the best of FF 16 and FF 7 Rebirth!

[@vflarsh]

​@@finnstagram613 we got one

[@LPJZ456]

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

[@michaelnishiguchi3176]

“Is there a gun in this card game?” 😂

[@mattrodgers1663]

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

[@nictalattad5018]

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!

[@alexs_toy_barn]

Yea I only started watching this show after that fat guy left

[@arghyaneedsleep]

​@therotten6152i need a timestamp for the cat

[@eldengarrett9153]

​@therotten6152I wouldn't have thought it was a shot. It's a pretty common opinion to have, that forcing yourself to 100% will kill the enjoyment of a game. It does seem ironic given the Jirard situation though.

[@njsteere]

It’s not a shot at Jirard, they’ve said it before on the pod, including Jirard who had a whole “I really got screwed myself, now I have to 100% EVERY game and a lot of games suck to 100%” bit in an earlier ep. But yeah, that was loaded with awkward subtext given what they’ve been thru.

[@brentcox2961]

I think Lucy connected the dots and thought it was funny but Ralph is a pretty classy guy and I dont think he'd intentionally take shots at Jirard like that considering they were close enough at some point for them to want him on FPS.

[@kardez506]

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!”

[@steelenutz1]

Your dad is a legend

[@GenePark]

lmao wassup todd

[@kardez506]

@@GeneParkI literally told this story to my partner the other day too! I’m excited to see how the story is, since I don’t know a god damn thing

[@kardez506]

@@steelenutz1frfr. He bought it when he went back home to Japan. I was hyped on the game. Never used a good combo materia outside of fire and ice 😂

[@jacobgivens2274]

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

[@Kmaitland89]

There’s almost nothing to spoil. Literally.

[@kmo20794]

Story is shit, what's to spoil?

[@pseudocide.]

Calling Corel, Costa Del Sol, and Gold Saucer meaningless is a crazy take lol. I'm sure a lot of people like me have very fond memories of those sections in the OG and seeing them fleshed out and full is a treat. IF the devs got rid of those parts, I feel like the uproar and backlash would outway any issues you have with them now. The journey is FF games is usually what most of us are on board for so... idk if you just wanna get to the end, watch the cutscenes on a youtube comp?

[@gamerprince-tl5hg]

Wait did he really say all of that was useless? I've seen takes like this pretty often about the game and it makes me wonder if these people actually wanted a remake of FF7 or if they just wanted a more abridged version of the game...

[@shawnzinator]

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

[@dominicdococo4574]

Tamoor comes across as arrogant and hostile quite frequently.

[@jonbotwesley]

@@dominicdococo4574Yeah he doesn’t seem to view his opinions as opinions, he views them as objective facts.

[@FlipFlab]

Yeah I heavily dislike most of what Tam says tbh lol I just double tap skip through his mouth moving

[@jonathanperez612]

He basically said the same about Lies of P and it made me feel like he just didn't understand the game.

[@FlipFlab]

@@jonathanperez612 I won’t allow Lies of P slander in my ears lmao

[@cloud1stclass372]

As a biased FFVII fan, Rebirth may have been the greatest gaming experience I’ve ever had. I can’t count the amount of times I was like… “how is this game real?”

[@Erthos2sw]

I fully understand Ralph's complaints on 16, and appreciate his criticism. I love 16 anyway and the ride was incredible

[@MichaelROLeary]

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.

[@TheMetalGaia]

I agree. And the show is fantastic so far.

[@IbbyMelbourne]

Yeah, this is exactly the reason. The book was like that too

[@drgonzo123]

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.

[@TheMetalGaia]

Great recommendations!

[@neighborofthedevil]

Great list! I'd also add Afterparty, Jusant, Journey (of course) and maybe try playing some older games too. There's no harm in revisiting older games that you enjoyed or going back to games that you hadn't gotten round to when they released. I had never played any of the Bioshock games until last year, then there was a deal on the full trilogy for dirt cheap. I played through most of Bioshock 1, a little of 2 but then blasted through infinite in about 7 hours.

