#Critical Care Equipment Market

[aimarketresearch]

Critical Care Equipment Market Size, Share, Trends, Global Demand, Growth and Opportunity Analysis

Critical Care Equipment Market report is an important manuscript for every market enthusiast, policymaker, investor, and market player. The market research and analysis conducted in this report assists clients in forecasting the investment in an emerging market, growth of market share or success of a new product. In addition, this business report endows with a delegate overview of the market where it identifies industry trends, determines brand awareness, potency and insights and provides competitive intelligence. Report contains strong and weak points of the competitors and analysis of their strategies with respect to product and  industry. Critical Care Equipment Market is the most established tool and hence used widely to generate market research report.

With the complete understanding of business environment that is best suitable for the requirements of the client, Critical Care Equipment Market business report has been generated. Businesses can also achieve insights into profit growth and sustainability programs with this market report. Market drivers and market restraints explained in this report gives idea about the rise or fall in the consumer demand for the particular product depending on several factors. This market document contains all the company profiles of the major players and brands. Each of the topics is properly elaborated with the in-depth research and analysis for generating an absolute Critical Care Equipment Market survey report.

The global critical care equipment market is growing tremendously in North America due to a rise in chronic disorders such as diabetes, cardiovascular disorders, and kidney disorders among others, which is leading to an increase in the number of patients in critical care. However, stringent regulations and poor reimbursement policies may restrain the market during the forecast period. Moreover, the high cost of critical care equipment is one of the most significant factors which may hamper the market's growth in the long run.

The development of technology is an opportunity for key players during the forecast period. On the other hand, the lack of proper staffing and training is acting as a challenge for the market's growth.

Access Full 350 Pages PDF Report @

Critical Care Equipment Key Benefits over Global Competitors:

The report provides a qualitative and quantitative analysis of the Critical Care Equipment Market trends, forecasts, and market size to determine new opportunities.

Porter’s Five Forces analysis highlights the potency of buyers and suppliers to enable stakeholders to make strategic business decisions and determine the level of competition in the industry.

Top impacting factors & major investment pockets are highlighted in the research.

The major countries in each region are analyzed and their revenue contribution is mentioned.

The market player positioning segment provides an understanding of the current position of the market players active in the Personal Care Ingredients

Table of Contents: Critical Care Equipment Market

1 Introduction

2 Global Critical Care Equipment Market Segmentation

3 Executive Summary

4 Premium Insight

5 Market Overview

6 Critical Care Equipment Market, by Product Type

7 Critical Care Equipment Market, by Modality

8 Critical Care Equipment Market, by Type

9 Critical Care Equipment Market, by Mode

10 Critical Care Equipment Market, by End User

12 Critical Care Equipment Market, by Geography

12 Critical Care Equipment Market, Company Landscape

13 Swot Analysis

14 Company Profiles

Critical Insights Related to the Critical Care Equipment Included in the Report:

Exclusive graphics and Illustrative Porter’s Five Forces analysis of some of the leading companies in this market

Value chain analysis of prominent players in the market

Current trends influencing the dynamics of this market across various geographies

Recent mergers, acquisitions, collaborations, and partnerships

Revenue growth of this industry over the forecast period

Marketing strategy study and growth trends

Growth-driven factor analysis

Emerging recess segments and region-wise market

An empirical evaluation of the curve of this market

Ancient, Present, and Probable scope of the market from both prospect value and volume

Some of the major players operating in the global critical care equipment market are Koninklijke Philips N.V., General Electric Company, COOK MEDICAL LLC, Abbott, Medtronic, Getinge AB, heyer medical AG, Drägerwerk AG & Co. KGaA, ICU Medical, Inc., NIHON KOHDEN CORPORATION, Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co. KGaA, Skanray Technologies Ltd., Boston Scientific Corporation, STERIS, Advin Health Care, Baxter, SS TECHNOMED (P) LTD., SCHILLER, Shenzhen Mindray Bio-Medical Electronics Co., Ltd., Nonin, Dixion distribution of medical devices GmbH, and Masimo and Compumedics Limited among others.

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#Critical Care Equipment Market Size #Share #Trends #Global Demand #Growth and Opportunity Analysis #market report #market size #market share #marketreport #markettrends #market analysis #marketresearch #market trends #market research

[rjshitalbakch]

#Neonatal Critical Care Equipment Market

[market-insider]

Suction Catheters Market Forecast: A Holistic Approach to Market Trends

The global suction catheters market size is expected to reach USD 844.1 million by 2030, based on a new report by Grand View Research, Inc. The market is expected to expand at a CAGR of 8.2% from 2022 to 2030. Suction catheters help in clearing the respiratory tract of ventilator-dependent patients or patients suffering from respiratory disorders. The rise in the number of people suffering from chronic respiratory illness is proliferating the demand for suction catheters. For instance, as per the Irish Thoracic Society, in 2016, there were 643,580 inpatient hospitalizations in Ireland. Out of which, 32% of inpatients were older than 65 years and over. Respiratory diseases accounted for 19.1% of inpatient hospitalizations in Ireland.

Suction Catheters Market Report Highlights

Based on type, the closed suction catheter segment dominated the market in terms of revenue share in 2021. Further, the closed suction catheter segment is expected to witness the fastest growth rate of 8.8% over the forecast period, owing to a rise in cases of cross-contamination

Based on material, the latex-free segment dominated the market with a share of 69.7% in 2021, owing to the increased use of silicon-based catheters by healthcare professionals. Further, the latex-free segment is expected to grow at the fastest CAGR of over 8.8% during the forecast period

Based on end use, the hospital segment held the majority of the market share in terms of revenue in 2021. On the other hand, the ambulatory care centers segment is expected to witness the fastest growth of 10.9% during the forecast period

In 2021, North America dominated the market with a share of around 45% owing to the rising prevalence of various types of chronic diseases and the growing demand for respiratory devices. The Asia Pacific suction catheters market is expected to expand at the fastest rate of 8.6% during the forecast period. The growth can be attributed to the rise in the aging population and the increasing prevalence of chronic diseases

For More Details or Sample Copy please visit link @: Suction Catheters Market Report

The Covid-19 pandemic has highlighted the importance of respiratory medical devices owing to the rise in the number of ventilator-supported patients during the pandemic. In addition, factors such as rising cases of chronic diseases, and an increase in pollution levels are also contributing to heightened demand for suction catheters. In March 2020, U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), granted emergency approval for Vesper, a device developed by Prisma Health that supports patients on ventilators.

In addition, during the pandemic, several governments across the globe and healthcare companies were improving medical treatment to treat patients suffering from Covid-19 patients. This in turn increased the use of catheters in emergency clinics and hospitals during the pandemic thereby positively impacting the demand for suction catheters. The rise in investments by the government and players to improve the healthcare industry is also boosting the demand for suction catheters. For instance, as per UK Government, close to 10,000 ventilators were added to the stock. Additionally, Rolls Royce, Ford, and Honda in the UK started manufacturing ventilators to cope with the increasing demand due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

#Suction Catheters #Medical Devices #Healthcare Tech #Respiratory Care #Medical Equipment #Healthcare Industry #Market Analysis #Medical Innovation #Health Tech #Critical Care #Suction Devices #Medical Supplies #Market Research #Healthcare Market #Respiratory Therapy #Medical Instruments #Healthcare Trends #MedTech #Hospital Supplies #Infection Prevention #Patient Care #Medical Consumables #Healthcare Report #Market Trends #Global Healthcare

[kamalkulkarni]

#Neonatal Critical Care Equipment Market

[dbmr-blog-news]

#Fetal and Neonatal Critical Care Equipment Market #Fetal and Neonatal Critical Care Equipment Market Trend #Fetal and Neonatal Critical Care Equipment Market Demand #Fetal and Neonatal Critical Care Equipment Market Insights #Fetal and Neonatal Critical Care Equipment Market Growth

[healthcaredbmrnews]

https://www.databridgemarketresearch.com/reports/global-fetal-and-neonatal-critical-care-equipment-market

#Fetal and Neonatal Critical Care Equipment Market

[rata2ouillegame]

RATA2OUILLE: THE PERFECT DISH (Info Post + Download)

You’re probably wondering, “what the hell?” Honestly so am I, as not even I can fully process what I’ve done. Rata2ouille: The Perfect Dish (AKA Funny Ratgame) is a satirical, freeware indie platformer, social simulation, full length role-playing hybrid game. Following the events of Ratatouille for Wii and its sequel Ratatouille PSP, a new adventure unfolds after a series of events leads to the protagonist discovering a mysterious world known as the Food Network. Partnering up with an odd naked mole rat named Twinkles, the protagonist forms the Rodent Risers, braving the Food Network to find the mythical Perfect Ingredients and defeat the brutally evil rat Knox. Along the way, the player will have to develop Companion Syncs with both coworkers and customers, craft and obtain Persona to wield in combat, manage their restaurant, cook food that will assist them on their journey, and more.

itch.io page: Click Here

Google Drive: Download Link

Archive.org: Download Link

Please feel free to upload and share with your friends wherever you feel like if they have trouble with either of these links!!!

Unravel a grandiose conspiracy involving the amnesiac Twinkles, the evil rat Knox, the mysterious Food Network, the labyrinthine Hyperstream, fast food delivery apps, and an impending visit from the food critic Guy Fieri that could make-or-break your restaurant!

Fight intense battles with Shadows that you can also wield as Persona. Use them to best your enemies and rivals, like Ratatoing!

Form various Companion Syncs to deepen your bond with important figures in your life to unlock skills and gameplay perks!

Date various cute boyfriends! Only one girlfriend included.

Over 100 characters from various different media properties appear as customers in your restaurant, including... Sans Undertale, Peter Griffin, Yu Narukami, Kazuma Kiryu, Joseph Joestar, Bayonetta, and many, many, many more!

Customize your hero! Set pronouns and unlock over thirty unique costumes that appear both in cutscenes and gameplay!

Obtain all seven of the legendary Chaos Emeralds by succeeding in target breaking minigames hidden throughout the Food Network!

Difficulty adjustments and options, such as the “Skip Battles” pog item that can be equipped to skip all battles and focus purely on the story! Perfect for players that do not care for combat.

Create your own “My Food Network” where you can set your own favorite song to play, choose your color palette, create a food exhibit, and set posters that can be unlocked using points earned from in-game achievements!

Super cool players that 100% the game can view a Secret Ending that plays upon clearing the epilogue or talking to a certain friend in My Food Network...

This game is in no way, shape, or form an actual Disney, Pixar, or Atlus product. It is an independently developed satirical game. It is parody and no profit is being made from it.

