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nxpz · 3 years ago

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Understanding Sephiroth

Some backstory for those who are new to fandom and don’t intend on playing crisis core or just want to inhale the info asap

needless to say SPOILERS BELOW THE CUT TW: v1olence, su1c1de, ch1ld abus3

I’ve been in the FF7 fandom for over a decade and sometimes fanon bleeds in, sorry in advance

PRE CRISIS CORE EVENTS Sephiroth was conceived by Lucretia Crescent, a biotechnologist working for Shinra, the project was aided by Hojo (known extremely hateable person ahem I mean scientist) and Gast Faremis. Together they injected her and her unborn son with JENOVA cells, an extra-terrestrial they had mistaken for a species of ‘ancient humans’ called Cetra who had lived on the planet ages past and were alleged to be able to ‘speak to the planet’ and perform miracles. Why would Shinra want this? Because they believed the Cetra had access to ‘the promised land’ where they believed resources were abundant. ‘The oils running out WE NEED TO OPEN A PORTAL TO THE OIL DIMENSION.’ -President Shinra

aNYWAY that did not pan out, what they got instead was a super soldier ‘SEND HIM STRAIGHT TO WAR, AS SOON AS HE CAN WALK!’ -pRESIDENT sHINRA Back to Lucretia, she had been having horrible visions of the atrocities future Sephiroth would commit, but she still carried the child to term despite the visions and the bouts of intense pain she suffered, only for that fucker Hojo (aforementioned hateable person) to take Sephiroth away as soon as he was born (likely with Shinra clout to back up their potential oil dimension whisperer’s future as a mindless corporate zombie). Stricken with grief (and maybe realising this was a very horrible idea from the get go) Lucretia disappears (ahem she tries to kill herself but only succeeds in becoming a sentient fossil...)

So Sephiroth grows up presumably in a lab environment and is trained to be a soldier for The Shinra Corporation. Meanwhile on a farm or something Professor Hollander(major soy energy)

is working on making his own oil whisperer lab children. The 2 children are Genesis(zesty douchebag with mad fashion and a lot of resentment) and Angeal(ultimate strongguy dependable dude with lots of honour and dEPRESSION). Problem is Professor Hollander ISNT THAT SMART and he fucks up on the Genesis project ): ah well, he’ll live long enough to be a good child soldier? probably?

Part 3!! Sephiroth goes to war! (at the behest of the corpo Shinra) Sephiroth is presumably a CHILD when Shinra sends him to Wutai in a war of conquest for their sweet OIL I mean Mako, the war lasted a just under a decade and completely devastated Wutai, a fan theory is that Masamune (Sephiroth’s iconic blade) is from Wutai. During this time it would have become evident that Sephiroth is very strong (Genesis angrily weeping moment) and it isn’t long before he’s famous, with Shinra likely pumping out propaganda faster than they can suck the planet dry.

CRISIS CORE Enter scene, Sephiroth doesn’t know how to human good and his now friend (Genesis kinda hates him but Sephiroth smiles when Genesis reads him poetry so, go watch genesis vs angeal vs sephiroth cutscene for Sephiroth maximum zesty kitty eyes) ahem and his friend Genesis has a cut ): but he’s tsundere af and won’t let Sephiroth put a band aid on it, so Sephiroth stands there and his emotional constipation levels increase, Angeal consoles Genesis when the cut mysteriously won’t heal and Sephiroth isn’t allowed to help, so his emotional constipation levels increase eVEN mORE.(gosh he radiates 3rd wheel energy SO HARD) During this time where Genesis SEEMS TO BE DYING AND IT’S SEPHIROTH’S FAULT KINDA MAYBE (no it isn’t but look at his sad face ): he looks like he blames himself) Zack, new excitable puppy, tries to befriend Sephiroth in a monumental move that everyone else was too busy shitting themselves to even contemplate, Sephiroth stares at him like someone whose thought of human interaction but never tried it, miraculously it works and they exchange numbers and become kinda friends, more like fb friends. Sephiroth is fond of Zack but remains distant due to his inability to say many words and his loyalty to his corpo brainwashing.

‘THIS IS FINE’ -Sephiroth Genesis, is becoming WITHERED! at an EXTREME RATE! Professor Hollander, man who is actually useless is unable to cure him so he tells Genesis to defect from Shinra and become a terrorist (: which will improve the situation. probably. (it doesn’t) he makes a bunch of clones of Genesis so there is more suffering (: Sephiroth is ON THE VERGE OF TEARS but he holds it toge- Angeal forces Zack to kill him bc he believe he is an abomination and an insult against god... Zack got a BUSTER SWORD! wow! Sephiroth probably copes by working extra hard, he seems like the type. Now Zack also has depression ): Sephiroth just sees his dead friend when he looks at him holding the buster sword. (ok i’m projecting but it’s obvious)

Sephiroth is quite jaded, both with his inability to help either of his friends and Shinra’s involvement in their suffering when he’s sent to the Bavarian Alps I mean Nibelheim to fix a leaky pipe in a very sussy mission just because it’s such a lame one. They also send Zack (now SOLDIER 1st class) to help him bc thos pipes are treacherous. Sephiroth gets into the leaky pipe zone and GENESIS IS THERE he offers him an apple but Sephiroth only likes pears, affronted Genesis tells him he should help him to not die (like Sephiroth wanted to in the beginning) but Sephiroth tells him to fuck off and WITHER FASTER bc Genesis hurt his feelings so bad pensiveyeehaw Genesis drops a truth bomb on him that his mom is WEIRD and Sephiroth starts sweating nervously but leaves and goes to nearby SPOOKY MANSION where he finds loads of records about the JENOVA Project. He doesn’t sleep at all and locks himself in the library reading Hojo’s creepy scientifically inaccurate fanfics about how Jenova is super cool and humans are stinky and evil.

‘something devilish has been brewing within me for years on end that will only escape through means of physical violence’ -Sephiroth

Then he SnAps and just kills eVERYONE in the village by the leaky pipe. ever lost faith in humanity? joker moment u wouldn’t get it...

Also ahem, but believing the planet was occupied by Cetra (he thinks Jenova is Cetra AND HIS MOTHER bc of Hojo’s fanfics) until they were driven to extinction by humans? Sephiroth having grown up used by humans to destroy and pollute the planet for the greed of others, used to complying with orders to kill, never being given his own freedom, discovering this and making his first radical choice not determined by Shinra? Maybe he believes it’s his choice but he exchanges one master for another, perhaps Jenova tells him that he must kill the humans that wronged her (he feels so very wronged) and he is so tired, gives up his will and follows hers, euphoric in the idea that he is loved and that he can help Jenova when he was unable to help his friends. Prolly a bit of that and a lot of mental break. The exact details of what happened in Sephiroth’s mind are not explained, it’s come to ur own conclusions time aw yeah.

reminder that I do not endorse killing people at the behest of an alien :) be a reasonable person like Cloud, join a perfectly good eco terrorist group, much healthier way of letting out your pent up rage against the SYSTEM /jk

ALSO SIDE NOTE I’m sorry if some things are out of order timeline wise, this was a ramble from my highly reliable ~memory~

#FF7 #FFVII #Sephiroth #crisis core

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secret-engima · 4 years ago

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Little Nox in FF7???

Pfffft. I assume you mean he trips into FF7 by accident for a while so sure!

Setting this in like- just Pre-Crisis Core because it’s funny to me.

Also I make no attempts to be serious with this it’s just going to be as much fluff and humor as I can fit in it.

-There is a child hiding under his desk.

-Sephiroth blinks down at the small child, the child blinks tearfully back up at him. Sephiroth is still trying to figure out how a child got all the way up here, let alone into his office to hide under his desk, then the child crawls out from under the desk and-.

-Hugs him.

-“M scared.” Whispers the child into Sephiroth’s pant leg as he stands there stunned, “Wan’ Uncle. Wan’ frien’.” Big, big blue eyes (truly big, how do children make their eyes that large is this normal) look up at him and Sephiroth feels something ... small and fragile and trusting brushing against his senses, like a materia but alive and scared and seeking comfort, “Seph friend?”

-....Oh dear.

-Angeal comes to Sephiroth’s apartment several hours later, concerned because Sephiroth took a sick day? Just- out of nowhere, he called in a sick day to Lazard and retreated to his apartment. Lazard had called Angeal about the issues because this behavior was Concerning™. Angeal agrees. Angeal has known Sephiroth for YEARS. The man does NOT get sick from anything and he never tries to use sick days to get out of work, so what in the world is going on?

-He knocks twice, then enters without waiting because he has the spare key and comes face to face with-.

-“Seph,” Angeal manages in a strangled voice, “What is a child doing in your apartment?”

-Sephiroth turns his head to look at Angeal, then looks away again when the child busily braiding his hair makes a noise of protest, “I found him,” Sephiroth answers with all the serenity of a man who found a stray kitten rather than an Actual Human Being, “he didn’t know where his uncle was or how to contact him. I did not think the offices were an appropriate place for a child, so I brought him here.”

-Angeal stares, the child looks up briefly from braiding and stares back with solemn but content blue eyes. The boy can’t be more than seven, probably closer to six, and Angeal is Professionally Concerned as he steps further into the apartment, “You didn’t think to call Lost and Found? Or security? Sephiroth, his parents are probably worried sick about him.”

-Sephiroth, if anything, looks politely baffled, “I was unaware Lost and Found dealt in children. And Security would just frighten him, they have guns.” Angeal takes a moment to pointedly look at the swords adorning Sephiroth’s apartment walls, the only decorations the man seems to care about, then back at Sephiroth. It’s clear that Sephiroth misses the point.

-Angeal sighs and steps toward the boy, “I’m going to take him to-.” The boy cringes away from Angeal’s approach and a moment later is possessively cradled in Sephiroth’s arms as the Silver General backs away with a frown.

-Sephiroth scowls, “No.”

-“Sephiroth-”

-“No.”

-“You can’t just keep him!” The responding silence is telling and Angeal flings his hands in the air, “Sephiroth, he’s a human being! A child! You don’t know the first thing about children!”

-Sephiroth looks down at the boy, who seems oddly content to curl up in the arms of a near stranger and play with long silver hair, then looks back up, “He appears to be very well trained.”

-Angeal facepalms, “Human. Being. Sephiroth. You can’t just keep him like a stray puppy. We need to contact someone so they can find his parents.”

-“And if he has none?” Sephiroth sounds almost hopeful and Angeal is a Dread™. It’s rare that Sephiroth gets into one of his possessive modes (Genesis jokingly calls it Dragon Mode for the sudden onset of hoarding tendencies), and he’s never done this over a person before and Angeal can already see this becoming a disaster.

-Angeal insists on calling Security, even if he grudgingly lets Sephiroth keep the boy “until his guardians are found”.

-There is no one in Shinra’s citizen registry that goes by the name Izunia. They assume that either the boy said it wrong (he is young after all) or that he’s possibly foreign-born, since “Izunia” is a Wutaian name. The Turks want to know how he got into the building, let alone to Sephiroth’s office, but the boy’s only response to these questions is a shy blink and a mumble into Sephiroth’s shoulder of “I tripped.” which makes absolutely no sense to anyone.

-While Security looks for this “Izunia” person anyway, Sephiroth hoards the boy (who’s name is Nox) with all the possessive fervor of a dragon. Rumors abound and spiral out of control among first the SOLDIER’s, then the regular employees, then all of Midgar over the sight (and few grainy pictures the Turks didn’t censor in time from the public) of their famed Silver General doing his paperwork with a child in his lap, or inspecting the SOLDIER recruits with said same child riding in a makeshift sling on his back.

-The rest of SOLDIER (including Angeal and even Genesis) is enamored with him by the end of the week, but it’s clear that Nox’s favorite person is Sephiroth. Genesis is jealous and tries to bribe Nox with poetry and candy, but Nox will always wander back to Sephiroth as soon as Sephiroth calls for him.

-No one can explain why they’re so attached, other than the fact that Nox is sweet and polite and adorable (and also his magic is curling around their souls in hopes of finding friends-protectors and though they don’t know what they’re feeling, it makes the Mako-sensitive SOLDIERS parental instincts kick into overdrive.

