The Spoony One Noah Antwiler , also known as The Spoony One or just Spoony , is a popular internet video game and film critic in charge of the website " The Spoony Experiment " , and a former member of the review site " That Guy With The Glasses " . Antwiler describes himself as the " " [ . . . ] terrifying result of a generation raised on MTV and films by Jean - Claude van Damme and Steven Seagal at the height of their popularity " " . Antwiler ' s rise to popularity was influenced by his scathing review of " Final Fantasy VIII " , which remains one of his most infamous and popular reviews . Origin . Antwiler ' s pseudonym began at a " Dungeons & Dragons " table , where he played as a bard . The name is a tribute to a scene in " Final Fantasy IV " , where the bard Edward is attacked by Tellah , who shouts " You Spoony Bard ! " Antwiler was unaware of what the word meant , but was trying to think of a name for his " Dungeons & Dragons " bard character that involved a notable adjective of some sort , and thought " spoony " was a good fit . After rejecting " Edward " as too obvious a name , " Tandem the Spoony " was born — Antwiler reflects in a later video that in spite of his ignorance about the word at the time , its meaning did fit his character . Eventually during play sessions the character was referred to by friends as " the Spoony guy " or simply " Spoony " . Antwiler decided to use the name as an internet handle , because it is " infinitely more memorable and interesting than Noah Antwiler " . Antwiler ' s first reviews were improvised without scripts before he refined his process , and his early videos were done to show friends on message boards . When Antwiler began his " Final Fantasy VIII " review , word of mouth lead to the review becoming massively popular , and Antwiler received thousands of emails alternatively denouncing and applauding his work . Antwiler decided to continue with the review after seeing this response , stating " I knew from that moment , I had to keep making videos like that , if only to keep generating responses that passionate . " Today Antwiler reviews many old video games and films as The Spoony One . Targets for review besides " Final Fantasy " have included Reb Brown films , early FMV games in a series titled " FMV Hell , " the " Ultima " video game series , and the " Highlander " franchise , among many other franchises and themes . Antwiler has hosted " Wrestle Wrestle " covering recent televised wrestling programs , and a series of " Dungeons & Dragons " focused tabletop RPG anecdotes in a series called " Counter Monkey " . Spoony ' s accomplices in his reviews are his robotic puppet Burton , and Spoony ' s mad scientist counterpart Dr . Insano , played by Antwiler . Antwiler plays a multitude of other characters for different reviews , and occasionally reviews new games and movies out - of - character , sometimes with his real - life brother Miles or girlfriend April . Reviews featuring other " That Guy With The Glasses " reviewers also occur , most frequently Linkara of " Atop the Fourth Wall " . " Final Fantasy " reviews . " Final Fantasy VIII " . From April 2007 to July 2009 , Spoony reviewed " Final Fantasy VIII " in an eleven - part review . Spoony is openly critical of the game , complaining about the tedious Draw mechanic and the complex Junction system , as well as the game ' s plot and characters , particularly Squall Leonhart , whom he names " Emo Git " , and Rinoa Heartilly , whom he names " A Whore " . Spoony criticizes the plot reveal of the party members growing up in the same orphanage as random and convenient , feels that the Laguna dream sequences are pointless and serve only to pad the game , and says any male player who unironically likes " Eyes on Me " needs to " turn in their man card " . Spoony sums up that " Final Fantasy VIII " is the point he feels " Final Fantasy " began to decline in quality , though he compares later games to it favorably . In the review ' s conclusion Dr . Insano , fed up with Spoony ' s reviews , hires Squall ( Antwiler cosplaying ) to kill him . Though Squall fatally stabs him , Spoony triggers a self - destruct mechanism on Burton , destroying his home and killing them both . The appearance of a main hero from the game he just finished reviewing went on to become a running joke of his " Final Fantasy " reviews . Between reviews . The destruction of his home and his death marked a divergence , where the Spoony Experiment acquired an in - universe storyline . In real life , Antwiler was moving out of his parents ' home and was experiencing camera difficulties , and the conclusion of the " Final Fantasy VIII " review was intended as both a send - off to his old room and a possible ending to the site in case he could not continue filming reviews . He acquired a new