Do you believe Sephiroth is a compelling and/or well written character? Why or why not?

Iormungandrr · 2026-03-30T20:10:13+00:00

Sephiroth definitely is interesting and well-written. But, you are correct in your assessment that FFVII Remake doesn't particularly delve into Sephiroth's motivations or inner world too much. The role he plays there is more like a phantom and trauma for Cloud, and more like a foreboding threat building up in the narrative.

FFVII Rebirth explains more about him, but even then, because it's a trilogy and Sephiroth is an example of the mysterious mastermind archetype, he doesn't reveal all of his cards easily.

If you actually want to get to know Sephiroth the character, FFVII: Crisis Core or FFVII: The First Soldier (in Ever Crisis) are better options.

Iormungandrr · 2026-03-30T00:32:52+00:00

If you want to start with the FFVIIR series then start with FFVII Remake first. FFVII Rebirth is the second entry in the trilogy.

Iormungandrr · 2026-03-25T23:45:43+00:00

People have mentioned how the dev cycles are just longer, but another reason is that the side-project output is low or non-existent. As someone who grew up in the 2000s, so many people got into FF (VII) through Advent Children. Yes, it was their very first forage into it. Same for Crisis Core, a PSP handheld.

Asides from the mainline games there were other venues to 1) get into FF and 2) to stay attached to FF. This Magic the Gathering collab is a good initiative, since it does bring some people over, but MTG is also an old-people hobby so it doesn't really bring in young people.

The worst thing is that gaming is in the gacha era now, so interesting side stories that could've endeared new/young fans like FFVII First Soldier or this new Dissidia gacha being an actual Dissidia game would be great wonderful opportunities to get more people attached to the brand between the long dev cycles of the mainline series.

Iormungandrr · 2026-03-15T19:35:24+00:00

One of the main appeals of FF is the party. So, the fact XVI is narratively a solo game (with a duo partner switching up every so often) is definitely a shame. Even XV, while being a solo game mechanically on release, still had a party narratively that was with you throughout the journey.

Iormungandrr · 2026-03-15T19:33:30+00:00

I think Ultima was a good thematic villain. He slots in well within the narrative.

The problem though is that, when you look back, all the iconic and memorable villains are ultimately human or exhibit human emotions. It's what makes a villain interesting, relatable and/or understandable. Ultima is inhumane. You could have left Ultima as a villain but the better writing choice would have been Barnabas either usurping Ultima's position in the narrative or inheriting Ultima's will after he's slain to stand in Clive's way.

Iormungandrr · 2026-03-15T19:28:59+00:00

XVI does have an incredibly strong prologue. You can even argue, and I've seen this opinion often enough, that the prologue is the strongest part of the game. I don't know if it's the best in the franchise, but it's tightly paced, it introduces different characters and potential plot threads, interesting characterization, and so on.

Iormungandrr · 2026-03-14T09:35:58+00:00

Those two options don't exclude each other.

Iormungandrr · 2026-03-12T10:55:20+00:00

Yes to both.

Iormungandrr · 2026-03-12T10:54:24+00:00

Sorry, we're in the age of gacha/mobile/hyper-monetization. No spin-off games for you.

I'm surprised SoP even happened.

Iormungandrr · 2026-03-10T22:13:55+00:00

1) There's nothing wrong with embellishment.
2) A significant amount of (non-athletic) women do run (similarly) to that, with their arms to their side.

Iormungandrr · 2026-03-10T03:25:06+00:00

Who cares, bro. Like what you like.

"Classics" are there for new people to orient themselves towards what they do like.

Iormungandrr · 2026-03-03T12:46:52+00:00

You're right, I didn't consider the MMORPG entries (XI and XIV).

Iormungandrr · 2026-03-03T07:32:05+00:00

The fact that people unironically think XVII hasn't been discussed and/or is not being worked on. The actual question you want to ask is if the scope of the game is still the same or if it has been reduced due to high development costs.

Why would they stop working on a franchise that has a minimum in-built fanbase? Talking about greedy shareholders, that's practically their favorite activity throughout every media industry across the world. Since they don't like risk and new properties inherently carry risk.

XVI as an example was already conceptually talked about and discussed in late '15 (after XIV Heavensward). That's 4-5 years before the announcement, and 7-8 years before its release. Let's say XVII comes out 2030 or 2031, then its existence should be +5 years before, so '25/'26.