-Hojo takes an interest in this boy who can sway all of Soldier and who gives off odd mako readings.

-Hojo is mysteriously found shanked to death in his lab a day after expressing his creepy interest and making noises about “examining” Nox.

-Nox helpfully holds out a polishing cloth for Sephiroth once the man is finished wiping blood off one of his wall-decoration daggers (he wasn’t stupid enough to use Masamune, the wounds the blade left were too distinctive, but no one ever expected his wall decorations to be combat-ready sharp).

-Nox “helps” Genesis make tea at one point, as much as a small child can anyway. Genesis thinks it’s his imagination that the tea is faintly glowing until he, Angeal, and Sephiroth drink it and then promptly spend the day vomiting black sludge while Nox cries in concern from Zack’s arms.

-Surprisingly, the three feel better than they have in years once the vomiting fit is over. They still never let Nox help make tea again though. Just in case.

-About three weeks after Sephiroth first finds a child under his desk, Shinra tower is summarily invaded by one Very Agitated Hat Man looking for his nephew and not afraid to wreak havoc to do it. The Turks get rings run around them and all of SOLDIER gets slapped over the head repeatedly until Sephiroth enters the scene with Nox and the boy’s face lights up in joy and a cry of “Uncle!!”

-Sephiroth is honestly sad to turn the child over to his Uncle, but the boy looks so happy to be reunited he reluctantly lets go. Izunia blows out of Shinra Tower as quickly as he came and before the Turks can catch him and then immediately disappears off the face of Gaia. No one knows what to make of it. Sephiroth and SOLDIER are a Sad™ that their little mascot person is gone.

-Years later, Sephiroth is summoned to another world on the opposite side of his apprentice Cloud Strife and is overjoyed (and also concerned) when a young child of around ten or twelve runs up and cannons into his waist with a gleeful shout of “Seph!” while a similar-looking teenager follows behind looking agitated and harried.

#SE asks #oliverslewty asks #Secret Engima Rambles #Nox verse #Little Nox verse #Nox in FF7

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flowerslightning · 4 years ago

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Let's take a quick look on how Cloud handle his depression in AC - specifically his room

In the Remake, pretty sure Cloud actually suffered from PTSD + depression due to the trauma he faced, but since his memories messed up everything and need to hurry come back in action - click here to read what I ranted about his memory - , so Cloud didnt show much symptoms of someone with depression.

I wanna highlight more in the AC. We all certain that Cloud was happy enough with Tifa and the kids. He was recovering, slowly but improving. Yeah, though he had some problems with Tifa, but I consider he was in recovering phase. However, things changed when he got himself Geostigma, this was where Cloud got deluded he was worthless, guilty and his depression kicked in (again)

We'll focus his room, the place where he sleep. This was the room where he slept (well I believe he sleeps here) and took orders for deliveries, and also he used this room for studying about Denzel's illness through medical books. Dont try to mention about the color of this room. Cloud, pls give some sunlight to ur room. It was gloomy.

But hey the bar looked gloomy too so i guess devs should take the blame for this? No, jk. Blame the lighting the devs gave

There was no curtain, no mirror, no decoration, plain. Oh well, this room belonged to a male, what were u expecting for? It was quite clean if u ask me. And there we see an old tyre, some boxes and.... An old tyre in second floor room.... Hmm alright..

Hey, dont judge him.. Cloud loves his fenrir, so, its normal. Im sure there were oil cans for his bike somewhere too

But, can u see the papers and pictures on the wall?

Yup, there were plenty of papers and photos on the wall and on the table. I'm guessing those were the notes/receipts for his deliveries work. And the papers on the table were about his research on Geostigma

And the books... Ohh, if only med books were that thin, im sure the med students dont have to suffer too much to study.. Uuh, and those hard cover books. Must be pricey..

U can see photos of scenery on the walls. It could be Cloud took those pictures while he was doing his deliveries around the world. Someone who suffers from depression, they usually have no interest with such things. So, we could say that Cloud really was recovering well from his trauma. There were photos of skies (cough.. Zack's symbol cough) and open field. Cloud had a thing for this scenery

Plus, a family photo on his table ! Awkward Cloud and shy Denzel spotted there

Tifa could freely enter the room without hesitation. She even answered the phone call and talked like a normal operator. Meaning, Tifa was used to enter Cloud's room with/without permission. U could say "Ofc she entered the room without hesitation, Cloud wasnt there, duh". U see, even if Cloud was no longer there, do u know the word 'privacy' still exist? It was not like Cloud moved away forever from that house.

We've been told by the devs that Cloud had been living with Tifa and the kids for quite some time. He felt too peaceful with him to the point it scared him a lot.

After he got himself Geostigma, he moved to the Sector 5 church and lived there. This place, exactly how someone with depression would live.

Dont read this if ure Clerith shipper or easily triggered.

Now, I've read somewhere that says Cloud having depression for loosing Aerith was a romantic act. And WHERE THE HECK DID U FIND THIS ROMANTIC? TELL ME??? OUR CLOUD HERE WAS THINKING ABOUT DEATH, HE NEGLECTED EVERYTHING AND YET U THINK IT WAS ROMANTIC???

Reduced hygiene, gave less damn about the warmth, who needs a blanket anyway. Rain? Who cares. Let my entire place be soaked wet. No pillow, no bed? Like i care about it. Say hello to my housemate, the bacterias and mosquitoes. Is that a cup i see there? Yeah, i dont need food.

Cloud was really homeless here. Someone who was expecting to meet its end there, slowly and painfully. He wanted to 'die' there, alone.

Having depression - major depressive disorder is not romantic at all. And can never be seen as a 'sweet' thing to do for ur partner. I saw real patients with MDD and I have to say, the only things they want was to feel happy and peaceful again. They had anxiety, they felt sad without proper reason, they scared of something that i dont think it would happen, some patients were too afraid to smile, lots of them just wanted to die bcause they were feeling hopeless and shame.

If i were Tifa, I would be sad too. U have a warm bed to live, clean water to drink and yet u choose to live in a cold damp place.. WORRY ABOUT UR HEALTH, CLOUD !

Cloud was a dork for not trying to get help, but it wasnt his fault. We should thank his family and friends to be there for him even when he kinda pushed them away for a bit.

But after he finally moved on, his room became brighter than the previous look. Cloud let more sunlight to enter his room, and more scenery pictures hanging around his wall and on the tables

Cloud framed his big FF7 family photo. Despite the cold look he always gave to the team, he is actually a big softie. From the two different pictures, the one on the right was before Cloud moved on from his guilt, we can see Cloud was not really getting well in the picture, he looked awkward, and Denzel was being shy shy. In the new picture, Cloud was seen to be more involved in the group photo. Wait, was he smiling there? I’m sure he was smiling and Denzel looked happy too. - The family conflict resolved -

It would be fairly enough to say, Cloud finally found peace within himself and looking forward for the future together with his small family.

Another thing,

FF7 always associated with yellow flower. So, the yellow flower is not necessarily about Aerith only. The SE has confirmed in Ultimania Crisis Core, the water represents Aerith, and since Aerith is the last Cetra and an important character in FF7, the flowers always associated with her. and thus, the flower is the main symbol for the entire FF7 game.

#final fantasy 7 #final fantasy vii #final fantasy #cloud strife #final fantasy theory #advent children #character analysis

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wingfics · 4 years ago

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HELLO !!! i am here and i wanted to know more about ff7r and crisis core !!! i have so many questions and they may be dumb but. i don't care. are they the same thing? are they different? when do sephiroth and genesis and angeal come in!!! do you have any headcanons or other details about them (or the game/games!!!) that you can share!!! i like hearing you talk about all these things and i like learning!!! -heavenshipped 💗

AAAAAAH LIV @heavenshipped YOU'VE ACTIVATED MY TRAP CARD BUT IN A REALLY GOOD WAY!!! ok this uh. despite my best efforts is gonna get Really Long. i'm gonna probs put hcs in a separate post but even then i just KNOOOW this will b long despite that <3 I Just Have A Lot Of Thoughts And Love In Me Alright

SO!! some handy terms and abbreviations to know before we set off on backstory!

squeenix/squenix/squinx: square enix, the game developers

ff7: final fantasy 7! like last year or smth, squeenix put out the first part of the remake, aka ff7r :D the protag of the game is cloud and the primary antagonist is seph after he loses his mind thanks to an alien called jenova :/ angeal and gen r both canonically dead in this game, but i’m hoping for flashbacks ft them in the second part!

cc: crisis core, a prequel for ff7 that's about zack's time as a soldier! zack and cloud were friends and we get to see that in this game, along with that sweet sweet geal/seph/gen content, so it holds a special place in my heart for that reason :') side note: this game also makes me jealous of zack, bc aerith is set up as his love interest :^) we r Homosexualising

shinra: shinra electric power company, the company that founded and runs the city of midgar and the SOLDIER program

ASGZC: angeal, sephiroth, genesis, zack, and cloud, my BOYS,, can be shortened to ASG for the himbo holy trinity

SOLDIER: the name of the program AND the job title! angeal, seph, gen, zack, and i were first class soldiers before we did some treason bc shinra Sucks

mako: liquid energy within the planet that shinra uses to make power. it's. not a renewable resource, but they sure use it like one! it's also used to enhance the soldiers and gives them a sickass blue-green eyeglow

AIGHT let's-a go!! ⚠️ all of this is subject to change bc i am Just Like That! also the canonical timeline for ff7 is a mess so i made up my own dates ⚠️ so zack and i are bffs who met when we were 15 and had just moved to the centre of midgar in order to join the SOLDIER program! female soldiers r pretty uncommon and i wasn't too keen on living in the dorms, so after Just A Couple Months of knowing each other, zack and i got an apartment together. in hindsight we shouldn't have made it seven years, but somehow we didn't burn the place down ONCE. he's only Four Months Younger than me, so he complains whenever i call him little brother, but ik he doesn't actually mind :')

when zack was 16, angeal started mentoring him, which was the first time i met angeal! it's funny, i like. Saw seph and gen in passing, but never had any reason to talk to them ¯\_ (ツ)_/¯ when i was 17, an accident on a mission revealed that i had a real talent with magic, and p much right after that, genesis took me on! while this was largely bc he's renowed for his skill w magic and thus was the best person to teach me, it was also in part to save me from becoming a lab rat, and i'm still grateful that he offered to do that.

zack met cloud first when we were 18 and was like "can we keep him" and i am immune to zack's puppy dog eyes but not to cloudlet's! so he basically became the third roommate ^_^ cloud also wanted to join soldier, so he thought zack and i had the coolest job Ever (AND we had met general sephiroth!!! holy fuck!!!)

despite appearances, seph is the youngest of ASG. by crisis core, angeal is 26, gen is 25, and seph, the babey of the family, is 23. (he's only a year older than me and zack... cloud's still only 20 tho lol rip) why YES, shinra does in fact use child soldiers! why do you think we did the treason! 😊😊 seph is ALSO not immune to cloud, specifically how persistent and sharp he is, and decided to mentor him when cloudlet was 18 (after being a child soldier himself, seph's got some... reservations abt the concept lmao)

gen and i were SOOOO awkward and stupid around one another at first!!!! because we were so close in age that i was like yeah you're teaching me but i have friends who are 20. we're still in the Being Friends gap. and he took a hot sec to make up his mind and be friends. he didn't catch feelings until i was like. 20, but it was a STEEP and precipitous drop lmao

angeal 🤝 me: being The Semi-Well Adjusted Ones responsible for keeping our two other idiot friends alive. fr we bonded over years' worth of keeping zack from running off cliffs and falling into manholes. he also taught me how to cook. zack jokingly referred to us as mom and dad for years. we were the most likely to get into disagreements but the least likely to actually argue bc neither of us like. enjoys arguments that much. angeal literally refused to let himself have AAAANY feelings for yours truly until i was 21, which i appreciate thank u king

learning that seph was A SINGLE YEAR OLDER THAN ME was the Biggest twist of 17 year old me's life on g-d. and i took that VERY personally ngl like i INSTANTLY decided that as another member of the "consistently mistaken for a much older Adult person" gang, we were GONNA bond!!! and we did!!! i'm largely responsible for his taste in music and i am VERY proud of this, tyvm. he's also kind of a swords nerd (his sword has a name...) and that rubbed off on me over time. if u asked him he couldn't rly tell u when he first had a crush on me, but i can tell u that the pining had become obvious by the time i was 19 and he was 20 uwu

AND BECAUSE I CAN NEVER LEAVE WELL ENOUGH ALONE!! i threw in a one-sided bodyguard romance bc nobody can stop me. sorry tseng LMAO that's a whole separate spotify playlist tho so i will not include it here ffhshdgs if u would like to hear abt that feel free to ask tho!!

liv i LOVE u sm!!! thank u for letting me talk abt this i have simply been EXPLODING with thoughts, plans, and information about ff7!!!!! hopefully this was all vaguely coherent, bc i loved being able to share it with YOU!!!!! i didn't make that pink on purpose i just think my emotions got so strong that tumblr decided it had to be pink /j

#i lub u uwu #asks #heavenshipped #talkies #mine #hcs #my writing #glory and gore go hand in hand

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intellectualpencil · 4 years ago

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tag meme — list 3-5 snippets of literature/media that live in your head rent-free to the point where you have them memorised; write them down from memory, no cheating allowed

Oh I love when I get to scream about quotes, thank you for tagging me @huacheng-zhu , I will now proceed to scream.

