FF6 is mine. That moment when they turn the corner and the world map music changes. Beyond cathartic. The 3-4 hour tension and release they set up in that part of the game is an incredible design triumph.

I did okay with the delays in FF7 but it was absolutely unbearable by FF9. On the plus side, that drove me to discover Suikoden merely because it had instant transitions.

Yeah, I suspect when it first appeared it was a short form of 尾羽. I’m not sure the exact kana limits they had, but I could see the extra two in おばね being too far.

クロトリ getting the literal “Blackbird” treatment is a good example of how impossible direct localization is. It’s why I appreciate–and support–injecting similar vibes elsewhere in scripts that may not have literal connections to the original Japanese. I think Woolsey got there in this particular case with Flea, Slash, and Ozzie. Not so much with the gurus.

I think, though, the answer to “why did we end up with this Woolsey-ism?” is no more complicated than him sitting bleary-eyed with a spreadsheet at 2am because of insanely short deadlines, and getting zero feedback. I’ve always figured that’s how we ended up with phoenix down.