[@ElliottTrout]

i found your comment. now hush, furry

[@rp2974]

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

[@mcminners]

He doesn't entirely skip, he has said that he rushed through the story but went back to complete everything afterwards

[@nine9_abyss]

​@@mcminners but he put out his review before coming back to the side content no? Then it's pointless.

[@alchalant4663]

Yeah I wanna hear an endgame pod where people discuss the super secret vr missions and all the things included in completing johnnys resort . Seems all the coverage of this game ends at the credits on normal/easy mode

[@michaeldelcastillo7211]

Ralph just losing his mind over the fly is amazing 🤣😂

[@TremorBoria]

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.

[@FoggyTrain]

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

[@ojisankusai]

I can't say I don't understand Tam's issues with the pacing, but at the same time - at least for me - stuff like Rufus' Parade, the Gold Saucer, other narrative "blockages" like how Tam described them, these were all the most impactful moments of the original game. If you just had a streamlined story, where it just goes from point-to-point-to-point without ever veering off once in a while, I don't think it would have had as much of an impact on the gamers that played it. At that point, you're just playing a visual novel. While still a video game, it's a _much_ different kind of game. This is why I don't understand so much of the grief I've been seeing from games journalists on Rebirth - it's like they wanted _just_ the story, and to throw out literally everything that made the original FFVII an expansive experience. It doesn't make sense to me to do any of that if you want to maintain the charm of the OG. It's stuff like this, and the persistent complaining about Gongaga, that make me seriously cynical about whatever journalists take as their "critiques". With Gongaga it's all about how they can't make their way through it, despite bitching about things like "yellow paint" beforehand. Which is it, guys? Do you want someone to point out areas you can interact with or do you want a naturally explorable region? You can't have both, apparently. It's these issues I find to be detrimental to the modern games' journalist: they play so many games, they don't seem able to parse what makes a specific game work as opposed to not work anymore. They find the most inscrutable issues to complain about, thinking they _have_ to complain about _something_ or they'll come off as too positive. So when I hear Tam complaining about parts of a game that enrich it as "bricking the narrative", I have to just calmly ignore it, knowing that he experiences games differently than the average player.

[@Menorahdude]

Dude's a clown like most journos. I've seen so many complaints about how this or that isn't like the original. Almost as if this is a different game or something.

[@gamerprince-tl5hg]

Agreed. Calling that stuff filler is insanely dumb. I feel like people forgot that FF7 wasn't just a collection of big story reveals and moments. It was also a adventure where the characters experience all kinds of wacky, funny, sad, or emotional situations as they journey forth in search of Sephiroth. I feel like JRPGs fans are losing appreciation for the "journey" aspect of these games and just want "major" story progression shoved up their asses every 5 minutes.

[@TMV420]

getting this worked up about someone else's opinion is batshit crazy. calling people names because of their opinions is childish and ignorant. this is your opinion of his opinion. how is it any more right or wrong than his own opinion? its right to you and that's all that matters? try to be a little more objective and take your feelings out of it. that's probably the hardest thing to do as a professional journalist and something most people seem not to grasp.

[@pedrorocha3161]

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

[@fernandozavaletabustos205]

Me too!!

[@Triforcefilms]

The take regarding pacing at about 30:00, I'm confused why this is such a common takeaway. They aren't just grinding the pace to a halt with these side quests, areas, and minigames thoughtlessly. Which the original ff7 kinda is guilty of. In rebirth, This is very purposeful. Yes they're filling some time and adding content, but its ALL with the purpose of making you CARE about this world, fleshing out a believable and diverse population of people to care about, and give you ample time to fall in love with the main characters and their stakes in the final outcome. If this is being accomplished during a minigame or side prestige tour, then it all serves the final emotional impact. Remake introduced the concept that the world is in Danger, Rebirth is all about driving home how interesting, quirky, and Worth saving the world and its characters are. Making the threat a bit less time sensitive validates your indulgence in the world around you. "Padding" might explain a dozen hours or so, but the rest is very purposefully crafted to give you that growing appreciation of the world and its people. (also, nearly half the extra content is completely optional)

[@Deminese2]

Its still just a shitload of filler man. its still too much. The game did not need AC towers and a bunch of pointless crafting.

