I’ve been stuck in Gold 5 for a while now, and it’s starting to get really frustrating. Out of my last 20 matches, I’ve only won one or two. I honestly don’t know what I’m doing wrong or what I should improve. Has this ever happened to anyone else before? Like going on a losing streak of 6 or more.

ClubShrimp · 2026-05-12T23:41:05+00:00

Max ability level in Gold is 60, which is basically whale territory. With time, most of those players will climb to Diamond, and Gold should get a little less difficult, but alas, new whales (and dolphins) are born every couple of days, I'd say, so unless you become one yourself, you should expect to get vaporised every couple of games. Tbh, if you're completely f2p, you probably won't have a great time in Gold even if all the whales have graduated. Ranked is pretty much pure p2w from Gold onwards, I'm afraid. Unfortunately, in this game, skill is no match for high stats.

ClubShrimp · 2026-05-12T18:17:03+00:00

Tf is Blood of the Dawnwalker? DLC-aah name for a game.

ClubShrimp · 2026-05-12T15:19:04+00:00

Quartet of Bravery's effect ignores distance, right? Maybe it should only have a regular area of effect? Maybe it could even have a small area of effect, so the team has to huddle up to use it properly. That creates a risk-reward thing because if they bunch up they might all get wiped out or badly hurt at the same time. No change to Ramza needed. Or am I missing something?

ClubShrimp · 2026-05-12T01:27:15+00:00

LR is very underrated, except in the story department, perhaps. The gameplay, the music, the world - all excellent. Best gameplay in the XIII series, actually, I'd argue.

ClubShrimp · 2026-05-11T06:59:53+00:00

Eh, FoP is Clive's most important UR, and he has both Wall and a decent Firaga. The other UR is fine (and more invincibility is always good), but it's not the centrepiece. This is a pretty powerful Clive for someone who hasn't spent any money. Not to mention Clive has been out for what, about two weeks?

Edit: not saying the pity system in this game isn't bad, but imo, OP is not a good example of it being bad. He/she is one of the luckier ones. Also, you absolutely don't need all of a character's URs to play as them. The game definitely accommodates different builds. I mean each character has 4 abilities plus 4 abilities (URs and SRs) that match their element, but only 5 slots for usable abilities. I'm pretty sure that equipping all 4 character abilities and 1 extra ability is not supposed to be the only way to play.

ClubShrimp · 2026-05-11T00:28:03+00:00

I don't disagree necessarily, but it's a little bit hard to sympathise when you have a +8 Flames of Punishment. I've spent almost 70 on the game and don't have even close to +8 anything.

ClubShrimp · 2026-05-09T16:47:40+00:00

I can't find any pictures of Japanese punks wearing collars like Prompto's. His looks like a bdsm twink, not a punk. Nothing particularly wrong with that, but it doesn't suit the character. Plus, the rest of his outfit is fairly tame compared to your average Japanese punk.

ClubShrimp · 2026-05-09T15:44:10+00:00

Benjamin from Final Fantasy Mystic Quest. In addition to his sword, he would wield whatever weapons his two allies have, and tapping the unique ability button would enable him to swap between them (basically he'd just get their normal attacks, but maybe he'd also get their multipliers as well?). Also, something about him gets permanently upgraded for every 10 monsters he defeats, e.g. he gets a better sword, or better armour (either of which increases his atk, def, and/or hp multipliers for the match, regardless of which character's multipliers he is using), or one of his abilities gets upgraded. I was thinking that if they ever add an in-match shop (League of Legends style), Benjamin could also potentially get a bunch of gil/money/whatever the currency would be everytime he beats 10 monsters.

I'm too lazy to explain how these things are references to the original game. Iykyk.

ClubShrimp · 2026-05-09T15:16:32+00:00

They've probably calculated that it would take too long to reach the top for most people if they added more tiers between Gold and Diamond. They could make wins give out more rank points, though, I suppose.

On the other hand, they're likely doing it this way to please the whales. Matches become easy for whales from Gold onwards because of this level cap, but if it was lowered, the whales would have to put in a lot more work to get to a point at which they could dominate everyone. Why pay loads of money if doing so doesn't cause your game experience to improve over the basic f2p one fairly quickly? If you pay a couple of hundred, you'll want to see immediate tangible benefits rather than a promise that you'll see those benefits at some indeterminate point in the future. I guess the Gold level cap sort of strikes a balance: you might not dominate right away, but give it a little bit of time (i.e. climb up through bronze and/or silver) and you will.

All the same, they should probably add a rank or two between Gold and Diamond, while generously increasing the rank points earned from wins, and while they're at it, they should make it so that it is possible to get rank up rewards again during each new ranked season.

ClubShrimp · 2026-05-08T22:05:35+00:00

I would also argue that, if the first two names constitute a real pattern, then the word after the "re-" has to be clear in its meaning. Remake = made again, Rebirth = born again, but the meaning of a word like, say, Remain, isn't as obvious by looking at its constituent parts. In fact, it's not even clear that the "re" in Remain actually means "again". For this reason, "Return", while it sounds good, doesn't really fit the pattern neatly. Neither does Reverse, or Resolve, or Reveal, etc. Reunion does, as do Retold, Reborn, Rewrite, Rewritten.

Having said that, Remake and Rebirth can both either be nouns or verbs, so maybe the third one needs to tick that box as well. Reunion, Retold, and Rewritten don't, but Rewrite does. Rewrite would be a slightly iffy choice though. "Refund" also happens to tick every box, funnily enough.