Tagging - @falserib and well, anyone else who wants to do it?

"I would know him from the way his feet struck the earth, I would know him in death, at the end of the world." || "Will I feel his ashes, as they settle against mine?" || "He is half my soul, as the poets would say." || "What has Hector ever done to me?" - The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller

Okay. I don't think I got the first one quite right and it's several quotes but shh, tsoa is one of my favourite books and the lines in it are *chef's kiss*. Miller wrote an incredible book and it's one of maybe 3 that have made me cry like a little shit. God.

I love the first ones because they're just so goddamn romantic but the last quote?? The last quote ruins me. Everytime I read it I just started laughing a bit hysterically because I knew.

"I have never known hate before. I have never known loss. Now they are with me, always. And I desire nothing, but to share them with you." - The Magnus Archives (I don't know the actual episode number)

This one is so Good. The delivery, the characters, the way you feel kind of bad for them. Just, the resignation in his voice, when he says it. He's so obviously hurting and he does want revenge. He does. But there's also no point now, when that other half is gone.

I feel like it's one of those quotes that you can kind of get even without context? But context makes it better. I also think I got it right, I usually dislike the phrasing on the second half and tend to change it. But now I made an effort to remember it right lmao

"Mo Weiyu! You fucker! You piece of shit! How can you say he didn't save you?! How can you say he didn't save you!" || "The world is still so beautiful. I don't want you to die with me." - 2ha by meatbun

Ha. I love these quotes. The "Mo Weiyu! You fucker" quote was the first one I wrote down while reading 2ha. I don't think the first part and "how can you say he didn't save you" are said in the same sentence, but they're connected.

I had such complicated emotions during that scene. I was so fucking happy that Mo Ran finally got a "slap to the face" because I still couldn't stand him back then. It was also just fun that he got cursed out. And when he realises what actually happened? *chef's kiss*

The second quote is very romantic imo. I love both when lovers die together in media and when the dying one asks the other to live. It's so mean but you also understand why they do it. It's very similar to the ending scene of Hamlet before the "goodnight, sweet prince." Hamlet asks Horatio to live, I don't remember the actual phrasing but it's smth like "if you ever cared for me, live" and it's so cruel, Hamlet you shit.

"Infinite in mystery is the gift of the goddess" || "The wandering soul knows no rest." || "Do you fly away now? To a world that abhors you and I." - Loveless from ff7: crisis core

"I have no name, I am but two days old." - Devil May Cry 5

Hello I love characters who walk around spouting poetry that barely makes any sense for the scene they're in. Both the ff7 ones and the dmc5 quote are exactly that, so I put them together. It's Good. I also spout random lines of poetry sometimes. Kudos to "i have no name" because it actually leads into him telling them his name, so it's actually relevant for the scene.

Anyway, some of the loveless quotes are pretty neat out of context, there's also that one like "the arrow has left the bow of the goddess, smth smth smth", I remember liking that one but I don't remember all of it. Also, honorable mention: that cutscene where the Firsts fight and Seph knows exactly what page/act/etc the loveless quote is from. I love that scene so much. It does live in my head, rent-free.

I think that's, more than enough. I could go on. I didn't even touch classic lit, which I am also very into.

#tag thing #personal #long post #yes i haven accidentally quoted loveless before #'my friend the fates are cruel'#is a great line okay

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zachsgamejournal · 4 years ago

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PLAYING: Final Fantasy VII Remake

I love it. Done. Just Kidding. Final Fantasy VII is one my top 10 favorite games of all time. My first play through was over 99 hours, and I didn’t feel like I was “done”. I just beat the game to beat it. I’ve restarted the opening Midgar section a hundred times. I love it.

I don’t know why, but when the PS2 came out, I heard rumors of FFVII sequels...but then FFX got a sequel. I didn’t really care for that one...Why did it get a sequel? Then PSP had Crisis Core and Advent Children. While Crisis Core was an action packed revisit to FFVII’s world, it wasn’t exactly a remake. And while I enjoyed watching Advent Children a 100 times...it wasn’t exactly a film-adaptation, or even an EPIC-Quality sequel to the game. When the PS3 Demo teased a remake, I became desperate. I needed this REMAKE. When the PS4 Remake was announced, I couldn’t believe it was real!!!! But then it turns out, it was only going to be the first section and that there would be “changes”. While I’m ok with the game ditching the turn-based combat, I didn’t want a game so revamped that it was unrecognizable. And the fact this was only the first section, I was worried that a. they were filling the game with fluff, and/or b. they wouldn’t bother making the rest... Doesn’t matter now. It’s in my hands now, and I can’t wait to play! FFVII’s opening is possibly my most favorite opening of any video game. How the stars of space turn to life-stream embers, and Aerith steps out of an alley to reveal a bustling city. The Camera pulls back to reveal Midgar, our new home, a huge ominous tower surrounded by planet-killing reactors. Then as the camera pushes in, there’s quick cuts of a train--building the tension and pace of this slow, elegant reveal. And boom: the bombing mission begins! In contrast, the remake starts with a vast desert landscape in daytime. For a moment, I thought it was meant to mirror the desert Red XIII visits at the end of VII...maybe it is. But then we see Midgar, reimagined to new glory! It was strange, but not offensive. Until we cut from day to the familiar image of Aerith looking at Mako energy. She’s prompted to leave the alley by someone...or something. And we pull back to see Midgar, as in the original. And while I’m glad we’ve remade this perfect scene, it is sabotaged by the new day-time opening. The city has been introduced twice. Revealed twice. And one is clearly more impactful than the other (the original). Ah well. Now we’re in the familiar train station. I think they’ve added some sections to give more combat opportunities for the player. It works. The combat is fun enough. I’m glad that I can “strike” as much as I want without delay, unlike Crisis Core. Maybe it’s because I played CC for hours that I’m so satisfied with this action-combat? Limiting the item and magic use to a timer was a bit awkward. I would often forget to use them. I’m still quite confused about when to use special moves like Braver. Shinra soldiers are no sweat. The graphics are great and the lighting perfectly captures the original’s style. It was fun to play a modern game with 90s aesthetics. Because the camera is now over the shoulder and not overhead, like the classic, I almost missed how many times they took the original game’s environments and reworked them for the remake. I was impressed when I discovered it and absolutely thrilled. They’ve also done a good job reworking the enemies into the game. The dialog/story is a little hit or miss. But that’s just kind of where Japanese games live, for me. In the 90s and early 2000s, most games didn’t have good writing, even if they had good stories and ideas. So Japan’s non-western style didn’t stand out that much, and they were usually cutting-edge for cinematic games and storytelling. Now that Western Games have improved so much, it’s harder for me to tolerate Japan’s eccentric style. The original game was very succinct and clear: Barret was an angry, militant rebel who saw Shinra Corp as a threat to the world. He explains clearly how the reactors are sucking up the planet’s energy. The stakes were clear. Cloud’s cool indifference was an interesting foil. Usually you’re the hero, now you’re just a jerk. While the remake did a good job showing that Cloud was specifically brought to do the fighting, proving his worth to the team, when we get to Barret’s speech about the reactor--it’s somewhat unprompted and...unspecific? It’s so over the top, I hardly realized this was “the speech”. If you’ve never played FF7 before, I’d imagine the point would be lost on you. If you have played, then you get the joke that Barret isn’t exactly an environmentalist--despite his impassioned posturing. I think this is a misstep.

But they did give side characters more of a voice in this mission, especially Jessie. They basically sacrificed Barret’s presence to give the others more talking opportunity. This works because we’re gonna get to know Barret over many, many more hours. But it also gives Barret a more solemn presence that works for his character.

Getting to the iconic scorpion bot fight, I was impressed by the challenge. The original game is still trying to let you win at this point. The only way to lose is to attack when the tail is up, unleashing a devastating laser attack. But this game really pushed me. Maybe it was meant to challenge the player and force them to experiment with different attacks and strategies. I had to heal a lot!! Also, it seemed like my dodge was worthless. Occasionally the boss would launch a barrage of missiles and when I tried to roll-dodge, I always rolled right into a missile. By the end, I just didn’t bother dodging or blocking, cause they don’t seem to do anything...maybe I suck.

Then it was time to escape. This was fun, but they introduced a new “shock trooper” or something. These guys are fast, strong, and a pain in the ass. I couldn’t dodge, I couldn’t block, and I couldn’t land a hit. I hate these guys. It seemed odd to put such a challenging enemy into the game at THIS timed moment. But maybe they assumed I’d be better at combat by now?? The biggest issue with FFVII is that you start the game as terrorists and that’s never really addressed. Sure, you’re stopping an evil corporation, but you’re doing it at the expense of innocent lives. The remake makes a smart decision here and establishes the bomb as small and insignificant. But then President Shinra orders the reactor to be destroyed--causing a huge explosion that causes a great disruption to the civilians. I assume this is an effort to paint your team as terrorists and enemies of the people. I think it’s a good twist that corrects the original’s problematic points.

After escaping the reactor, the team is faced with the aftermath of the explosion. They’re confused by the amount of destruction, but also try to rationalize the importance of their goal. While I think they were mostly trying to stretch playtime, there’s an interesting sequence of having to face the fruits of your labor: burning buildings, crashed cars, injured people receiving emergency care, displaced citizens, and complete chaos. Even though I know, as the player, that Shinra is the true cause--it’s a good beat to have the player/characters facing the consequences of rebellion.

This leads into a new take on Aerith’s introduction. This is where Japanese “styles” don’t meld with me. Aerith is fighting off invisible spirits--and it looks ridiculous. Most people would give this flower girl a wide berth, and likely not purchase her products. But Cloud is just like, “Hey, what’s up?” after blowing up a reactor... Anyway, Cloud also sees these ghosts: hooded creatures. This is new--but I wonder if it’s related to Sephiroth clones/alternatives?

Aerith runs off, and we’re treated to a vision of Sephiroth. This seems to be addressing another issue with FFVII--what is this all about? In the original, Shinra is the main enemy within the early 2-5 hours, and Sephiroth is lightly referenced. It’s not till Shinra is found murdered that we really see Sephiroth as a potential threat--let alone the “final boss”. It’s a weakness in the storytelling, for sure. But having the vision of Sephiroth appear and bring Cloud back to the fateful day seems like a real attempt to focus the narrative.

And then I had to do a lot of fighting. It was fun, and didn’t quite feel like “stretching”, but it was funny to reflect that this 30+ minute sequence was about 5 minutes of gameplay within the original. So--I’m around chapter 2 of an 18 chapter game. These chapters cover about the 5 hours of the original’s plot, but I’ve already put in 1:43 hours.