[@Triforcefilms]

@@Deminese2 and almost all of the "filler" is optional. Barely any of these really rich world building moments are required! ... it's 45 hours for main objectives, and the other 100 are optional.... So don't do them!?...🙄 Why are you doing things you don't enjoy, that you don't HAVE to do... Then complaining that you did them?! 😂 That's manic behavior! And Since when... is MORE content, that is completely optional but is objectively meaningful to the world and characters if you CHOOSE to pursue them.... A BAD THING!?... gamers have become so f$&ing spoiled.

[@Deminese2]

@@Triforcefilms No the main story has a ton of minigame mandatory filler as well. Practically nothing happens in rebirth. The game is just nowhere near as well paced and focused as remake.

[@Triforcefilms]

@@Deminese2 you're entitled to your opinion my dude, but the reviews and user score have spoken pretty damn clearly. You're in the minority. Most people have no trouble choosing how much of the games content to consume, setting the pace themselves and enjoying it juuuuust fine. But maybe a game of cod or fortnight might be more your speed. Rpgs definitely aren't for everyone.

[@Mayorofsexytown1303]

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

[@Eval999]

wtf is tam talking about calling the mid chunk of FF7 filler

[@mrbrookah4117]

Where do you ask questions for this podcast?

[@dingus2k]

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

[@erikhendrickson59]

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.

[@Storm1Trooper5]

So little praise for such good experiences. 16 set a new bar for action set pieces in games and rebirth sets a new bar for feeling like a true adventure with a group of friends. Instead let’s focus on a couple things we didn’t like instead of looking at the bigger picture.

[@Rennyblue]

Nah Have you ever played a CRPG?

[@marcusclark1339]

that's not even that deep a thing even FF9 had interactions of that nature or SO's private actions

[@kannanshrinivasan6984]

​@@Storm1Trooper5tbf 16's combat system just falls apart because of how easy it is.

[@simracing4simpletons978]

BG3 already did this and did it better. Glad FF7 has better immersion with the party though. Still not on Larian's level

[@FluxCrush]

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

[@longquan8915]

They said the next podcast is gonna be delayed so who knows 🤷

[@Meowtro]

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.

[@TheOneGreat]

It's crazy how bad XVI is, especially compared to VII. Goes to show how terrible FF has become from XIII onward.

[@Meowtro]

@@TheOneGreatNo.

[@ya-ba-daba-dooya-ba-daba-d8067]

must consoooom

[@Meowtro]

@@ya-ba-daba-dooya-ba-daba-d8067if you're gonna try and troll at least know what that means.

[@ya-ba-daba-dooya-ba-daba-d8067]

@@Meowtro if you think me calling you a mindless consumer for going well both are actually fricking amazing when one is clearly shit is "trolling' you gotta get a grip

[@neighborofthedevil]

In relation to Harvey's question, I've been finding that the challenge with AAA gaming is not necessarily the overall time required to get through the game but the session length required to really make meaningful progress, be it through excessive cut scenes, boss gauntlets, checkpoints and just the game design in general makes you feel like you constantly have to keep going. I'm also limited in my gaming time so I've found that games that are easy to pick up and put down are very enjoyable for me nowadays - stuff like farming and sim games where you can play one or two days at a time, or a mission based game with clear jumping off points, or racing games where you can just play a race or two. I think a huge turning point in me enjoying gaming again over the last year or so was not worrying so much about beating the game and getting to end, it really doesn't matter all that much. I also found that gamepass really helped me to knock down the barrier to playing different genres and types of games. If I don't like it, fine uninstall and try a different one. Maybe I like it well enough but not enough to follow through to the end, no problem! It helped me get over that feeling that it won't be worth it to play unless I'm going to 100% complete it.

