Kinda Funny Gamescast: Video Game Podcast - Final Fantasy VII Rebirth Spoilercast - The Kinda Funny Gamescast

Episode Date: May 3, 2024

Tim, Bless, Barrett, and Imran dive into ALL the story details of FFVII rebirth! Run of Show - - Start - Housekeeping - Thoughts - Spoilers - Let’s talk about Glenn - Our Favorite moments - Ads - Queen’s Blood Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What's up and welcome back to the live kind of funny games cast for Friday, May 3rd, 2024. Of course, I am Tim Geddes. I am joined by the new face of video games. Blessing Adioia Jr. Maylie, Buster Sword, Chip, and Shatter. There we go. There we go. You've had a lot of fun times this year, having you, in Final Fantasy and Dude. God, I love June too so much. We have the boss baby himself, Barrett Courtney. Tim, I'm here to talk about two things. It's said that Final Fantasy 7 rebirth is a tale of two endings, Tim. On one, side you have the ending to the main quest. Would someone say is a convoluted mess?

And while it delivers nuggets of hype in the form of bashing your action figures together, it is also emblematic of the major problem this remake trilogy has, waffling between a faithful remake and a reimagination of a story that re-contextualizes our understanding of the original story. And some could argue that this trilogy isn't fully succeeding it either. And on the other side, we have the amazing ending to the Queensblood quest line, which is the most Yu-Gi-Gi-O story in games. I understand Yu-Gi-O has video games, but Queen's Blood.

In Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, it's the most Yu-Gi-O-Ass story in a video game, and it kicks ass! I'm ready to talk about it. Very true. I'm shutting my laptop, because those are the only notes I took. And rounded out the group today, of course, for Tom of Final Fantasy 7, for it, for it feels like the hundredth time. I'm having Imran Khan back here to talk all about his thoughts on Von Fancy 7 Rebirth. I have four important words to say.

Go for it. Shilly-shally, Dilly-Dally. There we go, baby. There we go. We all watched Advent Choldered together in theaters and had a fantastic time. But remember everybody, this is the Kind of Funny Games cast. Each and every weekday, we get together to talk about video games,

reviews, previews, and topics live on YouTube, Twitch and podcast services around the globe. If you love what we do, please support us with the Kind of Funny membership on Patreon or YouTube to get all of our shows ad-free. Watch us record them live and get a daily exclusive show. For a chance to be part of the show, you can submit your thoughts and opinions as YouTube Superchats as we're going, and we will bring those in.

So if you have questions or theories about Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, please drop them and we'll talk about them. A little housekeeping for you. Kind of Funny Games is an 11-person small business that's all about live talk shows. You already got me and Greg talking about Resident Evil 9 on Kind of Funny Games Daily today.

But up next, we got Kind of Funny Game Showdown. Season 2 premiere is going to be a great time. And after that, Nick's going to continue his Pokemon dreams for his stream. So you can hang out with Kind of Funny all day on Twitch.com. TV slash kind of funny games or YouTube.com slash kind of funny games. And also today's Gregway is going to be

a absolutely fantastic one. He's having a great time. Tom, Tom, Matt's stuff. What he's doing? What kind of stuff? I don't remember our blanket, but you had it. I mean, I ran the games daily where he said it. The embargoes. That's what it was. That's what it was. It's the embargoes and all of that. So you can check out how we're going to handle embargoes going forward.

But thank you for making our dreams a reality. Patreon, Patreon, Podian, and Carl Jacobs. Today we're brought to you by aura frames, but we'll tell you about that later. It's time finally to talk about Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth with all of the cups off. We can say whatever the hell we want to about this.

The last time that we talked about Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth as a group, we were given our reviews, but of course that had to be spoiler-free. This is full spoilers, baby. We're going all the way. So I want to start with you, Imran. You are the biggest Final Fantasy 7 fan that I personally know.

And I have theorized, I've talked to you, we have really went down the rabbit hole about Final Fantasy 7 over the years. Where are you at? A couple months removed, Final Fantasy 7 rebirth. So I'm no longer as sure as I was back then, which is like a big reversal from remake where I was like, yeah, I know what's going on after this game finally. Now that the confusion has settled, the haze has like lifted.

But like now I'm like, okay, I've seen a thousand different theories. Some of these have like some real merit to them. Also, I don't think Squaredics knows, or at least I didn't know when they wrote that, where that thing was going to go. So I think like we're we were in for a ride after the end of remake and we didn't really get a ride we got like mostly the same game and a real like real mind fuck of an ending. This time I think we're actually in for like what are they going to do? I assume it'll mostly be the same game again, but they've got to actually like resolve a lot of this now. So at this point I am one of the thought process of I'm just going to kind of let it happen.

I'm going to wait and see. I'm still going to theorize like crazy in this podcast, but I'm going to see what they got going here because it seems like they could just go on a complete fucking roller coaster here. Where are you leaning right now? Theory-wise, obviously, you're probably mostly talking about the end

of where we're going here. What theory are you most closely aligning with? And you don't need to get into details of it because we can break down stuff later, but just like where are you falling? So I have two pillars to this current theory. One is that the entire first two games, or not entire, but like the first two games are about getting Zach to this like timeline playing, whatever you want to call it. Like getting him to interact with the main party in some way.

And I think now we're at that point. The other pillar of this is I used to be convinced and if we can go back to the original FOS7 remake spoiler cast, this is a multi-horsal thing. I am no longer convinced of that. I think the life stream is what's what we're essentially talking about as. like the multiple universes. There are things where these people are existing in some form of like reality, but it's

not like a Marvel Infinite Possibilities thing. It is a life stream taking people who have memories or unresolved will or unresolved like business and giving them a chance to like live that out a little bit, but also Steph Rother is fucking with it in some way.

And that's the thing is like that theory I feel like is backed by so much of what happens specifically with the erritt stuff in this game. of the way that they deal with talking about hopes and dreams and memories, of course, the living legacy that they always go back to. But her relationship with the live stream and the way that they kind of have shown that the different potential timelines, multiverse, whatever it is, are just other versions of the hopes and dreams that these characters might have had.

It's like it does add up to the original lore of Final Fantasy 7, but then also what they've been building with remake with the fighting against the whispers and then eventually teaming up with the whispers and all that. So it is very interesting where they are laying all the groundwork here. It is the big question of how are they going to bring it all together in the end in a way that makes sense. Or are they just not going to? Yeah. Bess, where do you fall right now?

I enjoy listening to you guys talk about this because I, for me, as somebody who is not as invested into like the meta commentary of timelines and what the live stream is doing. And if you played the original Final Fantasy 7, you know that the story goes like this. But if you play remake and rebirth where the whispers come in and they're altering the timeline, like, do you use. are all the different things that they could be doing. For me, for me coming into Seven Remake and Seven Rebirth, trying to be a fan of Seven Remake and Seven Rebirth through these new modern games.

That's the stuff that has made things difficult for me, especially while I'm enjoying the story as it's more straightforward, right? Like, it's so fun coming to this Spolar cast and being ready and excited to talk about, oh yeah, let's talk about how, you know, Barrett getting back to his hometown and how they treated him.

Let's talk about, you know, like, Ayrth getting to the hometown with Zach and meeting Zach's parents and what that means and all this shit, right? Like, you know, that's, those are the moments

where I'm invested in Final Fantasy, seven remake and seven rebirth, but it's when the whispers come in and I'm like, I got nothing, right? I got nothing. So, like,

hearing you guys talk about it. There's a very necessary conversation because, of course, I'm sure the bulk of our audience is like invested in it in this way. But yeah, like I have so little opinion about what's going on,

but I have fun hearing you guys talk about it. I'm so kidding. Because I think for me the big thing with the ending and the parts that didn't land for me with the ending were

you know, then we're going to full spoilers because of course, this is spoiler cast. So this is your last chance before I say some truly spoilerific shit. But the way that they handled Ayrith dying or not dying, but yes, actually dying, but her ghost still living there in Cloud's brain.

That stuff for me got so lost in the weeds where I'm like, I was enjoying how straightforward this was. Fair. Oh, she, uh, I know, kind of similar to Bless where it's like,

I like the relationship stuff. obviously with the ending, and y'all talking about your theory is like, you know, I know the original, a decent amount I played it as a kid. So it's, it's been a long time since I've played it, but, you know, getting refreshed on videos and playing remake and playing rebirth and feeling like I understand most of it. But then hearing YouTube talk, I feel like I just hit a blunt and you all sort of talking about like politics that I don't know about. So it's like, what the fuck? That's why I was making that goofy face earlier. And so, yeah, for me, at least when it comes to the I think it's like, we can have our theories on like multiverse or if it's the fucking will of people, whatever the fuck that means, man.

