DE.

Really hope Nyambe can put his injury issues behind him and get an extended run of games in the side. The lad has really kicked on in the past couple of months and looks like he's becoming the real deal. Crossing isn't there yet but everything else is looking good.

Might as well end the season here, it's not going to get better than this.

Whew, looks like the death spiral is over for now. Still 45 minutes to go admittedly but it would be some fuck up to let this slip.

Is Downing playing in the middle with Travis then? Please don't tell me Gallagher's on right wing again. Surely this time it'll be Gallagher up top with Arma left, Rothwell right and Holtby central? Or Rothwell centre and Holtby right.

I think I played something like 6 or 7 hours of FF15, got bored and stopped playing. The story was alright but the gameplay didn't hook me at all. Assuming they do finish all the episodes I'm more interested as to how they'll play the transition from PS4 to PS5. The PS5 will almost certainly come out during the time the episodes are being released, so will some of them come out on PS5, or will they all come out on PS4? Would be strange for instalments to be coming out on a legacy system and not on the newest console, but at the same time would also be strange for half the instalments to be on PS4 and half on the PS5.

I think all that's been 100% confirmed is that the first episode takes place entirely in Midgar. Logic suggests it'll finish after the gang break out of Shinra headquarters and are about to head to Kalm, but I guess it could be a bit before that. Yeah agreed, I've never been a fan of that kind of combat. Persona 5 showed that turn based combat can still work in modern games, and I really wish Square had taken inspiration from that rather than replicate the blandness of the FF15 combat system.

Avalanche are there to plant a bomb, but it's only designed to damage the reactor rather than destroy it. Their bomb goes off and causes the damage, then once they've left President Shinra and Heideggar (who somehow know about the mission) turn Shinra's security weaponry on the reactor, causing it to explode. Obviously Avalanche don't know this and I assume they'll think it was their fault, even though the player knows it wasn't. As Amo said, this plot change is completely redundant as the plate dropping on Sector 7 is done by Shinra for exactly the same purpose. The plate dropping will assumedly still happen as it's a huge part of the plot of the first part of the story, but from a storyline perspective it's now somewhat pointless except to double down on getting the public to blame Avalanche for their misery.

Just watched this through skipping some of the gameplay parts and mixed feelings. The graphics are excellent, of course, and in a lot of ways the opening part stays true to the original down to the smaller details of Cloud having to help Jessie up twice as they escape. The reactor explosion at the end is also a great visual. However, the change in story towards the end is really unfortunate. In the original game Shinra have nothing to do with what happens at the reactor, but now it's made obvious that whilst the Avalanche bomb does cause damage to the reactor it's Shinra who completely wreck it and cause it to explode, killing civilians on the top plate. Avalanche don't know this though, so assumedly they will still think they were the cause and go through the same moral dilemma about what they did and how it affected people. Problem is as the player we know they actually weren't responsible so it completely changes the viewer's perception of how the characters are portrayed, painting them in a sympathetic/tragic light as opposed to the moral ambiguity of the original. No sir, I don't like it.

I also didn't realise gameplay of the demo has been released in full.

It's an exact mirror of how these things play out in real life. There was never any issue with this part of the story that I've ever seen. As the player we aren't questioning Avalanche's motives or decisions when the mission is happening - but afterwards we're forced to question how their actions affected innocent people and decide for ourselves whether what they did was justified or not. The characters themselves have to process that as well and go through the same dilemma. The remake takes that all away by changing things - the player is spoon-fed a sympathy story and doesn't have to think about the actions of the heroes. They were framed, so we only have to feel sympathy for them. It's lazy and arguably insulting, treating the player like a child unable to deal with the harsh realities of the freedom fighter/terrorist duality.

Yeah, you can tell comparing current Final Fantasies to the older ones that Square is a far cry creatively from the company they were back in the 90s and early 00s. I've tried to play KH on mutiple occasions and never gotten very far at all because it unfortunately bores me. I have all of the games including the newest one so I really do want to get into it, I just can't. In this instance though they don't have to be creative. The story is already there. Sure it has a few inconsistencies which require some minor tweaks but the core storyline doesn't need to be touched at all. It's universally accepted as being one of the best games in history and the story is a large part of the reason why. It's not something that needs to be changed in any major way. There are parts that can probably be left out or amended a little, but it's small things not hugely important plot points. I'm not sure how much things have changed since 2005 but even though Advent Children had a mixed reception I liked it just fine. I thought it stayed true to the spirit of the original game and the story largely made sense within the context of the universe created in the original game. I have nitpicks regarding certain aspects of the movie's plot but nothing that would cause me serious issues watching it. The remake, though... I'm not sure I'm going to be able to accept the kind of changes I've heard about so far. At best I'll only be able to enjoy it as an alternate universe story inferior to the original. If they're going to neuter the Avalanche bombing at the beginning I dread to think what they'll do with the Barret/Dyne plot which was also very powerful and morally ambiguous. Cloud going crazy and attacking Aeris at the Temple of the Ancients will probably be left out entirely, and I can't imagine the remake is going to do a great job with that section of the game in general. The only part of the game I can see the remake improving on is the ending which appeared to be rushed and inconclusive. Otherwise I have a feeling the rest of it is going to come nowhere close to capturing the feel of the original.

