#that’s also more about ffvii and it’s popularity in general

[danikanyx]

The next kingdom hearts game should feature the marvel universe but only the TVA and Loki and there should be a scene where someone points out a earth where kingdom hearts is a video game and the TVA is in a few movies and tv shows in the marvel cinematic universe but that the TVA can see all the timelines of all worlds in kingdom hearts etc, and I would love if someone mentioned the Solego theory and just showed a clip from Ducktales and whoever the main pc is recognizes other universe Huey, Dewey, and Louie (although idk if anyone but Huey is really in that shot as he’s the one explaining). I’m just saying this is how to thread that needle Square-ENIX/disney should hire me for the project. You know Ryan Reynolds would be Deadpool for the VA, imagine Deadpool asking what the game is rated and then just trying to swear and it either gets bleeped or plot intercedes.

[ffviirarepairweek]

Hello! What is the definition of rarepair?

I feel this group is overtaken by the same old popular pairs we see everywhere all the time

Hi there, so there’s two parts to your question.

I’m going to address the second part first – that it’s just the same popular pairs being shown. Before your ask arrived in the inbox, I had reblogged the following pairings for this year's event (in no particular order):

Reno/Aerith

Sephiroth/Elfe

Reno/Veld

Ifalna/Lucrecia

Biggs/Wedge

Scarlet/Lucrecia

Reno/Tseng

Aerith/Kunsel

Reno/Rufus

Seph/Zack

Vincent/Veld

Cloud/Wedge

I’m also writing requests for Seph/Elfe, Seph/Lazard, Reeve/Vincent, and Biggs/Wedge which will be posted later in the week.

I wouldn’t call that list just all the same popular pairings. If you mean there’s a lot of repeats from previous years of this event, well, yeah. We have a number of repeat participants who, unsurprisingly, still like the same pairings they did last year.

In order for me to share a pairing, someone needs to make content for the event for them (and of course Tumblr has to cooperate in showing it to me, or they can mention to me that it exists – a quick reminder to please do let me know if I’ve been missing your posts, we’ve already found one person who the tag is ignoring > . <) so that I can share it. (Or, someone can request a pairing and I will write something for it to the best of my ability.)

The second part – what is a rare pair.

On the prompt post ( https://ffviirarepairweek.tumblr.com/post/740152122290618368/ffvii-rare-pair-week-2024 ) I have the opening as:

Urban Dictionary defines rarepair as “A ship or pairing that not many people ship or is very rare to find fanfiction and fanart of. Typically happens within small fandoms or with minor characters.”

Of course, people often ask for more specific clarifications because some events are very specific about this. I’ve answered this previously, and this year in this post: https://ffviirarepairweek.tumblr.com/post/740261946911260672/is-there-a-number-of-fics-on-ao3-that-you-are

I’ll copy that reply here as well however:

Obviously there are the big huge pairings that you can’t avoid, and no one is going to mistake them for being rare, and there are some pairings people feel are rare on AO3 but may have had a bigger home on other sites in the past. There’s always debate on what counts as rare. If a pairing has their own currently running active annual event week, then I’d encourage folx to seek those out for those pairings first, as someone is trying to create a space for that pairing already and I’m not trying to take that away (but not everyone knows those are happening either!). My general policy is I’m not going to police a rare pair. At the end of the day, I want folx to have fun and encourage people to create above all.

To further elaborate on that, my goal, as always, in running any event (week or otherwise) is to encourage people to have fun and create for the things they love. To help people find others that share their interests. Maybe introduce others to a pairing they may not have thought about yet, when it comes to rare pair week in particular. I would much rather people feel welcome to create, than sit here looking at every fan site calculating how many entries there is for each pairing and tell someone, sorry, your pairing has x number more things than another, so you’re not welcome in the playground. My table has enough room for us all to sit at for show and tell.

I'll try to be better with tagging the pairings so you can ignore the pairings you don't like for the rest of the week - I was working off mobile the last couple days to post things more frequently. That's on me. If there's something particular you need tagged, you can always send in an ask or message me directly.

[tyrantchimera]

For some reason I had no clue you had a tumblr or even drew art until it came up on my dash but I always see you in the ao3 tag for ZX 😭 I’m actually cooking up something for that tag-albeit it’s a crossover and I’m nervous how people will react lol-but I salute you for always constantly being dedicated to it because it’s one of the mega man tags that struggles. (Sadly not shocking given it’s a unpopular sub series) I too carry a different fandom tag but you person are so goated with all your omega fics, even if I need to caught up on them lol.

Heh, yeah, not an uncommon occurrence! I think I need to link my art to my fics more, not a lot of people seem to realize I do art and commissions lol. I think I've put some reminders in the notes for Finders Keepers but maybe some actual embedding is required...

I hope you have some success! It's understandably a small fandom, but with persistence I find that it's a fandom with a lot of engagement. I have more comments on my Finders keepers fic, with barely 100+ kudos, than I do on my FFVII fic with nearly 2k kudos! Granted I think a third of those comments are one particularly enthusiastic fan lol, but it's not always about the size of a fandom. Speaking of, crossovers seem popular lately for the ZX fandom. There's a twilight one that's rockin', a Breath of the Wild one, I think a Battle Network one, and a few others. Let me know when you post your work! I'd like to take a peek.

"Goated"? Aw hey, thanks so much for the compliment! I do my best to make content, and the fact that I'm hyperfixated on the subject right now certainly helps lol. It also helps when awesome people like you contact authors/artists like me, because it really makes my day to know that I'm making a positive impact on people.