Like, on an emotional storytelling level does not work, I think. And that's the thing that like, I think is the, my big problem with the end of the game for a game that I ultimately really, really enjoyed and liked more than I did remake. And so that's, it's been interesting of kind of like sitting with it and kind of like going back to like videos just to refresh my memory of some areas and still just thinking. about like, damn, I just had a fun time playing in this world and, like, hanging out with these characters and going on the day and then, like, reliving some of the parts of the game that I am the most nostalgic for when it comes to playing the original with my babysitter and, like, their basement, like, back in the day of, like, going to, like, what is it, like, Cosmo Canyon and, like, reliving that kind of, like, Red 13 moment, which, like, fucking,

like, hits even more this time around, like, getting into, like, Barrett's, like, hometown and like all of that stuff and again that hitting more even like the resolution to it is a bit different but i think the things that they changed about it make it so much more meaningful um and that's the stuff i'm like really excited to talk about i'm excited to talk about the ending and why like ultimately i think it's like i forget who wrote the article chat let me know if you remember this but someone wrote an article about essentially of like square annex tried to pick both endings of if erith lives or dies and it ultimately like made a lot of people just like yeah and that's that's kind of why i'm so curious to dig into

emeron and tim and what you guys thought of it because as i was playing it during review and you get to that moment where it is you're kind of splitting between the timelines the quote-unquote timelines like possibilities or whatever and you know you get to it and it seems like cloud saves eras but it seems like that's not the case one what's your guys read on that and then also do you guys like that as people who are invested in our fans of this i've fucking cheered when he defected the sword then it got a little weird of like okay he didn't do that or he did and I was like at that point I was like okay I'm gonna wait to see this play out but it when he reflected this word I was like yeah we're finally doing the thing I understand

why they felt like they could not do any other but the thing that they promised at the end of remake right the end of all of remake is all about like defying fate and at the end of remake we we're fuck fate we're doing our own thing and we know going into part two like all right the big thing that you know is going to be defying fate is the erith's shit and to do the immediately, like, I think all of us had the thing of like, when he deflects Sephiroth's sword, I was in my bedroom at one in the morning, trying

not to scream my fucking lungs out because of how hyped I was. And then the confusing muddied thing, three seconds later, I was like, fucking Christ, man. Yeah, I mean, here's the thing. It is confusing and it is muddy, and I feel like that is what I enjoy about this remake trilogy so far, is that

they deliver so much of the moments that I remember, but in a way that I couldn't even imagine them in my head of just so perfect, characters interacting and I feel like Reward specifically had so many great character moments. I love the relationship between Tifa and Ereth. Anytime they're talking, I just believe in it so much. Barrett is the growth that we've seen him have, even from the first game to this is so good. Red 13, the voice, we might have some thoughts on, but like overall what they did with him and how they expanded on Cosmo Canyon, I thought was beautiful. And as you're going through the game,

so much of that stuff, it just, it really felt like an adventure and the party mattered so much. much. And then every time that they would cut to the Zach stuff, and then eventually the big stuff and the, the other timeline, whatever it is stuff, I was so excited because I'm like, I know what happens in the normal game. I want the new stuff. Like, y'all teased me so hard with one of my favorite game characters ever, Zach at the end of remake. And I'm like, what are you going to do with them? You put him on the box. He's on the box, everybody.

Like, what are we doing here? You're one of the three prominent characters and we hang out with them for total how many minutes to? I don't know, man. Like 17? Like, and the game starts and you're playing as, And I'm like, oh my God, this is this is not how I expected this because the preview that we did that they told us this is the beginning of the game. It wasn't that. Like the beginning started that I played was Cloud and Sep Roth, like in the flashback.

So I'm like, wow, they're doing something here. And I just feel like they just kept getting into the Zach stuff and then ripping you away. And I was like, this is going to make more sense eventually. And I think it does. I just feel the pacing of that stuff to get to towards the end where we're really dealing with the like, what the fuck's going on? Did he save Erette? Did he not save Ereth? I feel like it all adds up

and makes sense in a way that they wrote it. They know what is happening. I do think that they know where they're going. I think they have a vague idea. I think on rebirth specifically. So let's call this a theory and not actually inside information. A game theory? A game theory.

My theory is that they backed off a lot of the changes they were going to make in rebirth when they got reaction to what happened at the end of remake. So like not fully. they can't change that much in that short amount of time. But they did, like, I think Zach was probably a lot more involved in that original script idea. And then he is in the final game. I suspect they're also looking at, like, reactions to rebirth as they're making whatever they call the next game. Yeah, potentially, I just, I feel like with the story with where they go with the whispers and the whole scene with Tifa with the weapon and getting into the live stream.

And we see that there's like the white whispers and the black whispers and all that stuff. feel like the defying fate and all that stuff like there that is a story that's just happening around the final fantasy seven story and and i feel like they i i believe they have more answers than they're letting on here and i think that the direction that rebirth went to me means oh wow okay like the whisper stuff that happened in remake they're building on and like barrett dying in the first game but then being brought back and all that stuff it's like there's enough elements that i feel like they're adding that do complement all the lore and concept stuff that we know

about the weapons, about the live stream, about Genova and all this stuff. And that's the biggest thing is the Genova of it all. They can kind of get away with whatever bullshit they want. And the fact of the matter is with where we are left off and rebirth, we still haven't dealt with Cloud like really taken in his whole past.

He's still getting all glitchy, you know? So here is my overarching theory for all three games is that this entire trilogy is a battle for Cloud. soul. So, okay, early on in the middle of the game, they started talking about the ghee, like in a way that they did not talk about the Mephto 7, which I thought was incredibly cool. So awesome.

That entire sequence is so goddamn cool. And he's like, are sailing the boat and just telling you all about, I'm like, this is nothing, but also I love this. Yeah, it's so cool. So they do, they explain that the ghee who are not from that planet, they don't go further into it, but they're not from that planet. So Lifstream doesn't want them. So they can never fully do.

die. So they hate that idea so much that they prayed to create the black material, or prayed to create the black materia, a symbol of hate that would just destroy the entire world with them with it. So there's no life stream, nothing, everything gets destroyed. So we can't establish

from that alone that material can be created by emotions. All this time, Sephroth is doing something with Cloud. He is fucking with him for some ends. This little puppy. And he gives Cloud the fake material, fake, quote unquote fake,

we don't actually know what it is yet, and then fucks the Cloud's head massively after that. Like, he does things that, like, you're talking about the character moment's not working for you. One of the character moments that work for me is that everything Cloud does in Temple of Agents is really fucking mean to Ayrth. Yeah.

And that's his lasting memory. No, character moments in this game, fucking I love. Yeah. It's just the, it's like the last 20 minutes of the game. But I mean, like, what makes those last 20 minutes work for me, it's the fact that Cloud is just mean as hell to her. Like the second, when she, she has a good idea that she's about to die, I think. Yeah. So when they all come out of that chamber of trauma or whatever you want to call it,

which was awesome. Which is great. I fucking love that. The Barrett scene was great. The Ariseen actually had me cry. The Aeros scene was powerful. Yeah. Like, stuff like it's, he just says, like, time is wasting. We have to go. Like, even though she is like trying to tell people, hey, don't be sad when I die. Yeah. So, like, and I, and I love that. I think it's more of so, more so of like the plot getting in the way of the emotion for the like the last sequence right of protecting erith but then not protecting erith uh teaming up with zach but then kind of not teeming up with zach like all of that i think of like i think that got in the way of the emotional like character right for that is plot plot plot plot plot plot plot yes so like after that happens

cloud gives the the fake black materia to sephoroth he's like this isn't really useful for right now but you're going to give this to me eventually he puts something in it then tells Cloud to give it to him. So I think, and also at the end of the game, Cloud still has that black material. Yeah, and he puts it into sword, and it's so fucking cool. I think that thing is what Sephraoth wants for some reason,

but he needs Cloud's negative energy to actually be like, to turn it into the thing, like the time compression, the universe, whatever he wants from it, he needs Cloud to do it. And so the game, the white and black whispers,

obviously represent Sephraoth and Ayrh, in some way, perhaps literally, I'm not sure. Yeah, honestly. That's what I think is that we're building to a thing where there are these forces that they've been that we've had from every iteration of Final Fantasy 7, and I do think that Erith with the Holy, with the white materia, whatever,

that's now a clear material, and then Sephrodth with the black material, it's like literally just the white and black material themselves, the white and black whispers. It's like, and the way that those things act, it adds up and it makes sense. Right. I think Error, like the last date and stuff and things like that where things of her going

like, don't go nuts. I don't blame you for any of this. Just like be a good person and let that material will like morph around you, I guess. I think that's what that third game is going to be is there is a battle for Cloud Soul that is now essentially Tifa's responsibility

that everyone else like several others trying to get him to turn not just for funsies but he hasn't a plan. The third game has to be heavy on this stuff right? Yes. I was fascinated by the pacing of most of Final Fantasy 7

Rebirth was stuff that I had played in the original Final Fantasy 7 and I didn't think that it was going to be because I didn't think I had played as much Final Fantasy 7 as I have but you know it wasn't until I got to the end of rebirth or I'm like okay finally I'm at stuff that I actually didn't get to in the original game and when you finish off and it is yeah cloud

seeing Ereth right like having Erith be visible to him and then yeah put in the black material into the sword and like you know the team going off from there I get the impression that whatever the third game is has to be that shit yeah and this Not knowing what's in the actual rest of Final Fantasy 7 original. Dude, that's such a good point.