Check out more down below for a little Q&A

Q: Is this really a full length Persona style RPG? A: Yes. I’m sorry, I don’t know why. It’s about 60 Hours long.

Q: How long did this take to make? A: About two and a half years, though I took many breaks from working on it due to being a full time college student (after some gap years) and having other projects I’ve been working on.

Q: Who made this? What kind of person makes this? Can you tell us about yourself because I need to know what’s wrong with you??? A: I’m very sorry to tell you that a very hot goth artsy nonbinary femboy made this game. I hope that makes the game more intimidatingly powerful.

Q: If this is a heavily Persona inspired game will it be re-released with a single new dungeon in a few years with a new marketable character tacked on? A: Buddy if enough people find this funny and enjoy playing it, you know it! That and if enough people would like to help me add full blown voice acting in a re-release, which would be one of my major focuses for an enhanced version.

Q: Why did you make this? A: I was really bored during the pandemic. Originally this was a small crude gag game I was making years and years and years ago that I scrapped, but I completely revamped it into something much more elaborate and surreal as a little distraction to keep me busy while quarantining. It sort-of functioned as a low stakes testing ground for less facetious games I plan on releasing in the near future. There’s also an underlying commentary on how obnoxious and outlandish unnecessary sequels to self-contained and subdued stories are, which can be seen in how ridiculously unhinged the game is with constantly recontextualizing various minute-details of the original movie and retconning things as if it was all deep foreshadowing.

Q: Why are you acting like Ratatouille is some kind of game series? A: In the past, in the really early beginnings of making this game, I had this whole elaborate ARG thing I would often joke about with friends where I would insist the movie was just a really bad faithless adaption of a video game series developed by Platinum Games and published by Atlus. There were jokes about the name “Remy” being a “dumb movie adaption thing” and that Ratatouille is in fact the proper name. The implication was that the “Disney movie adaption” was so bad it killed off the game series until this sequel came out well over a decade later due to “vocal fan support.” This eventually died down a bit, but some of the ironic ARG stuff has lingered. One part of the ARG was originally going to be that there were two people working on this game instead of one and that they’d have a messy public falling out on the game’s tumblr blog, but this was scrapped because it felt too explosive lol.

Q: What do you mean by this being a sequel to Ratatouille for Wii and Ratatouille PSP? Aren’t those the same game? A:  While the Ratatouille tie-in game on most consoles was just a movie adaption, the PSP version was one of those weird tie-in games that takes place after the movie. I never beat the game but the plot entails Chef Skinner stealing all the recipe cards from the new restaurant around the time of their grand opening, and Rem- Ratatouille having to retrieve them. This is recited as some sort of major, melodramatic event in Rata2ouille. Ratatouille PSP has a lot of scrapped side-characters from the movie appear (such as rats named Celine, Dodo, Twitchy all of whom were meant to appear in the movie and were in the official art book) in addition to very odd new characters such as Teen Rat, who is seemingly a Sonic the Hedgehog pastiche that challenges Remy to races. These game-exclusive characters are all treated as if they’re established characters from the movie that we should know and recognize so when I discovered they exist halfway through development, I retroactively added a bunch of them into this game and treated them exactly the same here. I did a lot of deep diving into the production of the movie and its tie-in material while making this game and referenced a lot of niche stuff -- in order to be as bizarre as possible, I also needed to be as “authentic” as possible.

#persona 5 #persona 6 #p5r #ratatouille #indie games #shitpost #oh my god its actually freaking done #im free #oh my god im free #tears of joy

[sydneyadmu]

13 for rebelcaptain pls

thank you for your prompt! 💛

#13 - things you said at the kitchen table

notes: this is supposed to take place about 8 months after scarif (because of course they lived). I’m open to nice constructive criticism and feedback since I’m not much of a writer but I’m trying my best. I also apologize for any eventual grammar mistakes!! hope you like it

The first mission day in Ord Mantell was a nice one: the rebel contacts were there just in time with no surprises and the supplies they came for would be ready in a few days. The most surprising part (and a very welcome one) was the safe house they were offered to say: a very cozy apartment in a quiet part of the city, with a large bedroom, ‘freshers with real showers and hot water, and a well-equipped kitchen.

Jyn excused herself to clean up while Cassian stayed in the kitchen, organizing the food they both brought from the market near their place and choosing some ingredients to cook dinner. He was delighted to see the large space there as well as all the items that he could use: there's been a long time since he was able to cook a real meal with fresh vegetables and he was looking forward to getting to work.

Cassian told Jyn a few times how much he enjoyed cooking but he never had the time or the place to do it properly. While she was showering, he set himself in the kitchen and started to prepare one of his favorite dishes (and he hoped she liked it as much as he did). He gave her a soft smile as she entered the kitchen a few minutes later with her damp hair out of its usual bun and her face with a soft shade of pink from the hot water.

She looked relaxed and comfortable while sitting on the little table near the stove, asking him about how he learned to cook, what are his favorite dishes and also if he could ever teach her how to do some stuff since she never had the opportunity to learn. Cassian told her he would teach her some things while they were staying in the safe house since it would not be possible in the rebel base and the happiness in her eyes during their conversation made the situation look so domestic. He wondered, for a moment, how things would be when the war was over. Would Jyn want to live in a quiet place and have a nice house? Would she have anyone else teaching her how to cook?

His divagations were interrupted by the smell coming from the pan, informing him the food was ready. He got two soup plates from the cabinet and served them both, joining her on the table. Jyn’s eyes went wide as she saw the food and she spend a couple of moments in silence contemplating it with her spoon in hand without saying a word.

“Jyn? Is everything okay?” Cassian tried to sound casual but he couldn't hide the little worried tone from his voice. He wondered if something was wrong, if maybe he said something that made her upset or if she was suddenly feeling unwell.

When she looked up, he could see that her eyes were a little teary as if she was holding back some tears, and hearing her unsteady voice, he was sure that something happened to her.

“It's fine. I... it's just that I don’t remember the last time I did this. I mean, just sat down in a nice place and ate a home-cooked meal someone made for me. I think I forgot how was it. To be honest I thought it would never happen again for a long time and now I got a little... Sorry, I promise you it's okay.” She gave him a sad smile and finally began to eat.

They both ate in silence and the weight of her words was soon getting to him. He knew Jyn had to live on her own for years and her life has not been easy but the thought of her not having a nice place to stay or a good meal to eat for so long broke his heart. Cassian couldn't promise her many things but he wanted to make her happy, to make her feel cared for, no matter if it was about gathering an army for her mission or just making her dinner. He wanted her to feel at home.

After a few minutes, Jyn was the one to break the silence with a satisfied smile and a playful tone. “This is delicious, Cassian. But now that I really know how good you are at this, I'll ask you to cook in every opportunity we have.”

Without thinking, he grabbed her hand that was laying on the table and looked at her eyes. “I would love to cook for you anytime, Jyn. And I'll be happy to teach you a couple of things as well. I enjoy cooking for myself when I have the chance but it's always so much better to share with an important person, you know?”

Jyn just locked her gaze at him for a moment, as if she was thinking about her next words but, in the end, she just nodded and smiled, gently caressing his hand. They ate the rest of their meal in silence still holding hands and enjoying each other’s presence and Cassian hoped she had the same feeling of home he had whenever they were together.

#occasional shitposter and shitty editor tries to write #what could go wrong? #everything #I hope it’s not ridiculously awful #rebelcaptain #jyn erso #cassian andor #*myfic

[ultrakdramamama]

The role model of K-pop boy bands, the eighth light of SHINee

Until the early 2000s, Korean popular music critics ignored idols. again. They have been denigrating idols for the reason that most of them sing songs given to them by others and dance to them after being obsessed with the old obsession that 'if you are an artist, you have to write and sing your own songs yourself'. This was a fragmentary illusion, like a film critic claiming that a work can only be completed with the director's script and directing. Even though there can be no masterpiece without the actors' passionate performances, they insisted that 'art' would be established even without them. In the past, critics were not interested or did not know how much the charm of the story and the image that spreads from the performance including singing and the existence of the members themselves had a great meaning to the audience. Even so, the fact that they always take care of only Seo Taiji and Lee Hyundo (Deuce), who can be seen as the starting point of K-pop idols, comes from the absoluteness of the value standard for such singer-songwriters.

It was for that reason that the main character of this article, SHINee's Jonghyun, submitted 'Odd Eye' as evidence to prove that he 'don't make' a song for SHINee in the past, not that he couldn't make it. Of course, there are still some critics who look down on idol music, but no one is brave enough to say that idol music, collectively known as K-pop, is no longer worthy of criticism. Excluding the bitter reality where the person who said that gayo is not even music acts as a 'leader of K-pop' everywhere, K-pop has now become a global phenomenon that pop music critics should know about even if they don't like it.

When it was limited to boy bands, now it has become the 'BTS world' without everyone, but in fact, SHINee was the team that made idol music seriously treated by the savvy critics. SHINee broke the noses of noble nobles who usually dismissed idol music as being lighthearted, with their R&B debut number 'You're So Pretty'. Most of all, SHINee was well-equipped with their high-level live skills, so the group that tried to catch fault with it had no choice but to feel embarrassed from the start. In addition, it cannot be denied that the fact that the premise of SHINee's music was "idol music that can be played" was also a factor that made some critics lose their fighting spirit. Shinee, who appeared 15 years ago at a time when Lee Soo-man had to introduce another boy band with "the latest version that has been innovatively upgraded", has "innovatively upgraded" the entirety of K-pop. And the long intro of the first regular album, 'The SHINee World (Doo-Bop)', was the beginning. "Accept it, now it's SHINee's world." The team name SHINee means 'the one who receives the light'. It was a name that fully contained Lee Soo-man's wish to grow into a group that receives the spotlight on stage. Onew, the 18-year-old eldest, was the leader, and 14-year-old Taemin was the youngest. SM’s boy band, introduced three years after Super Junior came out and Girls’ Generation debuted one year after, was born to dominate and represent the K-pop market.

SHINee was introduced as a 'contemporary band for middle and high school students' when they debuted. SM explained that the term, which was somewhat unfamiliar in the idol world, "refers to a team that presents and leads current trends in all areas of music, dance, and fashion." And that definition was also a prediction of SHINee's future. They are 'Love Like Oxygen', a remake of Martin's 'Show The World' and Corbin Bleu's 'Deal With It', 'Ring Ding Dong', 'Sherlock', 'Sherlock' and 'Juliet'. It evolved into a shell like 'Dream Girl' and became full-fledged by developing the level of music of the K-pop scene. In an interview 10 years ago, Bang Si-hyuk said, "I really want to work with a team like SHINee at least once." Regardless of whether you like it or not, SM and SHINee were the first guides who turned the steering wheel of K-pop into the path of artistry and commerciality that were said to be difficult to enter. SHINee, who showed a hybrid tendency mixing other genres with pop 10 years before Stray Kids, was the first domestic boy band loved by critics and the public alike.