Final Fantasy VII spends so much of the early game in Midgar, it really starts to feel like home--as much as it’s meant to represent the dangers of capitalism and fossil fuels--it really becomes a part of you, like the Mansion and Police Station in Resident Evil 1 and 2. I’ve always wanted to see more of it--so I’m hopeful that this game has taken the time to really build Midgar.

#Zach's Game Journal #ZGJ #PLAYING #Final Fantasy VII #Final Fantasy VII Remake #PS4 #PlayStation 4

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ladykf-writes · 5 years ago

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Fanfic Writer Appreciation (and a little self love)

Sooooo, as talked about I wanted to do a little promo. I may not always be my favorite writer, but I try to be one of my cheerleaders. And well, if you’re here you obviously have some interest in what I’m up to.

SO! Here’s a list of my currently-published WIPs and some info about them, in the order that I’ve updated them, most recent to oldest.

Feel free to ask questions about any of them!

Dog Whistle (Ao3 || FFN) - started off as a prompt from @snackarey when I reblogged some Soulmate AUs. This one was a prompt for soulmates (Zack/Kunsel) who felt what each other felt - like pain. Needless to say, this went into a canon divergent AU where Kunsel felt some of what Zack was going through when Hojo got a hold of him after Nibelheim. And saved him, setting off an ever-increasing list of revolutionary consequences. It’s nearly 58K, and though I’m a little stuck I’m looking forward to seeing where it goes.

Dewprism: Journey to the [Relic] (Ao3 || FFN) - this actually has a lot more written than I’ve posted, I just got a little frustrated because well... the fandom is teeny tiny and there’s no real feedback. But! It’s an interesting piece. It’s a semi-novelization where I’m taking the old PS1 Classic from Squaresoft, Threads of Fate/Dewprism and merging the two storylines. Basically... you can’t play the game anymore unless you got it from the PSN for your PSP or... PS2, I think? Or emulate it, of course, you can do that. And I wanted to bring the experience to more people, because it’s got such a great story.

It’s Not a Game (Ao3 || FFN) - this is my Avengers/FF7 crossover, and funny story, it was actually born out of a comment back on my old Genesis RP blog about how Genesis would totally be Tony Stark’s favorite character if he played Crisis Core. It’s turned into a full blown fixit I have a type and I actually have like, 90% of the next chapter done, it just doesn’t feel quite right so I haven’t posted it. And am, of course, stuck. There’s a case of choice paralysis here; the premise is that, in the MCU, FF7 is a series like it is in our world, and Tony is a fan. So he goes to make a simulation to do a self-insert... only he somehow transports himself (and Bruce) to a dimension where it’s real. A “Stark-insert” someone called it; and it does use a lot of “Self-Insert” tropes, actually. There’s just so many ways it could go that I’m stuck on choosing exactly how to progress here.

Party of Five (Ao3 || FFN) - the MMO AU! This was actually originally a prompt @up-sideand-down got, that I got permission to take off with. It’s a modern AU AGSZC where they meet online playing this MMO I made up that’s based off of FF7 and modeled after a mashup of like, me studying WoW and my experiences playing SWTOR. I’ve actually got some ideas of where it’s going, I just got too caught up in technicalities and need to reroute it back to the relationships going on.

Welcome to FF7 (series link, Ao3) - this is me hashing out basically what I think went down pre-games. Most of it is headcanon, I cannot stress that enough. It’s based off of the little we know, of course, but there’s just so much we don’t that it’s mostly headcanon. Tons of OCs. It’s a whole series, and they overlap - different sections that follow different departments, mostly. The base story is Welcome to ShinRa (Ao3 || FFN) and that follows the man who will become President Shinra from back when they first discover mako energy. I’ve also got Welcome to the Science Department (Ao3 || FFN) which starts off with college students Gast and Grimoire and how they get drawn into the beginnings of what becomes ShinRa Electric.

And last but not least, honorable mention to Times of Change (Ao3) - this was actually a piece inspired by @deadcatwithaflamethrower‘s Re-Entry series. I desperately need to reread that before I can hope to continue this, but... one day. One day.... I don’t suggest reading it right now, my headcanons have changed and it needs an overhaul. But you’ll see eventually.

And now... the WIPs you haven’t seen. (Under a cut)

By fandom, just to keep things straight, but in no particular order otherwise.

Compilation of FF7

The Snowball Effect (Ao3 || FFN) ... sequel? continuation? - as one of the gift exchange presents I’ve just done this past month, it is definitely standalone as is, but if I ever figure out where I want to take it, I’ll continue that one. It was just far too much fun.

The Price of Freedom - the sequel to To Be Human, which... I’m looking forward to, but I really burnt myself out on TBH so it’s going to be longer than anticipated before I approach this one. TBH definitely stands on its own, but there were some loose ends left to tie up, so we’ll see how that goes. And when it goes, when I’m ready to approach that again. TBH needs some editing, too... lots of work there.

The Unnamed Pokemon/FF7 crossover that I’ve talked about for... a couple years now (yikes) but now actually have a plot for. It’s very interesting to me, putting Pokemon on Gaia, and seeing how that changes everything. Because like, they’d have presumably used Mew’s DNA since there’s no Jenova (I can’t see them using Deoxys, which would be the closer parallel) and since there’s no Chaos, Grimoire is still alive. Which means no extra Drama between Lucrecia and Vincent - and really, there shouldn’t be the stress between Vincent and Hojo over her being sick because Mew would theoretically be much more compatible with humans than Jenova was.

What I’m saying is Seph has three parents and at least one set of grandparents and a much more stable Sephiroth (and Genesis and Angeal, thanks to Lucrecia teaming up with Gillian) leads to some very interesting changes. Like deciding they don’t want to fight the Wutai war anymore. >_>

Hold My Flower - a timetravel fic featuring our one and only flowergirl, who has had enough of people messing up her planet and refuses to just... let it die. She is, unquestionably, a force of nature. No fragile flower to be found here, this is the gal you see in the OG who threatened a mob boss and meant it. Heaven help anyone who gets in her way. She’s going to save the world. Possibly in a Turk Suit, don’t look at me.

The Long Game - Reeve goes back in time, and holy crap this one is a monster I am truly intimidated by so it’s gonna take a while for me to get going on that. XD But basically, similar premise to the above - the world isn’t healing and someone has to do something, so Reeve is nominated due to his position in ShinRa and potential to... he’d say “influence” but let’s call a spade a spade - manipulate people and events to a more favorable outcome.

A third BIT fic is one that I started writing with my friend @askshivanulegacy back in... damn, somewhere between 2011-2013, before we switched to writing SWTOR fic together. It’s one where Zack is sent back in time, and the differences in him post-Hojo change things even before he can start deliberately changing anything. But I got permission to take and remake that, so I intend to, one day. It was Good Stuff. And you can never have too much timetravel.

Dragon Ball Z

So, this is an oooooold fandom of mine - the first fanfics I ever wrote (under a different name, no I’m not telling XD it was ten years ago) were for DBZ, and definitely the first ones I ever read, back in the days of dial up. And I read a couple interesting takes on Chichi/Vegeta fic... and I was talking with @vorpalgirl about it and said I’d love to try my hand at something with that one day. I think they have the potential to be a really great pair (don’t get me wrong, I appreciate the canon pairings but those two have a lot of potential) so... yeah someday I might dip my toes back into Z. It’s on the wishlist, as well as reviving and cleaning up an old unfinished work of mine. Someday~

Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time

Seven Years Lost - this one I’ve been debating a long time, and even did a little on! It’s basically how I rationalize what happens when Link pulls the Master Sword out and - well, spoilers but it’s a really old game so - when he comes out as a teenager and is immediately able to handle a nearly-adult body. It involves a dreamscape scenario where he communicates with his past incarnations and learns from them, and from sharing dreams with Zelda due to their bond.

Sailor Moon (manga/Crystal based)

Second Chances - I read a lot of SM fanfic back in the day, and my favorite ones were... more real? Like, there were more consequences to these 14 year old kids out there fighting for their lives and sometimes losing them. I’d like to tell a story through Minako/Venus’ eyes primarily, covering what that’s like, and then I also just really want a happy ending for the senshi/shittenou? So... yay canon divergence, lol. You guys know the deal by now. XD

Star Wars: Legends Era

United We Stand - SWTOR fanfic, baby! Basically, I’m just dying to see the eight classes cross over each other, and I will bend canon to do it. For anyone that’s played the original class story lines, there is some cross over but believe me when I say there were huge opportunities that were let drop by nature of the game. Just with the two Jedi stories alone... but that’s #spoilers for a not-as-old game so I’ll leave that be and only elaborate if asked.

(And do feel free to ask about any of these! I’d love to hash them out more.)

#writer ramble #rambles #ff7 #avengers #ff7/avengers #threads of fate #dewprism #star wars #pokemon #pokemon/ff7 #dbz #sailor moon #swtor

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chofitia · 4 years ago

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Fuck it. I’m liveblogging rereading this cringe. No, I’m not going to link to where it is. If you’ve built up my social links enough, then I’ll think about it.

Dedication: Why in God’s name did I say that something in my OC’s POV was for someone else? I think it’s the dynamic within the fic? I know I’ve done that shit before: “Hey, my OC’s interactions with this canon character reflect how I think our interactions are!”

Paragraph One: This... actually isn’t too bad. Still overwrought, but the scenario itself has some promise. (Sephiroth and some other Firsts taking over someone’s house in Wutai as HQ. The inhabitants within are Not Happy.)

Paragraph Two: Uh, I don’t remember all of this lore.

Paragraph Three: Okay, so the build up here is also decent (The POV character is going over all of the rumors she’s heard about Sephiroth, and now this fucker is in her house.)

Paragraph Four: Oh, hello, one-sentence paragraph subversion! I’ve apparently been using that trick since... 2002, at least?!

Paragraph Five: It isn’t a Chofitia old-fic if there isn’t some purple-ass prose description of Sephiroth’s appearance. Actually, I think the only fics where there aren’t one is the ones from the proto-Genesis POV. Because antagonism. Also, I have this thing about Sephiroth being able to speak different languages flawlessly. You could probably justify it as Jenova’s shape-shifting mindfuckery being able to make language learning a lot easier for longer. Eighteen-year-old me would’ve probably just justified it as “smart people are multi-lingual”. Also, I’d forgotten that this OC and Sephiroth were supposed to be the same age, for Reasons.

Paragraph Six: Okay, so here’s my subconscious manifesting itself. The idea of “I know a bit of this, but not as well as you. I know that you’re going to dismiss my attempts, but I’m still going to try.” Ugh, and I forgot that I’d made up weird-sounding surnames before settling on looking up actual surnames for my OCs to use. I do remember the lore here, but I’ve since streamlined it.

Paragraph Seven: And Sephiroth is civil, because I stan.

Paragraph Eight: More lore that I’ve forgotten! I think that someone could do something with the “Turks assassinated Godo’s dad in order to force a young, untried leader to rule, thus causing political instability” thing.

Paragraphs Nine and Ten: Ugh, more lore/OC things that I’ve forgotten and are cringe. Also, OC, you are not going to get close enough to stab him before he disarms you. Please stop.

Paragraph Eleven: Did I seriously imply shit about the Honor of a Soldier four years before Crisis Core? Then-me would’ve just shrugged at this whole “I’m not like the others” thing Sephiroth has going.

Paragraphs Twelve to Fourteen: Girl, no. At least you’re aware that you’re being tsundere and need to back the fuck off.

Paragraphs Fifteen to Seventeen: More lore that I’ve forgotten! Again, there’s an idea that people could work with: “Both sides hype up their own senses of honor but are not above doing ruthless, dirty shit because they want to win.”

Paragraph Eighteen: More lore that I’ve forgotten, and then the set-up for some Doylian funny.

Paragraph Nineteen: “I am no god,” he said. Grand humor of the I-see-what-you-did-there variety.

Paragraphs Twenty and Twenty-One: The fuck are these obscure references to lore only eighteen-year-old me knew?! The worst part of it is that I didn’t find the need to write outlines or anything because of course I’d remember it all! Also, you know what’s more fun than trying to stab the enemy commander that’s taken over your house? Maneuvering the enemy commander that’s taken over your house to kill off your family’s political opponents! (Holy fuck, Purity Sue is all Sansa Stark over here.)

