#source: ffviii

[ima-chickenwuss]

Squall: Someone will die.

Rinoa: ...Of fun!

[silalcarin]

Cloti's growth in touch and why their famous kiss may foreshadow their canon status in Part 3

In Remake, in Tifa's Resolution, Tifa approaches Cloud for comfort, and after a while, he reciprocates and hugs her.

Let it be known that, throughout the entirety of Remake, Tifa is literally the only one with whom Cloud shares a hug. Yes, Tifa had to initiate the physical contact, but it doesn't change the fact that Cloud never shares a hug with anyone else in the game.

However, in Rebirth, if Tifa is Cloud's date during the second Gold Saucer visit:

During the Loveless play, Cloud pulls Tifa towards him and touches her waist as he spins her.

During the Skywheel date, Cloud initiates a hug with Tifa, in both the Low Affinity and High Affinity versions.

And, if it's the High Affinity version of the date, after the hug, Cloud initiates a kiss with Tifa.

Let it be known that, during the Loveless play, between the 3 female party members, Tifa is literally the only one whom Cloud pulls towards him, and Tifa is literally the only whom Cloud touches as he spins her. (Video source)

Let it be known that, out of all the possible date options in the Skywheel, in all of the Low Affinity and High Affinity versions of each and every single date, Tifa is literally the only one with whom Cloud initiates a hug, and, most significantly, Tifa is literally the only one with whom Cloud initiates a kiss. (Video source)

Now, remember that the entire Final Fantasy franchise is a JRPG. This is a franchise made in Japan, a country in the Eastern hemisphere. Back in 1997 (when the OG FFVII was released) and even today, in Eastern countries like Japan, public displays of affection are still taboo. So, if a kiss ever does occur in an anime or video game, especially if it's aimed for teenaged males, the kiss will only happen once (this is not always the case, but it is still the norm, even today), it will only happen between a canon couple, and it will be treated with the utmost significance.

Most notably, throughout the entire Final Fantasy franchise, the only pairings that have ever shared an on-screen kiss have been canon couples. (Video source)

As you can see in the provided video, all of those Final Fantasy pairings that have kissed on-screen before Cloti are canon couples:

Cecil/Rosa ─ FFIV (1991)

Squall/Rinoa ─ FFVIII (1999)

Tidus/Yuna ─ FFX (2001)

Rasler/Ashe ─ FFXII (2006)

Snow/Serah ─ FFXIII (2009)

Noctis/Lunafreya ─ FFXV (2016)

Terence/Dion & Clive/Jill ─ FFXVI (2023)

Now, by the end of Rebirth, Cloti is still not a canon couple. The Gold Saucer date in Rebirth is mandatory; it's just that who becomes Cloud's date depends on how well the player has treated the other party members. However, no matter who ends up being Cloud's date, there are still no canon couples at the end of the game.

But, remember, the Lifestream event (where Tifa pieces the Real Cloud's mind back together, and the Real Cloud's POV of the Nibelheim incident is shown) and the Highwind scene (where Cloti makes love under the Highwind) from the OG game have not been covered yet.

Most likely ─ particularly due to the importance of the Lifestream event (not just within the game, but based on what the game's creators have said in the FF7 10th Anniversary Ultimania and 25th Memorial Ultimania) ─ both scenes are being saved for Part 3.

For the time being, as of now, only theories can be made about what will happen to Cloti in Part 3 ─ such as how different the Lifestream event will be, now that a somewhat similar event has already happened with Tifa at the Gongaga reactor in Rebirth; if the High Affinity version of the Highwind scene will be the only one used; if more nods to Trace of Two Pasts and the new 2000 Gil to Becoming a Hero will be referenced, etc.

But...

Because out of all the possible Skywheel dates, Tifa is literally the only one with whom Cloud shares a kiss. And in a video game franchise that's geared towards teenaged males like Final Fantasy, only canon couples have ever shared an on-screen kiss ─ as early as FFIV (1991) to as late as FFXVI (2023), the latter of which was released just 1 year before Rebirth. The fact that Cloti has already shared an on-screen kiss, after all those canon couples, may foreshadow them becoming a canon couple in Part 3.

This is emphasized by the fact that Kazushige Nojima, the head writer of the Remake trilogy, also wrote Trace of Two Pasts and 2000 Gil to Becoming a Hero (which, as of now, can only be found in the FF7 Rebirth World Preview, which hasn't had any official translations yet).