Agreed. Shinra do enough to be considered the 'big evil' of the game without framing Avalanche in the beginning as well. I mean, the company is shown multiple times to be corrupt, self-serving and filled with sycophants and morally bankrupt employees at the highest levels willing to do whatever it takes to keep Shinra in power. There's very little remotely redemptive about them until Advent Children, but ultimately the remnants of Shinra are still self-serving despite suggestions they are trying to atone for what they did in the past. Everything Rufus and the Turks do in the movie is for their own benefit, including trying to recruit Cloud to help them erase Jenova's remnants. There's nothing in the original game or the movie to suggest anything has changed. Changing character appearances doesn't bother me that much. As long as they are still recognisable as the characters I saw in 1997 then fine, do whatever you need to do. In Tifa's case they're essentially bringing her game appearance in line with how she looks in Advent Children. Altering the story on such a fundamental level is pretty terrible though. I mean, stuff like the Honeybee Inn is minor. Annoying if it's changed but understandable to some degree in the current climate. Changing Avalanche bombing the reactor is totally different and not acceptable at all to me. As you guys say it totally warps the perception of the story being told and lessens the growth of Cloud, Barret and Tifa especially. When Biggs, Wedge and Jessie are dying under the plate before it is blown up they talk about it being karma for what they did when they bombed the reactor. It's a powerful moment even though you don't know them that well. Now that's gone. What will they say instead? Will they even be there or say anything at all? Why do the heroes have to be so fucking clean? Their existence and actions are the perfect reflections of the differences in perception between freedom fighters and terrorists. Taking that away cheapens the story massively. They should have just updated the graphics and left the story alone. I want the same story, I want turn-based combat and I want all of the weird little nuances that made FFVII so memorable. I don't want a sterilised 2019/2020 version of the game which removes all of the quirks and leaves us with a modern, soulless Final Fantasy ala 13 and 15. All I can say is thank goodness they released the remaster before the remake, with no storyline alterations. If nothing else we'll have that and for me the original will always be the true story. Any changes done in the remake will be nothing more than reimagined fanfiction or an alternate universe story which has no bearing on the original.

Forget Han Shot First, now it's Avalanche Bombed First.

It's very hard to argue TM has done well in the transfer market since we were promoted. Somehow we're even weak in the positions we're overstocked in, let alone where we're thin on the ground. Obviously injuries play a part but somehow we've ended up with five strikers, for example (Graham, Brereton, Gallagher, Armstrong, Samuel) and I'm only confident in Graham having any impact - and he's very much rusty and losing his touch due to being given limited game time this season. Armstrong's best position for us seems to be on the left rather than up front.

Maybe, but at the same time you shouldn't be bullish about receiving funds if it relies on a player sale. Just the usual scenario of Tony saying too much when he didn't need to say anything.

Nothing in his interview at the time about our finances relying on selling players so not buying that as an excuse tbh.

£1m isn't "loads of money" in this day and age so if that's our limit we can forget bringing in anybody decent. Odd when Mowbray was confidently predicting having plenty to spend back in September. What changed in three months to suddenly leave us without a pot to piss in?

Whilst I am looking forward to the FF7 remake I don't think it'll be a patch on the original game. They seem to have gotten whatever affliction George Lucas had and are unnecessarily messing around with the source material when all anyone ever really wanted was a graphically enhanced version of the same game.