As for my fics, they're not going anywhere if I can help it! Take your time to read and enjoy them. I have a specific sideblog for FK related stuff (@finderskeepersfanfiction) or one for my general art (@tyrantchimeraart). I'd also recommend a couple of other stories like "It's That Damn Fluorescence" and "For the Glory, For the Fame", fics done by authors I'm friends with. We're trying to revive this fandom by force, so every new member counts for a lot!

Thanks again for your kind words! It people like you that keep me going in the ZX fandom!

(PS: new chapter is out today! Linking to it soon!)

[oveliagirlhaditright]

Huh. So, it looks like my most popular stories on AO3 are (at least based on hit count) "The Mom Friend," that I wrote about Neku after Neo TWEWY came out. And that one doesn't surprise me. I knew that this one remained everyone's favorite story of mine. I fully support that decision, as I still really love this fic, too. LOL.

But also, this one SoKai fic I wrote with some FFXIII characters (and the Master of Masters) in it... Definitely wasn't expecting that one. Maybe this is because people are just looking for FFXIII stuff in general (I'm just guessing here). Or not? I'm not sure.

A CloTi story I wrote... Also didn't expect that. But then again, with how popular FFVII and CloTi are, maybe I should have. I also still like this story, I think, and am more than cool with this. And I'm glad that you guys like this piece so much<3 But maybe I should try my hand at CloTi again and try to do even better? Because your first attempt at writing a fandom is never your best.

And then finally, the Namiku multi-chapter story that I was writing for a while. Aww! I'm glad you guys enjoyed this! And I'm so sorry I ended up abandoning it:( I should probably try to get back to it.

And I guess I'll admit what the fifth one is. LOL. It's some SoKai smut that I wrote anonymously, some years ago. That until now, I honestly had no idea was doing well. Because stories you post anonymously don't show up on your list of stories (obviously). And because of that, it's actually pretty easy to lose track of them.

[demonsfate]

angry/depressed/sad rant: do you think things will ever get better soon? every single day ever since tekken 6 first released it was always "jin the war criminal. jin the generic anime edgelord. jin mains are elitist tryhard and salty". almost everyone always still says he should be dead, in jail, or hated by everyone. people want miguel to be the last dlc character so he can kill him because jin is finally happy. people online says he is popular but with all the constant hate, slander, and h*tler/ww3 jokes i'm now starting to question even that. i still remember when someone on the youtube comments would harass some girl for shipping jin x xiaoyu or hwoarang x jin because something like, "it's problematic shipping japanese war criminal man with characters from china or south korea. don't you fucking weebs remember ww2, the Rape of Nanjing, or the south korean Comfort women. of course you don't you negative iq bitch, you only see hwoarang and xiaoyu as your precious jin's cute little s*x sl*ves." now they're comparing him to japanese war criminals in ww2 who did mass r*pe.

i also won't be suprised if reina or heihachi or even kazuya takes jin's spotlight and becomes the new face/poster child of tekken. not only because of tekken 6 damages - but also because of reina's popularity or heihachi coming back (he's harada's fav). jin being ooc in 6, then having no screentime in 7, and he was supposed to be redeemed in 8 but then they screwed that up and now he's being replaced again. sometimes i can't help but wish he died in tekken 5, harada and murray can have their beloved lars replace jin and jin's character would've never been ruined/tainted.

even though now we know it was all harada's fault, even though tekken 6 completely contradicts his entire personality in tekken 3-5 - most of the tekken fandom and outsiders still continue to slander him to this day or think his entire personality is tekken 6 jin (while ignoring who he was in tekken 3-5). i am a huge fan of Death Battle and one day i saw a fanfiction called "Aftermath: The DB Chronicles". i was instantly hooked and enjoyed reading the story for hours, i enjoyed seeing some of my other favorite characters like tifa from ffvii appear in the story and i couldn't wait to see jin. only to be absolutely disappointed when once again - he was just portrayed as his tekken 6 self, jin is just simply "edgy man who started ww3" and that's fucking it. not many people on the death battle subreddit ever actually talks about jin or tekken in general (they mostly talk about why Ben 10 should've beaten green lantern, glazing aizen/alucard/goku, wanting to fuck zatanna, making randomizer battle matchups, or shipping gojo with makima) but when they do well 50% it's about fucking "ww3/haha edgelord" (at least it's still nowhere near as bad as r/Tekken). over the years i'm not even mad about jin losing to ryu anymore, i'm actually more mad about the analysis section mentioning his actions in tekken 6 in the end like as if we didn't already know that already.

i still have other comfort characters in the tekken series (asuka and lili), and i also tend to go to my comfort characters from other fandoms as well (final fantasy vii, bleach, berserk, devil may cry, naruto). i still play jin to this day, but now i also spend less time looking up fanart or fanfic of him because what's the point. it's just going to be more discourse, people complaining about someone daring to like jin or ship him with anyone, and jokes about war. i want things to better for jin stans, but things still seem bleak tbh.

dear jin kazama fans/mains/stans: stay strong, please. you have my back. ;w;

those who compare fictional characters to real life tragedies are usually just trolls or lack all perception of reality. it's best to ignore them, but i get why it's hard sometimes. sometimes the stuff they say IS really fucked up.

honestly i don't think things will ever get better. at least, not soon. imo, there are / were only two ways that it could get better. that being 1) if 8 retconned 6 to blatantly state that jin was in no control of his actions (either he was brainwashed or possessed) but it's too late for that now since tk8 doubled down lol. and 2) if the series gets a full fledge reboot. like i'm talking hard reboot. and then, never make jin bad again. if they do that, then with the next 10 years, yeah, the haters will die down.

even though jin's characterization was "fixed" in tk8, unfortunately his story wasn't. and if he's still "guilty" of those crimes? if the game still acknowledges them? then... yeah. he'll always get hate for it.

anyway, it's just best to avoid fan content for jin. i usually do unless i just stumble across it. and even then, i just avoid reading the comments on said content -- because yeah, the hate or "jokes" do get draining after a long while. it's also why i have this blog, 'cos it's like my lil "safe space" to discuss jin's character & make content of him without having haters bitch in your ear about him starting WWIII or whatever LOL.