Paragraph Twenty-Two to Twenty-Five: Okay, here we are: lore that I can actually trace to the influence of others. References to Hel, which, as all FF7 olds know, implies a link to Nibelheim and therefore Cloud.

Paragraph Twenty-Six to Twenty-Eight: More lore that I can trace to others, because this fic is supposedly within the confines of the ‘verse of the author to whom this thing is dedicated. I’d forgotten that the author’s OCs had supposedly wandered around the world. Also, Tragic backstory is Tragic, because I’m me.

Paragraph Twenty-Nine to Thirty-Three: And now we start talking about religion and faith. I’m sure that eighteen-year-old me knew this was all Deep and Meaningful, but now I’m all. “No, this conversation would never happen. Doesn’t matter that this ‘verse’s Sephiroth is different.” I’m also chuckling at myself because there’s this line, “Phantoms fight against us.”, that I know is supposed to foreshadow one thing in my lore but now can be interpreted as several others.

Paragraph Thirty-Four to Thirty-Six: And now we veer into a conversation about “History is written by the winners”. And I also kind of like Sephiroth basically saying “I’ll never forget [the war with Wutai] because I’ve been traumatized by it.” No, he wouldn’t say that to some rando Purity Sue, but he’d think it.

Paragraph Thirty-Seven: I’m trying to be clever by having Purity Sue freak out that Sephiroth can read minds. Girl, he’s got enough emotional intelligence to read you.

Paragraph Thirty-Eight to Forty: Okay, so Sephiroth wants to go rogue. Again, I love that I was figuring out the plot to Crisis Core before it was a glimmer in Nomura’s eye.

Paragraph Forty-One: “When he spoke so, it seemed almost as if he saw himself above humanity.” One: Holy God, “seemed almost as if”. Hrm. How would I write this now... “He isolated himself with his words, dwelled in a place where he looked down on all others.” Two: I’m really beating the reader over the head about the OG plot.

Paragraph Forty-Two and Forty-Three: “Wow, we really seem to be interested in going back and forth defending and trashing our respective cultures.” Also, no, OC, he’s reserved for Cloud in this ‘verse. Also, more stuff that’s supposed to be foreshadowing of my own lore. And there’s some abilist shit I’d forgotten about!

Paragraph Forty-Four to Forty-Seven/End (with a back-track to Forty-Three): And more foreshadowing about the OG game and this ‘verse’s post-game shenanigans. Basically: “Shinra won’t last forever.” “No, but I’d really like them to fall while I’m still alive.” (This is actually me trying to be clever, because it won’t happen for either speaker.) “Same, tbh. I’d want to meet whoever it is that manages to take them down.” “You’re either going to be fighting alongside them or trying to kill them.” (PORQUE NO LOS DOS?! Actually, this whole section can be porque no los dos when it comes to the foreshadowing.)

#misty watercolor memories of the way we were #ff7 #chofitia does writing #holy god that was long #long post is long #2271 words for some random interaction because i wanted to give someone a gift

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bearpillowmonster · 5 years ago

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FF7 Remake Review (Gameplay)

Great big pizza in the sky? Ha, yeah!

I never played the original FF7, all I know is the stuff from Kingdom Hearts and (spoilers) Aerith dying which puts me in a unique position. If my opinion is a little swayed then it’s because this is my first experience. However before you say I don’t have any experience and you don’t care what I think, I did play through a decent amount of Crisis Core before I lost my save file but finished by watching a cutscene compilation on YouTube and got the whole scoop. This will be spoilers since it’s been a while since the game came out but I’m doing it through exposure, gameplay first, characters next, then story, if you don’t want any of the first two spoiled then I suppose you’re already sold on the game but I’m making then separate parts because of how much there is. There will be some things I’ll compare to the original game in the later parts, only because I looked it up after beating the game.

Let’s start with gameplay. I’m not a fan of turn based, which makes it a good thing that this game doesn’t exactly have that. There are a lot of things I could compare it to and people are going to say it originated from somewhere else but I don’t care. So the combat is more real-time action based, so you can actually hit square and you’ll attack vs picking a command and having turns. You do have commands to heal and use special abilities and magic like Kingdom Hearts and bringing up that command menu slows time so much that it’s almost a stand still so you have time to think about what you’re going to do. The core combat is regular, kind of like FFXV but better (much better in my opinion.) There is a stagger meter which I’ve seen in FF13, you attack consistently and the enemy will break under pressure and is vulnerable to more damage, some abilities may be stronger in this instance and is also used much better in this gameplay style.

It’s true you can play as other characters, this is during combat, it’s really enjoyable playing as them. If you’re really feeling up to it, you can command them what to do, what to focus on, what attacks to use, while controlling your main. You’re going to have a harder time in some instances with Cloud than you would using a more effective character like Barrett. Imagine turrets that are high up, it’s hard to reach with a sword right? That also goes for if an enemy traps you, just jump ship and play as the other character to get the enemy off. (Imagine playing as Donald Duck to heal Sora instead of waiting for him to do it himself as an NPC) plus maybe you equipped a specific command to a character or want to use their specials. I like the fast pace and how they’re actively telling you stuff that needs to be done, during both combat and regular gameplay, there’s always a conversation. One thing that you need to keep all your party members in sync by the ending, I gave 3 of my characters the good and maxed materia while I just had regular stuff for the other, rotate your materia and make sure you have one readily available for each member to use rather than switch it out when the time is right, I’ve had to fight bosses weak to something such as lightning and not have it equipped because the two party members that do have it equipped, aren’t in the battle so I had to cheese it just using limits and abilities.

With the gameplay variety comes different types of weapons for each member, for example, with Cloud if you use the buster sword, it’s the combat I’ve described along with Punisher mode which is heavy attacks in sets, but I believe your guard is lowered a little, you can’t dodge, and you can’t do aerial combat in this mode (don’t worry, you just press triangle to change it) but with something like a Nailed bat, he powers up his swing which can take some much needed time but has a strong impact (seeing as you’ve upgraded it) and some come with naturally better stats, like higher power/magic. Trust me, it sounds more complicated than it actually is, I even thought it looked more complicated in the E3 presentation but no, don’t take its looks at face value, just feel it for yourself, you can ease into it.

The way it interweaves between cutscene, venturing, and combat is very smooth, comparable to how KH3 does it because gone are the text boxes of yesterday, and here are the full fledged voice acted cutscenes (with subtitles) of today. This is very nice but at the same time, I like to talk to randoms and then skim and walk away in most games, but this one makes you wait until they finish saying their sentence, which isn’t bad, it’s only a sentence but just a thing I do in my impatience. It does help with the world building because even just walking around, you’ll hear people talk and the sidebar will have their dialogue so it’s out of the way and not in your face and you know it’s just side stuff.

Speaking of “Out of the way”, I get anxious over menus and sub menus and certain games being complicated, hence the reason I don’t like turn based combat, the two seem to go together, but this game takes everything that I don’t like about them and turns it on its head, it’s really good, nothing is cluttered, yet I don’t have to search for stuff, very good organization and capitalized on the stuff I actually like from FF.

With that being said though, this still has side quests and I kind of hate a lot of the side quests in FF games in general, with FFXV, I would get a roadblock because I needed more EXP before going any farther and the only way to do that is through side quests, I was able to do it a bit better with this one though especially since it’s only available during certain chapters and you’re always on the move fighting enemies for EXP anyway. If you’re going to do the quests though, you either do it all at once or not at all (for that chapter) because it gives you what I would call a grace period of an allotted time to explore the place and do some side quests but you can’t go back and do them, so you can’t switch between main quests and then do a few side ones which in a way I can respect because it keeps the narrative rolling in my opinion since you’re going sector you sector but just something fundamental that is either respected or hated. That is until after you finish the game, then you get chapter select, which is a great idea makes me glad I can just jump back in if there’s something I want to do really bad.

One of the main things I hated about FF12 is that I had no idea what I was doing or where I was going, in fact the only reason I got that game is because I got my Roman numerals mixed up and thought XII was VII and they just ported VII to the PS2 but no. This game is decent at telling you where to go, however, it expects you to explore for some of them, it doesn’t always show where to go on the map. Internet is a lot more convenient these days so it’s not too much trouble, I never spent a lot of time on being lost, let’s put it that way. XV has those really tough enemies in certain areas that you could just run away from if you’re under leveled but with this more linear setup, it has a lot more control with its leveling. That reminds me, whenever you do finish a side quest, it asks you if you want to fast travel back so you don’t have to go through the hassle of running back.

One thing I do regret is not seeing where the summons were because by the time I actually got into it, I had already passed most of them so check up on that as well as limits. Another interesting and funny tidbit is that I went through the game with basic spells, yeah, I didn’t know how to change from Thunder to Thundaga, that includes Cure so I had to use it multiple times to even make a dent with my characters and I still had a blast? (Hint you just go to use the base command and just press right on the D-pad) Like it wasn’t even overly difficult like you’d expect, it just costs less MP. I did the same thing with KH2 by not equipping a new keyblade/chain until the Xaldin boss so it’s just me being oblivious. Serves me right for trying to do it blindly.

Also I would ask myself how each boss was after I played it and even with the annoying ones, I would think “I still had fun.” Except maybe the Trypapolis’ if you consider those a boss, there’s 3 and they are during the Chocobo retrieval side quest so it’s not even mandatory but I did all the Ch.14 ones and oh boy this boss isn’t hard, no. You can use an ability called “Assess” which tells you what you can use against it for maximum damage and what not to use against it, well these things don’t have a weakness but they are resistant to attack and magic, those are how you beat any enemy so you would think “use an item?” Right? Nope. “Stagger and get more damage?” Nope, the stagger only lasts a literal second. You sit there and do chip damage, they are literal sponges and only attack every so often with a few Aerogas, pointless time wasting battle. FFXV is open world which is a love hate relationship for me, FF13 is very linear...not much to say about that. This is a middle ground, the soft spot, I’m comfortable within its confines, and that’s supposedly one of the main complaints I was seeing in other reviews so it’s just whatever you prefer I suppose. Look at it this way, it was a PS1 game before, why would it suddenly be open world? I’d compare it to the original MGS, though I think there was more backtracking in that one. I would also compare it with, once again, Kingdom Hearts 3 because that’s pretty much all I ever play, it depends on what area you’re in and what’s going on and this that and the other thing. One more thing, Chapter 7’s lever puzzle is stupid, I did exactly as it said and it wasn’t enough.

Man, I haven’t done a review this long and in depth since KH3 but there’s so much to talk about here, it’s unreal. Check out the next 2 parts:

(PART 2)

(PART 3)

#ff7 #remake #final fantasy 7 #review #game #gameplay

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entergamingxp · 5 years ago

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Final Fantasy 7 Remake Review — For the Reunion

April 6, 2020 6:00 AM EST

23 years after Final Fantasy 7 changed the gaming landscape forever, Final Fantasy 7 Remake seeks to revisit Midgar on a scale we could only dream of.

Final Fantasy 7 Remake is here at last. Hoo boy, where does one even begin?

Say what you will about the original Final Fantasy 7, but its influence on the gaming landscape was massive. It’s not a legacy you can simply ignore, whether you like the game or not. There has been a huge amount of hype and expectation for this remake, and the team at Square Enix has seemingly shown every bit of acknowledgment and respect for that going forward. It’s because of that legacy that I must lay down a couple of points before we begin.

First: I have endeavoured to make this review as spoiler-free as possible. That includes both the events of Remake and of the original. If you don’t know what specifically happens in either, I’ve got you in mind. For those who do know spoilers, I urge you to keep them quiet to fresh players as well. Just go and look up the raw, unspoiled reactions to That Scene from the original; it’s something best preserved for people to experience fresh.

