Active time lore is such an amazing feature they added. Hopefully more games implement this going forward. There are so many factions and just being able to get a quick rundown even during cutscenes is a game changer.

I'm not going near Jim Sterling. Kinda forgot he existed years ago. Prefer to keep it that way.

Well just remember this is Final Fantasy 60% spoiler

I am just so fed up with Sterling. I genuinely don't even know how to respond to her anymore. 

She's clearly just saying shit to troll for attention, but then goes on rants about how she can't stand all the attention and that it's hurting her brand. Then when the drama dies down she finds something else to stoke the flames. If it's not Hogwarts Legacy shit it's Zelda's 7/10 scores or now Final Fantasy 'not being final fantasy and just being a dour slog'. she's just regurgitating all the bad arguments about pretty much everything and I'm so torn because when she's right, SHE'S MORE RIGHT THAN ANYONE. like, when she's rightly calling out the games industry for abuses and bullshit, she's one of the best there is and I want to support her for that. but then she'll turn around and have the most inflammatory, immature, bratty opinions on everything then feels the need to be an aggressively smug bitch about it. 

I genuinely don't even know how to respond to Sterling anymore. IT's so hard to keep up with her two diametrically opposed sides. On one hand she's the brattiest, most immature game reviewer out there, but on the other hand she's also one of the shining beacons of modern game journalism. 

As for their take on FFXVI, I only made it like halfway through the video before I'd heard enough. Just the same old 'let's amalgamate all the bad arguments in one place and then regurgitate them with my natural flair for the dramatic to really get people stirred up' nonsense. 

I literally gave up when she pulled the 'it's Final Fantasy in name only' take. Like, literally the only thing NOT Final Fantasy about XVI is the lack of turn-based battles...and 15 lacked them too. A game she loved. IT's a bad argument and I just...I really don't have the energy to engage anymore. Maybe the video gets better after that but I just gave up on trying to comprehend whether she's being a drama queen or serious anymore. I am like 75% certain at this point her incendiary behaviour is just trolling at this point. Not sincere. there's no way it can be sincere. it's just too perfectly bad. 

*She

*Stephanie Sterling

You can hate her all you want, no need to deadname/misgender her. 

There's seemingly sincere story critique in the second half of the video, specifically about the setting and characters rather than the plot. Just curious if anyone agreed or not with her take on basically all sides being shitty bigots and having no one to really root for (even the protagonist).

Reminds me of some criticisms of the world and story of Harry Potter, actually (not just its author).

Wasn't aware Sterling was trans. Apologies. Not seen anything of theirs since maybe 8 years or more ago. Still not watching as I still expect trolling.

Yeah I gave up on Sterling. Too negative on reviews and contrarian for the sake of it. And (like others said) a lot of trolling as well. Best stick to reviewers that center towards your tastes and go from there.

FF 16 spoilers

Spoiler!

Oh my lorreee... That Titan fight was insane. Probably one of the craziest boss fights I've seen in years. Legit felt like a final battle. Definite platinum games influence

Oh yeah, she hasn't gotten better. 

But like I said she does some truly great and important work exposing games media and working conditions and the like. The good she's done DOES counterbalance the trolling but I do not go to her for her hot takes or her gaming opinions. She's clearly just being contrarian or amplifying bad takes. Her existence in the games journalism sphere is an overall net positive but holy hell she's so bratty and immature.

Like, she gave Tears of the Kingdom a 7/10 specifically to reignite the drama over the Breath of the Wild 7/10 she gave back when that game came out. She even made a point to say 'if they haven't learned from their mistakes, then they haven't gotten any better and therefore I'll be giving them the same score'. WHAT MISTAKES?! The game sold 30+ million copies, is one of the best-reviewed games ever and is a stone-cold classic...OF COURSE THEY FOLLOWED IT UP WITH A REFINEMENT ON WHAT WAS ALREADY THERE! 

Sorry, I'm letting this get to me more than it should. it's just such a bone-headed argument and I'm sick of her having the platform to shout this nonsense like it has any authority.