[wandringaesthetic]

*rubs hands together*

So as a person who has actually played all of them, I’m about to give you more information than you probably want/need.

The short version:

You CAN start anywhere. Any of them titled Final Fantasy [roman numeral][no other numbers or subtitles] is an ok place to start and if one of them is standing out to you in looks/vibe, I would probably start there, with the understanding that the gameplay/plot/general vibes are probably going to be pretty different from XVI. Each roman numeral is its own universe and story! I through X have similar gameplay to each other, with “traditional” turn/menu-based combat. XI through XV are a mixed bag in terms of gameplay. The only ones I would steer you away from would be III, which I really don’t recommend unless you run out of other Final Fantasies or are just super into retrogaming, and XI, which is a still active but by now quite dated MMO that is super user unfriendly and just not not not worth the time sink.

The long version:

If you want something similar to XVI in terms of gameplay, the closest you’re probably going to get is VII Remake. VII and VII Remake are both pretty beloved, and VII is definitely the most popular and influential FF, so you would get to know what a lot of people are talking about pretty quickly. You’ve got a PS5 if you’re playing XVI, so this might be a good place to start. But also understand that, while the game is meant to be friendly to newcomers, it is technically a sequel as well as a remake to original flavor VII and some stuff might be weird and confusing. It also might be a while before you get full closure on it, since it looks like this is going to be a trilogy. On the upside though, you could join us in hype for Rebirth. XV also has sorta-kinda similar gameplay to XVI in the sense that it is also an action RPG, but is nowhere near as good as XVI or FFVII Remake and I think that’s the consensus opinion as well as just mine.

If you want something more similar to XVI in plot/setting/vibes, the ones I would look at are XII and Tactics. I personally have mixed feelings about XII, but it’s generally well regarded. Tactics is a, well, tactical RPG so that may or may not be your bag, but if you’ve played Fire Emblem or w/e, it might be.

OR, if you’re open to the idea of an MMO, Final Fantasy XIV. A lot of the people who worked on XVI also worked on XIV, so it has in many ways a similar feel. IMO A Realm Reborn has a surprisingly good story for an MMO, and subsequent expansions have a great plot for anybody. Heavensward notably shares a writer with XVI. If you haven’t played an MMO before (which I hadn’t when I started to play it), it eases you into things at a pretty reasonable pace. It is a potentially intimidating timesink, but you can complete the main scenario of each expansion in a pretty reasonable 40-60 hours. Also, you know, with the free trial that’s essentially two free games.

If you want to play the most popular/most well regarded games:

That’s probably going to be VI, or VII, or X. Some people might throw IX or XII on that pile. X is my personal favorite. These games are all among the best of their times, which means they are all variously dated now and you might find that charming or awkward depending.

Anyway! Welcome! FF fandom can be a weird and potentially hostile place because it is actually several fandoms in a trenchcoat. If you have any questions you can send me a message.

ok so i need help from final fantasy players!

i'm currently playing final fantasy xvi and it's my first final fantasy game and i'm loving it! however i realise i'm a little bit (a lot) late to the bandwagon, but i want to play the other games too! the only issue is that i have no idea where to start ???

i'm aware that they are kinda an anthology game series but there are so many ffvii games that i'm a bit stumped! anyone know where i can start/what the deal is storywise?

i'm a ff rookie pls help the ff16 is so good i wanna play more 😭😭

[dutchdread]

Same anon from other ask. I wasn't trying to argue, I was just asking a question and I technically never demanded an answer from you. I was just saying if you didn't answer I would just take it as a sign. I never said there was anything wrong with having debates either. But I just found it a kinda weird that you continously argue about Advent Children and Cloud's feelings with people a lot as if it's the only thing you argue about so that's why I asked, but thanks for your answer anyway. Peace!

It's the thing I argue about most, because it's the thing that's most egregious. Regardless of who you ship Cloud with, the take that Cloud does what he does in ACC because he's miserable with Tifa and just wants to die to be with Aerith is in shockingly bad taste. And it doesn't end there, it usually comes with allegations that Cloud doesn't care about the children, and that even when he makes a turn for the better it's only for Aerith. This take is insulting for every character involved. And it matters because the idea that Cloud is some kind of edgy emo has been all too prevalent in this fandom and popular culture in general. People don't see the difference between his behavior as fake Cloud and the understandable depression he has in ACC. Here we have a hero who cares too much, who is being beaten down by guilt. And people then butcher his character by painting him as the exact opposite of that, someone who only cares about one thing, Aerith.