In TOTP, Cloti is established as having been childhood friends up until they were 7 and 8 (it's heavily implied that Tifa's father didn't approve of their relationship and, off-screen, he threatened Cloud to stay away from her, even before the Mt. Nibel bridge incident). Tifa didn't know how she felt about Cloud initially because he was "a beautiful, untouchable presence," but she realized she is in love with him after their promise; read the quote below. (Sadly, because Nojima used "suki", SENA translated "suki" to "like", since, admittedly, "suki" can be both "like" and "love". If only Nojima had used "daisuki"...) (Source)

"But once the promise was sealed, it seemed to her a thing of singular importance. She'd discovered that Cloud ─ the quiet neighbor who had always seemed as unreachable as the stars ─ was just a normal boy like any other. She'd come to understand that she did like him. And it was that special kind of "like" ─ the one that ties up your heart, making you yearn to be with that person for the rest of your days." (Source: Official English translation, "Traces of Tifa", page 25 ─ Amazon Kindle Edition)

In 2000 Gil, during Cloud's journey to Midgar to become a SOLDIER when he was 14, it's reaffirmed, from the OG game, that the only reason why Cloud wanted to be a SOLDIER in the first place is because of Tifa. (Source)

"This was something he wanted to do of his own free will. He would do whatever it took to become a SOLDIER. If there was a path, he would try to walk down it. If there was a door, he would try to open it. Because didn't he promise Tifa? Of his own free will, he had decided to become an exceptional man. To become a SOLDIER, a hero, and a special existence to Tifa."

Again, Nojima is the head writer of the Remake trilogy, and he also wrote TOTP and 2000 Gil. Therefore, what Nojima writes is 100% canon.

Why would Nojima go through all the trouble of writing that: (1) Cloti has a hug in Remake; (2) Cloti were childhood friends after all and Tifa fell in love with him in TOTP; (3) Cloud's desire to become a SOLDIER solely for Tifa is reiterated from the OG game in 2000 Gil; (4) the entirely new Gongaga reactor scene was added in Rebirth, where (a) Cloud becomes catatonic after Sephiroth gaslit him into attacking Tifa, stays in her room alone as she sleeps, and doesn't fully recover until she wakes up the next day, and (b) Tifa discovers the truth about what happened during the Mt. Nibel bridge incident; (5) Cloti nearly kiss after the events of #4 in Rebirth; and (6) Cloti has a kiss in Rebirth? (For #6, remember that only canon couples in Final Fantasy have ever shared an on-screen kiss up until Cloti in Rebirth.) Why?

It's actually really damn obvious why. Because, as I said earlier, it may foreshadow that Cloti will become a canon couple in Part 3.

NOTE 1: I keep saying "may foreshadow", because, officially, as of now, we don't know what's going to happen in Part 3. We have to wait until 2027 ─ 3 more years ─ for Part 3 to be released and find out what will happen.

NOTE 2: I know that some people may wonder why I'm not referring to Cloti as being already canon.

Let me explain.

I first played the OG FFVII when I was 11. I'll be honest, I had just hit puberty, so I didn't care about shipping at the time. However, even as an 11-year-old girl, as soon as I got to Sector 7 and Tifa was introduced as Cloud's childhood friend, I knew that Cloti was going to be canon by the end of the game. Even before Aerith was killed and the so-called "love triangle" was officially killed along with her, as soon as it was established in Sector 7 that Cloti had known each other since they were children, I knew that Cloti was going to be canon.

If anything, I think that FFVII made me start shipping in general. And I think Cloti was my very first ship. (I say "I think" because I don't remember how my 11-year-old brain worked. I did also ship Haku/Chihiro from Spirited Away and Syaoran/Sakura from Cardcaptor Sakura around the same time as when I first played FFVII, so I think all 3 of them are collectively my very first ships.)

Also, I know that the various Ultimanias have (1) stated that Cloti realized they were in love with each other after the Lifestream event, and (2) shown screenshots of the High Affinity version of the Highwind scene and not the Low Affinity version.

However, here's the problem, which I know has been complained about here on Tumblr and other sites: the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII screwed everything up, especially Advent Children.

AC establishes that Cloti lives together with Marlene and Denzel, but they're never actually stated to be a couple in the film, and their interactions, for most of it, are depressing AF. I remember how heartwrenching it was when Tifa lamented that they were "not a real family." This frustrated me as a teenager in the mid-2000s.

Now, remember that, in the mid-2000s, the Internet was nowhere near as ubiquitous as it is today. Any Final Fantasy-related Ultimanias were not available outside of Japan, not even fan translations. Therefore, I had no idea that the AC Reunion Files ─ where Tetsuya Nomura describes Tifa as being "a sweetheart", which is translated from the word "koibito" ─ existed at the time.