Second: my credentials. I’ve played the original Final Fantasy 7 to completion at least once, and other attempts at playthroughs more than that. This was well after the 1997 release (probably first around 2005), and I went in already knowing about That Scene and other spoilers. FF7’s impact on gaming and JRPGs had been well established by then, so I arrived late. Nonetheless, I thought it to be an excellent game and thoroughly enjoyed my playthrough. It isn’t — and wasn’t — my favourite Final Fantasy game, though it’s never strayed far from the top of the list.

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“It’s inevitable that opinions of Remake from any source or outlet will be coloured by prior attachment and sentiment to Final Fantasy 7 (or lack thereof).”

Lastly, I’ve also seen or played most spinoffs (notably Advent Children, Last Order, and Crisis Core). That’s a little less pertinent to this review, but fans of those products can take heart: there are nods to these in the game, as well as style choices that reflect them in places.

Hopefully, now you can approach my words on Final Fantasy 7 Remake with the full context of my connection to the original. It’s inevitable that opinions of Remake from any source or outlet will be coloured by prior attachment and sentiment to Final Fantasy 7 (or lack thereof). As such, take my words as a guideline and use them to make an educated decision of where you’ll land.

Remake Part One

If you’re an FF7 fan reading this review, you’re probably here to find out how much of the game is present. Remake has been split into multiple parts after all, and this is just the first. Square Enix did this to cut as little as possible from the game, sparing no expense in remaking it to the fullest. Having now finished, I can say that they achieved that aim so far.

Content wise, there is a full game here, and my playtime ended at 43 hours. This entailed playing on Normal from start to finish along with being thorough and doing as much side content as I could. Further, additional perks and content become available once the credits roll. If you’re worried that you’re paying full price for an unfinished game, don’t; this is as much a full release as any newly numbered Final Fantasy title, and without Final Fantasy 15’s wealth of DLC required to make it whole.

“Pretty much every locale, scene, and story beat from the original is present in Remake.”

That said, Remake takes place entirely in Midgar, in contrast to the five to ten hours spent there in FF7. Pretty much every locale, scene, and story beat from the original is present in Remake. The additional time is primarily spent to bolster these moments, expanding on dungeons or smaller areas to give them the same scope. A tremendous amount of attention and care has been given to every facet, though. Character banter and dialogues are numerous, with a lot more cutscenes and chances for each to express themselves. Much of the runtime is used well, with new areas and events feeling interesting and consistent with Midgar’s style. Only a small fraction feels like genuine filler.

Final Fantasy 7 Remake is fairly linear at first. You’ll proceed through a chapter in a fairly direct fashion, with some side areas and branching paths to explore for treasure and extra fights. Once you move to the next chapter, you likely won’t be coming back. There’s a handful of areas where the game opens up, allowing you to explore a more populated area and take part in side quests and mini-games. One area relatively late in the game opens up quite a bit more, bridging a couple of areas together and allowing an open-ended respite before funneling you towards the final few chapters.

You’ll gain access to a chapter selection function once you beat the game, however. This lets you go back with an experience/AP gain increase and find anything you missed, as well as access the post-game content. I’ll come back to specifics later. So, how does it play?

Mechanics, Materia, and More

Final Fantasy 7 Remake continues the trend of Square Enix games becoming more cinematic and action-heavy in battles. If their aim is to make a playable Advent Children, they’re getting pretty close. This time around, the Active Time Battle (ATB) system of old has been merged into this for a pretty compelling take on an action/RPG.

You start the game as the main character Cloud. Combat will consist of utilizing his basic attacks, as well as manually guarding or dodging incoming damage. Your ATB gauge fills over time and increases when you strike, at which point you can open a menu to expend it. Time slows dramatically in the menu, letting you select from abilities, magic, and items. You can hold up to two bars of ATB (with the option of a third later), and every menu action requires at least one to use. These abilities and spells can be interrupted, but they hit considerably harder than your basic attacks. The damage difference is noticeable, so don’t come in expecting a pure action game; you’ll need the turn-based menu abilities to progress.

Once you get other party members, you can freely swap between them with a D-pad press. Characters you aren’t controlling will play defensive and try to get attacks in when safe. You’ll be the one ordering them to use menu abilities as they build ATB, though, and it becomes quite intuitive to cycle through them as you need.

To keep things fresh, each party member has a set of different mechanics and playstyles. All have an attack string and guard/dodge options, but that’s where similarities end. The triangle button is dedicated to the character’s unique actions. Cloud swaps to a slow-moving, hard-hitting Punisher stance, Tifa has finisher attacks based on the stacks of an ability she has, and so on.

“Of the handful of hybrid action/RPG systems the series has tried, Final Fantasy 7 Remake definitely feels the most well-done.”

Charging time is pretty slow if you aren’t getting in the thick of it, but this also leaves you quite vulnerable to attack. Guarding is a trade-off, as it slows your passive ATB gain dramatically, so trying to stay aggressive and dodging smartly is encouraged. This is further compounded by each enemy having a break meter below their health; hit them enough or with certain attacks and you’ll pressure them, which usually stuns them and makes them take more break damage. Max it out, and you’ll stagger them, wherein they’re completely stunned and take a large increase to all incoming damage for a time.

Of the handful of hybrid action/RPG systems the series has tried, Final Fantasy 7 Remake definitely feels the most well-done. It avoids the spamming of items from Final Fantasy 15 and ends up feeling like a Final Fantasy 13 that you actually control.

If this seems basic, there are further ways to supplement your moves. New abilities are gained in two ways: learned from specific weapons, or gained by equipping materia. Weapons are spaced out throughout the game, and each has a specific ability. Use that ability in battle a handful of times and you’ll achieve proficiency with it, whereupon you can use it regardless of your weapon.

Materia is the major noteworthy mechanic from FF7, and it’s been carried over almost identically to Remake. You’ll find materia orbs as you explore, and these can be set to slots in weapons or armor to gain their abilities. Furthermore, you’ll level the materia through AP gained after battles. A Fire materia will grant the Fire spell to the character while held, for example, and can be leveled up to access Fira and Firaga. Materia can be freely exchanged between characters out of battle, and most strategies for tougher fights will hinge on your setup. Different materia types can offer passive buffs, active abilities, or even massive summons that can be used only in specific fights.

At first, you won’t have much materia to play with, and even fewer slots in your gear to equip them. Cue Remake’s weapon upgrade system. Every time a character levels up, they’ll get 5 SP to spend, with bonus SP available from side objectives later. Each weapon has a unique “core” skill tree, and SP unlocks nodes on it. Each unlock grants the weapon new passive stats, modifiers, or even materia slots. At certain level thresholds, you’ll gain access to new sub-cores to further customize them.

What’s more, each individual weapon gets all your SP retroactively, so no need to pick and choose which to invest in. This means that if you like Cloud’s Buster Sword, you can absolutely keep it relevant throughout the entire game. All weapons have their own unique identity now, with stat priorities and abilities that you can prioritize based on circumstance or playstyle. The build options are quite diverse, and since you can reset them for a small gil fee, there’s no wrong way to approach it.

All these systems are in service of allowing you to customize your characters for the battles to come. Each ability has its uses, and there’s a good selection of materia to play around with. What I found most limiting about the battles, then, is the action parts.

Those who played the demo might have expressed some misgivings about the lack of variety in Cloud’s moveset. For those who feel that this is pretty basic, I’m sorry to say that it won’t get that much more diverse. Almost every ability and materia is one selected from the menu, not in your basic attacks. The different playable characters and conditions of encounters might shake things up, but it’s the ATB spenders that receive most of your attention.

I found this especially disappointing because my expectations were set quite high from the outset. Exploring down a side path in Chapter 2, mere minutes after where the demo ended, I found the Deadly Dodge materia; this changed Cloud’s attack string immediately after a dodge into a larger AoE one. Finding this so early eased my fears that the combat would feel similar for the whole runtime, then! Surely there would be other modifiers like it if I got this one so early?

Nope! This is almost the only materia like it in the whole game.

Much later, you can get the Parry materia (which lets you do a short hop and strike back if using dodge while guarding), and that’s about it. All other materia like it is simply a passive effect or occasional long cooldown. Otherwise, it’s all menu abilities that require ATB. This was tremendously disappointing to discover, and more options like that to personalize my general moveset would have been so much nicer to have. Even something like a perfect guard would have been great, though at least Cloud’s Punisher mode has counters on block. Perhaps that’s on me for coming to Final Fantasy 7 Remake having just played Devil May Cry 3, but that’s how I felt regardless.

That misgiving aside, the battles are nonetheless fun experiences. Bosses in particular tend to be larger than life affairs, with multiple parts to attack and various phases of the fight that change their mechanics. Again, those who played the demo will be pleased to note that more bosses play in the vein of Scorpion Sentinel than not. Some encounters can be pretty challenging, though for every game over I encountered (maybe half a dozen), a quick adjustment to my materia loadout and shift in strategy saw me triumph next time.

“There was a hell of a lot to love about the battles in Final Fantasy 7 Remake, and even if I had been hoping for more, it still stands out as a damn good time.”

Even regular enemies have individual mechanics. The circumstances by which the pressure and stagger systems are applied is unique to most enemies, so learning and exploiting their weaknesses makes the experience much smoother. There was a hell of a lot to love about the battles in Final Fantasy 7 Remake, and even if I had been hoping for more, it still stands out as a damn good time.

Mini-games are also interspersed throughout Final Fantasy 7 Remake. Most are variations of what was in the original, but there’s been a few added just to break up the routine. They were enjoyable for the most part, so there’s not much to say about them save that I appreciate the inclusion. There’s also a coliseum, letting you fight specialized groups under set conditions in exchange for unique rewards.

After the credits roll, you’ll gain access to the Chapter Select and can revisit any part of the game. You’ll also unlock Hard Mode, which doesn’t serve as a difficulty selection for a new game; instead, you can activate it when accessing Chapter Select. Hard Mode locks out your items and stops MP recovery from rest spots, but offers unique collectibles in exchange. New battles are added to the coliseum also. Those who want more even after the game is over shall find there’s at least a little to check out.

Overall, Final Fantasy 7 Remake kept my attention for the whole runtime. The only real lapses were a few areas of traversal that were overly drawn out, and some of the side quests felt a little mundane. Even so, these featured additional cutscenes and conversations with the cast that really furthered the attachment to the world, so it at least felt worth it to do them once finished.

Tifa fans should do all the side quests in Chapter 3. Just saying.

Regardless, it was an enjoyable game to play. A little more concession to action mechanics would be great, but the hybridised action/RPG implementation was otherwise very impressive. Square Enix definitely seems to have arrived at a happy medium that previous Final Fantasy titles didn’t manage, and I hope they continue with it.

Presenting: Midgar!

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Presentation is the shining star of Final Fantasy 7 Remake. The demo made it clear that Square Enix wasn’t messing around, and it’s honestly one of the most graphically striking games I’ve ever seen. If any concerns were had about that level being impossible to maintain consistently, they certainly kept it close. Some of the larger open areas — particularly the slums — suffer from character pop-in, delayed loading on textures (if they aren’t just rough or muddy outright) and other small nitpicks. In addition, some cutscenes with minor NPCs talking to party members can be pretty jarring. They simply cannot match the level of fidelity achieved in rendering the main cast or other notable characters.

When the main cast is the focus and the set pieces are rolling, though? It’s far and away beyond anything else the series — or Square Enix in general — has produced. There’s a lot more daytime than the original game, so there’s enough colour variety to keep it from looking bland. Mechanical dieselpunk designs weave into gritty but “lived-in” slum streets. A pristine plate sector at night gives way to rusting maintenance structures underneath. The tall, clean and imposing Shinra HQ is met with the garish lights and noise of Wall Market. Midgar is a fantastically designed place and a treat to explore.

It’s not just the city itself that is well designed, though. To Square Enix’s credit, they have taken the sometimes goofy enemy designs from the original and kept them completely intact. High fidelity or no, it’s not afraid to take an enemy that is just a spiky dancing frog and have it make sense. There are even character dialogue and bestiary entries that further suggest how they work or came to be. If things didn’t have to be changed, they weren’t; they were just reimagined and made to fit.

“Midgar is a fantastically designed place and a treat to explore.”