Even lines that straight up rebuke them, such as "I pity you, you just don't get it at all, there's nothing I don't cherish", are swept under the rug in their attempts to assissinate Cloud, Aeriths, and Tifas characters in an attempt to find an interpretation that allows for Cloud and Aerith to have a romance. As a result, the movie is widely seen as a mostly vacuous action flick about an edgy teenager, rather than an examination of depression, guilt, ptsd, and the human condition. Instead of a hero who can't live with not being able to do more Cloud becomes a worthless human being who will take advantage of women and who will leave children to die just because he's lovesick. Instead of a strong woman who supports the man she loves with understanding and patience Tifa is now a whipped doormat, a secondary character whose second even to a dead girl. Aerith is no longer understanding and kind to a man who is beating himself up, she's being understanding towards an edgy child whose leaving children to die because he's a pathetic loser who can't get over her. And Zack is just posthumously friendzoned. This is how these people are painting one of my favorite stories of all time, this is how they tarnish the reputation of FFVII, and this is how they insult everyone whose gone through mental health issues. And I am not expected to correct them? This is why I say these people aren't fans of the story, because how could they be? It took me years to realize what Advent children was about, because as a teenager I also only received bad information and bad takes. Make no mistake, the reason I focus most on advent children is because when it comes to advent children, the people I argue with are 100%, unequivocally, absolutely, ridiculously, incorrect. This is regardless of whether or not Cloud ever had any feelings towards Aerith. The OG could have unambiguously painted Aerith to be the love of Clouds life and then this take on Advent children would STILL be an absolute travesty. This take is so bad that both Cleriths and Clotis should be criticizing anyone who puts it forth, and the fact that so many Cleriths seemingly are ok with it does NOT do them any favors. It in itself can be seen as undeniable proof that Cleriths have zero storycomprehension. Guy has an entire mental breakdown because of feelings of failure, developers talk about his action being caused by fear of failure, Cloud in the movie talks about being a failure, not being able to save anyone, and cherishing everything. Cleriths: "hmmm, this dude obviously doesn't care about anything and is just upset cause he can't be with his girlfriend". smh.

[iaintyourbro]

The New Red Herrings: Biggs and Zack and How Avalanche Tells Us the LTD is Dead

Biggs and Zack are seemingly alive at the end of FFVII Remake Part 1 - so what does that mean? Will they live throughout the story? Maybe they’ll be like Wedge and escape death initially, only to be forced to face it shortly after?

There’s also interesting similarities on the death scenes of Biggs and Zack, A while ago I took screenshots of the “death” scene of Biggs and thought it was interesting how they had Biggs touch Cloud’s head and also made him promise something. 

And how are all these things connected to the LTD? 

Now, clearly, neither Biggs or Jessie had as dramatic of a death as Zack or Aerith. We actually see the initial injury or incident that causes each of them to die. Cloud comes upon Biggs while he’s already sitting down injured. Cloud and Tifa come to Jessie after she’s under the rubble and try to save her. 

We know Cloud pretty much loses it when Zack dies. He collapses mentally. He’s already been through enough shit to fill a lifetime, and now his only friend, his best friend, and the guy who saved his life, dies trying to get them back to Midgar. 

Why Zack is Important to Cloud

Relationship wise, Cloud obviously had a much deeper connection to Zack. At the point that Biggs dies, he doesn’t know any of that, but I think his death definitely triggers something in him. Biggs saw through Cloud’s front. We know Biggs dealt with the kids at the Leaf House, and most likely acted like a volunteer in the Big Brother program. He tells Cloud he’s got a lot in common with the kids at the Leaf House.

Zack had Cloud take on the responsibility to be his living legacy. Of course we all know he shuts down about five minutes later. Biggs had Cloud promise that this wouldn’t all be for nothing. In both cases, it doesn’t work out. He forgets what Zack told him and the Sector 7 plate still falls. 

Zack’s death has a major impact on Cloud - it’s ultimately what breaks him. It also gives us these really sad moments of somebody who’s already been through so much and is breaking now. 

Cloud is upset about Biggs. He was becoming his friend. The three Avalanche members really did accept Cloud and tried to be his friend. He was included with them - in most cases. Of course there’s the Avalanche party that he’s kicked out of (mind you - he does this to himself by acting like an ass to Barret and them) and then during Chapter 4, he’s separated to go steal Jessie’s dad’s ID. 

Ultimately, though, we know that Biggs, Wedge, and Jessie all like Cloud. They seem to see through the hard exterior pretty easily. So Cloud loses another person in his life.

The ending of FFVII Remake takes an interesting turn. Anybody who played OG or CC knows what is supposed to happen to Biggs and Zack.

But, Remake’s ending seems to imply that they survive the event that was supposed to take them out. 

Did Zack survive the last stand? Is this a case of the Last Stand in CC being combined with OG where as they walk away, Zack ends up getting shot anyway? 

So we also see Biggs.... wait, wrong picture.

That’s the right one. We get a shot of Charlie Sheen Biggs waking up in a bed in what looks like some type of either infirmary or large room. In OG, we know that all three of the Avalanche members die during the Sector 7 plate fall. In Remake, the only one we get confirmation on is Jessie, and that’s only in the Chapter description. 

Wedge we know survives until the Shinra building, where the Whispers ultimately take him out since he defied fate. 

So, what will happen to Biggs?

The biggest thing talked about seems to be the ending. Zack surviving created a lot of buzz. Is there a second timeline? Is he going to just simply walk another 10 feet and get shot in the back? Did her survive in the first place? Why does Stamp look different on that bootleg chip bag?

Will we have a beautiful Zerith reunion? 

In the OG, the Love Triangle illusion was the red herring. This was mostly to trick and distract the player to focus on something, so later they can destroy you with major twists. It also was used to get the player to like Aerith so her death would be more impactful. In addition, it makes the whole Northern Crater confession from Cloud about Tifa’s opinion being the only one that matters a slam in your face of holy shit what is going on?!