Then, in Dirge of Cerberus, in which Cloti briefly appears with Barret, they're only actually shown together once.

After AC and DOC felt like huge letdowns for me regarding Cloti, along with me entering high school around that same time, I lost interest in shipping in general for over a decade. In terms of Final Fantasy shipping, it was because, even though I saw that Cloti was a couple by the end of FFVII, Square jerked us around because they prevaricated over Cloti's canon status in the Compilation. Nowadays, I can't remember how my teenaged mind worked, so, at best, I think I can say that I never stopped shipping Cloti; I just didn't partake in exploring it or any of my other ships in general for over a decade.

TL;DR ─ If the Compilation didn't exist, I wouldn't have had any reason to doubt Cloti's canon status in the mid-2000s. I never doubted the beauty of Cloti itself; it's just that the Compilation made me feel disheartened over their canon status.

Now, I'm aware that Crisis Core ─ which reiterates Cloti's feelings for each other ─ was released 1 year after DOC. However, I'll admit, because I put FFVII out of my mind for over a decade, I didn't even know that CC existed until literally last year (yes, 2023). When I finally discovered it by stumbling upon its fan-translated cutscenes, I liked it. It's one of the only things I like in the Compilation.

But…

What truly revitalized my interest in Cloti again, after I got back into Final Fantasy recently, was hearing about a leak, pre-release, that Cloti shares a kiss in Rebirth. And then, post-release, I saw that Cloud initiating a kiss with Tifa in Rebirth blew up on social media and YouTube.

Then, my interest in the Remake trilogy (yes, 4 years after Remake came out) and its supplemental material like TOTP was piqued. I have the official English translation of TOTP through Amazon Kindle. I now own a PS4 and have played Remake, using the Japanese voices and English version subtitles. But, for the time being, I can't play Rebirth because I don't own a PS5. Everything regarding Rebirth, I've had to learn about either through spoilers on social media or YouTube.

Then, I saw that Crisis Core had an updated re-release in 2022 called Reunion, with the UI and character models resembling the Remake designs.

Now, remember that Crisis Core Reunion ─ with its usage of Remake's UI and character models ─ still shows what really happened at the Nibelheim incident (or, rather, how Zack thinks it happened). Also, while some of the dialogue changed, the Cloti scenes did not: Tifa still subtly asks Zack if Cloud is also a 1st Class SOLDIER; Tifa still sends emails to Zack about a blond SOLDIER/blond knight in shining armor; Cloud still tries to protect Tifa, even though he's just a grunt; Cloud is still ashamed that he didn't become a SOLDIER, and thinks that he didn't keep his promise to Tifa by failing to protect her; Zack still senses that something's going on between Cloti; Cloud still caresses the unconscious Tifa's cheek; and Cloud still lays Tifa down on the floor before he fights Sephiroth.

Now, also remember that the Lifestream event ─ which, again, among other things, shows the Real Cloud's POV of the Nibelheim incident ─ has not been covered yet.

Yep, all of the above got me excited for Cloti again, for the first time in a long time.

Also, as I said earlier, given that Nojima is consistent in his writing thus far in Remake, TOTP, 2000 Gil, and Rebirth ─ particularly for Cloti ─ I have hopes for Part 3, and that, afterwards, Square will finally state that Cloti is canon and then never ever touch them again.

(End my extremely long explanation for NOTE 2.)

(Also, end my long post.)

[sir-adamus]

RWBY takes its inspirations from a lot of places

it's no secret that RWBY wears its influences on its sleeves - it's characters are all based on fairytales/myths/legends/memes and is a series created by someone who wanted to make his own anime. and while it does make a lot of nods to specific things (and is dogged on for that by some people despite that it isn't new or even exclusive to RWBY - see the episode of AtLA where Aang dreams about being Goku and Naruto), the show itself draws or seems to draw so many elements from so many different sources and arranges them into something new

putting the rest below a cut because it got lengthy

like i think i've seen the claim that Remnant's four Kingdoms are a ripoff of AtLA's four Nations... except the Kingdoms aren't elementally themed and these places are so important because most of the planet is uninhabitable, which isn't the case with AtLA, and each Kingdom has thoroughly different theming that it's barely similar. it's such a surface thing that it's barely a nod because the world setups are so wildly different

