#ffviir fans play ffvii (1997) challenge

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the first mistake was treating cloud like a twink. he's built like a SOLDIER first class. he is grotesquely muscular from being pumped with mako energy. in his natural state he probably looked pretty wimpy but let's not forget who heaved sephiroth off the ground by the sword and into the depths of that mako reactor. insane upper body strength. and that was before he got filled with mako. have you even SEEN the squats

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i'm laying in bed, waiting for muscle relaxers to kick in so i can sleep (still convalescing from a pinched sciatic nerve), and trying to formulate a coherent line of thought about FFVIIR, the odd relationship it has with the OG, and how it relates to modern fandom.

my own relationship with FF has shifted so dramatically over even just the last ten years. it's wild to look back on this blog and see what's changed. i guess i was once what you might have called a hardline traditionalist, and now i have a much more charitable way of viewing things.

the way i feel about FFVII hasn't changed much. it's still my favorite FF, for a number of reasons- objective critical analysis, nostalgic feelings, and deeply personal life experiences among them. i don't quite view it as a sacred cow, no FF game fits that description for me personally... but VII is probably the one that comes closest. it's not just a story that i hold dear, it's a story that i dearly wish to be properly experienced and understood. especially now- in 2021, there may be no FF story more relevant and vital than FFVII's.

i have so many problems with Remake. putting aside the fact that it's gutless in precisely the ways the OG was so biting, it fails on a conceptual level as a Remake... because it isn't one. it's ultimately a continuation, a self-congratulatory return to the Compilation of FFVII. prior knowledge is not an optional bonus, it is compulsory to understand the game's entire back half. "arrogant" doesn't even begin to describe it.

but- and this is where the charity comes in- i know so many people for whom VIIR is a special game. younger people, in some cases, who really only cut their Final Fantasy teeth on FFXV, but older ones, too, who never ventured into FF before now. i've heard the same story a few times: FFVIIR was their introduction to FFVII because the original game was too inaccessible, too difficult to play, or simply too intimidating. whatever their reason, for better or worse, VIIR was their introduction to the game. and their love for it was not diminished by the fact that they hadn't ever played the original.

i've been trying to reconcile that in my mind. it bothers me, naturally. to know that an entire generation is being introduced to this story i love so dearly, but as a bastardized, sanitized, overproduced Disneyland version of itself, is heartbreaking. it makes me want to shake them by the shoulders and shout. "the original game is still there! you can still play it! it's as beautiful and poignant and necessary and true as it was in 1997, and at times it may challenge you in ways you are not used to, but damn it, we need to be challenged sometimes!"

but lately, i think, what does this accomplish? what is gained, by telling new fans that they're not engaging with FFVII properly? who benefits from me insisting FFVIIR fans aren't doing fandom the right way, according to my own standards? nothing but my ego, i guess.

i still think it's important to view things with a critical eye and not be afraid to speak on what a piece of media does poorly. but it's hard line to walk- it's hard for me, personally, to disentangle my bias from my criticism, and to remove my personal feelings from the equation where fans are concerned.

that, and lately i think that the OG FFVII is not really the kind of game a person can engage with before they're ready. it can't be forced- and once they've started, the understanding can't be faked. they'll get it, or they won't. maybe the new fans who started with VIIR will come to the OG when they're ready. maybe they never will be, and VIIR will form a complete experience for them.

new fans have to find their own way. it may not be the same as mine. maybe that's for the best. it's not quite a case of "let people enjoy things", more like "some people aren't ready yet and a sermon is not likely to change their mind"

idk i think my muscle relaxers have kicked in and now im just rambling incoherently