And what I find so fascinating about what Rebirth ended up being, if you watch any of our theory breakdown videos of the trailers or any time we talked about rebirth, I always was like, oh, I think they're going to deviate entirely from the game. Like, I thought the rebirth was going to be like, hey, man, it's a new adventure. We might go to some. Both of us 10 hours in coming to each other with like theories of how off the rails they were going to go. And then they just did it. Yeah.

Which I think is a surprise, obviously a choice. and I do think for the most part it was the right choice because I feel like so much of this game that people that played it they loved all of it it's just the weird once you get to the new stuff

that people are a bit more taking or leave it and I totally understand that because even as somebody that I just want to say this I like it at the end of the day the more I think about it the more where they leave off

I like not knowing the answers and I truly believe they're going to have answers and the third one so now here's my problem here's where giving her feelings no I don't

but that's not The fact that I am emotionally, like, involved in this and that I am just like, I don't like these choices you're making. I'm like, I'm gripped by the storytelling. I care about these characters. I care about the relationships. And once we got to the last 20 minutes, we'll say, of this game, that literally just turns into the most bizarre, feed it into the Tim Getty's brain of like, what are just cool things that can happen, the action figures together? Like, I would have never in a million years thought I'd get a scene of fucking Zach and Cloud back to back, like fighting Sephora. fucking cool as hell. The entire team helping

him and stuff. I'm like, what is going on? And it's like, was it earned? Absolutely not. Like, it's just so weird that this game had all this stuff. But I'm fascinated that they did. And I'm fascinated with how little they had of Zach throughout the game and then Biggs coming back.

Like, they're just throwing so much fan service stuff, but the fact that all the fan service stuff is the weird shit, I feel like there has to be a plan to it. And that makes me like be a little bit more okay with it because it's not affecting the actual plot of the game and the characters in the moments. The only, like, the big thing in plot-wise that's different, and I think might actually,

because I've been thinking about this of, like, what else do they have left to adapt for the third game? Like, it doesn't feel like much plot-wise. But the whole big thing that's now different is, like, the Wutai stuff. Yes. Oh, yeah. The third game, they have said, will focus on Wutai as, like, a major part of the game. So I imagine you're going to land there and spend, like, 20 hours just, like, dealing with all politics and shit that happens in Luton.

I love that for an optional area. Which, okay. Sorry, go ahead. Just real quick, just throw it before you because I feel like you'll be able to tie this together better than me. But like, there's the Wutai stuff. But then there's also this like new character

that was throughout this game, the hooded guy, that like, Glenn? Yeah, great, everyone's favorite character, Glenn. Glenn. Love my boy, Glenn. That's a crazy name for that. Dude, Glenn is best friends with Clyde. So the thing about Glenn is he is the main character,

story character of what was the name with that Battle Royale? Oh, the Final thing is 7 Not Evercrisis. Something, infinite? Was it? No. Soldier.

First soldier. Yes. He's the main character of that. What I suspect was supposed to happen. Is that, so at the end of that game, he gets accepted to be a soldier as long as two other people. They were not, they were mentioned in this game, but not like, only very briefly. So there's ever a crisis going on right now. The mobile gotcha that is coming out episodically.

And I suspect in that game, Rufus probably killed Glenn. But that game got delayed. So they weren't ready for, like, that to be the first revealed in rebirth. So, like, by the, that explains why all this Rufus stuff was, like, really confusing. Yeah. Because Glenn is not like a actual character. I thought I was tripping, dude. It's so, it's so fun reviewing games.

And, like, me not having the internet to, like, Google, did I fucking miss this cutscene and remake? And be like, does anybody know who the fuck Glenn is? So I'm watching that. I'm like, wow, I really forgot what happened in the last game, apparently. Though apparently it's not actually Glenn. It is a Sephiroth. It's a Sephiroth. It's a Cron-Wu-Tai, I think.

Yeah. That's my read, too. And that's why I think that it makes sense for the, for, if they needed to add something new in two, because they're going to expand so much on Wutai and three. Yeah. But also like, so the Wutai stuff is interesting because they keep talking about this prime minister Suraf, who is absolutely, like, he is trying to get the war with Uthai going. He's trying to free them from, uh,

uh yuffy's father like as the as the leader even though he probably if his father is not actually as terrible as she thinks and they think uh sir ruff is very clearly rufus his name is sir ruff oh my god that's so funny and like remer went like towards the end of the game that's great that's awesome grand goes up there i love fiction and he's like he goes to rufus is like yeah he didn't show up and rufus is like maybe if we're a little less cheap then like that was like oh yeah it's very obviously they're saying he is he is rufus interesting okay so he's playing both sides of this because he also wants a war but probably not for the same reason sephroff does yeah i think he is after the huge material because he wants to save the world

in his own weird shin raw way yes and god damn he's so cool like let's just now can we talk about like the coolest moments in this game i mean we've got the huge sequence in the battle arena tim oh yeah because like with rufus and all this we get the pro wrestling stuff we got Dio back. We got all the the fucking battle rap going on. God, that rap was amazing. Dude, it was so good. And like, there were the set piece boss fights in this. Like, for years I've

said, I remember watching Final Fantasy Advent Children being like, can you imagine playing this? And then I remember Final Fantasy 13 coming out and being like, some of the battle moves and animations look like Advent children, but doesn't feel like it. Now I'm like, oh, we've surpassed Advent children. The set piece boss fights are incredible.

They were going to use the models from Advent children. And then we're like, oh, these look too old, we can do better. That's so damn cool, man. I feel like the, we talk so much about the music in this game, we don't talk about it enough. Because my God, it might be the greatest soundtrack

of all time. It's definitely the most varied and, like, highest production value across the amount of tracks that they have in this. But they use each one so perfectly for every single moment. The way that the choreography of the fight scenes and the cinematography of the edits of everything, it is just maximum hype at all points for every single fight.

And I don't know how they keep upping it because in remake I would say there was maybe like Four to five of those big fights I feel like Rebirth had like There's fight on fight it. Yeah, that's crazy. Yeah, dude that's when you in chat mentions the bow wow wow Wow. Yeah, the music moments in this game are so Great but also kind of crazy and weird in ways that I really respect because they that's the track of the fucking year. I don't give a shit man But also there's a battle version of it that like sounds amazing and like you know they go deep into EDM. Like you mentioned, there's hip hop. There's the whole rap cut scene where they do the introduction

to the fight. There's, like, there's orchestrated versions of so many of the classic themes that we already have from the original Final Fantasy. There's so much just like jam-packed soundtrack in this. And yeah, it's so impressive. There's like a Curie J-pop, like, battle theme that they use once, and it's great.

There's the fucking, like, piano stuff, too, where it is like, hey, we have a rhythm game in here. We can just play piano. It's all these different themes. I'm so bad at it, too, but I'm But I respect it because I'm like, oh, y'all put work into this. It felt like doing the last one thing. Like Andy Cortez is going to have a lot of fun with this.

Dude, okay, the vocal theme in this game is amazing. I didn't love the one in remake. I love the one here. And it really took hearing the orchestral version to make me appreciate the original two. Yeah.

But oh my God, the whole loveless scene, the entire freaking like opera scene. They were just like, yo, Final Fantasy 6 has its opera scene. We talked about Loveless a million times in Final Fantasy 7. What if we just went all out?