Dust is clearly inspired by Materia from FFVII (or more broadly, Magicite, which recurs through the FF series and has a similar function); a resource mined from the earth that allows the wielder to do magic (though Dust is more limited in its function where materia/magicite can allow for non-elemental and abstract stuff like time-stopping or summoning). the four Academies are almost definitely a reference to the three Gardens in FFVIII (and one of them, Balamb Garden, is where teenagers are trained to become SeeD, a mercenary force for hire that conducts missions around the world, which likely was one of the points of inspiration behind the Huntress/Huntsman career in RWBY)

Aura, being a personal protective shield, both visually and purpose-wise, is a reference to the personal energy shields used by the Sangheili in Halo

the Maidens seem to be a cross between the Sorceresses from FFVIII (who unlike normal people can do magic naturally, and each Sorceress passes on her power to another individual upon her death) and the rule basis for the Sirens from Borderlands (only 6 Sirens can exist at a time and their powers transfer to another individual upon their death, similar to how there can only be 4 Maidens at a time) - Sorceresses, Sirens and Maidens powers can also only be exclusively passed on to women (Troy Calypso in Borderlands 3 has partial-Siren because he was conjoined with his twin sister Tyreen in the womb, and has to leech off of her in order to survive; it's made clear both by the appearance of his Siren tattoos that he's an aberration to the normal process)

Grimm are so obviously inspired by the Heartless from Kingdom Hearts - dark beasts of destruction that are defined by their lack of something (the difference of course being that Heartless come from the nebulous 'realm of darkness' which is separate from the other worlds while Grimm are very much a part of Remnant). Kingdom Hearts has a lot of influence thematically, as it similarly presents itself as a bright and cheery story with a lighthearted, stylised aesthetic, only for that to be an artificial facade for a very dark and often brutal story that becomes more obvious as each series continues. and in terms of specific Grimm, the Apathy (and the Brunswick farm story in general) are a direct reference to the short story Bartleby the Scrivener, but the Apathy's emaciated, skeletal appearance and paralytic scream draw from the ReDeads of the Legend of Zelda series

the Faunus being part animal could be inspired from any number of different shows or games, but in the BlazBlue series, demihumans (who are also part animal) are also noted to face discrimination (though the series doesn't touch on it much by nature of being a fighting game)

in terms of characters, Ruby is obviously Red Riding Hood, but she wields a scythe like Maka from Soul Eater, was initially presented as a completely silent, gun-wielding protagonist in a high octane fight similarly to Black Rock Shooter (the 2012 show also served as an influence on RWBY's animation style, and BRS's flaming blue eye is similar to the Maidens), and her bladed weapon also being a gun brings to mind Squall's Gunblade from FFVIII. plus, positioned as the protagonist and falling into the leadership role and it continuing to weigh down on her is something she has in common with Sora from KH

additionally, the visuals for Ruby's Semblance are inspired by something similar Vincent Valentine does in the FFVII Advent Children movie, with the addition of rose petals (which may be inspired by a similar thing the protagonist of FFXIII, Lightning, has)

Yang is Goldilocks, her design evokes Tifa from FFVII (and her characterisation not being what you'd expect based on the initial impression of her design also borrows from Tifa), her original theme outright compares her to a Super Saiyan from Dragon Ball with her glowing, flaming hair when she powers up with her Semblance evoking the aesthetic appearance of the form (and her 'gets stronger every time she takes a hit' is essentially a temporary, low-level zenkai boost from that series; 'get stronger every time you almost die'). in fact, character-wise, her losing an arm and being characterised as fairly thoughtful and introspective, you could make an argument that she's meant to parallel Future Gohan specifically. however, losing an arm, growing up in the woods and having to care for her younger sibling when they were young also could be a reference to Ragna from BlazBlue (and to boot, Yang's weapon is named Ember Celica, Ragna's parental substitute was Celica A Mercury), and additionally, Nine the Phantom from the same series (Celica's doting older sister) also has heavy fire theming, meaning she could serve as another point of inspiration

finally, Yang may also be partly inspired by Nero from Devil May Cry. while it wasn't explicitly confirmed until DMC5, when Nero was introduced in 4, he is highly implied to be the nephew of series protagonist and demon hunter Dante (who typically wields a greatword) and the son of Dante's twin brother, Vergil (who wields a katana that he can open portals with). Nero's design from jump is asymmetrical, with one of his arms being demonic. asymmetry is a theme for Yang from her trailer (and culminates with her losing one of her arms), her uncle Qrow wields a greatsword and her mother, Raven, Qrow's twin, wields a katana and opens portals with them (that Nero then gained a mechanical prosthetic arm in DMC5 is a hilarious coincidence)

