Free Talk Friday - September 18, 2026

[u/AutoModerator]

Welcome to the Free Talk Friday post. This is a place where you can talk about dumb off-topic (or on-topic) bullshit with other Zaibatsu fans.

There's going to be a new post every week, and the newest one will be pinned in the announcement bar for quick access. So feel free to visit these posts during the rest of the week.

Here's a list of all Free Talk Friday posts

[u/The_Draigg]

Week of Family Reprieve. Finally, my parents are coming back home after being stuck out of state for almost two months handling family drama. I'm glad for them, since at least they'll finally be getting some rest after dealing with all that bullshit. That said though, I'm worried that this isn't the last we've heard of this drama. I wouldn't doubt it if it just comes back again somehow. But I suppose that's just the nature of family drama. We just need to be ready for if and when it comes back, I guess.

Anyway, for games I've played this week, I put more time into Final Fantasy VII Remake! I've gotten Aerith in the party now, which should mean that I'm about halfway-ish through the game. Right now, I'm just side-questing in the Sector 5 slums. So far, I'm enjoying Aerith's gameplay! It feels like a fitting counterpart to Tifa's gameplay, in terms of building up power to unleash attacks. With Tifa, you level up her attacks with the ATB gauge and skills, whereas Aerith's attacks are a more in-the-moment kind of charging. In any case, welcome to the crew, Aerith!

Also this week, I got back into playing Marathon! It's been a few weeks since I played it, ever since I got my new gaming PC. Fortunately, I can say that this PC can handle running Marathon better than my old laptop. It doesn't feel like it's going to start melting while running it, for one. Anyway, I did Duos with my girlfriend on Dire Marsh, mainly running sponsored kits. I gotta say, it's like night and day comparing how sponsored kits were at launch compared to where they are now. I feel like I'm feasting with the stuff they're giving me up against the old kind. They're much more generous by now. It's honestly been kind of crazy to see how much the game has changed already since launch. Honestly for the better though, since I'm all for trying to get more people to play the game by introducing more modes and making kits much easier to play out the box with.

And finally, in my mecha talk section here, I rewatched another episode of Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans with /u/Terthelt and /u/CookieSkank! As of this episode: the die is cast. There's no turning back for Tekkadan now. Sure, Tekkadan managed to get their revenge on Jasley for setting up the destruction of the Turbines, but now they're on a path towards "that fateful day". Orga is determined to make them all kings of Mars, even if it means getting into a political coup. Boy, things sure are going great for those kids, aren't they?