I showed all the characters have to deal with them dealing with the grief of losing Jesse and avalanche and all this stuff Is that chapter 12? It's it's like 11 or 12 Whatever that chapter is is maybe one of my favorite chapters in a video game period Because that's the same one where you go on the date. Oh, that is the date actually Oh, this is the date and so like by I want to go around and ask which date did you go on and like what happened during that during the date? Because I went on the date with Tifa. Let's fucking go I got the right fucking choice And when I tell you that So you do the loveless thing

You do the whole like fantasy We're to call it fantasy But you get like the play or whatever We actually play it And do all the Quick time events and all that shit And that stuff alone I was like this is fucking incredible

And then after that I don't know how it went for y'all But I get the scene of I assume all of us might have gotten The scene of Ayrth singing a song And during that it's like me and Tifa backstage and we start holding hands And when I tell you that my heart

My heart starts beating Because I'm like This is so fucking precious And then you go on the fair wheel and did any of you guys get Tifa? Are I the only one? I got Barrett. Oh, that sucks for you guys. Well, that's the canon version because let's be

real. Cloud is bitchless. Swagless and bitchless. It's really nice. It's really good. He becomes like, he basically says a bunch of things about his past and like how he feels and like how this is like a friendship. For Barrett? Yeah. It's great. It's really, really

good. Like I was bummed at first, but then like the more that night plays out, I'm like I feel like this is the story. You know, it's like them having a bro moment. And especially like the Jesse stuff, I think hits for me a bit more like seeing Barrett's reaction to it. Oh my God, heartbreaking. See, for me, I, so as we're getting colds for the game, you know, I'm talking to Michael Hyam, my roommate, who is one of the biggest Final Fantasy fans I have in my life. And, you know, we're talking about kind of like our impressions from the get-go.

He had done the preview. And so he was asking questions about the relationship stuff in the game. And I'm like, oh yeah, I'm curious what they're doing with that. Because, yeah, when you do side quests with people, your relationship levels up. And he's like, yeah, I was like, oh, yeah, I wonder if you're going to be able to romance. He was like, no, they wouldn't do that. Like, they're not going to commit to having a B-T-4 error. If that'd be too much for them.

And when I get to the scene where it is, Tifa, me and Tifa on the Ferris wheel, cloud and Tifa, not me and Tifa. Oh, shit. Cloud and Tifa on the Ferris wheel. And, like, they're kind of opening up emotions. But also, it's the thing of, it's cloud. And so Cloud is this dude who doesn't really open up like that. You know, he's gruff, he's tough.

He's also kind of like, he's insufferable to me, but it's whatever, right? It's still Cloud. But you can tell that there's something there that they don't want to share. And then they kind of have this moment. And it is like, they kind of lean in. And I'm like, oh, it's going to happen. And then Cloud hugs her. And I'm like, okay, I guess that's still sweet.

But then after that they kiss, when I tell you, I was gripping my control is so fucking hard. This reminds me, busting it all my favorite story is about to you. We came here for the Hamaguchi interview. We were talking outside. And we were talking about the dates. And Hamaguchi's like, yeah, we're like, read 13 and all that. You come out from Games Daily. Tim says, hey, blessing, what date did you go on?

And you're like, last night? Hey, it caught me so off guard because I did go on a date the night before that. And so when I come out of KMchiti and Tim's like, oh, what date you go on? I'm like, who told you? Who told you about the date that I went on? Oh, man. Yeah, that date stuff, so good. And again, the loveless, the set piece of it all.

And it building into the story and like, again, one of my favorite things about Final Fantasy 7 is it is very complicated and it is a saga at this point. And I truly feel like these games are a sequel. They're not a remake and they call it a remake and I get it. People are frustrated by that and that makes sense. But I love that the more Final Fantasy 7 you take in, the more it makes sense. And I'm not saying it all makes sense. I'm just saying the more you kind of enjoy the little bits here and there of what you got going on.

it's like to me, seeing the whole loveless thing and the way that they really care about Jesse and showing all the avalan stuff, like that's a remake thing. Yes. You know, and I just really appreciate that like we can get moments that I'm like, I know I care about like the date and I know from the lore

of the original game that they've remade, but then they add all these new characters or new elements to old characters to flesh them out to make them feel as important as the core cast. I think that's really special. Yep. Yeah. Though I will say, really bummed that everyone died basically.

At the end of remake, they give this idea that Biggs, Wedge, and Jesse may have survived. And then you find out through rebirth, oh no, they're all really fucking dead. Like Wedge especially, Wedge Glenn. Wedge had a black. Did you guys do the, there was a side quest chain in, I believe, oh, what's Red 13's like area? Cosmo Canyon. Cosmo Canyon.

You know how each area kind of has its own unique, like, side quest that is like a special thing. Yes. The one in Cosma Canyon has to do with Wedge. And I did the first one, but I didn't have time to do the rest of them because I was like, this game is too fucking big. I don't want to finish a review. Did any of you guys finish that one? Yes. What happened? Like what is, what's up was dead? Like they saw him, like they were on the bottom floor of the Chinraught tower. They saw him go spiked in front of them. No. That's fucked up. Yeah. It was actually really fucked up. Damn. And so that's where it's

interesting though because like, okay, they're dead, but so was Biggs. I would have never thought in a million years we'd see Bigs back. Like in any form. So when he showed up, that was definitely like a, what the fuck, let's go? What are you going to do with this? And then it was interesting that it kind of just seems like he just dies again. Yeah.

But he doesn't because he goes down two different tracks. I don't know, man. Like a bunch of different ones actually. The storytelling is so weird. If you buy the livestream theory that they're in a universe, like an afterlife that's about them trying to finish business, Biggs wants to die for the cause. That's what he says during rebirth.

He thinks he feels guilty that everyone else, like, he left them alone, basically, and all he did was, like, kind of clamped up a tower. Yeah. That's his ending, I think, is that eventually, no matter what, eventually he will die for the cause. Okay. And Zach can try and save him, but he's going to get shot.

He's, what was that, the, the pug universe, I guess, because he had the scout, yeah. But, like, in that universe, he will always die. And I think, if, not to be, like, overly fatalistic about it, they're bringing back every character, basically in every game. because this one had every side character from remake. Right. I would not be shocked if we do find some universe where everyone is happy. But also, I think it's okay.

I think it's okay that everyone died finishing their business. And Zach, I think his ultimate business is he wants to protect everyone, which means he is going to find a way to protect everyone. Okay. That's what heroes do, everybody. We're going to take a quick pause to hear a word from our sponsors. When we come back, we're going to keep talking about my boy, Zach. Looking for the perfect gift to celebrate the moms in your life.

Aura frames are beautiful Wi-Fi-connected digital picture frames that allow you to share and display unlimited photos. It's super easy to upload and share photos via the Aura app. And if you're giving Aura as a gift, you can even personalize the frame with preloaded photos and memories. How do I? Greg Miller from Kind of Funny knows so much about Aura. Because I just gave Gen 1 for her birthday. I use the QR code on the box to preload it with photos of her and Benny, and when she booted it up for the first time,

she got to see a sweet little message for me. I like this frame so much that I am actually legitimately buying one for my mother for Mother's Day. From grandmothers to new mothers, aunts and even friends in your life. Every mom loves anora frame. Right now, ORA has a great deal for Mother's Day. Listeners can save on the perfect gift by visitingoraFrames.com to get $30 off, plus free shipping for their best-selling. frame. That's A-U-R-A-Frames.com. Use code kind of funny at checkout to save. And mom,

if you see this before you get your or a frame for Mother's Day, please act surprise. So staying on Zach for a second. I brought this up a little bit earlier, but I just want to explicitly say it. I just do not accept any world that's not cloud and Tifa and Zach and Ayrth. All right. I might be there now. And the fact that this game had that whole date situation with the Pomeranian version and I'm just like this seems like a good universe and I see Ayrithy Cloud

having their moments I'm like no this is a bad universe you get the hell out of here man what are your thoughts on this bless I mean I am on the Tifa side of things but I also love Ares that's the thing these characters are so good like these characters for me it's

but it's not you bless it's cloud who do you think it's right for cloud you know have you seen the movie challengers sometimes let's all just have fun with each other sometimes you know share the wealth I love

Did you watch challenges Because I don't know That's the takeaway Listen Listen Cloud and Tifa Cloud and Ayrth Areth and Tifa

Like why can we all Just love each other Cloud can get together With anyone besides Red 13 and Ufi That's my reasoning Barren and Cloud Like I feel like

Man we got so much love to spread here That's where I'm in There's a lot of love to spread But you know Zach and Aeth Man that's that's my hill to die on I really love Ares line Towards the end of the game

It's I like you Cloud But like Kimi a lot of things And like I've never been like Diehard shay in Final Fantasy 7, whatever. Personally, it always seemed like he got together with Tifa because that's who survived. But also Advent Children, he's a huge asshole to her and everyone else.