camera and the site soon continued running . In the storyline Spoony was still dead , and fellow " That Guy With The Glasses " reviewer Lewis Lovhaug , aka Linkara , created a clone of him to continue reviewing his show . The real Spoony meanwhile was eventually revived and took part in numerous crossover reviews with Linkara before returning to take control of his show . " Final Fantasy X " . In March 2010 , Spoony returned to " Final Fantasy " with " Final Fantasy X " . He began by stating he loves the game ' s combat system , though he later states in a commentary of the videos and in his review of " Final Fantasy X - 2 " that he hates the Sphere Grid . Spoony praises Auron and Jecht as his favorite characters , but criticizes Tidus , Rikku and especially Wakka for being annoying and stupid ( and in Wakka ' s case , racist and blindly devout ) , and notes that the party ' s breaks from their pilgrimage to play blitzball shows skewed priorities when Sin has already been seen destroying towns . He frequently criticizes the game ' s plotholes and character designs , and the protagonists ' naivete in regards to Seymour , who Spoony sees as obviously evil , pointing out " He ' s the villain " the very moment Seymour speaks his first line . Special criticism is reserved for the scene where Wakka tries to cheer up the Al Bhed by comparing the destruction of Home to " happy festival fireworks " , something Spoony finds incredibly offensive and mean - spirited , likening it to telling Hurricane Katrina victims to just think of the destroyed , flooded New Orleans as a big happy water park . In the review ' s conclusion , the clone Spoony , who up to this point had been running the review , is attacked by his original counterpart , as well as Tidus ( Antwiler cosplaying again ) and Pumpkinhead , the antagonist of another video game that frustrated Spoony . With Linkara ' s assistance , Spoony and his clone are teleported away , the process merging them together , all while Tidus is taken away by Doctor Insano for an autopsy so he can know how blitzball players can hold their breath for long periods of time . In Spoony ' s absence , Dr . Insano took over the website and began collecting footage for a " Final Fantasy X - 2 " review . " Final Fantasy X - 2 " . Spoony praises the game for the battle system , but dislikes the exploitable dressphere system the plot is based on , and the fanservice " dress - up " it allows . He stated the side quests , while nice due to adding variety , are , for the most part , pointless , and that fully completing the game requires too much busy work . Spoony found the plot repetitive , stating that most of the main story is detecting a sphere , going to its location , fighting a boss and retrieving it . He sarcastically praises Paine as a female version of Squall for male gamers to lust over without homosexual undertones , and is horrified to learn the point of 100 % completion is to revive Tidus . He notes the peculiarity of seemingly no one being affected by Yevon being revealed as , in Antwiler ' s words , " a millennium - long genocidal lie " , as one would think at least Wakka would experience an emotional crisis , given how devoted he was . However , Spoony prefers the sequel over the original and acknowledges it tried to do something new and different with the " Final Fantasy " series . He compliments the game ' s " 1000 Words " sequence as emotional and having a good song , if translated poorly . In the finale , Spoony is attacked by Yuna ( humorously played once again by Antwiler ) , initially confused since he gave her game a positive review , then decides her anger is because he killed Tidus in his last review . Spoony is saved by Sephiroth ( also played by Antwiler ) , who impales Yuna and hands Spoony a copy of " Final Fantasy XIII " to review . As part of the storyline , told in part in other reviews , it is hinted that Sephiroth has enacted a scheme involving Burton and a meteor headed to Earth , and that Spoony ' s continuous feelings of hatred are aiding this plan . " Final Fantasy XIII " . Prior to the formal review , Spoony made comments on " Final Fantasy XIII " in his " Final Fantasy X " review and some other reviews released during the same time period , and in the final part of his " Final Fantasy X " review implies " Final Fantasy XIII " is as bad or worse than " Final Fantasy X " . In the same segment he voices his hatred for " Final Fantasy XIV " , a game that had been near universally hated since its release . When he officially began the review , he prefaced it by noting that no matter what he says of the game , " it gets worse " , said while holding up " Final Fantasy XIII - 2 " . He recanted every overwhelmingly negative thing he had said about " Final Fantasy VIII " , and admitted to at least