However, even though SHINee was always the best, they couldn't be everyone's best. At the time of their debut, the majority of female fans were in their teens and 20s (female fans in their 20s and 30s now), but their popularity and influence did not reach 'home'. In other words, while BTS, which topped the Billboard album and single charts, became a presence that can be discussed through terrestrial news and various current media, and is talked about by all families, regardless of generation, SHINee did not. This was a situation that arose when K-pop's marketing point had become 'exaltation of national prestige'. Even though she swept various rookie awards at the same time as her debut, SHINee could have experienced this difficult atmosphere since she was unable to stand up to the strongholds of Wonder Girls and Big Bang, who were emerging as 'national representatives' at the time. In fact, they were the first in Asia to enter Abbey Road Studios, where world-renowned artists such as The Beatles and Pink Floyd went through, and have laid a mat for the globalization of K-pop step by step. It seemed bitter irony that they had to give up their national recognition to a junior boy band that topped the charts. To say that luck is also skill is too harsh for SHINee, who has pioneered her luck with her skills.

Even so, SHINee was not discouraged. They decided and knew the way they were going, and they continued walking. Even when they faced a major crisis due to the tragedy of 2017, they proudly released their 6th album with 3 mini albums added. Two years later, with the 7th album 'Don't Call Me' featuring 'Heart Attack' and 'CØDE', SHINee declared the team's long run. Then, another 2 years passed, and the 8th album came out. The eighth album 'Hard' was a signal that SHINee's light did not go out. This rare sight of a 15-year-old boy band covering a trend with a trend seems like a beacon that suggests where idol groups after SHINee can reach, or where to go, when they don't let go of their music. 'HARD', where retro beats and trendy textures become one under the shade of hip-hop, and the groovy funky style of '10X', which is their strength, are the bright lights of that lighthouse. Befitting those who have reached an ideal agreement between musical genres based on the beautiful chords of group vocals and the stable vocalizations of individual vocals, the album does not rush in that way and moves little by little into the realm of more than a standard work. From 'Identity' to 'Sweet Misery' and 'Insomnia', the journey that becomes more solid sounds like an assertion that the members' desires as artists who want to become legends in music and as a team are never in vain.

SHINee broke the industry standard that an idol group's lifespan is 7 years at most by extending it twice as long. They are still being talked about as a boy band representing K-pop for 15 years, while staying abreast of trends and marketing through constant concerns about content (music) and platforms. The "too great absence" of the late Jonghyun, who loved Michael Jackson, D'Angelo, and Neptunes, is clearly a major loss for the group, but without Onew, who went on hiatus with a visibly thin figure, only the three of them could hold concerts and promote their 8th album. It's a reality that needs to be dealt with, but after listening to the 8th album, I have a hunch that there is a higher chance that all those worries will be unfounded. "It's about not losing your original intention. SHINee doesn't know how to not work hard." Now, fans have no choice but to believe in Minho's promise.

~ Seongdae Kim - IZE Magazine

#SHINee #Onew #Jonghyun #Key #Minho #Taemin #HARD #IZE Magazine #Seongdae Kim

[isaacsapphire]

Regarding Obama care could be but I don’t think it’s a guarantee. Economy is also tougher now and I have friends who also still have to live with their parents because this city is so damn expensive. For me being covered by my parents health insurance has been a huge relief since I am a full time student with various medical and mental issues that make living independently’ hard. I suppose it could? If by that you mean kids aren’t thinking about stuff like taxes and healthcare.. which they should lol. I was filing W9s etc when I was in high school getting a job. But I entirely agree that kids these days are not equipped to handle adulthood and it’s complexities, and it often drives me nuts the lack of critical thinking…

Oh, I don't think it's a bad thing that the cutoff age was extended! I was uninsured for years back in the pre-existing conditions era when that was gambling with your life, and that was not a good thing or an avoidable one for me during the Recession. But it was me legally being officially my own problem and sure did light a fire under my ass.

Living with parents after 18 seems to have become more and more common since the Recession. On the one hand, it's a return to a more traditional pattern, but on the other hand all the cultural stuff around young adults living with their parents AS ADULTS had died off in the mainstream so the infantilization follows unsurprisingly. I've definitely seen a lot of White white collar homeowner parents just... let their adult children stay indefinitely rent free or well below market rate, still treating them like teenagers and running interference for them while they behave like teenagers. Blue collar parents I know seem to be much more active in getting their kids eg. dealing with their own car insurance and taxes and jobs even if they still live at home. Blue collar Whites are closer to ethnic White traditions that included adult children living at home though, so idk if it's a class thing or a culture thing more.

Wouldn't be surprised if the trend isn't a cause as well as an effect of housing market changes by now; the borderline retirement age people I know who have bought or kept houses in the last decade bought and retained family sized houses despite their being at the stage to be empty nesters, and most of them had at least one adult child living with them who appeared to have no interest in getting a career and their own place.

Idk, it seems like the drop in horniness and increase in mental health issues could be seen as either a cause or an effect too.

#talkin bout my generation #oh geez i can tag asks now #housing #failure to launch #it's the economy stupid #obamacare #class in the US #suburbia

[datasciencemumbai]

Mastering Event Planning: A Beginner's Guide to Event Planning Essentials for Beginners

Introduction:

Welcome to the exciting world of event planning! Whether you're organizing a small gathering or a large-scale event, mastering the basics of event planning is essential for success. In this beginner's guide, we'll cover the essential principles and techniques that every aspiring event planner should know. From budgeting and venue selection to marketing and logistics, let's dive into the fundamentals of event planning and set you on the path to success.

I. Understanding the Fundamentals of Event Planning II. Budgeting and Financial Management III. Venue Selection and Logistics IV. Marketing and Promotion Strategies

I. Understanding the Fundamentals of Event Planning:

Event planning is the process of organizing and coordinating all aspects of an event, from conception to execution. It involves careful planning, attention to detail, and effective communication with stakeholders. Through an Event Management course, beginners can learn the foundational principles of event planning, including setting objectives, defining the target audience, and creating a timeline for execution.

II. Budgeting and Financial Management:

Budgeting is a critical aspect of event planning, as it dictates the scope and scale of the event. Beginners should learn to create a detailed budget that includes all expenses, such as venue rental, catering, entertainment, and marketing. An Event Management course can provide aspiring event planners with the necessary skills to create and manage budgets effectively, ensuring that the event stays within financial constraints.

III. Venue Selection and Logistics:

Choosing the right venue is essential for the success of any event. Beginners should consider factors such as location, capacity, amenities, and accessibility when selecting a venue. Additionally, logistics such as transportation, accommodations, and equipment rentals must be carefully coordinated to ensure a seamless event experience. Through an Event Management course, beginners can learn best practices for venue selection and logistics management, ensuring that every aspect of the event runs smoothly.

IV. Marketing and Promotion Strategies:

Marketing plays a crucial role in attracting attendees to an event. Beginners should develop a comprehensive marketing plan that includes strategies for reaching the target audience through various channels, such as social media, email marketing, and traditional advertising. An Event Management course can provide beginners with insights into effective marketing and promotion strategies, helping them generate buzz and excitement around their events.

Conclusion:

Congratulations on completing this beginner's guide to event planning essentials! By mastering the fundamental principles covered in this article, you're well on your way to becoming a successful event planner. Whether you're organizing a corporate conference, wedding, or community event, the skills and knowledge gained from an Event Management course will set you apart in the competitive field of event planning. Have questions or thoughts to share? We'd love to hear from you in the comments below!

Ready to take your event planning skills to the next level? Enroll in BIA's Event Management Course today and kickstart your journey towards a successful career in event management!

#event management #event organizer #management

[air-conditioning-in-perth]

Selecting the Optimal Air Conditioning System for Perth's Climate

Perth's climate, characterised by hot summers and mild winters, necessitates a reliable air conditioning system for comfort and efficiency. The selection of an appropriate air conditioner in Perth is critical to ensure optimal cooling, energy efficiency, and cost effectiveness. This article aims to guide residents in making informed decisions about air conditioning systems suitable for Perth's unique weather conditions. We will explore different air conditioning technologies, key factors to consider, and the importance of energy efficiency. Understanding these aspects is vital for choosing an aircon that not only cools effectively but also aligns with environmental and budgetary considerations. The goal is to provide a comprehensive understanding of the options available for maintaining a comfortable indoor environment in Perth's climate.

Everest HVAC & R stands as a premier provider of air conditioning services in Perth, renowned for our exceptional expertise in supplying, installing, maintaining, and repairing air conditioning systems. Our commitment to quality and customer satisfaction positions us at the forefront of the industry, offering tailored solutions that meet the unique needs of Perth's climate. With a comprehensive understanding of the latest air conditioning technologies and a dedication to energy efficiency, Everest HVAC & R ensures that each client receives a system that is not only effective but also cost efficient. Our team of skilled professionals is equipped with the knowledge and tools necessary to provide seamless installation, meticulous maintenance, and prompt repair services. At Everest HVAC & R, we pride ourselves on delivering unparalleled service, ensuring that every air conditioner we supply and install performs optimally for years to come. Trust Everest HVAC & R for your air conditioning needs in Perth – where quality, efficiency, and customer satisfaction are our top priorities. Please visit our Air Conditioner Blog

Understanding Air Conditioning Technologies

The market offers several types of air conditioning systems, each with unique features suitable for Perth's climate. Split systems, popular for their efficiency and ease of installation, are ideal for single rooms or specific areas. Ducted systems offer centralized cooling, suitable for larger homes needing uniform temperature control. Portable units provide flexibility and are a convenient option for temporary cooling needs. Each type presents distinct advantages: split systems for targeted cooling, ducted systems for whole house comfort, and portable units for flexibility. However, their effectiveness varies based on Perth's climatic conditions, necessitating a careful evaluation of each system's suitability.

Key Factors to Consider When Selecting an Air conditioner for Perth

When choosing an air conditioner in Perth, energy efficiency is paramount. Systems with high energy efficiency ratings can significantly reduce electricity costs, especially important in Perth's hot summers. Cooling capacity is another crucial factor; selecting a unit with the appropriate size for your space ensures efficient cooling without excessive energy consumption. Air conditioners that adapt well to varying temperatures offer greater comfort during Perth's climate fluctuations. Additionally, features like programmable timers and adjustable thermostats contribute to energy savings and enhanced comfort. These factors collectively determine the system's overall performance and suitability for Perth homes.