So, like, no matter what result, like, comes from this, unless they change the things that stop Geostigma and all that jazz, he's still going to, he will still be in a loof, absent, like, partner to whoever he remains. I will say, I think Final Fantasy VII, and I, I might as sweet this, I saw, I've seen other people mention it, though. Like, I think this game has just the best cast of characters of all time. for a video game, right? Like, or at least it's up there for me.

I think it is. They made me care about Kate Sith. Yeah. Yeah. I do, I care so much about all these characters so much. By the time we get around to, even early on in the game where in that first area, there's the cloud and Ayrth go on their little date, right? And they get back to the crew and Tifa, somebody's like, where are you guys been?

And yeah, Aaron's like, oh, we're on a little date. And Tifa's like, I'm so invested, man. The girls, man, I brought it up earlier, Bill. I think my favorite relationship in the game is Tifa. and Ayrth. Every scene they have together, every little line they have. I mean, even Ayrth in the beginning, it's not with Tifa, but talking to Barrett and just being like, do you think I'm a

dumb ass? And like Tifa having her back and like all these little moments and their high fives constantly. And then actually coming together to talk about like, yo, what the fuck is up with Cloud? What's going to all their boys? That's actually what I wanted to get to, right? I want me to be a hater real quick because this Cloud guy. Oh, man.

But here's the thing. I feel about him the way Kendrick feels about Drake. He's supposed to suck. Yes. Yeah, but I think, I understand that, but he still sucks. Like, I still come out of this being like, I fucking do not like this main character. And then also,

I wish there was more reaction to it from the other characters in those moments. When you get to the scene where Cloud is being taken over and he essentially like swipes at Tifa and causes her to fall into the live stream, I feel like there should be a little bit more reaction to that

from maybe a Barrett. I feel like Barrett should be like, what the fuck, man? I think very clearly they are talking about it amongst themselves. in a way that does not involve cloud. Because there's a point where Barrett said, oh, we thought you were freaking out again.

And, like, somebody, like, stops him. Yeah, yes. He's giving away private conversation right there. But also, so in the original 507, the black material that they pick up is fake. It's not a real one. Yeah. What happens is the temple implodes,

and it becomes that black material. The temple did implode this time, but they didn't say anything about it. So I suspect they pommed it. like Barrett saw the actual black materia or somebody is holding onto it because they don't want Cloud to have it. Interesting. I feel that. And like for chat and people listening, right?

I know the twists with Cloud. Again, I don't know 100% everything that happens in the Final Fantasy 7 story. So maybe, yeah, I'm missing on context around the crew. But yeah, it feels for me, for me giving the perspective of somebody who's jumping into this as I am playing this as my first official all the way through being invested in Final Fantasy 7. I am playing this with the protagonist that is making me go, oh, I'm with you. I think if you're supposed to feel slimy controlling him. Yeah. You're supposed to feel like,

if I make progress, he's gonna do some dumb shit. If Cloud wasn't like the coolest looking character, and if he wasn't like surrounded with such lovely characters, it didn't absolutely destroy that cloud design, destroying a good way. It would be tough to get me on this guy's side. I'm like, you're lucky you got a big old story.

And this is also the tough thing of splitting the story in three parts, right? It's like this is, I feel like you're supposed to feel this about him going into the ending of the second. So it's just, it's hard that you don't get to see the full through line. for another few years. Yeah. Like towards the end

when he was just killing soldiers because he was like gotta do something with him I'm like I don't disagree with you but also you're doing this real you're making Tifa sad Yeah yeah

Like you're you're fucking the vibes of your homies I don't like that Not a fan Yeah The big reactor fight Where the girls team up And then Scarlet

Against Scarlet Yeah The music hits We get the boss theme For the first time In this game And they go so damn hard Tifa falling

in. When they shoot the bullets and cloud just dodges, I was like, that might be the single coolest second I was sick, dude. Was that the scene where he recreates all of Sephiroth's movements? Yes. Oh my God. Like, just the reflection of that first scene was just

Jeff's kiss. I like that Yuffi is intentionally pushing down the son on stuff. She is trying not to think about it. Yeah. Then got confronted with it in that Temple of Agents. But also, she did not get revenge this game. I suspect, so, God, what are we on F-S7s,

are we good for the original? No, yeah, yeah, yeah, go for it. So in the original, they go to back to Midgar. I suspect then Vincent and Ufi are going to have a little diversion to go to sector zero because they have unfinished business that they have to handle there. Scarlett, I don't, I think she dies but from a weapon attack and not from like a, you know, not from anyone actually doing anything. But I suspect that like Vincent Nufi, they're going to find common ground on the fact that they know what's going to

going on in deep ground and they need to put a stop to it. Yeah. I like that. I like that. Can I, I want to talk about Seph Roth a little bit because I fucking love this guy. But it's more of a question for, I guess, YouTube, Tim and and Mron, about why Seph Roth is so obsessed with Cloud.

I assume that it's because of the timeline thing where he knows how important Cloud is already that he's like, oh, I got to orchestrate all this shit with Cloud. But for me coming in and not knowing necessarily everything, right? There are so many times during this game where I'm like, so why does he care about Cloud so much? Why is he such a major character to him, especially coming off of Crisis Corps, where I'm like, Cloud seems up to this point just a dude

who had things happen to him? So my current theory, like I mentioned before, is that he needs Cloud to do something for him, and that something is going to be, like, affect the material. So he does need Cloud in the original F.7 because we have not physically seen Sephiroth yet. Oh, in the original FFSA?

Oh, are you talking about? In this story, rebirth or where this would be in F of 7. He is entombed in the Northern Crater. And so he needs Cloud to go free him and give him the black materia. Because he does not have a physical body that can do it,

which is what the rest of the reunion people are also trying to do. But Cloud is like Genova powered, so he has more of a chance to do it. Okay. I'm here for the ride on that stuff. Yeah. Because there's like, yeah,

there are certain things where I'm like, I'm just going to trust the process. I feel like for traditional storytelling, this is, it's hard to follow. follow certain things where I'm like, oh yeah, he does care about Cloud so much and they're not giving I'm not getting that like side

of explanation for it, but I get that that is a, either you played the original Final Fame 7 I imagine or there's a plan. I do wonder if the his plan with the fake black material and giving that to Cloud and you talking about like a material being born out of emotion and like prayer and stuff

like that. I do wonder if maybe like nobody on our team even has like the real black material if that's the case of like the stuff not like crumbling into the black material. If he knows that and like that's part of his big plan is to like

have some terrible event happen in part three and I think that's probably why he wants the war to start is that I think he's like lining up the dominoes for something really tragic to happen in the third part for cloud to wish like evil upon the world to make the fake black material maybe a different type of black

material. So we know what Seph Rother wants this now. Like, as of rebirth, we know he wants to just essentially take all these worlds into himself and become like an omni being or whatever. I think if he's trying to give cloud negative feelings, we didn't get the pool scene this time, or not pool, lake, whatever. The scene of cloud taking Air's body and putting it into water. I think we're going to get that in three once he actually figures out what's going on. And I think that's going to break him mentally. I suspect that's what we're going to happen

during his Nebelheim flashback during the time that Tifa is there to try and keep him like somewhat together so like ultimately I think Sephiroth is this war for Cloud Soul is not going to last forever but I think Sephiroth is trying to get like trying to get him into a position

where he can use him better yeah okay the beginning of this game when we get the flashback to Nebelheim the way that they handled all that I was so stoked about where we hear the different lines of dialogue, like either from the original game or we get the guy that's clearly cloud and all this stuff. And I'm like,

this is so cool. But then to get through it and have the in present time of them in calm, having the conversation or yeah, I guess it was calm, having the conversation about like, yo, what's going on? And Tifa straight up is like,

what's going on here? I was like, this is so cool that they're actually addressing what's going on. I wish they went further with it in this game. Yeah. Again, I think that's a thing of like, was having these conversations with people in the back.

