Long ago, I told myself the following when the first wave of FFVII spinoff content was being released: “The story of Final Fantasy VII is actually *in* Final Fantasy VII,” and I happily ignored every other side game.
Just yesterday I was checking this channel to see if maybe I wasn't notified of a recent upload, so this video hit at just the right time. Anyway, I was one of those few unlucky ones who deluded myself into thinking this would be the coolest thing ever back when it was first announced. I got it when it dropped, immediately saw what I was dealing with, and just removed it from my phone. I've kept up with First Soldier via RUclips, though. I think the story is actually pretty solid, to be fair. I like Glenn, and I enjoy the way they portray this younger Sephiroth. I appreciate the weird new theme rendition too. I actually interpret the story as showing some of the humanity he had early on, and how, though incidents such as with Rosen, he had that slowly picked away at over the years, leaving the fragile man who would eventually crumble during Crisis Core. But, of course, there's no telling exactly what route they're actually taking the narrative just yet. Regardless, I'm with you in wanting to see how AC is handled, and especially in hoping an offline version of the game exists at some point. Congrats on making it through all the mobile games in this series; I'm glad it's all finally behind you, and this goliath of a video is a really enjoyable watch to cap that off with. So, if nothing else, know that all your effort with this one wasn't for nothing, at the very least, because this video is really damn good. I can't believe REFFOID's almost over. Not having this series to follow along with anymore is something I don't know I've fully processed just yet. Apparently I've almost been a member of this channel for an entire year now, and I know I've been watching these videos for even longer than that. That's crazy. I can't imagine how much crazier it has to feel for you to have almost reached the end of the Final Fantasy pipeline. Regardless, I'm still hyped for the tail end of this series. Thanks again for all the time and energy you put into this. It really means a lot.
To be clear, when it comes to gacha titles, I do think a large number of them are dangerous timesinks that attempt to milk every last cent from the consumer. However, I've played enough gacha titles with positive elements that have made me decide not to write off the genre completely, but I think it's completely fair to view them with extra skepticism. That said, I'll once again wave the banner for Another Eden. No stamina system. No brick walls of difficulty. No content is paywalled. The only way you spend money in-game is if you want to draw for random characters, but the game offers you free currency (and lots of powerful free characters) so it isn't a requirement. If someone NEEDS to have every character, then yeah, that game can be a problem, but if you're happy getting like 150 characters for free then it's more than enough content. Full map exploration, turn-based RPG battles, leveling system is traditional levels plus a sphere grid type system. Doesn't feel like a gacha, but then again, that might be the reason why it's so good. It's the exception to the rule. While I tend to give a lot of gacha games a pass if they have good story, good music, good characters, etc., Another Eden is also legitimately great from a gameplay perspective and found the perfect formula to make a game that is economically viable and mechanically engaging without being predatory, and for that it will always have my utmost respect. Haven't touched Ever Crisis though. Story looks okay but the way the game is designed falls into the "predatory gacha" I want nothing to do with. #CentristGreg
I woke up and stayed up just for this video. Great deep dive dissection of this money and time sinkhole. I look forward to the day when we finally will know Sephiroth.
I owe you an apology. I dragged my feet on watching this video because I couldn't imagine over an hour of talking about another phone game could be that interesting. I was wrong. The due diligence you put into this one was commendable and I was quite invested on your journey through it. You truly are the greatest Final Fantasy RUclipsr. I especially loved the section about multiplayer and guilds.
I discovered your channel recently and am catching up on this series. Just wanted to say, I have really been enjoying your videos and I can’t wait for your Rebirth video!
You are a much stronger FF fan than me. Thank you for taking the bullet on this one, I was enraptured the entire time while also believing I will never touch this game with a 10 foot Samsung Galaxy.
I opened Ever Crisis for 10 mins the day it came out, became immediately overwhelmed by the gatcha mechanics popping in my face every 5 seconds, and NOPE’d my way out never looking back. Thanks for doing the lords work here.
Thanks, Tom. Been playing EC since day 1. I'm not sure if I ever liked the game, I might have just liked some of the people I was playing with. Close to sunsetting this myself.
27:45 considering the EPIC games leak showed the FF9 remake getting its last hidden store item updated around august 2023, just a few months before this crossover event. Honestly that conspiracy makes sense
This game... I tried it once when it came out and then again a few months later and... Gacha games were already bad when I last actually played one, but then trying to play this and people defending it and saying this all is "the norm" for mobile games now I just can't. It's system on top of system on top or system on top of system. When it already takes me half an hour of various weird stuff to just upgrade a weapon to the most I can with my available resources (and ehenzever I think I'm done there's some weird new meta step all the while unlocking increasingly more expensive "deals" in the cash shop being $100 to make upgrading weapons easier) something is wrong.