[@shierubea]

My favorite podcast since it came into existence; almost at 1million subscribers! Keep up the amazing work, you guys.

[@simonr344]

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

[@gruntingskunk2237]

Gay p0rb

[@telltellyn]

I have some problems with the ending, but damn I don't think I disliked it even 1/1000th as much as Tam. I really don't understand him saying characters were "undermined" in a significant way.

[@egberteil8462]

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.

[@mach3wgamer]

Let's hope FF17 will combine the best of both worlds.

[@makasete30]

I think the only thing I want from 16 is the voice acting to be honest. They were fantastic and I appreciated the more serious tone. The combat is a personal presence for everyone but I do think if they stick with that they need to bring back RPG elements and meaningful upgrades. Even GOW was a better RPG… Would be nice to have a party again, too.

[@KahranRamsus]

If anything from FF16 exists in future games, it's an extremely hard pass. The main games have been in steady decline since 13, and the only things bailing out Square have been FF7ReM/B and FF14.

[@kaylee42900]

It would be very hard to add a party system without doing something like Rebirth. Part of the intention of the design of that system was to allow for average gamers to control their party in a way that FF15 and FF16 didn't allow / would be difficult to implement. Regardless whatever they do I really want to have a party.

[@Miriam_J_]

Both games are made by different teams at Square, and it doesn't seem like they often take inspiration from each other so I doubt it. It would all come down to if Creative Business Team 3 is doing FF17. If they are, expect FF16-2.

[@MrAlexvizz]

havent played the game yet. Was thinking about getting it on sale this summer after finishing Rebirth, but man I keep reading negative comments like yours about the game. @@KahranRamsus

[@dannyg88]

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.

[@Dan016]

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

[@kaylee42900]

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).

[@tarutso]

Usually agree with Tam on most gaming things but an 8 is just too low of a score for Rebirth. Hence I think that's why he sounds quite defensive here and on Giant Bomb

[@DanWMiller]

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

[@Storm1Trooper5]

I like her and Tifa for different reasons and they’re both written pretty well. Their friendship is the best thing in the game. Aerith definitely more my type of girl though 😅

[@ugh5281]

it seems like they're just bitter that aerith's scenes with cloud are favored by the narrative. she was not annoying at all and if anything i like her even more in rebirth and every streamer i've seen likes her, even those who don't ship her with cloud.. a lot of this "aerith is annoying and they push her on you" discourse comes from the fact that they ship cloud with tifa but they forget that aerith is the romantic option that the narrative favors, it was like that even in the OG. disliking characters bc of ships is so petty to me... she has so many good moments in the game and her trial scene in the temple of the ancients was one of the most emotional heavy moments in the whole game to me, i actually bawled my eyes out.

[@DanWMiller]

@ugh5281 I ship her with Tifa personally but that doesn't ruin my view on the character lol

[@Eval999]

​@@ugh5281This. Aerith is frontloaded in this part of the original FF7 story for obvious reasons. This game has multiplied that.

[@axelstuart2707]

​@@Secret_Takodachiso you don't like or dislike any fictional character in history?

[@KrazyBean14]

Personally, 7 Rebirth addressed all my issues I had with 16. I do like both games still, but yes, I do enjoy Rebirth more for sure.

[@thorinhannahs4614]

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.

[@AlPacino2502]

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

[@animeborn2]

I played that when it game out I personally didn't like it but I see how many people would definitely appeals to a specific type of person

[@rokktober-personal]

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

[@sharpkatana1178]

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?

[@riyadalam5235]

Lol no thats with every ff game. You do pointles fetch quests so you can be powerful enough for the next story section. Although i would carry on playing with ff16 since some of the later eikon fights are amazing.

