Steven Isbell

Community, Social Media, Communications for 12+ Years
Previously: @LittleBigPlanet, @PlayStation and More...
Next Adventure: TBD
This is my personal account.

[Steven Isbell @StevenIsbell]

All good things must come to an end…
And after an unexpected extension this year.

My time with Sackboy and @LittleBigPlanet is truly coming to an end on November 29th.

So today marks the beginning of my last two weeks with the most amazing community that I have ever known. ❤️

[Steven Isbell @StevenIsbell]

After 12 years, my time with Sackboy and @LittleBigPlanet will be coming to an end in March.

I'm looking for new opportunities, so if you wish for someone with over a decade's experience to lead your Comms, Community, Social Media.

Feel free to get in touch.
My DMs are open. ✉️

[Steven Isbell @StevenIsbell]

It definitely falls into the camp of something that understandably slipped through the cracks in the original game, due to story/technical limitations of the time.

However Remake Trilogy is an excellent opportunity to expand on this and allow the real Cloud to properly acknowledge and pay respect to the true events surrounding his mother's death.

She clearly speaks to him at the time of her death in his false memories of the Nibelheim incident shown in Rebirth, so hopefully we will get to see the true version of that.

[Steven Isbell @StevenIsbell]

@myheadisflat @DashingDavidYT And the rarer trophies can only have any kind of value, if something has to actually be achieved in-game by the player to unlock them.

Otherwise they become nothing more than a participation prize for locating a "challenge" or minigame and using a cheat to unlock the trophy.

[Steven Isbell @StevenIsbell]

@ponce_lorena @TifaTheMonk I would actually be more interested in seeing Cloud remembering his own mother's death and getting some more closure on that.

It's a very important part of his story that was glossed over for the most part in the original game and remained vague in his retelling in Rebirth.

[Steven Isbell @StevenIsbell]

@TifaTheMonk I also want Tifa to find Zangan again to complete her training properly (and maybe have some words with him about abandoning her after the Nibelheim incident).

So my wishlist is definitely very Cloud/Tifa biased. 😅

[Steven Isbell @StevenIsbell]

Oh, I'm not denying that it would be more work than enabling in-game cheats.

Which is effectively just making the developer testing tools, available to the players.

But it would certainly have been the better solution and considering how much time has gone into development of the Remake series for additional platforms, it would have been a worthwhile endeavour.

[Steven Isbell @StevenIsbell]

@TifaTheMonk My dream wishlist for Remake Part 3 includes (among many other things) that we finally get to see Thea.

At most, it's been referenced that Tifa looks like her mother, but it would be great to finally see this character that is so important to Tifa's story.

[Steven Isbell @StevenIsbell]

Actually there was an incredibly easy solution for most of the minigames.

Just reduce the required scores for the top reward, so that they don't require absolute perfection to complete.

This is something they did throughout Remake with the exception of Shinra Box Buster in Intermission, with that minigame's difficulty being rightly criticised at the time.

So increasing the difficulty in Rebirth to require absolute perfection for most minigames was a bit of a misstep that could have been avoided.

But one that could have been easily rectified without trivialising the minigames completely.

[Steven Isbell @StevenIsbell]

@_SpyDtroid_ Did you get Andrea's Earrings for achieving a high score during your performance?

It's a Key Item that doesn't actually do anything, but it's a nice token prize to have in your inventory.

[Steven Isbell @StevenIsbell]

@DashingDavidYT That is clearly untrue, if so many people want to use in-game cheats to unlock every achievement and trophy in the game.

But now that has happened, I agree that they are now becoming meaningless across the community, since nothing needs to be actually achieved to unlock them.

[Steven Isbell @StevenIsbell]

I realise we will never see eye-to-eye on this issue, but I hope we can share opinions on here without resorting to cursing and insulting each other.

And why do I care to continue talking about this issue?

Simple, because I care a lot about this game and this franchise.

More so than most apparently, since I have a greater respect for the systems and gameplay within it.

And whilst I will always welcome making the games more accessible and open to new players.

I firmly believe that there are much better solutions than simply adding in in-game cheats that remove the experience from the player completely, especially once we start getting into 100% optional minigames and challenges.

[Steven Isbell @StevenIsbell]

@DashingDavidYT @ahmad1919ss "You still have to play some of the game properly" has always been the weirdest justification for these in-game cheats.

If it's true that there's still some game left to play properly for achievements, which is apparently a good thing.

Why draw the line there and not sooner?

[Steven Isbell @StevenIsbell]

If you like using the Synergy Materia on Aerith.

Then the Auto-Unique Ability Materia will be your very best friend.

Equipping this on her will ensure that she will always teleport to a placed Arcane Ward before casting spells to turn them into dualcasts.

[Steven Isbell @StevenIsbell]

@Pavel124 Still no news of Posh Chocobo for PlayStation 5 in Europe. 😔

[Steven Isbell @StevenIsbell]

So is Remake Part 3 just going to launch with a Platinum Trophy that unlocks the moment that you start the game?

Because if you don't want players to even bother playing the game, then why go to the effort of including gameplay, challenges and achievements in the first place?

[Genki✨ @Genki_JPN]

FF7 Rebirth Streamlined Progression features and "New Game - Head Start" update is OUT NOW on PC and PS5!

- Start the game at level 65 with enhanced Materia
- HP is always full
- MP is always full
- Limit gauge is always full
- ATB gauge is always full
- Synergy gauge is always full
- Max Damage in Minigames
- More Materials Collected
- Max Materia Levels
- 2x EXP and 3x AP Gain
- Damage dealt is always 9,999

[Steven Isbell @StevenIsbell]

@OrangeDogArts Happy Birthday! 🥳

[Steven Isbell @StevenIsbell]

@The_Top_Loader @LarryBundyJr Wonder Boy: The Dragon's Trap easily takes the title for best video game remake. 🏆

It's an absolute masterclass on how to properly remake a retro game.

[Steven Isbell @StevenIsbell]

Don't get me wrong, I'm all for including a "Story Mode" for those that just want to enjoy the story.

I personally think that players using such a mode are missing out on a much greater gameplay experience, but it's no big deal.

It just becomes baffling when it gets included in the optional difficulty modes unlocked in the post-game for players that are specifically looking for an increased challenge.

[Steven Isbell @StevenIsbell]

@Nikolasimo @SackboyFX @Genki_JPN I'm in 100% agreement that the Brutal/Legendary Combat Simulator Challenges were way overtuned compared to the rest of the game.

However, I would have much rather seen those challenges get a proper rebalance to make them a bit more fair, whilst still remaining a challenge.

[Steven Isbell @StevenIsbell]

@SackboyFX @Genki_JPN Even just disabling this feature in the post-game Hard Mode and Combat Simulator Challenges would have been enough.