Innovative Features in Modern Air Conditioning Systems

Modern air conditioners offer advanced features that enhance comfort and efficiency, particularly beneficial for Perth's climate. Smart thermostats enable precise temperature control and can adjust settings based on weather forecasts, ensuring optimal indoor conditions. Air purification technology in air conditioners improves indoor air quality, a significant advantage for health conscious residents. Noise reduction technology is also integral, providing a quieter and more comfortable environment. These innovative features not only increase the functionality of air conditioning systems but also contribute to energy savings and environmental sustainability. Therefore, selecting a system with these modern features is a wise investment for Perth homeowners.

Installation & Maintenance Considerations for Air conditioners in Perth

Proper installation and maintenance are crucial for the optimal performance of air conditioners in Perth. Professional installation ensures that the system operates at peak efficiency and complies with local regulations. Regular maintenance, including cleaning filters and checking refrigerant levels, extends the lifespan of the air conditioner and prevents costly repairs. Perth residents should also consider the importance of a comprehensive warranty and reliable after sales support. These factors guarantee the longevity and efficiency of the air conditioning system, ensuring it remains a valuable asset for the home. Therefore, investing in professional services for installation and maintenance is essential for the long term benefits of air conditioning systems in Perth.

Cost Analysis for Air conditioners in Perth

The cost of air conditioning systems in Perth involves a balance between initial investment and long term savings. Higher-priced models often offer greater energy efficiency, leading to reduced utility bills over time. Comparing the price points of various models helps in identifying the best value for money. Additionally, Perth residents should explore financial incentives and rebates available for energy efficient air conditioners. These financial considerations are integral to the decision making process, ensuring that homeowners choose a system that is cost effective in the long run. Ultimately, a thorough cost analysis aids in selecting an air conditioner that meets both budgetary and climatic needs in Perth.

Conclusion

In conclusion, selecting the right air conditioner in Perth requires careful consideration of various factors. Understanding the different types of air conditioning technologies, considering energy efficiency, and evaluating innovative features are essential steps. Proper installation and maintenance, along with a thorough cost analysis, ensure the long-term benefits of the air conditioning system. By considering these aspects, Perth residents can make informed decisions, ensuring comfort and efficiency in their homes throughout the year. The right air conditioner not only provides relief from Perth's hot summers but also contributes to a sustainable and cost-effective household.

#Aircon #Air Conditioner #Perth

[gensation]

Managing Cultural Variations: An Extensive Look at Customizing Your Brand to Fit a Wide Range of Audiences

In a globalized world where boundaries are becoming more brittle, brands need to get across cultural barriers in order to engage with a wide range of consumers. Marketing methods that are universally applicable are becoming obsolete. Today, a brand's success depends on its capacity to adjust to the distinct cultural quirks of various target audiences. This sophisticated strategy develops authenticity and inclusivity simultaneously, strengthening ties with customers around the globe.

Knowing Your Cultural Mosaic:

Understanding the complex cultural mosaic that exists in the global marketplace is the first step in restructuring a brand to appeal to a variety of populations. A great brand understands that cultural subtleties transcend language and welcomes and celebrates diversity. It entails delving deeply into regionally specific values, customs, beliefs, and even humor.

Market Research Serving as the Foundation: 

Thorough market research is the foundation of any effective adaptation plan. It is imperative for brands to allocate both time and resources towards comprehending the inclinations, conduct, and goals of their intended audiences. Data analytics, focus groups, and surveys all offer insightful information that aids brands in determining the cultural cues that appeal to particular target markets.

Customizing Imagery and Messaging:

Equipped with knowledge, it's time to adjust imagery and messaging to suit cultural inclinations. Translating text is only the first step in using language as a powerful weapon. Brands need to make sure that their messaging is appropriate for the target culture as well as the language. The cultural context should be reflected via metaphors, idioms, and colloquialisms used by the brand to make it seem like a member of the community.

Modifying Visual Branding:

In order to perceive a brand, visual components are essential. It takes more than just altering colors or including nearby landmarks in ads to modify a visual identity. It necessitates knowledge of culturally-variable symbology, aesthetic preferences, and even color psychology. A design that is well received in one area could send a very different message in another.

Comparing Localization and Globalization: 

Finding the ideal equilibrium between localization and globalization is a constant struggle. While localized modifications guarantee that the brand stays relevant and relatable, worldwide uniformity is necessary for brand awareness. It is a fine balance that brands must walk, adjusting certain aspects of their approach to suit the local context while retaining a unified worldwide identity.

Customer service with cultural competence:

One crucial touchpoint where cultural competency is evident is in the customer service experience. It's critical to comprehend how other cultures see service, communicate displeasure, and choose communication methods. Businesses are better positioned to forge enduring bonds with clients from a variety of backgrounds when they make the investment in training their customer care representatives to be culturally sensitive.

Taking Part in Outreach to the Community:

An essential component of successfully integrating a brand into a culture is active involvement in the local community. This entails funding community-focused causes, working with influential locals, and endorsing and sponsoring events. Such programmes not only demonstrate the brand's dedication but also foster a favorable relationship with regional ideals.

In summary:

It takes more than just marketing tactics to tailor a brand to the cultural quirks of its target audiences; it takes a dedication to inclusivity and authenticity. In addition to winning over the hearts of a wide consumer base, brands that adeptly maneuver this complex landscape also support an international economy built on mutual respect, understanding, and shared values. Ultimately, the goal should be to create bridges rather than walls and to embrace the diverse range of cultures that make our globe lively and linked.

#branding #trending #design #marketing #success #gensation #business strategy #business growth #advertising #business #community #identity #brands #marketing stratergies

[pocketbelt]

okay here we go fuck it, FFXVI criticism/complaint/whinge post

spoilers are a given, play XVI or decide you don't care, but they will at least be in the plot section at the end. There will also be mild spoilers for FFXIV: Heavensward and light mention of later parts of XIV as well (Stormblood and Shadowbringers, no Endwalker).

this isn't about being fair or even-handed it's just knives in its back the whole way down; the game is at best okay but I grow more annoyed and angry about it the more I think about it, and I personally think it is just shit now

this post is giant, you have been warned, I could not bring myself to condense it more as I felt I would be losing relevant points

Combat

XVI's marketing made a big deal of the combat director being Ryota Suzuki, 20-year Capcom vet whose last jobs at Capcom were game designer of Devil May Cry V and programmer on Monster Hunter World. His joining the team was championed, interviews focused a lot on the action game aspect, he's said it's his "personal masterpiece" in interviews and XVI's official sites in all languages call it Final Fantasy's "first fully-fledged action RPG" to step around XV's corpse.

The game emulates DMC heavily in style and gameplay, the comparison is desired by the devs.

And this was the stupidest thing they could have done.

Clive's core moveset is extremely lacking. He has a single 1-2-3-4 Square button combo that does not change from hour 1 to hour 45, no alternate combo routes, no ways to link seamlessly into and out of other moves, not a goddamn thing. Outside of this Clive has projectiles that are extremely weak and functionally useless (its charge upgrade does not change this), a chargeable sword attack that just leads to the same 2-3-4 hit string, a DMC Stinger-esque lunge that's obsoleted frame 1 by your default Eikon and an aerial drop attack. That's it, that's his entire basic non-cooldown moveset for the entire fucking game.

The projectile is worth honing in on: ranged attacks in Devil May Cry serve to keep your Style ranking ticking over for a few seconds while you keep your distance, and even then have extra utility and damage capability besides. Dante, for instance, in V has his dual pistols, dual shotguns and dual rocket launchers which all serve obviously different purposes and behave differently. On top of this he has his Gunslinger Stance, which changes their default attacks and gives each a special move, while also providing access to stance-exclusive gun attacks like Rainstorm, a useful midair attack with a very precise form of movement that makes it useful for sticking on bosses evasively while still attacking. In Final Fantasy XVI Clive has fucking nothing but a single piss-weak shot that does almost no damage or stagger, ever, and can be charged to do tiny damage or stagger. It has no further utilities, ever, even as it changes from its default fireball to match the element of your equipped Eikon (ice, lightning, etc). It isn't useful for anything, as flying enemies are better dealt with by using Phoenix's dash to teleport to them or Garuda's grab to yank them to you.

That's XVI in a nutshell: an extremely constrained Devil May Cry whose devs missed the most crucial and critical parts of what makes Devil May Cry work: it's not just that you have lots of moves with interlocking traits and mechanics to make a complex combat system, it's that you have so many options you can do whatever the fuck you like with. DMC's core strength is player expression: if you want to use one weapon then by god you can and can still get SSS ranks, you just have to not use the same one move in succession over and over (and don't get hit), it's just easier the more of the kit you use. XVI has no interest in player expression, you are very limited in tools and by design you are locked down.

The big stuff comes in with Clive's Eikons, of which he can equip a max of 3 who have 2 slots to put moves into. You have just 6 special moves that do the big damage and special effects and also they're all on cooldowns. The idea is to use your cooldowns carefully so they pop back up when the enemy enters stagger: in practice you can just open every fight with them and then just go back to beating on the enemy until they come back up, and if stagger happens it happens, the cooldowns will largely line up anyway. The spectacle wears away as the hours pile on and the standard enemies never get engaging. Your ability to play with moves, link them up and create mad chains is harshly limited by the 6 move cap and the fact that they all just go away for 20-50 seconds. Few of the Eikon attacks can link into each other very well, either.

Eikonic Feats clearly align with Dante's Stance special moves, as they're mapped to Circle and some are clearly just Dante's own (Phoenix is Trickster's dash and Titan is Royal Guard). The problem is you only have 3 at once and some feel like they should just be core mechanics on tap, such as Phoenix's dash or Garuda's grab, which has special animations when used to floor bosses at the 50% "mini-stagger" threshold. A combination of that, the length of time between Eikons (they're plot-tied) and the order they come in means many players will be extremely hard-pressed to even consider leaving the Phoenix/Garuda/Titan combo in particular, given how instrumental, useful and powerful their moves are. Phoenix is further a problem because it also has Ifrit's attacks without needing to "master" them to let them be equipped to other Eikons, and Ifrit's attacks are batshit good. It's not even that later Eikonic feats are bad (Megaflare is cool and has uses, Shiva's works on bosses which is delightful and Odin's just makes your standard moveset cooler so it's a flat upgrade), it's that the game's pacing and the implementation of these as limited capacity hot-swappable powers and not always-on core features discourage swapping out what works to explore and experiment, even with easy free respeccing. If you weren't locked to so few Eikons and so few move slots, getting new ones would be a delight instead of going "oh, okay" and then not bothering with their moves because most of them don't stack to Titan's anyway. I myself fucking loved Odin's and was delighted Shiva's worked on bosses, as it was a rare instance of bosses reacting to something you could do outside of the pre-ordained 50% stagger Garuda grab.

