who in contrast were either robots or encased in armor. Barret's portrayal in the Final Fantasy VII Remake was praised by Siliconera due to his constant interactions with Cloud and Tifa as well as how more humanized he is shown when Marlene is shown at risk. As a result, the site believes Square set the character a good potential for his role in future installments of the remake. Controversy Prior to the game's North American release, initial reactions to the character were positive, for representing African-Americans in a role-playing game, a genre where they were rarely represented. Following its North American release, Barret's comparisons to Mr. T in the media has resulted in both praise and criticism, with most of the criticism accusing the character of serving as a negative racial stereotype of African Americans. IGN argued in favor of this point, citing his use of "stilted slang," and stating that the character stands out amongst the cast because "his dialog is written as if it was run through a broken ebonic translator," further noting a trend in Japanese games to apply such dialogue to characters based on their skin color. Journalist Jeremy Parish and Next Generation reader Russell Merritt viewed the character as a racist representation, although both also argued that cultural gaps between Japan and the United States, plus the lack of American translators for Final Fantasy VII may have been contributing factors, arguing that the likeness between Barret and Mr. T was possibly an attempt to make a character that appealed to Americans, as the actor did. In contrast, on 1UP.com, Parish argued in favor of Barret, noting that while on the surface he appeared to be the "worst kind of stereotype," he was a great character with complexity, having made "difficult decisions in his life, and agonized over his losses." Parish went further to describe Barret as the "first true father figure the [Final Fantasy] series had ever seen," noting his relationship with his adopted daughter. RPGamers content manager Shawn Bruckner took the discussion further, arguing that claims of Barret's presentation being racist was oversimplification of the character's portrayal, and stated that while he was in some aspects a stereotype, in others, such as his compassion towards his daughter or guilt regarding his past actions, he was not. He added that Barret "shows us that a black man speaking in 'ebonics' is not something to fear,"