She is saying like, hey, Cloud is not right. Like, how does he remember these things even though he wasn't there? Like, did someone tell him? It's like, and later on he remembers Zach, which is a new thing. But like, he remembers Zach and she says, I'll deal with it. I'll talk to Eric about it. Because she doesn't want him going up like further off the rails, I guess. Yeah.

I think if you got to peek into some of those conversations, that would have helped me a lot with like the believability of so, of like, just the dynamics of the characters. because, yeah, like, for me as I had to, like, make those assumptions up for myself of like, okay, well, maybe they're talking about it. But, yeah, getting the things of, well, Tifa obviously was the playing crisis score. I'm like, Tifa was there. So why isn't she speaking up more was a little bit of a thing for me where I'm like, I don't know, man. So there's a small hint towards it is that whenever Kate Sif is not with the rest of the party, they talk about how this guy is Shinra. He very could likely betray us.

And Cloud is the one who's like, it'll be fine. So, like, they do talk about each other when they're not there. But you just don't see them talk about cloud because you're always cloud. I like that. Cisney, speaking of Crisis Corps, we get a character from Crisis Corps, now back, Gungaga, Zach's hometown.

We're there a lot. Some of the getting around Gung Gaga and all that stuff wasn't so great. But story-wise, I feel like there's a lot of fun stuff here. What was your take on that section of the game? Speaking of music, like, really affecting, they play a little bit of Price of Freedom when she first shows up. And I'm like, oh, they put it in enough fan service,

for me to just know and appreciate this. I wish she did more, but I understand why she didn't. You can't, like, she is someone that you could add to a party, and her not going needs a reason. And, like, the good reason is she's predicting this village. She doesn't want anything to do with Shinar. This is, like, her life for now. So I enjoyed everything that was with her. I enjoyed, like, the end of the side quest there that were, like, yeah, you guys want to get trained, I'll train you.

They're like, what are you going to do? You don't know anything. It's like, I used to be a Turk. And everyone seems shocked like, oh, right, they wouldn't know. That's a very rich part of her. backstory but not really anyone else's yeah i love the turks in this game yes i think they're great i love those characters they're such fun characters and uh taking like the style that they had in advent children and like just like that new kind of like western version of the theme that they have yeah uh

and just making them these like super lovable guys that they might have been in the original game but just like i never got that feel from it just reading the text you know yeah seeing the way that they act and like bumble around even their animation some of them being straight up out of advent controlled into like the way that they move. So fun. And adding Elena, adding a song, song, sang.

And his conversation with Aeth towards the end of the game, the whole Temple of the Ancients bit, the Temple of the Ancient as a dungeon was probably my least favorite part of the game. It's long. It was very long. And I didn't like the mechanics of the gravity and all that.

But once we got into the story bits and then all having to like face their demons or whatever. And that big gravity boss fight that ends up being like, with the Turks, that was a high for the game. Like that whole bit was just, like, to me, that was fan service, but like in a way that felt like it wasn't a side story to the plot. It was part of the plot. And every character dynamic, the way that they talk to each other,

the way the action all kind of backed up, the gameplay, character stuff, music, everything, that's just perfect video game right there. One thing I found out in the hard mode was that if you dodge on a Valena's charging attacks in that first fight in the mythical minds, she just tumbles off the mountain. It doesn't show up for like another five minutes.

She has climbed back up. Awesome. What the fuck, that's awesome. Because there's a scene where that happens in the game, not in battle, but like before it. So, like, it's very funny that they're like, let's just integrate in this of the game. That's hilarious.

That's so... One of my favorite moments with Elena, and I hate that I, like, I got the reference, right? It's, like, when she's stranded in, like, the desert region, and she's like, I need some fucking ice cream. It's so hot out here. And then the next time we see her,

she's in, like, one of their helicopters. She's eating the blue fucking, like, ice cream thing from Kingdom Park. I hate and I get this reference but I love it because it's such a cheeky little nod and yeah that was I saw someone in chat asking why Reno wasn't more of the game the Japanese

voice actor died oh shit so they're like we can't fix us fast enough right so like they they put less Reno and then I suspect they'll probably like recast him for the third game but yeah that was why he didn't damn that's unfortunate I want to get to a couple of YouTube superchats

here guitar hero Ero says has anyone else's perception of some and's been forever changed by Final Fantasy 16. Summending Phoenix and Rebirth, for example, I'm thinking, fight with me, Joshua. I will say, I am so impressed with the summons in Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth. I just hate how they're all tied

to the VR stuff. I really wish that we got more like... Did you finish the Gilgamesh quest? No, I didn't. Okay, so the Gilgamesh quest ends with you having to fight every summon two on, or like, your party versus two of them at once. Oh, shit. It's actually like, amazingly difficult. The Alexander Oden fight took me like seven tendrised. But like, yeah,

it is that you do fight them there. I wish they would have done more of it. I wish honestly they would have just put them in the world versus like VR. That's it. I just feel like I was so invested in the side tasks, things of like checklist shit of just going to find the summon stuff the world intel like to get it to get the summon,

the music plan. And I love that stuff so much. And I love building the lore of the summons. And I just feel like the result being like, oh yeah, you fight it in VR. I was like, oh man. Like this had such a missed opportunity here. It's especially so close to 16. It should have been find the three things and then the fourth one you fight them. Yes.

Yeah. I really like this as like an attempt at the open world because overall I did have a really good time. Like I mentioned during the review that for a certain amount of time I was 100% in the game. And I think the area that broke me was on Gaga. Like that force the area. The traversal of that area is a crime in video games. That was the moment I was like, I can't do it anymore. But yeah, I, I, if I,

I could, like, go back and have them do it over again. I would, I was having a conversation recently on PSLW with Jane and about, like, how to make a good open world and all this stuff, right? And, like, one of the things that I wish the open world of Final Phase VII Rebirth had was, like, more secrets to find. Like, it is so checklist, you can see where everything is on the map. Like, you know where to go. You know the activities to do. If I think the one thing that would have worked so well with the summons, especially because I don't, yeah, I'm with you that the VR stuff didn't work as, like, the main thing for the summons. If it was a, you would happen across

like a summon battle out in the wild and it's like oh shit I got to fight Titan and that's like you unlock Titan I think that could have been like the thing to make that really cool that exploration aspect there absolutely and there's moments where you're out in the desert

and there's the giant sand warm thing just pops up Kismesh thing yeah those moments if that was like that's how summons were introduced I would have been so cool Who's the freak that is part of that quest? Kid something kid something yeah the little like the sonic character

yeah Yeah. He was awesome. I love him. I only hung out with him a couple times and I was like, he is the weirdest little guy that is like, he's like a couple steps further past Kate Sith of just like, why are they in this world? But I love him. If you beat that quest, you-G-G-G-G-G-you-be-that quest, you fight him. And he's actually fairly difficult. And then later you fight him again, I think in the arena, the Golden Castle Arena. Yeah. Damn. Shout to Kid G. He was awesome. It's a kidgy. Joshy G just says,

I'm Nanaki, watcher of Cosmo Canyon, son of Sato. Dude, I was, when I told you, I was not expecting that. Like,

yeah. I forget if I play, if that was a part, I played in the original Final Fanes 7, but I'm sure without voice acting, you're not able to convey that, right?

Like, the voice changed, attitude change, all this. And so yeah, when he's like, oh, hi guys, and he's like acting like

noniki instead of being Red 13, I was so fucking thrown off and confused, but also delighted because it was one of the goofyest things and that's why, like I think this reminds me of a point

you were talking about earlier of just like how well they built the cast of characters and even when they do take a left turn you're kind of invested of like the voice change and all of that of I was so fucking in and I loved all of that in terms of him kind of revealing who he is and then getting to his past like I

that's like one of my favorite moments from the original is like the whole like moment with his dad where it's like in here it's fucking all it also like it added to the comedy because like when he goes back to the man voice. You're like, oh, he wants to be taken seriously telling the story about pirates. Yeah. Yeah, it's so funny because the

I just didn't, when the voice happened, I was shocked. Same actor. Same actor. I'm like, did I like, it's not a game game? He's the one who plays Ryuji and Proto 5. Yeah. Yeah. Can do the. For real? Yes. No, you know. Yes. For real.

That's so funny, man. Like, yeah, no, when this happened, I just didn't, again, you just read these things. I was a little kid reading it too. So I didn't put that together. I didn't, I didn't, I didn't I don't know what I perceived of Red 13's voice. When it came in remake I was like, oh yeah, this is what Red 13 sounds like. Then when it changed, I was so confused. Yeah, very, very funny.