I guess I'm just an old guy, but I've been playing games like Final Fantasy since the 80s, and I've never understood any mobile gatcha game I've tried. I started FF7 Ever Crisis a few times, and all the things you explain at the beginning of the video like levels, rarity, different weapons and costumes, points and tickets, using stamina and power creep... It's just overwhelming. The game throws all this stuff at me when I turn it on, and it's confusing, making me not want to play. I just wanted to see the story, particularly with Glen since he's in FF7 Rebirth and young Sephiroth, but you need to be strong enough to continue the story, and it's too convolved and confusing for me to bother figuring out. I guess I'm just surprised people get hooked on these, since I can't make heads or tails of them, even when it's a game I want to like! Great video though! You had wonderful dedication to get through this and do nice job explaining how predatory this all is. Thanks! -Saves
It's hard to jump on games like these after they've been active for a while cause they continually add more and more mechanics over time to keep players engaged. Early adopters get eased into it gradually while others have to wade through mountains of lingo, subsystems and currencies to get caught up.
Love this game and its community Stamina can recharge fully after 8 hours plus if you're smart about it. Find it less grindy than other gacha games and way more fun 🎉 Appreciate the review but gave up 8 mins in due to lots of misinformation
Yeah...I tried the game recently, and quickly realized that I don't even have the patience required to finish the grind needed to experience the story content. I enjoy the presentation, and when I'm actually doing story content, the game can be pretty charming. The gameplay loop of Ever Crisis just sucks the life right out of me though. I love Final Fantasy VII, but this?...I just can't with this crap.
I play this game whenever I have a little breather from work, commuting, or in bathroom, last 5 mins before I go bed. I am a f2p. Never spent a single dollar. I am grateful that I can control myself not to spend money on this game since day 1 release. I know this is not the real FF7 game. It never will be. Don't chase for ob6, 0b10. You don't need them to play the game. They will come soon or later when you have free wishes/tickets etc. Spend that money on a something that you can spend in your life rather than a gotcha game.
My iPhone broke and I had to stop playing for a month I had no choice. I was behind a month. And I literally had to grind a whole day to catch back up lol 😂. After I caught up I just login for like 30 min do dailies and I’m out. It’s not that big of a deal. Just space out grinding.
They have the greatest ip, yet cant design a really good system. The only way for you to get stronger and to reach out a higher damage is to get a copy of weapon, which only can be trade with gems and money and saving tiny little bit gems day by day. Honestly there is no options for you to put effort growing your power but to wait n save gems. Seriously bad game design. They should have make the grinding meaningful. Like everyday grind some materials that can upgrade stats or power. Or extras super strong items drops from bosses. Complex grind and upgrade system. "Make the daily grinding meaningful and fun" Is the core and lore of every game should be.
There are terrible games with gacha and there are good games that are made terrible with gacha There is nothing else and it hurts to see so many people defend with their life gacha mechanics cough cough Hoyoverse fans my arch nemesis
I played Code Geass Lost Stories because I love the franchise and the new original story was pretty cool, but it is also a gacha game and after a particularly bad luck streak I couldn't justify playing it. All of that being said, FFXV: A New Empire is still worse
Lol gacha are gacha cuz they made like that if u control urself u never spend and u can clear everything... And u can say the same for gaming in general... Theres people who cant control themself for gaming if ur not a streamer or a youtuber whatever or u have low view then its pointless too cuz u spending life time for "games"... Oh and dont say but it brings u happiness blah blah cuz gacha did the same too even if u dont spend money on it. Simply put u dont like gacha/slot machines but gaming in general its a "illness" too unless it brings u a lot of moneys.
@Random-ln5mt the only reason im really saying this is, the news of squares finances not exactly being the greatest and their history of killing gachas as soon as thwy become less lucrative, i think the combination of a long wait and a gacha based on weapons (essentially, you can ALWAYS create a new op weapon to put on a banner) the playerbase is gonna rduce at a high rate well before that and square, seeing the drop, will cease service.
As one of those insane sephiroth fans I even did the preorder before it launched, played since day one simply to get every single Sephiroth skin and to see the new sephiroth story🥲 the game sucks but I’ll take every single sephiroth crumb I can get
Long ago, I told myself the following when the first wave of FFVII spinoff content was being released: “The story of Final Fantasy VII is actually *in* Final Fantasy VII,” and I happily ignored every other side game.
Just yesterday I was checking this channel to see if maybe I wasn't notified of a recent upload, so this video hit at just the right time. Anyway, I was one of those few unlucky ones who deluded myself into thinking this would be the coolest thing ever back when it was first announced. I got it when it dropped, immediately saw what I was dealing with, and just removed it from my phone. I've kept up with First Soldier via RUclips, though. I think the story is actually pretty solid, to be fair.