All of this visual and design splendour is furthered by the audio quality. From start to finish, the voice acting and direction is stellar. Shelving the voice actors that played the characters previously was unexpected, but the new cast absolutely nails their roles. Most have emotional moments or serious scenes that the actors manage to capture effortlessly. Even the NPCs and minor characters have quality voice acting. Shoutouts, in particular, have to be given to Barret’s VA for one particularly memorable scene, and to Hojo who is suitably creepy and sinister in every appearance.

Last but not least on the presentation front: the music. Oh man, the music. NieR: Automata laid the groundwork for implementing dynamic tracks, adding layers as needed to change the tone of the same track at just the right moment. Everything that was learned from that game was applied wholeheartedly to Final Fantasy 7 Remake, and then some. Musical cues and stings are on point, highlighting crucial moments in the best possible way.

The original soundtrack is regarded as one of the finest works of legendary composer Nobuo Uematsu. Now, most of those tracks have been remixed or remastered in a slew of creative ways, but they almost always fit the tone required well. Some see multiple variations in different areas to wholly distinct effects. Music in the boss fights tends to really stand out, as the longer battles allow them to build up and crescendo during later phases. You know that the music is a highlight when songs are one of the main collectibles and each is a separate remix from their actual game appearance, all done in the style of music that might actually be made in Midgar’s setting. Genius.

There’s quite a lot to unpack and respect about the game on presentation. But all that presentation is in service of one thing: telling the story.

Reunions

I fully intend to avoid spoilers, so I will keep this section relatively brief.

The story of the original Final Fantasy 7 is one of the major elements that left a mark in gaming. These characters, their world, and their tales are iconic and beloved. Every moment of that story has been retained in full, just as Square Enix originally intended. Some trailers have hinted at adjustments and new developments — especially the launch trailer, which I encourage you not to watch for fear of spoilers — but this accuracy was paramount to the developers.

It’s safe to say that they achieved this. Every notable character, conversation, or location from the original game is included in Remake in some way. There’ll be adjustments, of course; they’re displayed in high fidelity and voice acted this time, so concessions will need to be made. But it’s all here, and the attention to detail in places was honestly staggering.

With that said, Square Enix had no intention of just retelling the same story verbatim. Additional scenes and moments have been sprinkled all throughout, with at least one early chapter composed entirely of new events. All of it builds on the original framework, strengthening it further. There’s more character growth, banter, and interactions between the cast than ever before. It ends up making them feel so much more real and believable. Even characters I wasn’t certain about initially won me over by the credits. This isn’t limited to the cast either, and gives the same treatment to villains and NPCs.

The fact that this is only a chunk of the complete tale means that certain events, characters, and flashbacks have been brought forward in the timeline. You’ll be seeing Cloud get headaches or recall memories of his hometown right out the gate… and that’s to say nothing of Sephiroth. Even so, all of these concessions are handled with the same care as the rest of the game, so their placement fits and strengthens the whole. Better to portray these scenes and build up the characters now than have them appear out of nowhere 10 hours into a second game, right?

Now… thus far, I’ve been talking purely about parts that primarily concern the original work. If this praise was also true of the wholly original plot threads and changes, I’d have no issues whatsoever with Remake’s story. Unfortunately, that isn’t the case. Far from it.

Early on, there will be a couple of divergences to the story that seem to be setting up a new sub-plot. These divergences increase in volume over time, and grow exponentially in the last two chapters. All the original beats remain, but they’re interspersed with these divergences, leading to a new climax and expanded conclusion.

“Genuinely, I was loving my time with it. But if the game had been a tasty meal up until that point, the final section soured it.”

And here is where it all started to come apart for me. For a brief while, I was ripped out of Final Fantasy 7 and dumped heavily into an unholy marriage of Advent Children and Kingdom Hearts. It was awkward, it was confusing, and it left me shaking my head in dismay. It felt massively out of place.

Did this part have to change so dramatically? Maybe. It wasn’t a true climax or game-ending point in the original, after all, and I expected some new conclusion and an added boss or two to cap off this experience. Yet, until now, it had been such a solid remake that made measured changes to supplement the classic story. Here, at the eleventh hour, it jarringly erupted into a massive spectacle that honestly felt like underdeveloped fanfiction.

When I say spectacle, I mean that it was spectacular to behold in terms of graphics, sound, scale… but it comes at a huge cost, and that cost is the integrity of the story going forward. This finale and the accompanying changes have massive implications for the future installments of Remake, all of which feel like they’re going to ride the divergence train at full speed away from the classic plot. Suddenly, the insane turns that things like Dirge of Cerberus took are looking far more likely in the future.

I had been enjoying Final Fantasy 7 Remake throughout the entire runtime, whether it was new or old material. Genuinely, I was loving my time with it. But if the game had been a tasty meal up until that point, the final section soured it. This isn’t just because they tried something new, either; I could easily forgive it if it was just a new thread that tried, landed flat, and wrapped up. No, this sudden divergence has ramifications that could potentially change all future installments in dramatic ways from what was expected, and I now find myself lacking confidence that it can succeed.

In conclusion: old stuff? Great! Supplementary additions to old stuff? Also great! Character writing, development, and worldbuilding? Excellent! Brand new stuff? Middling at best, potentially disastrous at worst. Most of my grievances with the game are almost entirely to do with that final section. I fully admit to bias in the kinds of stories and developments I like, so your mileage may vary. But I cannot say I walked away from the ending feeling happy.

A Final Fantasy For Fans and First-Timers

One of the big questions approaching this game is, inevitably, “Should I play this if I haven’t played the original?” That’s an easy answer: yes. Everything is here that made Final Fantasy 7 such a stand out of its era, delivered with some of the finest presentation we’ve seen in triple-A video game development. It’s a fun action/RPG hybrid with solid gameplay systems, a strong story, and a set of well-realized characters that suitably develop and bond over time. Fans of the original will inevitably spot more references or appreciate the extra nods, but even newcomers should be able to slip in and find plenty to enjoy.

Next: should you play this now, before the other parts come out? That’s a more tentative response, but yes. Had I not walked away from the ending with such mixed feelings, it would’ve been easy to recommend. Even without knowledge of the source material, the main story and throughline here is clear to follow and wraps up nicely. It’s mostly the setup of larger threads and what’s to come that have me so hesitant to recommend it, and I don’t think the ending was handled well. Buyer be warned, regardless.

“Final Fantasy 7 Remake is arguably the best non-MMO Final Fantasy game released in a very long time.”

Final Fantasy 7 Remake doesn’t replace the original. That’ll be true even when all parts have been fully released. Final Fantasy 7 will be a generational touchstone of gaming with a legacy that has lasted decades, and will remain long after the hype for Remake has cooled. I don’t foresee that same legacy being granted to Remake once the dust has settled, but it nonetheless stands with Resident Evil 2 Remake as a testament to the quality such a project can aspire to.

This is still one of the most excellently presented games I’ve ever experienced, and with a few tweaks for the next installment, that excellence might extend to gameplay and story too. Whatever misgivings I may have going into future releases, it’s undeniable that this was an enjoyable 42 hours marred by a single bad one. Even so, Final Fantasy 7 Remake is arguably the best non-MMO Final Fantasy game released in a very long time. Despite my qualms, it’s been a welcome Reunion.

April 6, 2020 6:00 AM EST

from EnterGamingXP https://entergamingxp.com/2020/04/final-fantasy-7-remake-review-for-the-reunion/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=final-fantasy-7-remake-review-for-the-reunion

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hamaon · 7 years ago

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IN DEPTH FANDOM QUESTIONS: Final Fantasy VII

WHO WANTS TO READ 3000+ WORDS WORTH OF THIS STUFF

Top 5 favourite characters: Cloud’s story is very impressive for a 90s JRPG protagonist, and the glimpses of personality you get over the course of the game and towards the end especially are divine;I gave my heart to AVALANCHE early on, a moment of silence for all those who died so young;the image I have of Elmyra is a lot groovier than what there actually is in the game, but I’m hanging on to it;Tifa won me over just by her battle animations, and from these modest origins it grew and grew;

Nanaki is so serious, and also a baby.

Other characters you like: The bravest pilot-in-training who could. I believe in you, little guy.

Least favourite characters: “The hidden optional characters”, is what I was going to say, but I like Yuffie much better than Vincent. I actively dislike her character design (what is even going on there), but she’s vengeful and proud. All the characters in this game are more enjoyable if you highlight their unsavory qualities.

Vincent, though, is a miss. An unfortunate combination of things that I don’t care about. His main contribution to the story is giving more insight on Hojo and Sephiroth (and the Turks, I guess), but what I’d like to know more about are things to do with Gast, the Ancients, and Aerith’s involvement, and he has nothing to do with that. Also, Shinra by itself just isn’t interesting to me, it’s their involvement with the main characters (especially in the first areas of the game) that is fun, and again Vincent misses out.

There’s also the fact that- if there’s one mythological being that I couldn’t care less about, it’s vampires, and he shares a lot of the aesthetics, and- I don’t like using him in battle. The only time I used him during my first playthrough was when the party first crosses the mountains past Nibelheim, and taking him to the boss battle at end of the dungeon was a bad idea. It liked fire, and Vincent’s monster form whatever-beast liked producing said fire, and one thing led to another.

I love his theme, I guess, but I don’t even think of it as his theme. It’s the theme of the basement of the Shinra mansion and its fantastic, creepymonsters.

Also, Aerith, but more on that later.

Otps: I’m into Cloud/Tifa, but less for the chemistry and more for narrative reasons. I just think it makes a good story? Watching them dance around their memories of their shared past is the true heart of the game, for me.

I like that it’s romantic on Tifa’s part, but when you go back to the beginning of the game, once you know what sorts of questions the characters have been holding back on… how much of it is romantic on Tifa’s part, again?

I like that it isn’t romantic on Cloud’s part… until you get to the Lifestream, and the cause of this mess and the most honest truth at the core of it all was just a little boy crushing on the popular girl next door.

I like the idea of them deciding to stick together, the two survivors, now that they can admit out loud that they never really even knew each other.

I like how, with all of his regrets and failures, Cloud never did fail her.

(And I kind of like that the underdog in the triangle got the guy, in the end.)

I used to be passionately into Aerith/Tifa, early on – her interactions with Tifa are the best I liked Aerith – but I’ve let go of it, since. It’s okay to enjoy relationships without making them romantic, past me.

Not sure whether this is is an “otp “or a “notp” thing, or something else entirely, but I‘ve become very attached to the idea of Cid/no one as of late. Maybe the plot circumstances forcing him and Shera to stay separated helps them realize that it’s healthier this way. I want Cid to be grouchy and middle-aged and difficult to deal with on his airship, with his loyal crew and no romantic interest ever again.

And honestly, I’d be all for an AU where Cloud derails the plot by running off with some random AVALANCHE member in the early Midgar portion of the game. Jessie is the best candidate. Let Cloud and Jessie elope.

Notps: Cloud/Sephiroth. Aerith/Cloud as a reciprocal thing, because I enjoy their interactions better if Aerith isn’t serious about him (Cloud -> Aerith is fine, though).

Favourite friendships: Barret and Tifa. It was framed more as “Barret supports Tifa”, but I imagine that Tifa used to babysit Marlene quite a bit when AVALANCHE was smaller, so it evens out somewhat. They have a lot of shared history between just the two of them.

Aerith and Tifa. And listen, this isn’t pretty, but I want to think that they didn’t like each other that much, at first, even if it didn’t show – because why would they be rude towardseach other? Why wouldn’t they want to rescue innocent people? Maybe Aerith is a bit dismissive towards Tifa, unconsciously. Overrules her on things, without thought. I want Tifa putting up appearances that she enjoys Aerith’s company more than she really does, when really at times she makes her uneasy in ugly, jealous ways. All of that beingsomething they are already correcting themselves on come Kalm, quietly. On the way towards the chocobo farm you can see them walking together more often than not, and it continues that way until Aerith skedaddles.

Cloud and Yuffie. I just think that the detail of the shared motion sickness is nice and genuine. And in general, Cloud is yanked around by the story so much, it’s nice that he has someone he can be a mentor figure to. Good for the both of them.