Ozpin, Headmaster of Beacon is obviously the Wizard of Oz (his name comes from the acronym of the Wizard of Oz's actual name, Oscar Zoroaster Phadrig Isaac Norman Henkle Emmanuel Ambroise Diggs - OZPINHEAD), but he also draws from Cid Kramer from FFVIII (being the headmaster of Balamb Garden), as well as Gandalf in putting his faith in a 'smaller soul' (and his manipulative bs is clearly meant to analog to the guy from the bad wizard books, except in rwby it's clearly meant to be a bad thing that has actual consequences, and no more needs to be said about it)

Ironwood is clearly the Tin Woodsman as his main inspiration, a man who (thanks to a cursed axe) kept hacking off parts of his body and getting them replaced with metal until even his heart was gone (and at no point did he consider putting down the axe) - with the key point that he's a subversion of the Woodsman's story. but his descent could be inspired by Walker's descent in Spec Ops The Line (as it would've been in the public zeitgeist when Monty, Kerry and Miles were developing the show and writing these characters, and the game had been played on Achievement Hunter around that time), or from Heart of Darkness and Apocalypse Now, which inspired that game. his willingness to go to extreme and appalling lengths to achieve his goals may also be drawing from Director Leonard Church, from RT's first show Red vs Blue, who has the quote: "Have you forgotten sir, we were at war? A fight with an alien race for the very survival of our species. I feel I must remind you that it is an undeniable, and may I say fundamental quality of man, that when faced with extinction, every alternative is preferable." which feels very in line with Ironwood's willingness to compromise every moral and sacrifice whatever and whoever he thinks he needs to to win

Penny's fairytale inspiration is obviously Pinocchio but her robotic nature and relationship with a caring father also brings to mind Astro Boy and Mega Man, while her combat style is directly inspired by the Prime Field Devices of BlazBlue, who also fight with a floating array of many swords

the structure of the show honestly feels like a JRPG too - with the first few volumes being the lighthearted prologue where characters and concepts are introduced to ease you into the world, there's some hints to a wider world and a bigger story but there's very little sense that the protagonists are in real danger

until they are, and things go catastrophically wrong in a major way that shakes up the plot, throws the characters out into the world and gives them the main goal they're now striving toward (stopping Salem, in this case), with personal narratives developing in tandem with plot progressions that shake up how the audience and the characters see the world and reveal things to be more complex as things go on

you could literally go on forever; and it's not so much 'taking these disparate puzzle pieces and making a collage' so much as it is laying out the bones and building up something new on top of them through the way these bones intersect and interact in new contexts. RWBY isn't ashamed of its influences while still standing as its own story to tell

[fiannalover]

On some level I gotta respect Square Enix because they somehow lost the source code to half their games and I'm increasingly sure their workforce is composed entirely of people trying to one up each other with the most impractical technically impressive creations possible, and yet they not only regularly rerelease all their stuff whenever a new major platform shows up, they consistently go through the trouble of adding meaningful texture remastering and qol changes and what not. I'd also treat "we have ported FFVIII for the 20th time!" as a huge event given how much of a massive pain it likely is to do it. Meanwhile Bandai Namco is out there logging on Twitter Dot Com and demure posting "oh hey, we still have the Tales of Eternia source code! Tee hee! This screenshot shows the part that changes the characters' palettes! Isn't that fun?" and the last time they officially released that game was on 2005 for the goddamn PSP. All of this to say, rerelease your fucking games.

[aruz11]

My music video review ~vol.17~

※I recommend reading the link below before reading the review. https://www.tumblr.com/aruz11/743804475824914432/this-is-the-first-post?source=share

Title: Those who craze further

Post date: 28 Apr 2010

length: 1:47

song: Those who fight further

This time I review the video named Those Who Craze Further, which I posted on April 28, 2010. This was the video I had always wanted to make a music video with this song, and I finally made it at this time. At the time, I had taken a bit of a break from making videos, but my motivation was still there, so once I got started, it didn't take long to complete. I was able to express almost all of the skills I had at the time in this video, so I'm satisfied with it, and I don't have any regrets. Now, let's begin.

About the song

This is a song used in a boss battle in Final Fantasy VII. It has a rock style, with a memorable guitar intro and a striking organ section—truly a showcase of Uematsu's signature style. If you listen closely, you can also hear phrases from the battle theme intros of Final Fantasy I–VI, which gives the song a nostalgic feel. It's a popular track with many arrangements, most of which are rock-style remixes. However, I don't think it was used in many music videos. It's not a particularly long track, and I think it would be easy to use in a music video, so I wonder why that is. By the way, I remember that back in those days, many Final Fantasy boss battle themes had a rock feel. Decisive Battle from FFVI and Force Your Way from FFVIII are good examples.