I like Glenn, and I enjoy the way they portray this younger Sephiroth. I appreciate the weird new theme rendition too. I actually interpret the story as showing some of the humanity he had early on, and how, though incidents such as with Rosen, he had that slowly picked away at over the years, leaving the fragile man who would eventually crumble during Crisis Core. But, of course, there's no telling exactly what route they're actually taking the narrative just yet.
Regardless, I'm with you in wanting to see how AC is handled, and especially in hoping an offline version of the game exists at some point. Congrats on making it through all the mobile games in this series; I'm glad it's all finally behind you, and this goliath of a video is a really enjoyable watch to cap that off with. So, if nothing else, know that all your effort with this one wasn't for nothing, at the very least, because this video is really damn good.
I can't believe REFFOID's almost over. Not having this series to follow along with anymore is something I don't know I've fully processed just yet. Apparently I've almost been a member of this channel for an entire year now, and I know I've been watching these videos for even longer than that. That's crazy. I can't imagine how much crazier it has to feel for you to have almost reached the end of the Final Fantasy pipeline. Regardless, I'm still hyped for the tail end of this series. Thanks again for all the time and energy you put into this. It really means a lot.
To be clear, when it comes to gacha titles, I do think a large number of them are dangerous timesinks that attempt to milk every last cent from the consumer. However, I've played enough gacha titles with positive elements that have made me decide not to write off the genre completely, but I think it's completely fair to view them with extra skepticism.
That said, I'll once again wave the banner for Another Eden. No stamina system. No brick walls of difficulty. No content is paywalled. The only way you spend money in-game is if you want to draw for random characters, but the game offers you free currency (and lots of powerful free characters) so it isn't a requirement. If someone NEEDS to have every character, then yeah, that game can be a problem, but if you're happy getting like 150 characters for free then it's more than enough content. Full map exploration, turn-based RPG battles, leveling system is traditional levels plus a sphere grid type system. Doesn't feel like a gacha, but then again, that might be the reason why it's so good. It's the exception to the rule.
While I tend to give a lot of gacha games a pass if they have good story, good music, good characters, etc., Another Eden is also legitimately great from a gameplay perspective and found the perfect formula to make a game that is economically viable and mechanically engaging without being predatory, and for that it will always have my utmost respect.
Haven't touched Ever Crisis though. Story looks okay but the way the game is designed falls into the "predatory gacha" I want nothing to do with. #CentristGreg
Another Eden has a stamina system last time i checked. Its the keys
@@franciscocristobal3095 Only for challenge dungeons. The rest of the content (story, sidequests, etc.) has no stamina system.
I woke up and stayed up just for this video. Great deep dive dissection of this money and time sinkhole. I look forward to the day when we finally will know Sephiroth.
You.... still... STILL... don't know the real... REALLY REAL... Sephiroth 🙏 😤
I owe you an apology. I dragged my feet on watching this video because I couldn't imagine over an hour of talking about another phone game could be that interesting. I was wrong. The due diligence you put into this one was commendable and I was quite invested on your journey through it. You truly are the greatest Final Fantasy RUclipsr. I especially loved the section about multiplayer and guilds.
I discovered your channel recently and am catching up on this series. Just wanted to say, I have really been enjoying your videos and I can’t wait for your Rebirth video!
You are a much stronger FF fan than me. Thank you for taking the bullet on this one, I was enraptured the entire time while also believing I will never touch this game with a 10 foot Samsung Galaxy.
I opened Ever Crisis for 10 mins the day it came out, became immediately overwhelmed by the gatcha mechanics popping in my face every 5 seconds, and NOPE’d my way out never looking back. Thanks for doing the lords work here.
Same here…
Terrible experience
Thanks, Tom.
Been playing EC since day 1. I'm not sure if I ever liked the game, I might have just liked some of the people I was playing with.
Close to sunsetting this myself.
27:45 considering the EPIC games leak showed the FF9 remake getting its last hidden store item updated around august 2023, just a few months before this crossover event. Honestly that conspiracy makes sense
This game... I tried it once when it came out and then again a few months later and... Gacha games were already bad when I last actually played one, but then trying to play this and people defending it and saying this all is "the norm" for mobile games now I just can't. It's system on top of system on top or system on top of system. When it already takes me half an hour of various weird stuff to just upgrade a weapon to the most I can with my available resources (and ehenzever I think I'm done there's some weird new meta step all the while unlocking increasingly more expensive "deals" in the cash shop being $100 to make upgrading weapons easier) something is wrong.
Nah, you don't need to pay to upgrade weapons. I haven't paid anything to upgrade weps and I'm in the best guild of this game.
Great video!
