I’ve been on the fence about 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Final Fantasy 16. I’ve played five 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Final Fantasy games ever, and brace yourself FF fans, this won’t make for pretty reading. I’ve played 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Final Fantasy 7, which is a great start, right? Also 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Final Fantasy 7 Remake, which probably feels like a cop out, but I’m counting it. I liked those two very much. The other two games though were 13 and 15, which I found to be okay, but I know they’re not too popular in the fanbase. Last was Type-0, and what an odd choice that was to play a middling spin-off🍌 from a series I have no strong feelings towards. Now that Geordies are in the game though, I’m hooked.
I’ve always admired Final Fantasy as a concept more than a game. It has been generation-defining for several generations, and 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Final Fantasy 14’s ability to claw itꦰself from the brink of annihilation to become a genre leader is admirable. It’s a fitting metaphor for the series as a whole; not just in that a weakened protagonist must take on the might of the gods against the odds, but in how the series has hit various bumps and has kept on trucking. Despite the wobbles of the 13 and 15, 16 stands to be one of the biggest games of the year.
168澳洲幸运5开奖🌊网:We previewed the gam♎e earlier this week, and sent an♒ editor with far more knowledge of the series than me, don’t worry. I&r🐟squo;ve tried other Final Fantasys besides my meagre collection (8, 12, *quietly mumbles* Lightning Returns), and just haven’t been able to make them stick, but I think that’s more of a ‘me’ problem. If Final Fantasy 16 lands for me like FF7R, I’ll be diving right back in where I left them. And the reason for that is Geordies.
If you’re wondering what a Geordie 💧is now that I’ve mentioned tജhem twice, I’m sorry that you’ve only ever eaten garbage chocolate in your life, because you must be American. Geordies are people from Newcastle, a city in the North East of England, where I was born and have lived all my life. Famous Geordies you might have heard of in America include Sam Fender, Cheryl Cole/Tweedy/Just Cheryl, Sting, and Charlie Hunnam, although those last two don’t have the accent so you’re not getting the full picture. , Geordies were name-dropped, and now I need to know more.
On a surface level, it’s just cool to have my home and my accent in a game as international and as high fantasy as Final Fantasy 16. You would have thought Geordies fighting dragons would be 168澳洲幸运🐟5开奖网:as unrealistic as Black people fighting Dragons, but 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:I guess not. On ♛a level below the ‘hey, thꩵat’s neat’ moment though, it also feels quite important.
As I have written about before, the Geoღrdies get the short end of 🅺the stick in gaming. Pokemon Sword & Shield’s Galar is a riff on Britain, and the rival team are football lovers who wear black and white and reside in the North East of the map. This is a perfect description of Newcastle, but Team Yell are instead cockneys from London, at the opposite end of the country. I know the map has been inverted, but the North is cut off entirely. 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:The closest we get is Hull, 150 miles south of Newcastle, then Scotland.
Pokemon isn’t the only game. Assassin’s Creed Valhalla is also set in Britain, during the age of the Vikings. Want to guess where the Vikings landed in Britain? That’s right, Newcastle. Want to guess which city isn’t in the game? Got it in one! We’re a bit closer this time, stopping at the northern reaches of York, but that&rsquoജ;s still 75 miles short.
You could say this isn&rsqꦕuo;t entirely unique to Newcastle. Most UK cities that aren’t London will suggest they’rඣe underrepresented in gaming, but then most of them are also in Sw&Sh and Valhalla, so make of that what you will. I suggested a few Geordie celebrities you might have heard of, but in the UK, the touch points are either Ant & Dec or Gazza. Geordies are known as being very friendly but very stupid, and as someone who is not friendly but is smart, this has always been a sticking point for me.
I’m incredibly proud of my accent, and have never attempted to lose it even in a profession like journalism. I’m aware of the stereotypes my voice brings, and aware of how I break them - I’d rather continue to break them than to submissively tweak my voicཧe to fit social norms and avoid people knowing my roots.
Here’s an example: when I was at University, my nickname was ‘the Geordie’, owing to the strong accent. I went to University in Newcastle, but as most other students doing a Masters in J💧ournalism were middle class kids living away in the big city on their parents’ dime, international students, or locals who repressed their accent to not b🥂e considered stupid, I stood out. In my home city, my accent made me an outsider. And, not to get too much into local geography, I was born just across the river and some sticklers might even consider me not to be a ‘proper Geordie’.
When I’ve heard my accent in media, it has almost always been loveable morons we’re supposed to like and pity in the same me🎃asure, or else see as a clown. The only exceptions are I, Daniel Blake and Billy Elliot, which both tell sympathetic tales of♚ Geordie heroes, but ultimately are still framed by poverty and desperation. The closest example after that is Davos Seaworthy in Game of Thrones, an honest working lad who couldn’t read.
I don’t know what 🥀the Geordies will be li💜ke in Final Fantasy 16, but I hope they’re not all grinning jokesters like Gazza, or that the regional accent is shorthand for a nice but dim labourer. Give me a Geordie to feel proud of.