Features of this video

Overall, this video has a very funny vibe. In fact, this was the last video where I went all-in on a comedic style. After this, my videos gradually started incorporating more serious tones. Watching it now, I can see that I just threw in whatever I wanted, with no consistency or clear concept at all. And yet, this video ended up being one of my more popular ones in views. Everyone never knows what will happen. But I think that's okay. Even if I think it's silly now, I was having fun making it at the time. And by stacking up those experiences, I became who I am today.

My favorite scenes

0:22~0:23 I made a symmetrical version of an early-game scene, which ended up looking kind of eerie.

0:40~0:51 I get why you did it, I get why you did it, I get why you did it…

1:37~1:39 I even made the ending scene funny. I won't do something like this again.

That's all for now. Thank you for visiting. See you next time.

[leonheartilly]

Waltz for the Moon with UR Rinoa, the Big-Hearted Heroine, in WAR OF THE VISIONS FINAL FANTASY BRAVE EXVIUS!

Her Limit Burst, Apocalypse, raises her SPR Piercing Rate for three turns, then deals large Non-Elemental Damage to targets within range based on her MAG stat.

Find out about the FFVIII collaboration here↓

https://wotvffbe.com/FF8

#WOTVFFBE

Source: Facebook Final Fantasy Brave Exvius

[wandringaesthetic]

FFXVI replay thoughts, pt. 1: (I'm between Bahamut and Odin, I may have a few more once I get to the DLC and the end)

This game is really beautiful. Some of the areas, if I didn't know better and I paused the game, I would think they were photographs. Most of the time I'm going to land on the "art direction" side of the "art direction versus photorealism" debate, but these screens would be well framed and lit photographs that definitely evoke a vibe. Woods and mysterious ruins and old castles at northern latitudes, with music that's wistful and soothing. It's kind of a shame that several of the game's prettier areas you never return to. It's also kind of a shame that, for plot reasons, everything has a blue, cloudy haze over it for the back half of the game.

It also sucks that there are no real city areas you can explore. Small settlements but no cities. Kanver and the Crystalline Dominion and Rosalith all end up as basically dungeons, overrun by monsters or abandoned. You see bits of the capital city of Sanbreque in cutscenes, but you're never able to explore it. All the locations are realistic or realistic-ish for a medieval tech level. In some ways this is a shame. Gimme the FANTASY. But it makes the Fallen ruins and the crystals really stand out.

Most impressive part of the nice graphics is the LIGHTING, imo. Appropriate for a story thematically about fire. I love the little fireballs Clive and Joshua make in lieu of torches, and the moving shadows of that onscreen light source. Everything's kinda dark, on average, which again, feels right, medieval tech level, shit was dark. Fire is important. You can adjust the contrast to mitigate, but I like the shadows.

Combat is.... Okay. Both Final Fantasy VII Remake/Rebirth and Stranger of Paradise are better takes on Action Final Fantasy. Combat-wise, FFXVI is significantly better than FFXV, but it's been a while since I played that game so I couldn't describe how other than I felt the difficulty of FFXV was completely trivial. Bosses (normal bosses, gonna talk about Eikon battles separately) are generally fun and there are a handful that are REALLY satisfying (Sleipnir, Hugo, every time you fight a dragon, Liquid Flame), but regular enemies feel like busy work. If you can't get parry/dodge timing down, it's all a slog, and it's forgiving enough that it can just be a slog. And that sucks. I feel like the base ideas are good and that the battles could have been tweaked just a LITTLE to make a much more enjoyable experience. Quicker cooldowns on the Eikon abilities? Deeper regular combat and combos? Enemies have about a third less HP? Just delete every enemy that doesn't have a stagger bar? Any/all the above? The popular consensus is they couldn't really commit to being either an action game or an RPG and therefore gave a watered down version of both. I guess I agree with that. The RPG elements aren't really worth commenting on. Go down smooth with zero thought. Don't really add anything but also aren't annoying to deal with.

Ultima might be Final Fantasy's worst villain. His only competition for the bottom spot is Dysley/Barthandalus, and I give HIM points for a having a super cool boss form and fight. Ultima is alien and apathetic. A vacuum of charisma. I sort of feel that they should have let Barnabas be the main villain and Ultima the final act surprise final boss, where it wasn't really clear whether Barnabas' god was real or not until you come face to face with him. But Final Fantasy has done this, multiple times.