The nail in the coffin is enemy design: standard enemies such as regular knights, normal orcs, wolves and things around that size are fairly passive fodder to be blasted into paste in a single Eikon move from around the 1/3rd point of the game. Small enemies that fly die in single 1-2-3-4 strings from around the same point as long as you keep up on your equipped sword. Large enemies armour through anything and everything you do, can't be launched, their only "special" state outside stagger is the Garuda grab window, they're just big sandbags to pile Eikon moves into and dodge around. They use the FFXIV boss design philosophy most of the time, where they plainly ignore what you do and just broadcast AOEs or heavily telegraphed strikes, only occasionally moving to a new spot to do a new mechanic (which is always an AOE). They are just completely un-engaging. I think often of how Kingdom Hearts' bosses often can be made to flinch, or put into a state that's vulnerable to being launched or just hitstunned into the dirt. XVI needed that kind of thing so badly.

Un-engaging is the term for the whole thing; on Action-Focused (the higher of the two default difficulties), standard enemies don't have the HP for you to try and do things like super-long aerial combos. They turn to dust if breathed on so you can't style on shit, and the focus on cooldowns means you can only style on bosses for very brief moments before going back to dodging and mashing Square. The higher difficulties unlocked after the end of the (45 hour) game would alleviate that somewhat but they wouldn't fix any of the other problems here. I want to stress it's not that it's easy (though it is easy), it's that it's dull. It doesn't engage you. It doesn't present anything to push you to explore its limited systems, and the limits it imposes seem extremely arbitrary (if not simply existing because of performance concerns, as performance hangs by a thread as is). Plenty of easy games rank among the greats of every generation, and they do so because they're still very engaging to play and interact with. XVI isn't, at all.

And this game is at minimum twice as long as a Devil May Cry. I can't fathom the logic behind massively reducing the options and tools DMC has and then going for a much longer game. None of it really works well together, at all.

RPG Mechanics

In a slide at some convention or other presentation, YoshiP included questions from users, including some slightly more aggressively worded ones for humour. One of these was something along the lines of "Why aren't there RPG mechanics? Isn't this just an action game now?", to which they said they existed and to keep an eye out.

As it turns out, the question was more on point than expected.

XVI's RPG mechanics barely exist. Stats go up in tiny uniform amounts each level-up, and the difference is not perceptible. Enemies are already made of wet paper at level parity; that they pre-emptively crumble to dust at a slight level lead doesn't mean anything. It at least takes a significant level lead for bosses or large enemies to start melting. The bulk of your stats come from equipment, then, however...

...equipment is clearly an afterthought by the devs. For the first few hours, you have a tiny array of options of different swords, belts and bracers to craft and reinforce, and then after some hours you get Clive's dad's gear and it outclasses everything before it by leagues, and will outclass everything for the next 10 hours or so, whereupon superior alternatives are found in the odd chest in dungeon levels, to do you for the next pile of hours. By that point, the Blacksmith's Blues quests start appearing, which by the second quest unlock the recipes for the best belt and bracer in the game, and they are readily achievable around that time. Do that, and now for the entire second half of the game you never need to change equipment, ever. Weapons are worse off; the storyline gives you Eikon-related materials after each Eikon fight, which upgrade a specific sword that starts outclassing everything by the time you get Ramuh. It is topped maybe once and only very shortly, and then the Blacksmith's Blues quests come into things; they hand you the Ragnarok for free, which is only topped by the endgame Eikon sword and the best sword in the game...whose recipe comes with the Ragnarok. Outside of these, you can just ignore the swords for basically the entire game; there are only like 7 alternatives throughout the game and they get topped by the Eikon sword most of the time because this entire thing is an afterthought.

No weapons or armour have special traits or unique attributes that make them more suitable for a given area or sequence, or for dealing with specific kinds of foe. You don't ever need anything other than the thing with the highest number, like this is an ancient NES/SNES/PC-98 RPG, and there are no factors that might outweigh pure damage.

What secures this as an afterthought and not just a super simple system is that the game is constantly, constantly shitting buckets of crafting materials at you. There's only like 6 kinds of non-unique or "elite" crafting material, which are dispensed as rewards from quests, fights, chests and items lying around. By the end of the game I had around 2000 each, because you need only small handfuls for the very rare times you do craft something that needs them, and the game is always shitting them out. They have no other purpose in a normal playthrough; I've heard you can reinforce your gear to higher levels on NG+ using the materials, but that just means they're completely fucking pointless if you aren't compelled to replay the game. And they're used as the main reward for basically everything, and have no other fucking use.

Similarly, the economy's fucked: potions and other restoratives are piss-cheap and the game buries you in money and items that are sold for big amounts of money. I never sold one of those, crafted all the best gear and still had 250,000+ gil in my pocket by the ending. There's nothing to use it on other than unlocking songs to play in the home base, which are all mega-expensive (20k-50k+) to justify it, but that's clearly a sloppy "fix" for gil numbers that weren't considered. Like the crafting material, there is no other use for it; this shit cries out for investing money into the home base and other side activities, but the game has none of those.

This may as well go in this section too: the game is packed with sidequests and very few of these are worthwhile. The ones that give meaningful upgrades are marked with +s like in XIV; outside of them, some give good AP (for moves), good gil and very, very rarely give something like orichalcum for the best equipment. The majority give you fuck all, and thus are dependent on being engaging to do or telling an engaging little tale...and the majority fail at this too. The sidequests are generally MMO-tier stuff, unsurprisingly given the devs' pedigree as, well, MMO developers; you just go from point A to B to C hitting X at things until it ends, sometimes you go to B and fight stuff, etc. I've seen people say that XVI's sidequests have compelling character moments, and this is true for a handful, mostly the ones kept to the very end of the game at the end of a variety of sidequest chains. The majority tell you things you already know, things that aren't interesting and also don't matter, all three of these or not even these. Here's the thing: world lore only matters if your world is interesting, and XVI's world is not. It's a bargain bin Ivalice (the setting of FFXII and Tactics) with none of the truly fantastical designs or truly stunning world design, filtered through the Game of Thrones TV show. I hope you like hearing that slaves have it horrifically and are treated terribly because that's what most of the sidequests will be about for the first half of the game, and it's also what the plot is about for nearly the first half of the game (and is otherwise a running theme of the game), and oh my god the XVI writers want to be sure you absolutely know this beyond a shadow of a doubt. Similarly, character moments only matter for, well, characters, and the game just isn't able to sell everyone in your home base as a fun or compelling character. The moment with Otto when you find a note from Cid is genuinely heartwrenching and well done, and it's pretty much the only one that genuinely lands...and it should've been in the main story, not an incidental sidequest. Especially with how dry the main story is most of the time you're in the home base.

Also, Final Fantasy traditionally was never big on sidequests so much as side stories, optional areas and side activities. Pretty much starting with XI is when it began really dabbling in them more and more, starting with XII having some, XIII-2 having a lot (XIII-1 had nothing because it was stripped to the bone to finish it), XIII-3 being almost completely sidequests by design, XIV being an MMO and XV having a lot. The thing is, some of these still had actual minigames and side activities; XIII-2 had its casino games and chocobo racing, same for XIV, XV had a very fun fishing minigame with attached sidequests, etc. Going further back, the PS1 FFs had card games and multiple minigames throughout, chocobo breeding and racing and treasure hunting, etc. XVI has none of this, absolutely zero, and it's a shame. Sure, XII also purely had sidequests and hunts, but XII's hunts and elite hunts were way more interesting and involved than 99% of XVI's; they often had special spawn conditions, special gimmicks and mechanics, could often be brutal and even had fucking surprise twists. There's no fun surprises in XVI's hunts, even the familiar recurring faces are at their most boring and incidental here. XVI's Carrot and Red Chocobo don't even begin to stack to XII's.

Put shortly, XVI's RPG aspect is so fucking thin it's more an action game with a very faint RPG layer strapped on. With how simplified and restrained the action side is, you'd hope it was to work with the RPG side in tandem, but no, there's basically nothing here.

Presentation

The game's really pretty and really high fidelity until it moves. Outside of combat, in Performance Mode, the world will often just swim and devolve into a blurry mess of over-aggressive motion blur and really bad temporal anti-aliasing if you or the camera move too fast or too suddenly. It struggles to hold 30FPS when just walking around environments, and I suspect performance is why Clive's auto-sprint is turned off when in towns (and your Chocobo is forbidden from entering towns) which also makes time spent running around towns for main or sidequests absolutely agonising after a little while. The game is so pretty, but I find myself wondering if it's actually worth it; is this fidelity worth the game melting and the console revving when I try to actually move in it? No, obviously.

I will go all RETVRN here but like, the fixed camera-angles and 3D models on pre-rendered backgrounds of the PS1 FFs allowed to be visual powerhouses in their day, and VIII and especially IX still hold the fuck up now. We seem to be slowly realising the strengths of these perspectives and designs again, as Nintendo rolls out a surprisingly immaculate looking Super Mario RPG remake and Square keeps rolling out incredible remasters and remakes of their older titles. Can you imagine what a big budget FFXVII could do with the strengths of that style, where you only need to render what can face the camera and nothing else? We need to go back.

In combat on Performance Mode the game mostly holds 60 pretty cleanly, sometimes staggering a little when shit gets busy, especially in the Eikon fights where the designs are complicated and particles heavy. It blatantly jumps between 30 and 60 for cutscenes and special animated sequences a lot in these fights, and I again wonder if we wouldn't be better off with lower fidelity for smoother shows.

Still, it is pretty and they at least knew to focus on making combat perform slickly, so hey.

While I'm here, the OST is a massive downer. It's mostly generic orchestral shite and very little stands out. This is especially saddening because the composer of at least most of it is Masayoshi Soken, who is a fucking eclectic powerhouse of range and skill in his work on XIV. YoshiP's drive for a grounded dark fantasy styled like Game of Thrones strangles so much of what this game could be; the Titan Eikon battle is the one time Soken's let off the leash and it's the highlight track of the game. This is also a baffling choice when you consider the gameplay is inspired by Devil May Cry, a series rife with tracks in the same flavour as shit like this! You had the perfect team for a DMC style OST and you wasted it!