[@kostasspirou1010]

Unfortunately it doesn't, in fact after the 50% percent completion the pacing gets bad and there is a ton of fetch quests, but it picks up shortly after and the action and bosses get even better however you will still encounter some chores here and there.

[@dividedbyzero4]

​@@kostasspirou1010 rebirth has similar pacing but saved by the fact that it got minigames instead of just walking and talking to fill those filler segments. Honestly hoping future games they stop it with the pointless fillers.

[@kostasspirou1010]

@@dividedbyzero4 ehh in rebirth it doesn't really feel like filler tho sure its slow sometimes but i prefer that over actual fetch quests

[@tehCostHD]

@@kostasspirou1010literally every side quest in rebirth is a fetch quest too. All side quests are fetch quests. Go here, do that. Both games have some with meaningful battles, or character interactions. And some with none. I don’t get why people hate FF16 side quests lol

[@christopher_loren]

FFXVI the 2nd time thru is honestly amazing. We've been blessed to have two different and amazing games in the last year with Dawntrail right on their heels. Rebirth is probably the best game I have played in the last 5 years outside of Armored Core 6. We are in another golden age of FF. Appreciate it while it lasts.

[@l0rdfr3nchy7]

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 ^^'

[@fuzz7981]

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

[@bulletproof844]

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.

[@zacluchette8300]

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

[@StandardGabriel]

SkillUp skipping Helldivers 2 will be one of the biggest misses of the year. But the beauty of HD2 is that there is no FOMO and jumping in new is still gonna be just as fun trying to learn stuff

[@taglor]

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.👍👍

[@makasete30]

Modern Dad life. I feel you.! I have 3 kids and it’s often tough but so wonderful, of course. My eldest son was waiting for the new Fortnite season but luckily Splatoon side order is keeping him busy. I just finished GOW and thought I’d take a break before GOWR and play Remake. Loving it so far, but the combat is hard to get my head around with switching characters and having to use abilities. It’s a lot to keep track of. I have Rebirth to look forward to after that. I usually play at night, too, when the kids are sleeping. My backlog is huge so I am waiting to pick up Unicorn as aI know I’ll love it, too. I need my sleep, so maybe I’ll get back to these games when I retire! There’s even DG2 and Ronin coming out this month. I started with the Amstrad but mostly remember the Amiga 500 and SNES. It’s great to see how far games have come . Happy gaming dude!

[@ignacio1887]

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.

[@hunterdenault6624]

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

[@jaspal99]

Can someone timestamp me to the part they compare to FFXVI? I don't want to watch this til I've finished the game but am interesting in hearing thoughts of comparison to 16

[@omegaxtrigun]

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.

[@seanhood6902]

I enjoyed both thoroughly. 😊

[@PyR05150]

LUCY JAMES. I love you so much for casually name dropping "house of leaves". Also. BRING BACK THE VERY ONLINE SHOWWWW

[@TMV420]

Hey Tam, I always love your opinions and insight into gaming, along with the rest of the crew! Gene, thank you for your work at The Post. you're one of my favorite journalists and i really value your views on the idustry. You did an interview with Neil Drukmann for the Post about The Last of Us Part 2 and you picked my question as the first one to ask. thank you so much for that wonderful experience!

[@IbbyMelbourne]

2:00:33 Kyle Bosman is honestly the GOAT

[@jacobtaylor7506]

The side quests is one of the best in games. Just the banter between the characters makes it worthwhile.

[@ksjxbsbxiebd]

brother calm down....i love the game ....but if u havent played games like witcher, cyberpunk, rdr2,gta V, mass effect, yakuza, elden ring if u dont wanna include all of dark souls, and stuff...plz...just...be silent xD even ff15 had better sidequests.....lmfao

[@Miriam_J_]

​​​@@ksjxbsbxiebd Nah, I've played most of those. Those are good too, but 7 Rebirths are great aswell. They're funny and have the party talking to each other, making jokes and talking through their problems. It's great and adds a lot of charm. Seeing GTAV did make me laugh, though, can't lie.