On the other hand, I like how he just.... doesn't understand humans at all. Like, there's no real attempt to persuade or tempt Clive to his side, it's just. You are not doing what I want you to. You have sinned. Why don't you do right? I feel like the FFs with weaker villains are really about something else. Like, FFVIII's REAL villain is time/memory, and FFX's is... organized religion. I have trouble pinpointing exactly what Ultima is supposed to be about. Treating people as things? As above so below in the way the bearers are treated?

Forget Ultima for a moment.

The Eikons and the fights you have with them are FFXVI's big, set piece moments. Kaiju versus Kaiju battles that all have a little bit of a different flavor from each other. Having your biggest moments rest on game mechanics that you don't deal with through the rest of the game is weird. It's a weird choice. There are handful of 8 and 16 bit games I can think of that do this, and it was a weird choice then, too. A bold choice? In the normal mode of the game, the difficulty of these battles does not match the spectacle on screen. In the hard, "Final Fantasy" mode, it's still not ... Quite. There. Maybe if there weren't checkpoints in the battles. This would be frustrating and be a stumbling block for a lot of people in completing the game. But it might be worth it. I feel like I should need a cigarette and a long lie on the floor after the Bahamut fight. It should feel like a mental, emotional, and perhaps spiritual trial. Without going into it too much, on the screen, it is A Lot. The fight itself should match. It's still the high point of the game, imo.

So. What are the Eikons? Who are the dominants, the people they inhabit, and what do they represent? One could say they represent the circumstances in which one might acquire power, and what various personalities might try to do with it. For Joshua, it's a burden, one he's not equal to as a child and one that's slowly killing him as an adult. Benedikta is born to bad circumstances and uses it to advance herself, pulling herself to near the level of kings, but still being used by them, treating the people beneath her how she was treated. For Hugo it's similar, he uses it selfishly, not in fear or escape like Benedikta, but to serve his ego. Dion tries to protect his nation and his people with it, and that in turn opens him to use by those with evil intentions. Jill is forced to use her power for people who think it's an abomination (except it's okay when we do it). Cid tries to give power to the powerless. And Barnabas, the zealot, the millenarian, tries to give it all back to his God and throw the rest of the world into the soup to speed about the end times.

And Clive? Ifrit? The one that isn't supposed to exist? The one who stole fire from the gods? Well. (I had to think about this a long time.) He has trouble accepting it. He's in denial it was him. He can't prime consistently until near the end of the game (on this replay I am wondering: is he only able to prime when Ultima Allows it?) Even after accepting it, he's following Cid's vision rather than his own, even takes up his name. Had to displace it a little. He's not himself, but a version of his mentor, some mythic figure. Is alienated from himself a bit. Has to be the hero, not out of feelings of grandiosity but... He tries to take the burdens off people but sometimes denies them their agency because of it.... He's the perfect avatar for a player that has to complete every side quest.

[megpie71]

I can basically agree with this. I have a weird little quirk of my autistic!brain which means I really snag HARD on incorrect spelling, word choice and grammar; I see it all over the place in fanfiction; and have done for at least twenty years now. About the only thing you can really do about it is offer beta-reading services to the author, and point them in the direction of actual print dictionaries and grammar manuals, because the online ones these days are now so crowd-sourced as to be completely useless.

However, I will leave you with this information: I have yet to see a fic which has yet eclipsed the worst ever fic for spelling, punctuation, grammar and word-choice errors that I have ever run across (in FFVIII fandom, from the early 2000s). I still have a copy of that atrocity on my hard drive, just to remind myself how bad things can get. So overall, I think things are slightly improving.

I don’t want to sound rude but I’ve read that some people prefer to read fics from older fandoms and I agree because younger people are alarmingly illiterate. The too vs to, chose vs choose, lose vs loose, there their and they’re are just scratching the surface.

Genuinely I don’t want to be rude but I can’t read from writers who do not know how to read and write themselves. And I don’t mean EASL because I have no issue with these fics because despite the grammar clunkiness a lot of those fics are still well written by a writer who is clearly well read and able to write a good story in a way that someone illiterate in their first language just can’t.

--

I am sorry to inform you that choose/chose and its brethren are an eternal nuisance. The current crop of young fools might be worse about puritywank, but they're exactly the same as every other generation when it comes to bad proofreading.

[the-imperial-nuisance]

[The Warrior and Fray are speaking together in the midst of a massive battle.]

Fray: You want to wreak some havoc too, don't you?

WoL: It's a good opportunity to test out my training.

WoL: Thanks to you, I feel like I can take on anyone. Even if they do fight dirty, like you.