Ratings for this week: AEW 940k with a 0.38 demo (5th overall for cable), NXT 700k with a 0.21 demo (31st overall). Three weeks of 900k+ viewers in a row for AEW now. Haven't watched NXT yet but have to say I really enjoyed AEW's "Bash at the Beach" episode of Dynamite this week. It was a huge improvement on last week's effort and it's good to see they are retaining viewership after a rocky end to the year. Apparently they're getting over a million viewers in DVR ratings as well so combined with their new TNT contract things are looking pretty good for them right now. The opening four way tag match was a great way to open the show. Page/Omega going over was a good decision and they played into Omega/Page's storyline well, with Page being a little out of control with his actions and Kenny trying to reign him in. Solid interview from Cody afterwards, much better than last week's damp squib. Nightmare collective stuff was shit as usual and is dragging down Statlander and Shida. They need to get rid of this faction ASAP but I don't think it's going to happen. Cruise and Brandi Rhodes didn't look good in the ring at all. Very clunky and one of the only low points in the show. The Dark Order vignette was well produced as usual but hokey as hell. I wish they and the Nightmare Collective would go away tbh. I don't think they're adding anything to the show. Moxley/Guevara was a good match although I felt Guevara maybe got a little bit too much offence in. A minor criticism though. The post match attack on Moxley was well done although I thought the spike to the eye was a little much, especially as it was obvious Jericho got nowhere near Moxley's eye. Good heat nonetheless and a solid post-attack promo from the Inner Circle. The six man tag between DDP/Dustin Rhodes/QT and MJF/Butcher/Blade was actually better than I expected. DDP looks great for his age and can still move really well. That DDPY stuff clearly works! MJF getting the pin on QT makes sense although I'm a little surprised MJF took a diamond cutter already. Nonetheless, enjoyable segment. The segment afterwards with Hangman/Omega and SCU was well done too. Main event of Darby Allin/PAC was pretty good, with Darby looking really strong in defeat. AEW are obviously trying to make Allin into a star - he has that Jeff Hardy kind of appeal which could definitely put him into that higher tier if he continues to develop. Meanwhile PAC is just a solid worker and a great heel. Ridiculous how WWE neutered him and had him in a weak babyface role followed by a limited cruiserweight heel role for so long. The match between PAC and Moxley next week should be a banger. They're building to Jericho/Moxley for Revolution so I expect Mox to win, but his eye injury casts some doubt over the result for casuals watching. So overall a very good show. AEW are finally pushing the Elite more seriously which no doubt is helping them retain their viewers, as many of them are interested in AEW because of the Elite. Jericho and Moxley are both incredible talents to have, whilst the Inner Circle is a superb faction. AEW has so much going for it right now and it feels like they're only scratching the surface of what's possible for them. I'm back to looking forward to Dynamite after a few rough weeks at the end of last year, and next week's Jericho Cruise edition should be a lot of fun as well. Got to say as an aside I enjoyed the announcing in this episode too. JR/Schiavone/Excaliber have great chemistry which is getting better each week. I've been so used to hating commentary on WWE broadcasts that I almost forgot commentary can actually add to the product rather than take away from it. The genuine enthusiasm from the AEW commentators is so refreshing compared to the sterile, forced commentary we hear Raw & Smackdown.

There have been various reports about us having scouts at European games so you'd assume we already have some kind of structure in place.

For me FF6/7/8/9 are the peak of the series and the ones most people are most fond of. The ones after that have been hit and miss, and whilst the ones before those games have their fans they aren't in the same sphere in terms of popularity. I think I have every FF excluding 11 and 14, but none of them come close to the FF6-9 era.

Considering the amounts we spent on Gallagher & Brereton, plus what it would have cost to extend costly contracts like Mulgrew and Evans I can't believe the money isn't there to afford a good manager if we were so inclined to do so. Unfortunately Venky's have always had it backwards in this respect, continually going for the cheap option for the management position even when spending decent money on players at times. Fair to say if we'd used to combined £12m it cost for Gallagher and Brereton and instead used it on a top Championship manager we'd likely be in a much better position right now.

The problem I have with Mowbray's comments re: our players isn't so much what he says, but how he says it. All he had to say here was "Charlie asked to come back, he knows he'll be a squad player needing to fight for his place and is happy with that". I don't understand why TM feels the need to go into warts-and-all detail with these things in public. There's some things that should be said in public and others that should remain private, and it feels like too often Mowbray reveals a little too much. With all that said as far as the manager goes I only care about the results he gets on the pitch. What he says outside of that is still up for discussion but ultimately if we're winning I can let questionable interview etiquette slide. When we're struggling it obviously adds to the frustration.

I certainly agree that a Sporting Director/DOF style approach would make more sense long-term than having the manager 100% dictate our scouting and transfer policies. With the average time in the job being relatively short for managers these days it makes far more sense to have certain elements of the club run at a higher level leaving the manager to deal largely with the training and matchday duties. It was clear when we were in L1 that the aim was to get straight back into the Championship, evidenced by spending on the likes of Dack, Samuel, etc and not selling any of our players, so I don't see why Venky's would balk at a long-term commitment of improving our scouting network. Who knows though, making sense of their decision making is beyond me.

Rocky Johnson was before my time but judging by the reaction he was much loved across the wrestling sphere.