[@ksjxbsbxiebd]

@@Miriam_J_ so u mean gta v doesent had good sidequests and Story?

[@jacobtaylor7506]

@@ksjxbsbxiebd can tell you trying to troll.

[@ksjxbsbxiebd]

@@Miriam_J_ im Not sayin, ff7 rebirth isnt a very good game... At least 8 to 8.5 out of 10 But it has Problems, pacing, Not the Best World building, could be way better. Its nice, but Not perfect at allll U can run around like an hour. Without Charakters talking or anything Its ok, to love the original, and now just ne brought back to childhood, like myself Nur cmmon guys.. Take of the Pink love Glases, and See the game, for what it is...

[@Sami-Moon]

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.

[@FuyuYuki92]

I haven't finished the game yet because I am also trying to finish every zone, but for me personally, I felt like they are pushing Tifa on me when I wanna go with Aerith, so I found it interesting to hear that it was the other way around for of you guys. Guess it's a matter of who you like/don't like. Curious to see how my perspective will change when I've finished the game.

[@HermosoEcuador]

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

[@minibixxx]

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

[@DroneCorpse]

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

[@Scimarad]

I'm not really into the 'new' story they're telling but I'm really enjoying this as a kind FF7 theme park that I'm wandering around.

[@danny-fallon]

Flynal Fantasy segment was so good, 10/10

[@AKThem06]

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

[@Cypeq]

I only figured out that Pacific Drive auto-saves between junctions when my game crashed, and I was able to resume at the entry point of the current junction 😅

[@Daniel_D-bo]

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

[@Brycebozz]

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

[@alenezi989a3]

The storytellimg of FF16 is the most unredeemable part of that game. I hope that game in its entirety gets forgotten. What a huge loss for a mainline FF.

[@emeka490]

​@@alenezi989a3 personally loved the story. Plus what a weird take why do you wish the game would be forgotten? If you don't like it just move on it's not hard.

[@alenezi989a3]

@emeka490 I have moved on I'm not playing it, also it's my opinion I didn't like the story or world building, I didn't like how they handled npcs I didn't like how they removed all RPG systems, I didn't like how the focus was spectacle over substance. The game, the story and all its mechanics were awful and that's why I want it to be forgotten, I don't want anything from it to contaminate future FF titles.

[@Cyruseh]

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

[@amysteriousviewer3772]

I think it’s the sound effects for me. For some reason they make completing a task so satisfying.

[@MrMrTravman]

I just need all the materia. Im like a materia crack addict. Much like Yuffie. 😂

[@IWantToStayAtYourHouse]

My one pet peeve is the white-haired kid. Everytime I complete something on the open-world, cloud opens up his tablet and wastes nearly a minute talking to this kid. He is so annoying. I skip all his dialogues lmao

[@Cyruseh]

@@IWantToStayAtYourHouse 😂😂 when you just want to get into the combat simulator or buy materia and you try to skip all the dialogue then you accidentally close out of his menu and have to skip his dialogue again

[@Tamisday]

Ok but your date with the boys is so much better than my date … with Barrett. I still don’t know what I did wrong lol.

[@mgiebus1869]

"everyone needs to have a stream deck" boy Ralph why didn't I think of that.....

[@ultima7865]

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.

[@shanrehman912]

He regularly has some weird takes.

[@shawnzinator]

Tam is a pretentious twat

[@Bentmetal13]

I LOVE that was dropped on a Friday morning

[@giggyolly]

Would it be super difficult to add the video to the Spotify podcast upload? I prefer to listen on Spotify, and it's nice to quickly view the video if there's something interesting being shown.

[@rileyponpon6778]

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). 😅

[@bigbrainb4662]

One of the flyest episodes in a while

[@LordsSky]

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

[@withoutthejuice7193]

Bedtime Balatro on the switch has become a routine

[@sepiroth426]

My boy is getting close to a mil!

[@marcuskennedy313]

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.