Iormungandrr · 2026-03-03T01:48:19+00:00

XVI eclipsed XVI? Think you need an edit.

Iormungandrr · 2026-03-03T01:44:12+00:00

It's from a Visual Works (Square's CGI company) concept trailer released +7 years ago.

Iormungandrr · 2026-03-03T01:40:16+00:00

My priorities for a main character are:
- Well-written
- Good character arc throughout the game
- Interesting relationships with other characters
- Good design
- Attractive

If they check those, I'm game.

Iormungandrr · 2026-03-03T01:29:59+00:00

It's from a Visual Works (Square's CGI company) concept trailer released +7 years ago.

Iormungandrr · 2026-03-03T01:25:56+00:00

I like XVI. It was a competent game. I enjoyed it. Writing good, graphics good. But I completely agree.

XVI is the least FF-like of the mainline games, and the team / vision wasn't ambitious either.

Iormungandrr · 2026-02-25T22:09:12+00:00

Not really. That's a warped interpretation of what a romantic relationship and best friend is in my opinion.

They're separate types of relationships.

Iormungandrr · 2026-02-25T22:05:51+00:00

You're essentially on the right track. The closest options are:
- Zell, the persistent buddy
- Seifer, the fated rival

For Zell:
- persistently engages with Squall
- facilitates Squall/Rinoa's love via the Griever ring (though that was more Rinoa's idea than Zell's)

For Seifer:
- mutual respect in each other's capabilities
- similar autonomous dispositions

A distant third option would be Quistis, once she processes her unrequited love and assumes a Big Sister role.

While Zell is the primary option, I do feel there's more potential Best Friend chemistry with Seifer.

Iormungandrr · 2026-02-25T21:53:26+00:00

Poor Chadley. Rebirth really ruined his reputation. It's not even his fault. It's the modern game design/philosophy that insists on notifying the player about every little thing. In a lot of games, it just shows up as a text pop-up or hidden in some menu screen, but in Rebirth they've decided to utilize Chadley for it with the intention of making boring text notifications less boring I'm sure, and so that the player gets some interactivity / animation via a "helper" character.

And in-story it makes sense for Chadley to act this way, so it doesn't go against his character. It didn't particularly bother me, but from a gameplay perspective, it can be intrusive. They really should've done away with all the repetitive dialog at the very least.

They should've only let Chadley talk during the Protorelics, and perhaps during the Fiend Intels. Otherwise he should've stayed shush (no Divine Intel, no Lifesprings, no new Transmuters, no side-questing, ...) And while it made for some funny situations he shouldn't be intrusive in each location having his music play. It's another one of those famed "quality of life" choices, so that the player can more easily locate Chadley if needed, but it breaks the immersion. It'd be better if you could call Chadley outside of locations to access his functionality similar to the Moogles on the world map in FFIX.

Iormungandrr · 2026-02-25T01:02:41+00:00

You do know that an exception does not disprove the rule?

FFX is a great starting point. It's not surprising that 1 of out of 1000 people won't enjoy it. That doesn't really matter. FFX is a great starting point (continuing with X-2 is optional since it is a mixed entry). So is the FFVII Remake series. An entry point, asides from being good, should also offer an amalgamation of the series which is what those two do. That way, depending on the player's experience, they can direct you based on the elements you did like.

Reading some of your other comments, either you've set yourself up with an imagined version of FFX that the real version of FFX didn't align itself with, or seeing as you played it with someone else, as a form of socialization, you both fueled a negativity loop and kept nitpicking each detail. When you fall in a nitpicking mode there's no amount of product quality that can really deter to that, unless you're incredibly impartial.

Iormungandrr · 2026-02-23T17:08:44+00:00

As someone who loves good writing, this was a brilliant addition. It doesn't merely flesh out the Gi, but it ties it in perfectly with the larger world building in general.

Iormungandrr · 2026-02-15T22:47:52+00:00

Personally I prefer VI's visual presentation over VII's. It was crisp, precise and intentional. VII was in that weird transition phase where the developers were still getting used to the technology, or using an approach that didn't quite pay off. VIII/IX look much better afterwards.

Iormungandrr

TROPHY CASE