I guess I'm just an old guy, but I've been playing games like Final Fantasy since the 80s, and I've never understood any mobile gatcha game I've tried. I started FF7 Ever Crisis a few times, and all the things you explain at the beginning of the video like levels, rarity, different weapons and costumes, points and tickets, using stamina and power creep... It's just overwhelming. The game throws all this stuff at me when I turn it on, and it's confusing, making me not want to play. I just wanted to see the story, particularly with Glen since he's in FF7 Rebirth and young Sephiroth, but you need to be strong enough to continue the story, and it's too convolved and confusing for me to bother figuring out. I guess I'm just surprised people get hooked on these, since I can't make heads or tails of them, even when it's a game I want to like! Great video though! You had wonderful dedication to get through this and do nice job explaining how predatory this all is. Thanks! -Saves
It's hard to jump on games like these after they've been active for a while cause they continually add more and more mechanics over time to keep players engaged. Early adopters get eased into it gradually while others have to wade through mountains of lingo, subsystems and currencies to get caught up.
1:07:21 I’m playing Pokémon rogue with that time I like grinding on that a little bit more
Love this game and its community
Stamina can recharge fully after 8 hours plus if you're smart about it. Find it less grindy than other gacha games and way more fun 🎉
Appreciate the review but gave up 8 mins in due to lots of misinformation
the first 8 minutes is basically me talking about gachas & addiction in general, where's the misinformation?
*I'm one of the few that would choose Fisrt Soldier over this 1M% of the time.*
Yeah...I tried the game recently, and quickly realized that I don't even have the patience required to finish the grind needed to experience the story content. I enjoy the presentation, and when I'm actually doing story content, the game can be pretty charming. The gameplay loop of Ever Crisis just sucks the life right out of me though. I love Final Fantasy VII, but this?...I just can't with this crap.
I play this game whenever I have a little breather from work, commuting, or in bathroom, last 5 mins before I go bed. I am a f2p. Never spent a single dollar. I am grateful that I can control myself not to spend money on this game since day 1 release. I know this is not the real FF7 game. It never will be. Don't chase for ob6, 0b10. You don't need them to play the game. They will come soon or later when you have free wishes/tickets etc. Spend that money on a something that you can spend in your life rather than a gotcha game.
I respect you. It’s definitely true. It’s not worth it
My iPhone broke and I had to stop playing for a month I had no choice. I was behind a month. And I literally had to grind a whole day to catch back up lol 😂. After I caught up I just login for like 30 min do dailies and I’m out. It’s not that big of a deal. Just space out grinding.
They have the greatest ip, yet cant design a really good system. The only way for you to get stronger and to reach out a higher damage is to get a copy of weapon, which only can be trade with gems and money and saving tiny little bit gems day by day. Honestly there is no options for you to put effort growing your power but to wait n save gems. Seriously bad game design. They should have make the grinding meaningful.
Like everyday grind some materials that can upgrade stats or power. Or extras super strong items drops from bosses. Complex grind and upgrade system. "Make the daily grinding meaningful and fun" Is the core and lore of every game should be.
There are terrible games with gacha and there are good games that are made terrible with gacha
There is nothing else and it hurts to see so many people defend with their life gacha mechanics cough cough Hoyoverse fans my arch nemesis
Praise Gaia. The upload has come. Oh... It's a mobile game. He shall hath no mercy. lmao
I played Code Geass Lost Stories because I love the franchise and the new original story was pretty cool, but it is also a gacha game and after a particularly bad luck streak I couldn't justify playing it. All of that being said, FFXV: A New Empire is still worse
Lol gacha are gacha cuz they made like that if u control urself u never spend and u can clear everything... And u can say the same for gaming in general... Theres people who cant control themself for gaming if ur not a streamer or a youtuber whatever or u have low view then its pointless too cuz u spending life time for "games"... Oh and dont say but it brings u happiness blah blah cuz gacha did the same too even if u dont spend money on it.
Simply put u dont like gacha/slot machines but gaming in general its a "illness" too unless it brings u a lot of moneys.
Never doing anything unless you can make money off it is a great way to live!
dont worry, that EOS is coming sooner than u think
How long do you think? Seems to me like there's maybe about 15k players in the global version
In 2 years
@@rredix next summer i think
No chance of eos till ff7 part 3 releases I think eos 01/2028
@Random-ln5mt the only reason im really saying this is, the news of squares finances not exactly being the greatest and their history of killing gachas as soon as thwy become less lucrative, i think the combination of a long wait and a gacha based on weapons (essentially, you can ALWAYS create a new op weapon to put on a banner) the playerbase is gonna rduce at a high rate well before that and square, seeing the drop, will cease service.
This is your misstake not to pull and this is why you are wear and cant beat bahamut dont Hort your free crystal or u never get stronger
We did well in the guild battle, given our AFK members!
As one of those insane sephiroth fans I even did the preorder before it launched, played since day one simply to get every single Sephiroth skin and to see the new sephiroth story🥲 the game sucks but I’ll take every single sephiroth crumb I can get