[@fernandozavaletabustos205]

I can imagine future Square Enix games (not only FF) can learn and incorporate the best of FF 16 and FF 7 Rebirth!

[@marcuskennedy313]

@@fernandozavaletabustos205 that's my hope. I really like both games and think they are on the right track

[@drgonzo123]

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.

[@amysteriousviewer3772]

Yeah the bloat is a bit less egregious than in Remake but it’s still very noticeable sometimes. I‘m not really sure why they do it either because the game would already be plenty long enough (and arguably better) without it.

[@CabinCreekGames]

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

[@MahoganyBlack]

@18:20 Charley in the final game becomes the Knights of the Round summon 😂

[@Cuan-gp4ws]

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.

[@elizabethclapp323]

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

[@SephPumpkin]

Happy birthday

[@jackdubois1512]

Hippy bathday :)

[@minibixxx]

Joyeux anniversaire

[@jackfiend2710]

Happy cake day

[@Gus1494]

Happy birthday!!

[@LinktheSamoyed]

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.

[@berenmccormack8767]

There is 170 hour pre-requisite to watching this video

[@heejincider4905]

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.

[@kbkb4284]

That fight with Garuda really really sold me. Nothing like I've experienced before.

[@tangentkatz]

"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.

[@drowner8016]

🤓☝️

[@rp2974]

How is the math solved when you have decks, cards, difficulties that dont exist in real poker.

[@NewRaven2]

Great episode, as always. As for the user-questions: #1. At this point, I really don't like that "I don't have time for long games"-argument (which is usually mentioned in combination with "make games shorter" as if your life decisions would be the fault of the games) anymore. My favorite genre are long-a** JRPGs, I have a full-time job and I have not even the possibility to game within breaks or when driving to or from work. Sooo, at the end, it took me slightly more than three months to finish Trails Into Reverie (with the majority of optional stuff). This isn't the way I used to play games, it's not my favorite way to play games, but if you are interested in that stuff you'll find moments to play, even if it's only half an hour or an hour a day. And you can and will still enjoy them. People get this stuff right for every other hobby they might have, but for some weird reason, if it's come to gaming, it's always "the games are too long" not "my time-management sucks". #2. Yeah. Even "fair" shops in full-price-games, especially in titles that doesn't need to have any online-services or "community features" game-content-wise are definitely something which makes me want to play a game less and therefor also makes me want to pay for a game less. I'm not against content that "stretches" a game to some extent, as long as it's optional. There are people who like that stuff, though.

[@robertthompson5701]

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.

[@matthewmay6058]

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

[@officialnucky]

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

[@amysteriousviewer3772]

The dude is just a narcissist who hid it well for a while

[@Menorahdude]

@@amysteriousviewer3772He didn't even hide it. Every episode he would cry about not getting codes anymore like an entitled brat. I mean, he even traveled around doing a one-man show about himself ffs. It was beyond obvious, people are just dumb.

[@speedracer2please]

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

[@connorstephens7467]

Dune 2 felt so rushed. I much prefer the pacing of Part 1. They really rushed far too fast through part 2 though. The ending didn’t feel as impactful because of it.

[@Blietzflame845]

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)😂

[@JayBiggs-cd2zg]

I’m 31

[@mo-akif]

@@JayBiggs-cd2zg im 29

[@JayBiggs-cd2zg]

Wait he said he was in his 20s during vanilla wow? How is that even possible…there is no way he’s in his 40s he looks like he’s legit like 30 ish

[@vernonpunkbass]

Friends Per Second: Lucy’s Gambling Awakening

[@clayyoder2477]

While I definitely love hearing from Directors about design choices, I would also love to hear more about the performance side of these games, especially with the great voice acting in this one. It’d be great to hear from even more actors, and hear from the Directors what their casting process is like

[@alejandromoravelado3734]

Awesome podcast, as allways. Loved being able to listen to Pacific Drive game director. What a brilliant and authentic game they made.