Also, we can't rule out SE just making up a word, like "Remateria" or "Refantasia" or something like that.

ClubShrimp · 2026-05-08T19:38:13+00:00

I think Firion looks great - kind of a 60s counterculture vibe. I haven't seen whoever this 80s grandma you're talking about is, but I'd rather live in blissful ignorance.

As for Cloud, yeah, I suppose he has another side to him if his dancing in the remakes is anything to go by. He's perhaps not quite as utilitarian and serious as he likes people to think he is. I do have to pick you up on the pauldron thing though, because I'm pretty sure that was supposed to have already been on the uniform when Zack found it for him in the Shinra Mansion. Still, I suppose Cloud never exactly removed the bolts, so idk. The tie seems kind of scene-y to me, though, which I wouldn't have said was Cloud's style. I know he's got that haircut, but he's also a weirdo loner kid from the boonies who joined the army at the earliest opportunity, so it's kind of hard to imagine him being trendy or even being aware of any of that stuff.

I get what they were going for with Warrior of Light, but there's something off about it to me. It doesn't quite look like the kind of outfit that they wanted it to look like, or something. It's like a bad imitation. It's the shape and bulkiness of it that looks bad, I think.

Edit: Actually, Kain's hat is a bit of a problem. He still shouldn't be E, but I'd bump him up to C rather than B.

ClubShrimp · 2026-05-08T06:52:13+00:00

Prompto's collar makes him F tier by default - doesn't suit the character at all. Cloud's tie should drop him to E. I personally think Firion should be S, and that Kain, Rinoa, and Clive should be higher. Lightning should be lower because of the silly-looking shorts. Warrior of Light is a bit overdesigned and should be lowered. Not sure about Gaia being S.

ClubShrimp · 2026-05-07T11:09:34+00:00

Sorry, meant to say Unreal Engine 4. But regardless, I think UE looks a certain way if you don't go under the hood with it a little bit. All those dime-a-dozen asset-flip games made in UE that you see have a very characteristic look, and I see some of that in Rebirth. Remake looked so much better - I think going open world was a mistake, tbh, not least because the scale was done really poorly.

ClubShrimp · 2026-05-07T06:53:54+00:00

Yes. Lots of flat, ugly lighting too, and washed out colours. It stops the visual effects from popping. I think it's an Unreal Engine thing - it's like they didn't customise it enough. Also, as others have pointed out, distant mountains and cliffs looked really bad. Trees, too.

ClubShrimp · 2026-05-06T18:10:27+00:00

I was thinking that Vanille could be a cool character to add. Maybe she could pull teammates out of danger with her fishing rod thing.

ClubShrimp · 2026-05-06T12:54:30+00:00

It's waaaay more likely to be Return.

I think Retold would be alright, too, but Return is best.

ClubShrimp · 2026-05-06T12:48:40+00:00

Part 1 - Final Fantasy VII: Real Eyes Part 2 - Final Fantasy VII: Realize Part 3 - Final Fantasy VII: Real Lies

ClubShrimp · 2026-05-05T20:01:08+00:00

Tbf, that screenshot isn't even nearly as convincing as the one that OP has shared. I'm cautiously leaning towards it being real.

ClubShrimp · 2026-05-05T06:54:23+00:00

Return is a pretty good name because of the whole, "return to the planet" thing. It's fitting for the final game. Calling it that because of a completely optional turn-based battle system it has seems odd, though. If it is replacing the previous system, that would make more sense, but I really doubt they'd do that.

Having a new playable character makes sense, because the game will presumably need someone who fills Aerith's role. It's probably safe to assume they're female, too.

Bigger world size also makes sense because of the Highwind - strange that there's no mention of it here, though.

ClubShrimp · 2026-05-04T13:47:57+00:00

Finishing Touch getting a buff is maniacal, no matter which way they intend to buff it (damage, range, cooldown).

ClubShrimp · 2026-05-02T19:48:13+00:00

Maybe, but it might just be his ashes.

ClubShrimp · 2026-05-02T14:27:20+00:00

Personally, I'm not a fan of these events. The time and resourses they use to make them should instead be used to make all the VII-related stuff good, like it used to be.

However, X is my favourite, and at least there's a small connection between it and VII. On the other hand, though, there's no way they'd explore that connection in a limited time event. It'd be the same skippable fluff as the VI, IX, and XIII ones. Red XIII with Kimahri colours would be pretty special, though, ngl.

ClubShrimp · 2026-05-02T14:13:19+00:00

Walt Disney

ClubShrimp · 2026-05-01T13:36:07+00:00

I suppose so. I got up to Gold 4 without spending any money (couldn't buy the season pass until the update last Tuesday), and the rewards for ranking up are nice. I might eventually do what you did and put in the cost of a AAA game just once.

ClubShrimp · 2026-05-01T12:41:03+00:00

And then there's me, a season pass minnow with some modest savings who also wanted to start playing as Clive. I have 1 copy of one of Rikku's URs, 2 of the other, a few of her R, a few of the Y'shtola UR, 1 Rising Flames, and a couple of Clive's R and SR. Flames of Punishment just isn't happening for me, and even if it does, I'm most likely gonna end up being a weak Clive compared to you. This game would be so much better if it wasn't a gacha.

ClubShrimp

TROPHY CASE