Plot/Writing

okay here we fucking go

To establish, the game's core theme is that an unequal societies built upon the exploitation of some of their people will not stand, and that if we aren't united and equal we are damned to die, likely to a problem of mankind's own making such as the gradual destruction of the environment (which is what the Blight in game is, it's the world rotting from overuse of magic). This is what all the focus on slavery early on is done for, it's about how deranged these societies are for the subjugation and exploitation of others and the myriad ways both explicit and subtle they created justifications in their cultures for it (the slaves, called Bearers, are designated slaves by religious doctrine in the Sanbrequois Empire, for example). The main counterpoint to this is Cid's anarchist commune, which is your home base and eventually what Clive comes to lead...and does very little with, truthfully. Like Clive is never very concerned with the running of the place, a lot of it explicitly is handled by Otto for you (and he did the same for Cid, apparently).

The problem is this theme isn't really backed by gameplay at all, and it's here that I have to start slagging off the writers; the main scenario writer was also main scenario writer on FFXIV's Heavensward expansion, which also really, really struggled with this, but it is a failing of the gameplay end of the team as well. Namely, in this game about how united we stand and divided we fall, Clive does everything by himself successfully and unerringly. He beats every Eikon he fights 1v1 with one sole exception, and when the final boss reveals an Eikon form it wins a 3v1 matchup (where 1 of the 3 is the Eikon Ifrit couldn't beat alone!) only to lose to a solo but empowered Clive right after. From a gameplay perspective it's a fault that your party members just never matter ever, sure, even when they are present, but from the story perspective I have no idea why you'd deliberately do things like set up the 3v1 as a loss that leads to a Clive solo victory when your entire fucking theme is people working together for the betterment of all. Like, that's the moment where all the prayers of the people at the home base explicitly fly into Clive or your remaining Eikon allies descend from on high to skewer the boss for Clive to get the winning counterhit in.

The main way the game tries to show "people uniting together" is people giving up their Eikon powers willingly to Clive so he personally gets stronger, but like, that's a shit way of doing it. When Jill gives Shiva to Clive, she falls out of the plot immediately afterward; Clive has to tag-team with Joshua to defeat Bahamut, but at the final fight, Joshua surrenders Phoenix to Clive so Clive can beat the final boss alone instead of just doing the goddamn fucking tag-team again.

On that note, talking about Shiva naturally brings us to Jill. Jill is Clive's childhood friend, she's the Dominant of Shiva and the game's female lead. And she is probably the worst-handled female character in any Final Fantasy. Combined with the handling of two of the villains and the trends among women in this game in general, XVI might actually be the fucking worst about women in the series - yes, XV barely had women in it but the ones it did have weren't treated anywhere near this bad.

Alright, so, Jill starts the game being freed from Ironblood control by Clive after he realises who she is (they've been separated for years and he was sent to assassinate her). After she's back on her feet, she tags along with Clive as he journeys to Phoenix Gate, where his life went to shit, to see if he can discover who the mysterious second Fire Dominant that killed Phoenix was. In essence, Jill goes along with Clive for his revenge/self-discovery arc, and later, the opportunity to lay siege to the western Mothercrystal owned by the Ironblood Kingdom reveals itself. Jill pushes for it to be done, saying she has her own revenge to seek similar to Clive's, and her own sins to atone for like Clive's (all the people she killed as Shiva for the Ironbloods, as they threatened to kill enslaved women and children whenever she refused). Clive agrees, and has her back the way she had his.

It's a little scuffed but the arc in general is nice. Clive legitimately does mostly take a back seat to Jill for it (though Jill isn't playable as that would cost money they spent elsewhere). It fucks up a little in places: Jill struggles to freeze a spout of lava in a way no other Dominant struggles to use their powers, and a fire beast summoned by the overarching villain right as they reach the Mothercrystal's heart manages to wall and fend off Shiva. The explanation, ostensibly, is that Shiva is struggling because she's ice-elemental in a volcano but to be frank, later evidence tells us that Shiva is just the weakest Eikon outside of perhaps Garuda (whose Dominant is the only other female Dominant. Good job, lads). Ramuh may also eat shit, but Cid is old when he loses to semi-prime Benedikta and he eats shit to a mysterious force none have perceived before; when he's on point he's the only Eikon to floor Ifrit and survived an encounter with Bahamut in the past.

Outside of that blemish, the arc works, Jill kills the Ironblood pope herself and takes her revenge in doing so. In breaking the Mothercrystal, they also break the back of the Ironbloods' religion and thus their entire society, fucking them all royally and thus both having revenge and atoning partially for the crimes she committed for them.

From that point on, Jill does mostly nothing in half the scenes she's in, and her trajectory in the plot goes thus: captured by Hugo and almost executed to antagonise Clive, rescued, sits out from going to fight Hugo, sits out from fighting Bahamut, gets one-shot by semi-prime Barnabas, is kidnapped, is rescued, watches Clive get wrecked, fucks Clive, surrenders Shiva to Clive, and then she falls out of the plot almost entirely. She is kept out of the party after that point, only appearing to menace enemies with her rapier while Dion does all the real fighting as they buy time for Clive and Joshua, and then sits out the final battle along with everyone who isn't Clive, Joshua or Dion.

At no point do Ifrit and Shiva tag-team another Eikon. Shiva is explicitly shown to be able to hold her own against Titan in the opening/after the prologue (she fights him to a draw!) but doesn't take part at all in fighting him for real! Whenever Shiva does show up after the prologue, it's to be ineffectual or get defeated, every single fucking time! She is all but explicitly stated to be the weakest Eikon by leagues!

Lads! What the fuck were you doing!? That was the most obvious fucking set-up and you wasted it!

To say that Jill is wasted is an understatement. But the fact that the writers largely see her as a damsel for Clive to save or a vector for people to antagonise Clive through is fucking baffling for a series that has, historically, done really well by its female casts. Funnily enough FFXIV also struggled with female characters until Shadowbringers, almost like there's a pattern here.

Fumbling the ball is debatably the game's real big theme because it's doing it constantly. None of the villains are a hit for a variety of reasons, and it becomes really obvious that the Heavensward leads and parts of the XIV team went onto this after that came out because the strides XIV made in villain quality afterward feel extremely telling (yes Stormblood fumbled Yotsuyu hard and Fordola is 100% awful no matter how you see her, but Zenos was gold; then Shadowbringers has the series' best villain after that). A lot of them can be done quickfire:

Benedikta is an insecure failwoman that had some actually good character foundations for an arc about becoming secure and succeeding! She's dead within the first five hours and nothing further is done with her as a character in any way, significant potential cast to the four winds for no good reason other than "Game of Thrones has killing so we should kill". Heavensward had a character somewhat like this in Ysayle and it wasted her in similar fashion (FUNNILY ENOUGH YSAYLE ALSO TRANSFORMS INTO SHIVA WHY IS THIS A FUCKING PATTERN). Also her last moments as a person are breaking down right as a group of bandits begins to attempt to rape her. Great work, lads.

Hugo is seduced by Benedikta early on and believes she genuinely loved him, and is driven by unyielding rage when someone makes him believe Cid killed her (when it was actually Clive, which like, same difference after that point anyway). He has a good speech in the Rosarian throne room but otherwise isn't up to much and all semblance of character vanishes going into his fight, with no moment afterward.

The Sanbrequois Emperor is a generic emperor man who initially wars for access to unBlighted lands and then for control of resources, which while bastardly is just standard operation for an empire. His sign of greater evil is feckless disregard for treaties, which is explicitly driven by his wife's ambitions, which, christ, we'll get to in a bit. By himself he isn't up to much of anything at all.

Barnabas Tharmr is king of Waloed, the eastern smaller chunk of Valisthea, and Dominant of Odin. He fights Bahamut in a very early CG cutscene, then isn't in the game for about 35 hours. When he shows up, he gets built up as a Vergil-esque impossibly strong opponent who truly could only have been matched by Dion, Dominant of Bahamut, who you needed to partner up to defeat as Ifrit. He wrecks Clive in a really unconvincing cutscene where he just kicks him out of a blind rush and then one-shots him, is implied to oneshot Shiva without needing to become Odin (which is not a feat as Shiva can't do fucking anything after the prologue), and shortly later has a more even fight that ends with Clive and Jill fleeing from him. Then you fight him for real at a tower in the middle of Waloed and he's Odin for all of 2 minutes before Ifrit ganks him and the rest of the fight is mostly just fighting him in his "semi-primed" Devil Trigger state. The entire time he's back in the plot, he's a calm, collected cold type who just repeats the real villain's very limited spiel over and over, until halfway through his real boss fight where he randomly begins cackling and goes psycho, revealing an actual character trait...and it's just bargain bin scam-brand Zenos from XIV Stormblood. It's never suggested at being a thing anywhere before this.

There are three villains I have not discussed above, who are noteworthy for being three different kinds of more elaborately bad.

First and simplest: the entire Ironblood Kingdom. The Ironblood Kingdom is a small island nation off the west coast of Valisthea, whose army are fighting Dhalmekia (Titan's nation) in the game's opening before the flashback sequence to Clive's childhood. They are an explicitly barbaric and unbelievably violent people who wield the Dominant Shiva for conquest, forcing her to fight for them by threatening to kill innocents. They are the only people in the game who speak their own foreign language, they have an evil religion based around human sacrifice to their Mothercrystal, they raid Clive's homeland Rosaria before the imperials take it and kill all the men, kidnap all the women to use as slaves and Jill's discussion of this leaves the implication of "worse" (rape) in the air but doesn't confirm it. The Ironbloods are just flavourless Vikings with unfortunate connotations (why are the evil human-sacrificing ultraviolent cultists who kill men and kidnap women the only ones who speak a foreign language?), and after Jill's revenge arc they vanish from the game completely and never matter ever again. They get one mention - that their society collapses after the loss of the Mothercrystal, the centre of their religion - and that's it. Clive and Jill, now heads of an anarchist commune looking to rescue and take in slaves wherever it can, never even mention considering going to the Ironblood home island to save the Rosarian slave women. They're just left to their fate out there in the collapsing society of ultraviolent Vikings.

The Rosarian slave women Jill grew up with, lived with, was protected by, and met with again during the incursion into the Mothercrystal.

Just never mentioned again, left to their fates.

10/10.

The second is the real villain and final boss, Ultima. Ultima has an interesting appearance: a snow-white gaunt fleshy being with dark pits for eyes. He endlessly repeats the same few lines about free will being evil and how mankind's will is super weak and how it is reinforced by consciousness and links with other people to survive and etc etc. This is genuinely over 80% of his lines, the remaining few being "You cannot win because I am God" and him descending into coping and seething as Clive beats his ass in the final fight, which is also the only time he develops an actual character.