But Cosmo Canyon's always been one of my favorite locations in Seven. And I just, I love the, uh, how weird so much of it is, but I love how spiritual it is. And then the scene that they have here with, uh, Ayrrith, kind of like with a little festival of light type situation and them having so many great conversations at the nighttime, how beautiful this location is that maybe my favorite, um, location theme in the game. And the higher you get up, the tower, the music

just swells into this way. By the time you get to the top, I'm like, I am so emotional right now. And then you go underground and that whole story of the geese, like, this is some dark shit, man. And it ending and culminating, and the same end that was in the original, but being able to see it this way was like,

man, they really pulled this thing off, man. The relationship between him and his dad and Red being part of this team, I feel like is so fantastic. So one thing I love about Cosmo canaan thematically is that you spend this entire game hearing that they're people of the Earth, they understand, like, you need to save the Earth at all class kind of thing. But you go there and the party realizes that, no, they're actually the extremists. They're like, not like the party is because Cosmo Canyon are like, well, we pray for the planet. We do some research, but we don't actually like, we don't support necessarily going violent for.

And I think it's one of those things of, no, we have to go violent. Otherwise, they're going to destroy the Earth. Like, I don't think you people understand. And I think that works really well for they finally thought they had somewhere that would understand them. And that they didn't. It turned out to be something that like they still feel like outliers in this entire thing. Another thing about Cosmicana is you should go back there if you haven't. Because up in the meeting area where they had like the sit down like a powwow talk sort of thing,

there's a lady there. as an NPC who talks about how she has come to believe that the live stream supports, like, just creates worlds for dead people, which is effectively the thing you need to know before the end of the game to make any of that makes sense. And she thinks about her, she thinks it about her mother and all that. And like the mentor guy just kind of goes,

that's nice. Like, it's cool that you think that. That's neat. But it is like, it is probably the most important dialogue. for the plot in the game. That's crazy.

And they just kind of buried it into a cousin Canadian like you overhear it sort of thing. Yeah. Wow. Timmy, really quick, before you move on to another super chatter question, I just want to shout out the Queen's Blood story. Yes. Because like they put their full fucking blood,

blood sweat and tears into designing a really fun card game in Queens Blood, right? And they didn't have to add a story to it, but they did. And like the first kind of moment where you get the weird like you're in a dream and you the person that you fight like also sees it they're like that's fucking weird yeah and i i love that it culminates in like i don't know if i i still haven't been the last one i have which is one left i try to find it wait so who are you on i i i so

oh i guess spoiler cast right yeah i beat um what was like the major the like um i think the main ghost guy that was talking to you yeah the creator yeah the creator and then now i have like one left it looks like so i i i love it so um you know, spoiler cast and stuff, but the creator, Tim, of the Queen's Blood pops up in like the fucking haunted hotel where like ghosts pop up and that's so

goddamn. And no one thinks anything about it because there's other ghosts there. Yeah, yeah, it's so fucking good. And I also love like shout out to like one of the Sephiroth, like, clone dudes is like another person you battle just like in Nebelheim and stuff. So goofy. The next person you face to get like the I don't know, the light queen card, I forget

what her card was to fight the shadow queen. You have to fight Vincent. So Vincent is a queen's blood player. Wait, so where is he? That's the Nebelheim Mansion, I think. He's at the Nebelheim Mansion. He's like over to the right. Yeah.

Like outside of it to the right. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Thanks for that. Because I've been looking at Coswell Canyon. I will say the end of that quest where Cloud takes possession of the card is the stupidest thing. Because why would Cloud,

he is someone infamously susceptible to possession. Yeah. So remember your rival on the fucking cruise boat with the pink hair and stuff. And it's like, all right, she keeps popping up. Where are they going to go with her? And so, like, once you get this special card from Vincent, then you go and find her, I think, in Gangaga, like in the ruins or whatever. And she's been possessed by this shadow queen card that is like fucking things up and

like, I think, like, killed the creator or something. It's been a couple months. But she's been possessed and like the final duel is between you and her. And again, that's why it's the most. Yu-Gi-as storyline. Multiple people die, then someone else finds the card, gets possessed by it. That's how it ended up in her possession.

But it's like, is cloud going? No, I will be the fine one here. It's like, no, you won't. I hope it plays it into the main story. I hope that's like what happens in part of three he gets taken over by the shadow queen car. They've brought every side character back. I bet they'll bring her back too

for another Queen's Blood tournament. I mean, dude, Queen's Blood, absolutely amazing. Just like little things about this game. I want to shout out. Obviously, Red 13 wearing the outfit on the boat. Yes. Oh my God.

I thought that we were going to do it because like oh that's going to be too much work. They did it and it was fantastic. Shout out to the haunted hotel period. Like I love how much love they put into that area. Like walking into it, it just reminds me how special these remake games are where they understand the little things

that mean lots of people of just like weird locations. They're like, fuck are we doing it. The last game had the ghost train. And it's like they could have just not done that. They couldn't find a way around it. But they just, they do. And I feel like it really. really helps with what this world is, which is serious as fuck, but also goofy as hell.

And it's goofy stuff that they're making more serious looking, but it's also new goofy stuff. Yes. Like, when you are in June on and you walk into the bar and then you realize it's just a bald. Oh, my God. So good. They have a whole musical number that they did before that. We need to, you and me. We got to go to that part.

Absolutely. That was amazing. I loved it. Yeah. They absolutely nil tone in this. Yeah. It's all the stuff you're talking about. where it is so goofy when you're in

the second big area and you find a quest on the quest board that's like hey, or so it's just ribbons and you're like, what the fuck? But you go to the location and it's a bunch of kids have found this like, I don't know if it was like the pond that makes you a frog. Yeah, the pond that turns you into frogs and the kids just found it

and they're like, yeah, we like to hang out and turn into frogs and then they push you into it and now you're playing a, like you have to do a battle but then also afterwards you do like a frog Fall Guys minigame? So weird, but also I love it so much. Yeah. I love how much they leaned into the goofy.

And again, like the character building kind of just like, let's all be friends, slice of life kind of stuff. Two quick things. Pixel Night in the chat says, Shadow Queen appears in a mural in the temple of the ancients, which I did not catch. And then someone else, I lost it, but someone said, clouds are already possessed. Can't be

double possessed. Yeah, hey, that's how it works. I want to get the last couple super chats through here. We got a Flaming Whippet saying Dine's story was the most emotional I got in the game. Cloud's Macho freakouts happened so much to the point where I was surprised. No one really sat him down and had an actual talk with him. That's kind of to bless his way. Do you think the, did you like the change to Dine's story?

You know, I don't really remember too much about like, I saw people were upset about it. The big change is in the original game, he threw himself on a cliff. And it's when he did basically suicide by cop. So I personally like it because you get to see his. anger at Barrett for taking in Marlene. Yeah. But despite that, still aiming to protect Barrett from the Shinra coming in because he knows that like, even though like his anger and he like, I think, I forget if he says it again in the in rebirth of like wishing Marlene still wasn't around because he just fucking hates how

this world has turned, like what this world has turned into. There's, to me it gave like a part of him that felt like there's still a glimmer of hope even though he has no hope for himself. And that's why it really worked for me. There was something about the dying part of the game that, I mean, so much of it was great. I just feel like there was a couple calls that I would have done differently. Like when we get to a golden saucer and we see clearly it's not Barrett, clearly it's somebody else with a gun arm, like kill all the people. I wish that they didn't show us that. Like I know I know because I played the game, so I know it's not him.

But like I feel like they kind of reveal something. There could have been a bit more mystery around it for a little bit. I feel like taking away that mystery, even to people that know the answer, it just frames it differently. So that by the time we get to Dyn and Barrett, which I feel like also takes a little too long. Like, and this is a lot of the sidequest stuff, but doing the under golden saucer stuff, like I wasn't really thrilled with some of that stuff there. Is that the Kate Sith part as well? No, that's later. That was what's his name?

It's like when you had to free the chokebo, right? Yeah. It had that guy, the bank. the gang leader, except he had a really cool theme, but I don't remember his name. Oh, yeah.

I don't remember if I was in his name too. But I just feel like all that stuff kind of took out a lot of the tension, but also there wasn't tension because we already knew what was going on. So by the time we got to them, the moments were still there. I just feel like it didn't hit me as hard as it could.

