And Barret completes the last of the 4 core heroes. Though now that I think about it, Aerith kind of doesn’t count does she? It’s complicated, she is kind of core to the plot but also she uh… Isn’t around as much… For spoilery plot reasons from a 25 year old game.
How about we go with Barret rounds out the core 3 heroes of Cloud, Tifa and Barret.
Barret is an interesting character in the game, he is a well meaning tough guy who leads the tiny rebellion group known as Avalanche. Not too smart though, he tends to solve things with violence. Tifa tends to be the brains of that outfit. Gameplay wise, I never care for him much. If I remember, he wasn’t great at magic in game and his weapon seemed kind of weak. Plus ranged fighters are boring in combat because they just sort of, step forward and shoot then step back. You only got 3 heroes in your party and one of them had to be Cloud, so of the what, 7 choices, I didn’t use Barret a lot once he wasn’t the only option.
It probably didn’t help that he was a big goofy bulky dude.
The figure is also appropriately big. He stands head and shoulders above Cloud, the next tallest of the four Final Fantasy VII Bring Arts figures I have. His proportions feel a little off though. Like maybe he should be wider or just a bit shorter. His legs seems really long. Part of this may stem from that, I believe, the primary influence for these classic design figures is the key art, not such the in game models.
Being a bigger figure though means he gets extra screwed on accessories.
And when I say extra screwed, I mean EXTRA extra screwed. His only alternate part is an open hand, and it’s not even for his gun arm side. Its not a big deal because Barret only has one hand, but it would have been kind of a nice extra. And I think the Remake Play Arts version has hands for both arms, but don’t quote me on that. Actually it may be guns for both arms.
As for the EXTRA extra screwed, I could not even get the extra hand to work. I tried, believe me, I tried, and maybe mine is a fluke, but I absolutely could not get the spare hand to attach to the peg. It also feels like it’s maybe, 25% too large anyway. If I could get it attached maybe it would look better, but as it is, it looks comically huge.
Also, I have found that the hips issue that Squall had has returned. It’s not “shake it and it falls off” but the hip joint pops off way way too easily when trying to pose him.
Which, and I know I am a bit of a broken record on this, is really sad given how much these Bring Arts run compared to similar Figma or Figuarts figures. If you are pushing a “premium priced” figure Square, make sure it’s “Premium Price Quality.”
Like this entire line, Barret certainly looks nice visually, but around the edges, there is a lot to be desired.