Ultima is a boneless version of the Ascians from FFXIV, or perhaps it's more accurate to say that he is very clearly hacked together from Heavensward-era lore bible/character notes on the Ascians at that point. The Ascians in XIV: A Realm Reborn (the base game) and Heavensward are all one-note masked robe-wearing villains, largely interchangeable as they rant about making the Darkness happen again and resurrecting their fell god Zodiark to restore Balance, and so on. The only exceptions are Lahabrea (who fucking loves being evil and is cackling all the time) and Elidibius, the lone white-robed Ascian and their leader, who is just the smug "I Know What You Do Not and that means we will win" sort of preening villain who doesn't do that much. None of the rest matter or have much in the way of character in either part of the game, and the Ascians are entirely absent from Stormblood until the patches leading to Shadowbringers start.

If you still don't believe me, consider this: Ultima is a member of an unbelievably advanced and magically powerful race of god-like beings who ended up creating humanity, with the goal of exploiting humanity and laying waste to the world to remake it for their own ends and restart their own long-lost civilisation. That's the Ascians from XIV to a tee. It's the same exact shit, only Ultima doesn't have a character, he just spouts blandly mean evil shit so meaningless platitudes can be spit back at him before he gets punched in the face.

This was the worst possible road to take. It's a bad road to have taken at any point, but in a post-Shadowbringers world this was the worst possible road to take. With its shuffling in staff and promotion of Natsuko Ishikawa, previously a writer for optional side content and famously XIV's excellent Dark Knight job quests, to lead writer, Shadowbringers saw the Ascians greatly expanded. The remaining Ascians, Elidibius and technically-a-newcomer Emet-Selch, are fucking fantastic characters in Shadowbringers: Elidibius is rescued from being a boring forgettable generic smug man into a genuinely tragic figure, and Emet-Selch is Final Fantasy's single best villain. Ishikawa had the giga-brain idea to look at the Ascians' situation, of perpetuating apocalypses for millennia to try and reform their destroyed world and resurrect their dead god, and thought to ask "What kind of a person does that? What drives you to actually stick to that plan? And what does that do to you as a person? How do you hold together? How do you keep going?".

And it was beautiful.

And then XVI stumbles in with this fucking cumstain who just keeps burbling "free will bad, being my slave is based actually, please stop having the free will" and trying to climb into Clive's skin.

Ultima has no character and has fucking nothing going on. He is at least an embodiment of the game's main theme but that's all he is, he's the ultimate slave-driver and exists for a former slave to spout platitudes he himself doesn't embody at and then be punched so that a truly equal society can be made...except we don't see that truly equal society, we just see one that no longer has magic and thus no longer has Bearers, who were enslaved for their magic, and is thus saved from the Blight too. Except in the Ironblood Kingdom where women were generally enslaved to make food and be sacrificed. Those slaves we just forgot. Hm.

Fumbles the ball constantly.

Anabella gets her own section

The third and final villain to discuss isn't the main villain or even an ally of the main villain, she's just a singular black hole of fucking awful writing and concerning attitudes. Anabella Rosfield is Clive and Joshua's mother, and at the start of the game she quickly establishes a seething hatred and deep-seated bigotry for Bearers simply because they are slaves and poor, and similar contempt for everyone not born rich. Her husband, Clive's dad and duke of Rosaria, talks about making life better for the Bearers and thus possibly has intentions of abolishing slavery in Rosaria, so Anabella concocts a scheme with the Sanbrequois Empire to perform a decapitation strike that kills him and the duchy's top military unit and leaders while letting her walk away with Joshua, her favoured son because he got made the Dominant of Phoenix. The way it plays out, Anabella assumes Joshua died and walks off to marry the Emperor and have a new child.

Over the course of the game, Anabella makes it clear that her goal is to simply be the birth-mother of the ruler of the world. She desires no power for herself: she isn't concocting a scheme to make herself regent in a system that favours men and male heirs as rulers exclusively, she isn't working the system to get herself in charge. When she gets her weird child with the Emperor into the seat, she does so by talking the Emperor into letting an eight year old onto the throne in name while the Emperor stays on as regent and continues doing his work. This is her end goal. She simply wishes for her son (and it is always a son, too) to rule and for that son to be known as legitimately hers. Having and birthing a ruler is the sum total of her existence and all she strives for, except for one thing: killing slaves.

Anabella's hatred for Bearers goes beyond even the other cartoonish examples you see throughout the early game. She straight up creates an honest-to-god Nazi death squad to go around carrying out pogroms on slaves in Rosaria specifically, not to spite Clive specifically because he escaped enslavement under the imperial military, just to kill slaves in Rosaria because she really fucking hates slaves. The Nazi death squad pillage one village, sack a church, raze a second village to the ground and raze a third to the ground before Clive finally deals with allegedly all of them as they prepared to raze another. They kill slaves in massive numbers and kill anyone who might object as well, all explicitly in the empress' name, simply because she hates slaves so much. Slaves never did anything to her, there is no hack shite like "a slave killed her dad for being a slaver" or something like Fordola in XIV Stormblood, nor does she have XIV Stormblood's justification for Yotsuyu (victim of childhood abuse and sex trafficking that the state permitted to exist openly - and still did nothing about even when new king Hien was faced with the specific sex trafficker who took her what the fuck guys); she just hates slaves because they have magic and are slaves. They are a subset of the poor and non-nobles, who she also hates blindly.

She's a deranged eugenicist-fascist birth-obsessed gender essentialist who holds these beliefs and thoughts simply because. Literally every line of hers is self-assured smug preening about screwing people over, slaves being killed or enacting her plans to get her child onto the throne so she can claim to be an emperor's mum. There is an extensive scene where she openly shit-talks, insults and smugly preens at the emperor's first son with his deceased first wife, openly gloating about screwing him out of the throne simply to gloat. She is not in league with Ultima, she does not act to serve his plans, she isn't even unknowingly corrupted by or influenced by Ultima to stir up discord to further his ends, she's just a pit of blind hatred towards everyone and everything who sexed her way to a position to give birth to someone who would take actual power, because actual power doesn't matter, birthing someone to take it does.

I have to wonder if the person who wrote her was freshly divorced. It may be uncouth to suggest it but I genuinely believe they have problems with women. I think it's deranged this got past editing and made it into the game as is.

Like, let's be clear here: Anabella is the single biggest individual source of suffering and death outside of Ultima, the literal slaver god. She:

Disowns Clive for not being a Phoenix Dominant

Orchestrates the assassination of her own husband once she has a Phoenix Dominant child and he starts suggesting they abolish slavery

Has all her husband's top men and staff killed, to a man where possible, leaving Rosaria entirely without leadership

Has her own handmaidens killed after preening to imperial soldiers in front of them, having given them the impression they would be spared to join her as she went to the Emperor

As Empress, is explicitly said to corrupt the Emperor, making him more callous and cruel. The suggestion to break the peace treaty with Twinside is from her influence

As Empress, creates a Nazi death squad themed after her dead first husband's band of loyal men, only coloured black and now called "the Black Shields". In her name openly and explicitly, they go out into Rosaria specifically alone to kill slaves, razing villages to the ground for having too many slaves and not turning over slaves, simply for the joy of killing slaves. Two villages are razed, a church sacked and a village pillaged with hundreds of people killed, and plans are made to continue doing this before the squad is allegedly completely defeated by Clive

As Empress, goes to Dhalmekia behind the Emperor's back to discuss terms with Hugo, telling him to lay siege to Rosaria's capital to set a trap for "Cid the Outlaw". This siege destroys ever more of Rosaria, continuing the trend of aggressively and viciously shitting on and destroying her prior family's legacy and history, and also sees myriad imperial soldiers and Rosarian civilians killed in swathes by Hugo's men

As Empress, having corrupted the Emperor into sieging and taking Twinside as the new imperial capital, following the destruction of Dhalmekia's crystal, she suggests the Emperor take up Dhalmekia in making a treaty to end the war (as Dhalmekia now struggles without its Mothercrystal) and then rout them as they try to leave. She suggests this so Sanbreque can take Dhalmekia and the outlying Free Cities and thus hold all of Valisthea outside Waloed.

She then intends to have the Emperor siege and take Waloed to complete the conquest of Valisthea for her 8 year old son to nominally rule over. This is a plan she has dedicated decades of her life to: making everyone bow to her child. Not her, not her family or lineage or name, just her son. Any of her sons, just needs to be one of hers.

Directly gloats about corrupting Dion's father to Dion, and directly gloats about screwing him out of the throne. Calls his "blood" "unclean", further insults, and sneers that he should just obey her weird child emperor. Thinks this will work without repercussion. This causes Dion to carry out an uprising with the intent to kill her, leading to the slaughter of the royal guard, and Ultima (who hollowed out her weird child to wear as a skinsuit a while ago) to provoke Dion into losing control and become a raging Bahamut, which then lays waste to Twinside, killing untold tens of thousands at minimum. This sequence also gets the Emperor killed.

Ultima doesn't even do anywhere near as much as she does when it comes to sowing discord. Depending on the population count of Waloed (which is more or less entirely converted to magic zombies by Barnabas choosing to serve Ultima blindly) versus the slaughtered slaves and people in Rosaria and Twinside, she may actually have caused more deaths total by her actions than Ultima does before the aetherfloods and Waloed's zombie invasion arrive. More, if we count war dead as technically hers too by her seducing the Emperor into ordering it.

I need to make it clearer: none of Anabella's actions or motivations make any actual sense. Nothing scarred her into needing to be validated or legitimised by having a child of hers placed into the highest seat of power in the world. She has no tragic backstory. She simply comes into being an unfathomably hate-filled pit directed at the weakest and most oppressed people in society, and all of her actions directly or indirectly lead to unfathomable numbers of deaths simply because she wants them dead or because she wants to be called an emperor's mum. She does not want personal power, she does not want to shape the world according to an ideology, she is not in league with the ancient slaver god or his thrall or anything like that, she just really hates slaves for no reason and is obsessed with birthing.

And they clearly aren't intended to make sense, because she's obviously meant simply to be hated. She exists to be hated, she's a completely ridiculous, embarrassingly cartoonish mess that acts as deranged as possible to make you hate her. One of her longest scenes is that one I keep referencing where she openly gloats at and insults Dion and laughs that her child is now emperor and he isn't, and she legitimately completely thought she could just do that and nothing would come of it.