It should be in the back of your head. Like, Barrett could do this. This is the thing that he advocates for, but he wouldn't shoot innocent people. Would he? And like, that should be the thing in your head. But you see him discovering the bodies. Then we got

Sachin 72767 saying I think there's a timeline where Cloud had saved Ereth because Sephiroth had merged the realities in one and Ereth came to support Cloud which surprised Sephora saying he underestimated her. Yeah. I think that too I think that part where

they all open up a door in the whispers and only Cloud goes through. I think that's very important. I've just not sure how yet. So, okay, let me this is an important aspect now, do you think

Ayrth is alive somewhere and Cloud is just like tuning into her thoughts, or tuning into her spirit or something, or do you think he's just full ass in denial? I'm team Eretz dead. I think she's dead in that universe for sure. Yes. I think

he's talking to us in an Ereth. I think he's talking to an eryth in a different universe. I think it's the life tree. Somebody else sees that Ereth in the party too. Red 13 feels her and it fucking broke me, man. That moment, oh my God. I think it's the, I think it's the, what is it?

The live stream. Yeah, the life stream. I think it's that. Yeah. Now, here's the thing. There's the also, I feel like the most, the most popular theory on this is that it's Genova. You know, like, Genova is controlling. I saw Max Go, Maxvillian go for that. I haven't watched it spoiler cast yet. I'm really excited. Okay, I don't, I don't

think that's the case. I think it's just like, I think it's interesting idea. I don't think that like Genova is using, her transformation powers. Because other people would see that. I feel like one of my biggest question

marks, and this has been from the original even, I feel like Genova's like the least fleshed out thing and I want more answers. Like I feel like they have an opportunity here to kind of like create Genova as a thing that is more impactful as opposed to now, which just kind of feels like it's Sephiroth's plot point

to be able to like do bad things. Yeah. I think we are getting a flashback one, like in the third game or something to Genova versus the agents. Because they got really close in this one to show us what happened and what all that was. Yeah. Ooh.

This is on some bullshit-ass nerd stuff here and Ron. Bon Fantasy 7 remake. We get the scene of them in Shinra and we see the weird like museum flashback thing and they clearly look like Fallen Fantasy 10 characters. Yes. In this, Temple of the Ancients where Ayrith kind of becomes

one with the live stream and she's swinging her thing around. She's doing the unison. summon dance. So they've confirmed this, like in Ultimania, that he, that they are the same world. So they, like, I would not be shocked that they intentionally put an F of 10 references. I mean, I want more, baby, and I freaking love it. I freaking love it, everybody. Let's see, we got just two more here. We got Souta Dhani, 94, which is the name of the vocal song from Farnassi 10, was the traversal really that bad in Gangaga? It was like one layer of complexity higher than the rest of the areas beforehand.

But it was, it was not the complexity of it. It was just the not fun of like, okay, this is a platform that I obviously need to find a mushroom to get up to where the fuck is this mushroom to bounce off it? Like it just wasn't. Oh, I've ended up on the map because I chose the wrong mushroom. Yeah.

And it's, yeah, the mushroom paths. Yeah, it's not the complexity of it. It was just like the annoyance of the design getting in the way of where you want to go. I, I didn't like Cosmo Canyon personally. Like That was the trouble. I haven't too luck into everywhere I needed to go in Ganganga,

but I can see how if you didn't, then it would be real annoying. Because okay, it was a lot of, okay, is this place like 300 feet up or is it like? Yeah, I spent so long. I forget exactly what it was I was looking for. I think it had to do with the Chocobo quest, though. I spent so long looking for something that I could not find. Also, dude, I struggled so hard at first round to figure out how to fly the Chocobo too. Honestly, the Chokebo is in this game.

Like, when you're just in the world map running around, totally fine. Yeah. The mini games to get them and then the unique location gimmick stuff, I think that's awful. The stealth stuff was customizing Shokoboso, pretty fun. 10 out of 10. I'm very much looking, because they've said for the next game, they're going to try to make an open world flight with the high wind. I am looking forward to seeing one, does that actually work? And two, what are they, like, how that's going to look. The final two here, we got C.J. splits on saying, what do you think of Cid being so good looking?

Perfect. I love Sid and this. Sid was so good. I think what they're trying to do is he's 35 years old and never looked 35 years old. So they're trying to make him look 35 years old. It just made him beautiful. Yeah. Good.

Yeah. Good for them. And then Bill Schaefer says, thoughts on combat. Is it better compared to part one? 100%. I think so. Yeah. That was my big thing with remake is I did not love the flow of combat in remake.

And that's just been a modern Final Fantasy thing. I just have not like jelled with the action style stuff ever since 15. I think the, what is it, the kind of combo moves that are not like the big ones. Synergy. Yeah, the synergy attacks. I think there's just something added there that makes the combo a bit more quick for me to build up to, you know, like the big attacks and all that stuff. That just, there's a better flow to it, I think, and Ufi is fucking cracked in combat and Ufi makes combat so goddamn. Have you seen like, I loved her so much in combat?

Have you seen like the Killer B build people have made for her? Oh, yes. So like, it is just constantly buzzing around. enemies constantly shocking them with one of the synergies thing. Like it is you can take down like a lot of HP in seconds. That's so cool. Yeah. No, UPy was my go-to. I think

rebirth is just a dramatic improvement on remake. I really enjoyed remake, but I feel like this tightens things up, speeds things up, the variety of characters. Like in the first game there was a couple times I just, I didn't love when it's like oh man, they took away these characters for story beats so you have to use these.

In this one I was always like, hey, I'm not mad at using anybody, but I just can't to get you. Because again, like the synergy, yeah, like getting you feedback, but then, yeah, I think the synergy attacks, like, really helps the kind of, even if you're not playing as someone you love, there's still a little bit of Wombo combo there that helps it out. I kind of struggle with Ayrth a little bit, her, like, projectile magic thing. Yeah, I'm not a magic kind of guy. Arith, I think, is the one that's like, just kind of makes clear, you can't get away with not using menus. You have to use menus. You have to use menus in this balance of this time.

Because, like, you could, in remake, you could, like, just stick with Cloud, just melee stuff. But this one, you have to use menus and you have to usually use time. The problem with her is like filling up her ATB is so tough, especially when it is, oh, she is the only one left on your team or it's only her and like one other person. Right. When I'm using her, well, I'm using cloud. It's like slash slash, all right, I got ATB. Let's fucking go. With her, building up that gauge is such a challenge.

And she's entirely based around magic. And so it's like, all right, I guess I'm just going to fucking throw this. Wait a couple seconds. Throw another one. Yeah. 15 seconds later, finally I can do one ability. Similarly, Kate Sith. Ooh.

Big oof. He'd say that I struggled with cool. You gotta start, I have Erytha the build which starts with one bar already then. Yeah. Then get in, I think, Radiant Ward, which changes her basic attack to a,

like a laser. And then once you do that, you can build ADP really easy. Okay. Damn. Damn, I wish I knew that. I need to hit you up when you get the third game. I did.

Have you platinum it? Not yet. I had to do some reviews, so I haven't gone back to what you are. How many hours are you in? 145, I think. God. 145.

Jesus. Imron, the Don, which is a lot, I like, finishing stuff and also, like, going back through hard mode and going through it because hard mode real hard actually it turns out you still have to do all the side quests you don't do all that stuff but also you can't really

heal or like do much of anything outside of items and like neel i even really outside of battle oh i didn't remember one thing i wanted to say so talking about the the cloud denial versus like acceptance thing in the fight after the thing happens with air and you fight genova everyone has everyone except cloud has their limit breaks filled because they are pissed off And like, Oh, it's so freaking cool, man. But also,

Genova, if you wait long enough, we'll do a move called mourning whale. Like morning, like, morning this person's death. Everyone is affected by it

except Cloud. He does not get pushed back. So he does not believe in that fight that Aerith is actually dead because he is still, he is not a morning, he is not angry.

He is just taking out Genova. Everybody, let us know in the comments below what you think about that. Amazing theory from Imran. That's sick. The Dawn. Khan.

Imron, Thank you so much for joining us. Thank you. Thank you. It was fucked up that he like dropped that and then just started sipping on his sipping up for nothing. It's perfect, everybody. And thank you all for hanging out with this. This was a whole bunch of fun.

We were about to switch over to the continuation of Nick's Pokemon journey. Will he catch them all? Will he become the very best? Oh, you're right. You're right. Game Showdown. It's a Friday. Season two premiere, baby.

Oh, that's going to be awesome. Yeah, if you're watching on Twitch, you can just keep hanging out. We'll be right there for you. Otherwise, you have to make the jump over on YouTube to Game Showdown, and the Pokemon's after that. We're hanging out all day. It's going to be a blast. But until next time, dilly dally, shilly shally.