At this point, everybody and their mother knows Aerith dies. It’s not something that was kept a secret. It’s referenced in various materials. The one thing not openly referenced is what’s going on with Cloud. They never reference the Lifestream, the fake persona, or anything outside of the OG and Ultimanias. I think this is a shame since it’s such an important part of his character arc, but I get that they want to try and leave the element of surprise in play.

I think everybody would agree that the moment you find out Cloud was just a grunt that was WITH Zack during the Nibelheim incident is super powerful. I still get chills all these years later. Letting this be a well known thing would take away the element of surprise from new fans. Of course, people can go online and read blogs like this one and know all of this, but for somebody - especially future generations - who may just be looking for a new game to play, you’d want this element of surprise to stay in tact. 

We can’t use Aerith as the only red herring anymore, and we can’t use the love triangle. For many reasons. Everybody knows about it and the love triangle was a poor choice for something like this because some people missed the point completely.

Now, FFVII Twitter is always on fire. 

Also, even though the Lifestream and Cloud’s true identity are pretty well kept secrets in terms of printed media, most of the people who played FFVII Remake played the original game, they know what happens. People who were new and played Remake first most likely went and bought OG and played it. So now they know what happens. 

They knew this, or they probably wouldn’t have shown Cloud in this state, but even for those who don’t, the alternate timeline theory is born. Biggs enhances this theory because he’s alive too. How can Cloud walk past them AND be carried by Zack in some catatonic state?

It keeps us distracted. They want us to think that fate can be changed. In the case of Zack, they’re even saying that the past can be changed. 

Ultimately, whatever they do, it’ll be shocking to most players. I do trust that the devs aren’t being deceitful when they say they are going to keep the major plot points the same and FFVII will be FFVII going forward. Part 1 keeps major plot points but adds substance to a lot of things. They took out unnecessary parts and enhanced others. They also removed a lot of the love triangle stuff. 

Another striking thing with all of this is the Jessie factor. The Chapter screen tells us she died - it only says Biggs was seriously injured. That hasn’t stopped speculation.

The ending shows gloves on the table next to Biggs’ bed and a lot people said oh it’s Jessie’s left glove! And it does appear that it is. There’s only one glove. To me, this seems like they recovered her body and were able to pull of some personal affects of hers to leave with Biggs. Both articles look damaged or faded. 

Faded could mean they’ve been sitting in the sun for a while. The incident happened a few days ago, though we don’t have a definitive time on when we’re shown Biggs. This could be a future look.

They also could simply be damaged and full of dust from the plate collapse. 

It is implied in Chapter 4 if you listen to the conversation between Jessie’s mom and the gang that Biggs and Jessie have a different relationship than Wedge and Jessie. 

I have some thoughts on what this may mean:

Biggs is Jessie’s BFF and her mom likes him.

Jessie and Biggs dated at one point and decided to not tell her mom that they no longer are or that its casual.

Jessie’s mom was hounding Jessie about finding a man so she picked Biggs to be her pretend boyfriend and he agreed.

Biggs and Jessie are secretly dating and only her mom knows.

Which one do I think it is? Well, knowing Jessie, I can definitely see her doing #3. I can absolutely see her acting like Biggs is her boyfriend to get her mom off her back. I think #1 and #2 are also huge possibilities. #4 is far fetched, but they could cover it up by having Jessie flirt relentlessly with Cloud and appear to be single. 

Some people think that Jessie will end up at the Gold Saucer singing. Personally, I really hope not. If they keep a bunch of people alive (even if it’s for a short amount of time), it really takes away one of the major themes of FFVII which is death and moving on. In addition, I think it’s too many people they’d need to kill off later. Jessie is a very popular character, so I hope they don’t take that as an incentive to change that aspect of the story. 

Aerith’s funeral and Jessie’s death are similar as well, so I think it is foreshadowing some things. 

We get a princess style carry here. Aerith and Jessie both get these in Remake. Jessie’s second one ends in her death. Will Aerith get a second princess carry by Cloud? Will it be to take her to her final resting place?

Maybe she won’t even go to the lake - maybe to the sky?

We know Tifa was super upset in OG, and they really don’t touch on it much. We only see her run away crying after this moment. You learn in Case of Tifa that she’s really upset about, but a lot of people don’t read Case of Tifa, so they only know this scene. 

We know that she gets very upset over Jessie’s death.

I think Aerith’s death will be much worse. 

It seems Jessie’s death is a reference to how Aerith’s death was handled in the OG.

Will it be handled the same? Maybe. I think they’re going to make it seem like she’s going to be okay, and then boom.

So the ending gives us hope that we have two friends that are alive. It makes us think that we can save Aerith. I do think Wedge’s death towards the end and comments that Red XIII made in Chapter 17 may also be hinting towards the fact that you cannot change the past and you cannot change fate. 

Over on Discord, @anesuna​ brought up a good point about Wedge’s cats. Biggums survives the plate collapse along with Wedge. The other two cats - Reggie and Smalls - sadly perish (::cries a lot::). This could also be a reference that Biggs survived while Jessie and Wedge do not. 

So what about the LTD?

I think this is a heavy reference to the old OG love triangle. Don’t fall for it! They’re warning players now instead of wanting them to fall for it. 

Why do I say this? Aerith seemed to think the love triangle was fun. Thing is, Cloud wasn’t all there at this point, so it was just an illusion. Since players didn’t seem to get that the first time, they’re going to make it clear now. There were a lot of aspects they seemed to take from Aerith and give to Jessie. Overly flirty (with Jessie they added thirsty) and being overly childish at times. Aerith in remake is still somewhat childish, but not completely.