Because she's shocked when Dion rocks up the next night, declares rebellion and attempts to kill her weird child. She is reduced to hysteric screaming when the Emperor takes the blow and dies, completely shaken and left a quivering wreck found by Clive later in the ruins of the imperial palace, legitimately unable to believe this could have happened or that anything could go wrong.

She's so specifically engineered to be spited and hated, to try and make you seethe at her, to be a singular symbol of all evil, and for what? This isn't the first time this team has done this sort of shit, though never to this scale; FFXIV will randomly produce minor villains and NPCs who are evil to the point of blatant stupidity, doing acts and getting minutes-long scenes of cackling and sneering and gloating about it at agonising length, and it's always dumb and bad when it happens there. At least on one occasion the gloater gets bisected gloriously, half the time they weakly eat shit or are simply rolled away.

Anabella is the worst fucking instance of it by far; as a villain type it just fucking sucks because it's not interesting to see, it has nothing interesting to say, it isn't fun or actually shocking or actually capable of disgusting you to your core, it's just weird and annoying in how much time they take up. Combining the weird birthmother angle shit to it, the fact that they're always sons and that she's the only woman in the upper ranks of these governments makes it all very pointed in a very discomforting way.

One might say it's realistic, there are genuinely people out there who are bigoted beyond belief and beyond all rationality, who will be bigoted even when it will actively work against them. Yes, that's true, they are tragically common and often shitting themselves on social media at the revelation that no-one likes them, not even their fellows. But so what? So what if they're realistic? It's not interesting, they aren't interesting, they're just shitty people. Being realistic doesn't automatically make them a good fit for a story, and often it makes them a bad fit.

Moreover, if you want to bring realism into this, let's do it: let's bring realism into Anabella's shit. That scene with Dion, realistically, is so fucking unbelievably stupid that she could not have conceivably survived to that point in the first place, she would have gotten herself killed stupidly long before it. Dion is:

First son of the Emperor

Leader of the Sanbrequois Dragoons, dragon-taming super knights and strongest and most powerful military division of a heavily militaristic society. This also makes him the highest ranked military leader in the country

Dominant of Bahamut, divine dragon in a society that worships and utilises and integrates dragons into itself. Bahamut is also undebatably the strongest of all Eikons. Sanbreque is a deeply religious society, Bahamut's Dominant is nigh-on a living god to them.

Suspecting that Anabella is an agent of, or possessed by, Ultima, who he knows is a real thing thanks to Joshua. He knows his father has become more violent and cruel lately, and has been since the marriage with Anabella. This makes Anabella a threat to all humanity, not just his family or Sanbreque, and thus she needs to be killed.

Is seeing Anabella tear his family apart before his eyes and taking away his birthright while laughing about it

Alone with her in the room at that point.

Is willing to kill her.

Is armed.

Dion has every single conceivable form of social and institutional legitimacy available in a medieval/early modern society shielding his actions. He could kill Anabella in the street and simply declare "Heathen" and walk away unfettered. He is also an extraordinarily powerful warrior himself before you even factor in "can transform into the most powerful god" - when he comes to the throne room to declare rebellion, no knight or cardinal/bishop there speaks up when the Emperor commands Dion's arrest. They don't budge. They either agree with him, or take his legitimacy over even the emperor's, or they simply refuse to fuck with him lest he kill them instantly.

When Dion orders the Dragoons to rebel and seize the palace, they do so without question. Not a man disobeys or turns away, they immediately set about slaying the royal and city guards, while evacuating and protecting civilians flawlessly. They take his assertion that Anabella is a traitor and usurper and that she and her 8-year-old son need to die without question and set about carrying it out.

Dion's word is basically divine law.

And Anabella, living in this society for over a decade if not near two, near the highest seat of power, regularly around bishops/cardinals/high priests and commanders, somehow believed that actively antagonising Dion as much as is entirely possible could not result in anything other than Dion going "okay" and just kneeling before her child. She somehow figured that Dion was not, in fact, the single most powerful man in this society (literally so, in a physical sense, too) despite living in it and seeing its workings from the inside for years.

Anabella is so stupid it's criminal. She's such a bad character it's unfathomable. The entire plot is actively warped by her presence and her list of sins is so deranged it undermines the fucking story because is this societal system that employs slavery actually this bad, or is it just this singular individual lunatic at the top ruining everything? She's the single worst character in any Final Fantasy, any one, ever. There is a weird seething, boiling disgust behind this character and I don't think it's unfair to say that someone wasn't right when writing her. Someone was freshly divorced or freshly seething about a woman for something, because I don't see how you go to these lengths and not be.

In fact, take what was said about Jill before, consider what they do with Benedikta, consider that no other female character is as prominent as these three. And then contemplate these facts:

The creative director and screenplay writer was also main scenario writer for XIV: Heavensward, where the main female character in the core cast, who also transforms into Shiva as her power-up state incidentally, steps to another primal as Shiva and gets fucking wrecked, and later sacrifices herself when there wasn't any real need to, dying as Shiva to a big airship.

One scenario writer was a scenario writer for Persona 5, which should speak for itself

One scenario writer was a game designer for Yokai Watch 3, a game so uninterested in its own female lead that not only is half her story completely irrelevant to main story, but postgame content actively denies you entry if you try to play as her for no actual reason. No plot reason, no character reason, she just can't do some things like a battle challenge tower simply because.

Another scenario writer was a story writer for Yokai Watch 3, as well.

And tell me that the writing staff of Final Fantasy XVI doesn't have problems with women.

There's other straggler issues I had, but nothing will top that. Now at the end of the post, actually, I remembered something and have nowhere else to put it. It's petty but I want to get it down somewhere.

After a point, you get a historian/lecturer at your home base called Vivian who tells you about the state of the world and the ongoing conflicts at different points throughout the story, and she is entirely useless every time. She gives you a very basic rundown of character backgrounds, she gives you a very basic rundown of recent history, and 95% of the time you already know what she tells you from previous scenes and the remaining 5% isn't of any use or interest, when it's even there. It's annoying in that it's pointless minutes of fluff and padding to a game that could do with better pacing and thus doesn't need it.

Like a lot of CBU3's work, it's following in the footsteps of an Ivalice game, specifically this time Final Fantasy XII (which is also a regular source of names, scenes, characters, plot elements, ideas and more for XIV as well). There are a scant few scenes in XII where you get an excerpt of the memoirs from a relatively minor NPC, the Marquis Ondore, and the first one of these comes in the game's opening, after its lengthy and gorgeous CG cutscenes. It sets the stage of the world and puts in more context for the things you saw in the cutscene, and establishes what the prologue sequence you're about to play is.

Compare the two for yourself: XVI's first Vivian scene (0:31 to 2:14, there's little bits of dialogue before and after with Clive if you want) and XII's opening excerpt with Ondore (7:04 to 9:14).

It's not just the performance, though I would argue Ondore's is miles and miles better, it's the presentation and all, really. XII's lead-in, its use of images, its fucking great music, the way it cuts it silent at the end to deliver its tantalising sting, it's not just exposition but a solid part of the opening narrative itself. Note how much faster paced Ondore's performance is, and how much easier it is to follow as a result. That sort of pacing would help a lot of XVI's dialogue and delivery, XII's English dub is very lively and theatrical and it really elevates it.

But really, I am petty about it; Ondore's opening excerpt is one of those scenes fucking embedded in my head, his delivery and cadence of his lines stuck in there. I love that scene, it's so good at establishing tone, context, flavour and leading in to the prologue it's nuts. I was excited to see XVI try the same, and was deflated when it didn't match up, and continually annoyed every time we had to go back to this random lady to be told things I already knew or even had just inferred.

And if you think I'm harping on it, just look at this bit where when asked "how do we enter Ash/Waloed", Vivian gives a 3 minute lecture only to end on "the beach you already went to literally right before this return to the home base". Tell me these scenes aren't just fucking filler.

Final Fantasy XVI should've been right up my alley. "Final Fantasy but Devil May Cry" crosses my favourite series with one of my other favourites, I should have been the target audience for this one. But holy good fuck, they fucked it in basically every area and I grow more negative on it the more I think about it.

At least now I can shit this out and get it off my mind.

#pocket-media-tag

[senseofstocks]

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[johnwynelatumbo]

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Introduction

Choosing a career path can be a daunting and life-altering decision. It often requires careful consideration of your interests, skills, and long-term goals. For me, the choice was clear: I decided to pursue a career in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics). In this blog, I will share the compelling reasons why I chose STEM and how this decision has impacted my life and the world around me.

1. A World of Endless Possibilities

One of the most enticing aspects of STEM is the sheer breadth and depth of possibilities it offers. STEM fields are at the forefront of innovation and are constantly evolving. Whether you're passionate about space exploration, medical breakthroughs, cutting-edge technology, or sustainable engineering, STEM provides a platform to explore and contribute to these fields. The opportunity to make a meaningful impact on the world through discovery and innovation is a compelling reason to choose STEM.

2. Problem Solving and Critical Thinking

STEM education equips individuals with strong problem-solving and critical-thinking skills. In a world where complex issues and challenges abound, the ability to analyze problems and develop effective solutions is invaluable. STEM encourages a systematic and logical approach to addressing problems, a skill set that is transferable to various aspects of life.

3. An Ever-Growing Job Market

STEM careers are consistently in high demand. As the world becomes increasingly technology-driven, the need for individuals with expertise in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics continues to grow. Job security is an attractive feature of STEM, as it often leads to a wide range of career opportunities and competitive salaries.

4. Making a Difference

Many people choose STEM because they have a deep desire to make a positive impact on the world. STEM professionals have the opportunity to work on projects that address global issues such as climate change, healthcare, clean energy, and more. Knowing that your work can directly contribute to improving the quality of life for people all around the world is a source of great motivation and satisfaction.

5. Lifelong Learning

STEM is not just a career; it's a lifelong journey of learning and exploration. In these fields, you're constantly exposed to new information and technologies. This environment of continuous learning ensures that you stay intellectually engaged and challenged throughout your career.

6. Collaboration and Innovation

STEM often involves working as part of a team to tackle complex problems. The collaborative nature of STEM fosters innovation, creativity, and a supportive community of like-minded individuals. This camaraderie is essential in pushing the boundaries of what's possible.

Conclusion

Choosing a career in STEM is a decision I've never regretted. The boundless opportunities for exploration, the ability to address global challenges, and the gratification of making a difference in the world have been immensely fulfilling. STEM isn't just a career; it's a way of life that encourages lifelong learning, critical thinking, and collaboration. If you're considering a career in STEM, I encourage you to explore your interests, find your passion, and embark on a journey of endless possibilities and personal growth. In the end, choosing STEM might just be one of the most rewarding decisions you'll ever make.

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