enjoying it , declaring the only reason he was so harsh on it was because he had no idea how much worse the series would eventually get . In particular , Spoony admitted it was good as a game even if he didn ' t like the story , and expressed embarrassment over his gay jokes about Squall and Seifer , stating that he doesn ' t even know in retrospect why he ever thought what he said was acceptable or funny . Spoony criticizes the game ' s writing as sloppy and awful , hating the reliance on datalog s to explain plot - critical details and noting that even those don ' t explain everything , as he had to visit this very wiki to even know what the Antimatter Manipulation Principle is . He also gets particularly angered by the Grav - con unit never being seen again after the first chapter , having actually found it interesting and wishing it had been put to more use . He sees the protagonists as foolish and coldhearted , fighting Cocoon ' s military , who Spoony notes are innocent soldiers just doing their job protecting the public , killing the fal ' Cie Cocoon relies on and generally creating chaos wherever they go . He somewhat likes Lightning for hitting Snow , who Spoony considers a complete idiot and prompted him to start a " Serah ! " count for how many times Snow calls out her name . He also stated in a vlog that he likes Sazh due to him being more " human " in behavior and that he ' s the only member of the party who brings guns to battle , however , he theorizes that Sazh wasn ' t meant to one of the better characters due to what can be seen as stereotypical African - American traits and behavior and that he carries a chocobo chick in his afro . Strangely , he also seems to believe Vanille is the same age as Hope , constantly calling her a child and " underage " . In regards to gameplay , he criticized the linearity in the game ' s level design , comparing it to an endless hallway where the player ' s every move was predetermined for them long before they even bought the game , and the Crystarium system for giving the player no options in how the party grows , and found the paradigm system boring with no player input beyond switching paradigms in the same pattern for every enemy . He also especially hated how the dialogue would try to explain away areas that only exist for the player to level - grind in , one such instance later in the game even prompting him to briefly break character to express that this is the worst - written game he ' s ever played in his life . He criticized the fal ' Cie leaving mere vague clues of the main group ' s Focus as terrible storytelling , describing it as being like if someone broke his door down , handed him a banana and a shotgun and said nothing more than " Now get moving , Spoony , or I kill your whole family ! " At the end of Part 4 of the review , where Barthandelus reveals himself , Spoony later stated this is the point he initially stopped playing the game , as the reveal that fal ' Cie are capable of normal human speech causes the Focus concept to fall apart . After continuing from where he originally quit , he criticizes the heroes for playing right into Barthandelus ' plans and is particularly baffled by the fact that they seem to believe they ' re foiling the villain ' s plot by carrying out every single action he wants them to . He also gave especially heavy criticism to part of the ending for having Lightning and her teammates turn into Cie ' th and then inexplicably return to normal , expressing disgust at the suggestion that all it took was wanting badly enough to turn back into a human and everyone else who became a Cie ' th just didn ' t wish hard enough to not be one . In the review ' s finale , Spoony is attacked by Snow , played by Brian Lewis , a collaborator of Brad Jones from " That Guy With The Glasses " . Snow breaks Spoony ' s gunblade in half over his knee and brutalizes Spoony while mocking his outdated nerdy collections , but Spoony eventually overcomes Snow and kills him . While cleaning himself up in the bathroom after the battle , Spoony is attacked and knocked unconscious by Reno ( the clues that it ' s him being a sharp electric crackling , a left - handed attack with a steel baton , and a staticy , unsubtitled voice clip of Reno ' s " seiyuu " , Keiji Fujiwara , speaking the line " Looks like we ' re clocking out early " from " " ) . Reno is later seen from behind propping up Spoony in his chair in time for Rebruary 2014 , having dressed him in new clothes and treated his wounds , and briefly doing something with Burton before absconding . In February 2009 , Spoony reviewed " Final Fantasy Tactics A2 : Grimoire of the Rift " . He began by stating the game is " okay " but he disliked the complex and tedious battle system , which required him to keep track of over two dozen characters , their equipment and their job and ability statuses . He criticized the Judges for unfairly calling violations on him , and mocked the game ' s overly long title . Spoony concluded that he was enjoying the game despite its shortcomings . During the review Spoony said he likes the original " Final Fantasy Tactics " , but wasn ' t very good at it , and attributes this to him not taking the game seriously at the time he originally played it . Other opinions on " Final Fantasy " . Spoony reviewed the original " Final Fantasy " as an April Fool ' s joke in April 2009 . He criticizes the game in virtually every respect , from the combat system to the plot to the prevalence of self - imposed challenges fans have created , such as completing the game with one White Mage . However , the review was in jest , and in a written note accompanying the video after its posting Spoony stated " Final Fantasy " was a good game in a time when video games often had simple battle systems and little plot . As a joke during his " Final Fantasy VIII " review , Spoony reviewed " Final Fantasy VII " during a hallucinatory dream sequence . Spoony says he likes the game , but dislikes the obsessed fanbase , including cosplayers and the abundance of " Final Fantasy " hentai on the internet . He notes the game ' s infamous Wall Market sequence where Cloud crossdresses is " emotionally scarring " to children . Despite liking " Final Fantasy VII " , Spoony has stated he disliked both " Dirge of Cerberus - Final Fantasy VII - " and " Final Fantasy VII : Advent Children " , but favorably compared the latter to " " as a faithful " Final Fantasy " film , stating " " Advent Children " was loud , dumb , and obnoxious , but at least it was modeled after the games . " In the opening of his " Final Fantasy X " review , Spoony said he has played " Final Fantasy IX " sparingly , but dislikes it due to the art style and calls its protagonist , Zidane Tribal ( based solely on his design ) , an " androgynous preteen furry . " He does say his opinion is based on his memory of only playing the first two hours of the game years ago , and that he is being unfair to the game . He also says " Final Fantasy IX " might ' ve actually been a great game since it is a throwback to the oldschool style of " Final Fantasy " he has been missing . In the same review and numerous video logs , Spoony stated he enjoyed " Final Fantasy XII " to a degree . He felt the game had an identity crisis where its main protagonist was concerned and regarded Vaan with almost the same contempt he gave Tidus , and believed him to have little relevance to the plot , which he felt was about " Ashe and her romance with Balthier the sky pirate . " He also said that he disliked the License Board in his review of " Final Fantasy XIII " . In his commentary of the " Final Fantasy XIII " reviews he elaborated on Vaan , comparing Tidus favorably to him , stating that for as annoying as Tidus was and how much Spoony felt it was Yuna ' s story , at least Tidus was an active part of the plot of " Final Fantasy X " and fans are often quick to defend his place in the story , whereas he noted that even fans of " Final Fantasy XII " have been known to question why Vaan is in the game at all . Spoony has expressed interest and " enthusiasm " for " Final Fantasy XV " ( then known as " Final Fantasy Versus XIII " ) , stating that he was " very impressed " , and that the segment of gameplay he saw was " very good , " noting its similarity to the battle system in the " Kingdom Hearts " games and liking it for such . He is relieved the game does not follow the original " Final Fantasy XIII " story , characters , and " boring " auto battle system . He acknowledges the necessity for a more action RPG oriented style of play for " Versus XIII " universe that gives the player greater input than " Final Fantasy XIII " . He went on to say that he is " not down on every " Final Fantasy " game because [ he is ] looking forward to " XIII Versus " . " Reception and impact . Due to his cynical , biting , and sharp sarcastic perspectives , Spoony ' s reviews and content resonate wide to a cult following and viewership of the same temperament , and mainly by those of the Western video game and PC game fandom . However , in years passing his resignation from That Guy With The Glasses , his behavior , virtually indifferent off camera , as well as various incidents , from the scandals regarding his resignation , reputation amongst the mainstream entertainment industry in regards to his and That Guy With The Glasses approaches to criterion and reviewing , and repercussions brought about from his actions to his fans and fellow co - workers , his reviews are seen as tongue in cheek , or humorously exacerbated displays of overreaction and profanity filled nitpicking .