Oblivious Cloud is Oblivious. Yeah, he was oblivious in OG that Aerith and Tifa had feelings for him. He has no idea what Wedge is talking about now. Earlier in this same conversation he thinks that Wedge is telling him not to come around because people will gossip about Jessie being in Avalanche, but the player knows really what he’s referring to...

I think this is probably a reference to the Gold Saucer date because of the stage part. I take things at face value and don’t really dig too deep, but I think this exchange with Wedge is supposed to tell the player not to fall for these false loves early in the game.

It’s brought up again during Aerith’s resolution scene.

Earlier Wedge said not to fall for Jessie’s trick, because it was a game to her. It wasn’t real love. Aerith is now telling her that if Cloud thinks he falls in love with her, it’s not real. 

We have two separate instances in the game where they’re telling you to beware of the false love. It’s two times the word love is used. 

After all of this, the ending presents us with two guys who should be dead that appear to be alive. One of them is directly connected to Aerith.

This was their way of trying to shut down the LTD and replace it with different red herrings. Will it work as well as the LTD? Well, it seems that the majority of FFVII Remake fans have talked about the ending.

Yes, a lot of people talk about the LTD, but I think the majority of players are more interested overall in what happens next and what’s up with Zack. I think the majority of the fandom is also ready for the LTD to officially be dead so we can actually focus on everything else and stop the madness. 

It’ll never fully stop, but at least it’ll be clear for anybody who plays the game and alleviate the bulk of the chaos. 

Say hello to your new red herrings: Biggs and Zack. 

Say bye to the LTD.

[aitaikimochi]

Here is the full translation of Nomura, Kitase, and Toriyama, and Hamaguchi’s interview from the FF7R Famitsu feature! Nomura talks about Jessie's popularity, the decision to include the Masssage Parlour scene, comments about the next installment's release, and more!  Kitase discusses how it’s like working with a new generation of game developers, explains a bit more about the scene with Sephiroth and Cloud at the Edge of Creation, and refers to the Remake as the “New FFVII Story.” Toriyama mentions that the staff who worked on the original game wanted to create a completely new game while younger staff wanted to stay true to the original. Hamaguchi explains more about the development process as well as how they came up with the battle system, what type of system they have planned for Part 2, and more!

DIRECTOR TETSUYA NOMURA INTERVIEW —Now that the game has been released, how are you feeling?

Nomura: Well first off, I feel very relieved. Although there’s still a long way to go on the road to completing the entire story, we are now able to see exactly which direction we will be heading.

—From the game’s battle system to its story to the elaborate details of Midgar’s various environments, including songs that sometimes only play in one scene, the game is full of a richness that has been carefully crafted, which shows that a lot of time and effort was spent creating this game. The staff must have been very enthusiastic, right?

Nomura: I think it’s due to the staff’s love for FFVII. The enthusiasm from the fans also helped propel us forward.

—Are there any elements from either the Original game or part of the compilation that you wanted to make a reality or something that you wanted to have in the past game that then added into this game?

Nomura: Definitely the world itself as well as how richly the people are portrayed. With all the different compilations gathered, it was rather easy to create the world. I think we were able to convey the importance of the areas seamlessly.

—FF7R really digs deep into the Original Game’s story, but there is a surprising development towards the end of the game. With Remakes, there’s always a faction of people who don’t want anything changed, but there are also those who actually want things to be changed. Were there discussions among the creators on whether or not you should change things?

Nomura: Since the concept of FF7R was already decided from the beginning, there wasn’t that much discussion. However, since each individual had different ways of perceiving things, we did discuss exactly how far we will change the story. I believe that I was the one who actually put a stop on several ideas towards the latter half of development (laughs).

—The Remake contains the “Whispers of Fate” that are not present in the original story, but what was the intent of having this presence? In English, they’re called the Whispers, but in Japanese they’re called the “Feelers.” Is there a specific reason for this difference, for example if the word “Feeler” was the origin of the name?

Nomura: Nojima-san actually requested us to give the Whispers an eerie aura. Initially, the Whispers were designed to be made out of small particles of sand that crumbled while still maintaining its shape, but also unclear in form. We then created an image of them wearing a robe, but more so than that, when we had to make a lot of them appear together, that’s when their form took a clear shape. The word “feeler” means to sense and to touch, but at the moment I cannot say anymore than that.

—Those who come into contact with Aerith can see the Whispers, right? Also, was Aerith able to see them from the beginning?

Nomura: People can see the Whispers when they come into contact with Aerith. However, at the moment I am unable to tell you when Aerith started seeing them.

—Instead of always being on edge, Cloud seems to behave more cooly but instead comes off as uncool to those around him. Aerith also seems a bit more mature than the original’s portrayal of her, and Barret seems a more unhinged and tense. The characters all seem to have a new side of them now. What kind of concepts did you use to add to the characters in this game?

Nomura: I personally think that the characters still have the same image as they did before, but with much more expressions now, and adding voices also created a large impact. This was my interpretation of the characters at the start, but since the original game required the player to imagine the type of reactions the characters would have, I think that this caused there to be different images of the characters. As time passed, I’m sure that those images of the characters had changed as well. I think that the errors in each individual player’s interpretation is in itself an interesting part of the game.

—Jessie has a lot of scenes in the Remake and has become quite a popular character. Were her scenes planned from the beginning, or were they something that was added midway through development?

Nomura: It was planned from the beginning. However, I did not expect her to be this popular though!

—The three new characters in Wall Market, Andrea Rhodea, Madam M, and Chocobo Sam, left quite an impression. What was created first, the characters’ personalities or their designs? Also, how did the concept of the Massage Parlour come about?