Fray, turning away: ... You'll thank me when the time comes.

[incorrect-squall-quotes]

[Seifer and Squall arguing]

Squall, starting to leave: I need to get some air…

Seifer: There’s air in here.

Squall: I don’t want your air!

Seifer: What’s wrong with my air?!

[sir-adamus]

yeah in FFVI there's a fight with a train. you can suplex it

anyway, RWBY takes inspiration from Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VIII and Kingdom Hearts to varying degrees

VIII is probably the biggest influence, through the aforementioned stuff (teens training to be specialised warriors - SeeD in FFVIII, Huntsmen and Huntresses in RWBY - at special schools for it - the Gardens in VIII, the Academies in RWBY), the Sorceresses (being the only actual magic users in the setting, who are only ever women and the Sorceress power passes on to another girl upon death) being a clear inspiration behind the Maidens

and following that 'only actual magic users in the setting thing', while Dust does analog to Materia in many ways (industrially mined, used as energy source), Materia itself wasn't a new concept for the series, similar crystals called Magicite have appeared since II, in VIII they have an analogue for refining spells called Magic Stones. additionally, FFVIII has 'Para-Magic', which allows for the use of magic by regular humans by drawing on energy from an external source, which also fits with how Dust is used in the setting but is specifically separate from actual magic

while Yang does carry some influence from Tifa, her actual design seems to be have been modeled on a genderbent Squall cosplay Monty had designed years prior, and she and Ruby both have mixed traits of Squall and his older step-sister Ellone (like Ellone, Yang is cheerier, but also has the 'step-parent died and another parent left and never came back' backstory, forcing them into a pseudo-parental role, and Ruby is like Ellone because they both have unique powers that get them hunted by the big bad. Ruby is like Squall in being the younger, more socially awkward sibling, while Yang has the aforementioned design elements and her relationship with Blake can be seen as having some grounding with Squall's relationship with Rinoa - who is a dark haired activist who never had formal combat training. one of the most famous animated scenes in VIII is Squall and Rinoa ballroom dancing, and we got a bit of that with Blake and Yang in volume 2)

also there's a dog who can be launched at great speed in combat (Angelo, Rinoa's pet dog, and Zwei, Yang and Ruby's pet dog)

so if Jaune draws influence from VIII, it might be from Seifer - Squall's main rival. he's blond, white is a big part of his colour scheme, he carries a big sword (which is also a gun but let's not split hairs) who struggles to measure up to the main party. his shitty, impulsive behaviour is rooted in a desire to be special and respected, and live up to some romantic, unattainable ideal; only difference is Jaune gets slapped with reality hard early on while Seifer chases his dream so hard he becomes a major antagonist for a big part of the story

On the topic of RWBY being inspired by FFVII do you think Jaune suffering from motion sickness has anything to do with Cloud? And come to think of it he is a dork ass blonde nerd with a giant sword who begins the story with a totally delusional self image and tragically loses his love interest halfway through.

[incorrect-strife-quotes]

Squall: It just doesn’t shut up.

Cloud: It called me a bitch once

Reno: I can hear you, yknow?

[queenandani]

Sephiroth: Hey! Wake up!

Zack: Wah!

Sephiroth: I just murdered your entire family!

Zack: But... but I live alone

Sephiroth: huh? Then who are all these people in your house?

Zack: They're people in my house?!

Sephiroth: WELL NOT ANYMORE! Dumb Bitch! You couldn't died, your welcome.

[leonheartilly]

／

Change your destiny! The FINAL FANTASY VIII Collaboration arrives this week in WAR OF THE VISIONS FINAL FANTASY BRAVE EXVIUS!

＼

- UR Squall, UR Rinoa, and UR "SeeDs of Fate" vision card

- MR Shooting Star from the Challenge Missions

- Crafting Recipes for MR Lion Heart from the Ex-Quest

- Up to 2,500 Visiore from the Login Bonus

Find out about the FFVIII collaboration here↓

https://wotvffbe.com/FF8

#WOTVFFBE

Source: Facebook Final Fantasy Brave Exvius

[wandringaesthetic]

I would also like this info. I know a decent but not super active FFVIII server

(I have a tendency to lurk in discords and post like once a year myself so I'm not a great source of info here)

Does anyone know any good discord servers for Final Fantasy (particularly 7,8, and 15?) thanks!

[the-herdier]

Selphie: *walks into bedroom*

Irvine, laying sensually on the bed and wearing a banana costume: "I find you quite a-PEEL-ing."

Selphie: *walks out of bedroom*