Favourite family: Cloud’s, painfully unexplored as it was. It would benefit the game if there was just a touch more about Cloud’s mother. Just one more little scene, late in the game, to underline that she was loved, and that she’s gone, and that he doesn’t want to talk about it.

Favourite episodes: The entire Lifestream sequence where player-Tifa finally gets some answers to questions that have been left hanging since the first five minutes of the game.

Actually no, the entire game starting from where Cloud starts unraveling at the Noozupooru and the title of player character bounces back between a couple of party members as you’re putting the story together, culminating in the Lifestream sequence. But especially the Lifestream sequence.

Favourite season/book/movie: Original game? I think I liked the short animation thingy, Last Order, when I saw it ~ten years ago, but I can’t be assed to rewatch it now.

Favourite quotes: Any, as long as it comes with rustic typos in it. Absolutely beautiful.

Best musical moment: “Overworld“, as I had originally written down, like Tina’s theme, is a beautiful epic that encompasses all the highs and the lows of the narrative, but having listened to it for way too long while watching my friend play the game I’m in the “can’t stand” part of my cyclical relationship with the song. So let’s talk about Cid’s theme instead!

My first exposure to Cid’s theme was in the form of a background midi on a friend’s angelfire page, and I had no idea where the song was from. The file that I eventually managed to download on my computer was named something to the effect of ff7-cid, which told me nothing. No one in my family played video games.

As I said, I downloaded song. I used some .mid-to-sheet-music converter software on our computer to make it playable and printed it out. It wasn’t made for piano (and I definitely wasn’t good enough at notation to make an arrangement of my own), so I’d just follow along the notes as I put the midi on. I never did learn to play it. I never got a group together to try to play it – there’s nothing impressive about this story.

Fast forward several years, and I played the game. At that point it had been a long time since I had listened to the original midi, but I still remembered that I had built something way more epic around the song than what actually went down in the game. Not that Cid’s quest for the skies isn’t impressive, but it had sounded like something that would play during a last stand type of scene at the end of a story. My bad.

It’s still an impressive piece.

Moment that made you fangirl/boy the hardest: You lose control of the main character! That’s pretty metal?

When it really disappointed you: My introduction to the game was Advent Children, which I don’t think I had many strong feelings about? But I saw people online mourning the death of Aerith’s character (made even worse by Crisis Core) and how she was supposed to have been amazing in the game. So I played the game expecting something truly spectacular and… well, FF7 doesn’t have bad writing, I don’t think, but the characters definitely need you to meet them halfway before you can truly appreciate their potential. And Aerith mostly just hit on Cloud, so I was unwilling to even try. Disappointing, in the truest sense of the word.

I have a history of hating most Final Fantasy romance, and most of the characters doing most of the romance-inclined things. Edge hits on Rydia? Shit character. Locke hits on Celes? Shit character. Rinoa hits on Squall? Shit character (okay originally I liked her for that and only started hating her later in the game, adding her to the list here isn’t fair). Zidane hits on Garnet? Shit character. Yuna hitting on Tidus initially made me label her as a shit character as well, and I can actually pinpoint the very line of dialogue that made me stop thinking of her that way, but my main point is that in the beginning of FF10, I hated Yuna.

Anyway, I like to think that every time Aerith is hitting on Cloud, she’s joking! Because that’s what the root of my disinterest in engaging with her can be traced back to! Most of my headcanons are about Aerith, honestly. I make kind of half-hearted efforts to like her, occasionally, but I need to do it on my own terms – in order to enjoy her character, I need to be able to own her character. Otherwise I’m in a situation where I don’t care for the character much, and every time people point out some feature about them that makes them “perfect”, the bitterness increases. The “I was pretty neutral on this character, but everyone talking about how they’re the best thing ever made me loathe them” feeling. Yeah.

Saddest moment: I’m currentlythinking about the Nibelheim flashback where Cloud just plain refuses to talk about his mother and that’s a sad moment, isn’t it?

Most well done character death: Rufus went out gloriously. The whole scene with the multiple delayed laser beams whose projections you had to keep track of was magnificent, plus a corrupt corporation sacrificing everything for the greater good was pretty nice. Redemption in death.

Glad he wasn’t retconned into having survived or anything, that’d just ruin everything.

Favourite guest star: Cid had his moment in the spotlight, before slinking back into the shadows until XII?

Favourite cast member: Character, okay. Tifa, probably. A bunch of neutral to positive character traits, distinct nostalgia in the character theme, some half-assed writing, best animations in battle, a role that was fantastically spot-on in unravelling the main character’s labyrinthine headspace.

It’s less who Tifa is as a character, and more the good vibes surrounding her role in the story and some of the aesthetic decisions that went into creating the character. I mean, she’s a female monk. Just give her a version of the AC outfit that isn’t all black and stillhas the suspenders.

Character you wish was still alive: Nanaki’s mom.

One thing you hope really happens: Nanaki’s mom becomes an actual character in the remake. She completely drops out of everyone’s consciousness once it turns out that the Dad was the Important One. You have this rare heroic mother who is remembered for her feats in battle, only for her to disappear from the story completely. I’d like for Nanaki to remember them together. Wasn’t she supposed to have been something of a role model for him, before?

Most shocking twist: When the nameless Shinra grunt took off his helmet.

I keep thinking back to that gifset of that scene with the caption “that’s what Final Fantasy VII is all about, Charlie Brown“, and. Yeah.

When did you start watching/reading?: After Advent Children came out.

Best animal/creature: I have so many feelings about that one house in the Sector 7 slums. Primarily ”how“ and “why“. And “rocket launchers”.

Everything inside the sunken Gelnika is super cool, too. As is the Ruby Weapon, or however you capitalize that. Ruby WEAPON.

Favourite location: First visit to Nibelheim, if I’m being honest. Basement of Gold Saucer, if I’m not.

Trope you wish they would stop using: Will they?? Or… won’t they?? Let’s drag this love triangle shit on f o r e v e r.

Like please, FF10 was the best because they settled the will they won’t they thing pretty early on, just let this matter be resolved so we can have some development in some direction, please. Let him get on with his relationship with Tifa so we can have some real progress, let him break it off for real, just do something. As long as it isn’t ”he’s hung on Aerith forever“, because that goes directly against the development at the end of the game. Give him a new love interest, if you don’t want to piss anyone specific off, just stop beating this horse, it’s been dead for twenty years.

One thing this show/book/film does better than others: That’s what Final Fantasy VII is all about, Charlie Brown.

Funniest moments: When I was playing the game with a friend, and she triggered the bug where you don’t get portable save point in your inventory, and we only noticed halfway through the final dungeon. We still beat the game without any save slots. It’s not a very difficult game.

Couple you would like to see: please just fuckign Cloud/Jessie.

Actor/Actress you want to join the cast: Anyway, I’d like it if there were more female characters in the party, with more varied roles. Any of the main party members besides Barret, Reeve and Vincent could have been female, I think (I like Barret as a father, and Reeve is such a late reveal that it wouldn’t serve the intended purpose. And Vincent is optional). Cid, Nanaki, someone new? Cloud? Maybe Jessie could survive?

Actually, unpopular (?) opinion time, somewhat related, hang with me here, but I don’t think Tifa being ancillary to Cloud’s story is a bad thing at all. He’s the main character, his story is the most important story of the game, and her story supplements his story beautifully. The problem is that after the first disc, she’s the only active female character of any real importance. That’s where her propping up Cloud starts becoming a problem.

More female characters.

Favourite outfit: I love Aerith’s design, it’s spectacular. At first glance all you can see is pink, but it’s super practical, and plain, too. Some of it is probably because that’s how the game is designed in general, no one is very decorated, but still, Tifa wears earrings.

A simple dress, practical shoes. A plain bow, crude metal bracelets, and some random string around her neck. It’s like she just picked one up one day and went, why the hell not? That’s actually something I do when I’m cleaning and find pieces of string or broken rubber bands. Just tie them wherever, arm, neck, around my head.

It’s my headcanon that her dress was originally white, but it was washed with something red (that seems to be her color, no?) and was accidentally dyed in the process.

The short jacket is my favorite. I like the idea that she’d go for that big-shouldered look in other outfits, too. It looks so weird. I love it.

Favourite item: All materia. The ‘all’ materia.

Do you own anything related to this show/book/film?: Nothing official aside from the game itself. A couple of art prints. There’s one with Nanaki with his cubs looking over the ruins of Midgar that I need to get framed at some point, if I have the money.

What house/team/group/friendship group/family/race etc would you be in?: AVALANCHE all the way. The concept of bitter eco-terrorists is something that resonates closely with so much of my youth.

Most boring plotline: A lot of Barret’s stuff could have had better focus, unfortunately. Tying things back to Marlene & Elmyra & the working class more would have been appreciated.

Most laughably bad moment: I can’t decide between the kidnapping of Elena and Yuffie in Wutai, and the cannon-top slapdown between a corporate executive and a lifetime martial artist. It’s a horrible tie.

Best flashback/flashfoward if any: So much is centered around the Nibelheim flashbacks, let’s pick something else.

Cid’s Rocket Town flashback is pretty good, it makes you feel the frustration, and it manages to humanize him at the same time. Also, it isn’t a montage info-dump flashback, which FF7 falls victim to, occasionally.

Most layered character: Much of the plot is about putting different aspects of Cloud back together, sometimes more than figuratively, so, Cloud.

Most one dimensional character: Palmer. You know, because he gets run over by a… truck…

Scariest moment: The Shinra tower, after you escape from the jail. There have been just enough uncomfortable elements shown to you beforehand. There was something unnatural in that tank earlier, but it’s gone now. The soundtrack turned Silent Hill all of a sudden. Maybe you could receive comfort from the masses, now that you are facing a shared enemy of a new, strange caliber. The tower was bustling with life just moments ago.

But where is everyone.

Grossest moment: Cid yelling at Shera. Shut up, shut up, shut up.

Best looking male: Once you get past all the associations you have with white/silver-haired men in Japanese media, and the fact that it’s Sephiroth, Sephiroth is quite pleasing to the eye. The boob window is nice. Looks strong without being overbearing.

But at the end of the day, it’s still…. Sephiroth.

Best looking female: Everyone is a pile of polygons, but in my mind’s eye I always imagine Ifalna as a breathtaking beauty.

Who you’re crushing on (if any): no.

Favourite cast moment: I don’t keep up with creator commentary. I like to live dangerously.

Favourite transportation: All chocobos are beautiful in their own way. Incidentally, nothing that came after the original game counts as canon to me, and Cloud became a chocobo rancher near Corel. He goes snowboarding with Yuffie, sometimes, when she’s visiting and he’s trying to catch rare breeds in the mountains.

Most beautiful scene (scenery/shot wise): Midgar, as a whole. The dirty neon lights hiding eco-terrorists and secret flowerbeds. The ruins in the epilogue, when you end the game unsure whether most of the player characters even survived Holy. It just feels like a lot of love went into creating Midgar.

Unanswered question/continuity issue/plot error that bugs you: I was discussing Cid’s small pre-final dungeon Loveless monologue with The Friend Who Played Through My Copy Of Final Fantasy VII, and we came to the conclusion that we couldn’t come to a conclusion. It’s just… vague. Is it talking about dying? Who/what is supposed to work as a parallel to this play?Is it just a bad translation?

While we’re at this sort of thing, let’s talk about sequel stuff! and how Zack is what finally ties all the loose ends back together. About Cloud. About Aerith. He’s an explanation and a motivator, and from a story perspective, unimportant as a character with motivations of his own. Ultimately it doesn’t matter why he did what he did, only that he did them. He should never have been in the spotlight. In Final Fantasy VII, Zack would never have been in the spotlight.

Moreover, he’s gone. Aerith, the one who’d most benefit from having some answers, is gone. And it was fine that way.

Best promo: Uh. The FF4 flash ads with ostriches in them.

At what point did you fall in love with this show/book: Nibelheim.

#essentialprocrastination #I'm listening to cid's theme and crying #autocorrect wants to autocorrect 'sephiroth' into 'stepbrother'#my drafts are clean now #ff7 #those kids from nibelheim

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