Nomura: At first, the characters’ personalities weren’t that detailed. We didn’t plan for their designs to be that rich either. However, I think that the voices and acting played a great role for them. In regards to the hand massage, in a city like that, well, the maturity rating would probably go up, so we couldn’t go further with what we had.

—Characters such as Leslie and Kyrie appeared in the light novels, but what was the background on bringing them into the Remake? For example, was it for fan service or something else?

Nomura: Since the stories are part of the Compilation, Nojima-san and myself had plans for them to be included from the beginning. We thought that it would be natural for them to appear in that time and place within the story, so we decided to leave them there. In regards to what happens to them after the events in the Remake, I recommend that players read the light novel “Final Fantasy 7 TURKS: The Kids Are All Right.”

—In regards to the battle system, it contains a fusion of both command and action elements, and each character has a different fighting style. By choosing different character moves, players are able to form various effective strategies, making for a very refreshing experience. Also, the acting and conversations that the characters have during battle also gives a fresh spin on each battle. I’m sure that this was made possible by trial and error, but what was the most difficult part in doing all of this?

Nomura: A real time action battle requires a sense of nervousness and realism, but we couldn’t discard the form and battle of the original game’s command RPG style. As a result, we went through a lot of trial and error to find a perfect harmony for the two. We decided early on to allow for a slow motion sequence to take place to allow players the advantage of being able to select their actions, but there was a long period of time that we couldn’t do it properly. It was largely thanks to the staff for tying in the ATB system to perfect this as well.

—Lastly, is there anything you would like to say to the readers?

Nomura: We know that everyone wants the next installment to be released quickly. We would also like to deliver it as soon as possible. Since we were able to see the line of quality from the first installment, we hope to make the next installment even better in quality that will make for an even greater experience. We hope to release it as soon as possible, so please wait a bit more. I think we can clearly convey the direction when we officially announce the next installment, so we hope you can look forward to it!

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PRODUCER YOSHINORI KITASE INTERVIEW

—From the time that the game was announced at E3 during 2015, the world focused their attention on the game, and after releasing footage of the game’s progress through a promotional video at E3 during 2019, the expectations from the fans has only increased. I’m sure you felt quite a lot of pressure at that time, but now that the game is finally released, how do you feel?

Kitase: I feel relieved that we were able to successfully approach both veteran fans who have been there since the beginning as well as new fans. I feel like right now, the expectations are even higher than before the game was released, and that gives us a lot of motivation to develop the next installment.

—Before the game was released, you mentioned that the hurdle that you needed to overcome was that of the player’s imagination that they have constructed in their minds for the Remake. After seeing the reception from the players post-release, do you feel that you have overcome that hurdle?

Kitase: Well, not just for me, but the power of the entire development staff combined was great. Most of them were fans from the beginning who also played the original game when it first came out. Thanks to that, they knew what kind of image fans probably had for the Remake, and I think we were able to overcome the hurdles that way.

—The game was released worldwide during a time when COVID-19 was affecting the entire world, but did that have any impacts on the game’s development? Also, before the game was released, promotional events were cancelled and the distribution of the game was also shipped ahead of schedule. There seemed to have been a lot of hard decisions to make depending on the situation…

Kitase: In terms of development, we only had the debugging phase left, which meant that the game was pretty much already complete, so there was not much impact from the virus. However, it was a pity that many promotional events were cancelled, and people were not able to really celebrate the release of the game. Luckily, through the means of the downloadable version, we were able to deliver some fun during a very stressful time where it was hard for people to even leave their homes. I hope that we were able to give them at least a moment of reprieve through the game.

—In regards to the FFVII Remake production, was there anything you were particular about?

Kitase: In the latter half of the story, there’s a scene where Cloud and Sephiroth have a confrontation. I wanted the scenery of that segment to show a starry sky that represents the overall themes of FFVII, and the art design team was able to bring that image to life.

—From the game’s battle system to its story to the elaborate details of Midgar’s various environments, including songs that sometimes only play in one scene, the game is full of a richness that has been carefully crafted, which shows that a lot of time and effort was spent creating this game. The staff must have been very enthusiastic, right?

Kitase: That’s all thanks to the careful attention that the Co-Directors Hamaguchi and Toriyama as well as the development staff put in making this game. I started game development ever since the Super Famicom console, so I’m used to the type of “cut” and “reuse” way of production. However, the new generation of games require a sense of reality, so that former way of developing games has become obsolete. The current generation of game development staff have that new type of conscience when creating games, so it’s thanks to their enthusiasm that we were able to make this possible.

—I’m sure that there are several younger development staff who never played the original FFVII, so were there any instances where there was a bit of a generation gap?

Kitase: Not really. But I guess when we wanted to give an example from a movie or something, we wouldn’t bring up a reference from an old movie that they probably wouldn’t know (laughs).

—Are there any elements from either the Original game or part of the Compilation that you wanted to make a reality or something that you wanted to have in the past game that was then added into this game?

Kitase: I suppose that would be making everything in 3D with a 360 degree scope of the world. Especially when you’re looking up into the sky of Midgar or looking down towards the slums, I’m really glad that we were able to give the city a sense of realism.

—As a gamer, was there anything in particular from FF7R that surprised or impressed you?

Kitase: This is connected with my answer to the previous question, but yes, being able to look above towards the sky from the slums, thinking “wow, you can see the sky after all!” For 23 years, I imagined the slums to be under a lot of pressure and cloaked in darkness. In the Remake, you can see a different side of the city during the day that you could not see in the original game, and I thought that was really fun.

—You were involved with the initial level design of the Sector 5 Mako Reactor from when the characters infiltrate the reactor to their escape, but were there any other parts that you also were involved in?

Kitase: I was also in charge of the initial stage level design for the scene at the top of the Shinra Building. The scene where Cloud is about to fall off the rooftop but is saved by Tifa is a callback and answer to the Sector 5 Mako Reactor scene where Tifa couldn’t save Cloud from falling.

—FF7R really digs deep into the Original Game’s story, but there is a surprising development towards the end of the game. With Remakes, there’s always a faction of people who don’t want anything changed, but there are also those who actually want things to be changed. Were there discussions among the creators on whether or not you should change things?

Kitase: Director Nomura as well as Co-Director Hamaguchi and Toriyama hoped to be able to keep all the parts of the original that fans have come to love. However, we also wanted to add several surprises that would balance out the story too. I’m sure there are people who wish to experience the exact same story and relive memories. However, if we were to do that, then all we would be doing is just adding to the original experience, which would cause the Remake to lose its significance. I think that we were able to successfully revive the story by adding new elements for the new generation of a “New FFVII.”

—Lastly, is there anything you would like to say to the readers?

Kitase: The new FFVII’s story has only just begun. Please look forward to the story from here on out! --------- CO-DIRECTOR TORIYAMA MOTOMU INTERVIEW

—Now that the game has been released, how are you feeling?

Toriyama: I’m really glad that despite the abrupt change in lifestyle [due to COVID-19], this game is able to deliver entertainment to people around the world in the comfort of their own homes. There was some skeptism from fans when we announced before the release of the game that the FF7 Remake will only take place in Midgar, but because the game dug so deeply into the world of FF7, I was relieved to hear that a lot of people were extremely satisfied with the game.

—From the game’s battle system to its story to the elaborate details of Midgar’s various environments, including songs that sometimes only play in one scene, the game is full of a richness that has been carefully crafted, which shows that a lot of time and effort was spent creating this game. The staff must have been very enthusiastic, right?

Toriyama: We thought about how we can revive the entity of FFVII using the latest technology as well as capturing the richness of the original. The time it took to oversee one scene or area was great, and in order to do so, we needed much more staff than what we had back in the day. Each and every staff had their own things they were particular about, and we were able to find a balance and successfully craft this game.

—Since you were involved with the development of the game, was there anything you were concerned about?

Toriyama: Since we had to replace many things with a new portrayal, I was quite particular that the essence of FFVII still remained true throughout. I think that if you had played the original game too, you would know which parts were changed and which parts were left in. However, I wanted to make sure that the events of the Remake flowed in a natural way with both new and familiar elements that you can enjoy. I’m happy to know that the Remake is able to add an even more vivid experience to go along with your memories of FFVII.

—I’m sure that there are several younger development staff who never played the original FFVII, so were there any instances where there was a bit of a generation gap?

Toriyama: There are actually a lot of staff who have played the original FFVII and got the opportunity to work in this industry. There are also staff who are more versed in the original game than even the members of staff who worked on the original game, and many of those staff wanted to make an adaptation that kept faithful to the original. In terms of keeping things as traditional as possible, the staff who worked on the original game, myself included, had the notion of “making a new game that no one has ever seen before.” With that conscience in mind, we were able to decide the type of direction we wanted to go in the Remake.

—Are there any elements from either the Original game or part of the Compilation that you wanted to make a reality or something that you wanted to have in the past game that was then added into this game?

Toriyama: In terms of music, FFVII is a rather cinematic series, but in the original game due to disc space and time restraints, we weren’t able to include a movie-worthy soundtrack. However, we were able to challenge ourselves with the Remake. We wanted to have specific songs that played throughout the entire game that would also go along with the scenes, so the Remake gave us a chance to be able to try this out. With this type of composing, we didn’t really have a specific detailed list, so we didn’t count exactly how many songs we created until we realized that the soundtrack itself would span to seven discs, making it a huge volume of songs (laughs).

—As a gamer, was there anything in particular from FF7R that surprised or impressed you?

Toriyama: After the game was released, I saw a gaming review website capture all the little details of various landscapes in the game, from the posters and billboards to the train time schedules, close inspections of the buildings, pretty much everything that showed the lifestyles of people living in Midgar. Although I’m glad that people were able to deeply observe the details we put in, I can’t help but see some flaws, so it kind of gives me pressure to make sure that the next installment will have even more perfected details (laughs).

—Compared to 23 years ago, from the addition of voices in conversations to a change of design, trends have changed. Was it difficult to achieve a balance of retaining the essence of the original game but still representing it for a new generation?

Toriyama: We wanted to have the game be fully voiced including the NPC within the city, so we were careful when putting in dialogue that would sound natural. We left in some funny lines spoken from the original game’s NPC too, but since there were way more NPCs in the Remake compared to the original, we made sure to find a good balance where those lines wouldn’t be buried among the other spoken dialogue.

—Instead of always being on edge, Cloud seems to behave more cooly but instead comes off as uncool to those around him. Aerith also seems a bit more mature than the original’s portrayal of her, and Barret seems a more unhinged and tense. The characters all seem to have a new side of them now. What kind of concepts did you use to add to the characters in this game?

Toriyama: For the Remake, the voice acting was added after we had finished creating the cutscenes, and I think that the character’s performance really shined through from the work that the actors and actresses have done that brought out each character’s charm. During recording, Barret had an unexpected continuity that we pushed further, and the results really brought out his character very well.

—In regards to seeing a brand new side of Cloud, the peak of it would probably be the dance sequence at the Honey Bee Inn. Was this scene planned from the beginning?

Toriyama: We strongly did not want to leave out Cloud’s crossdressing scene but instead wanted to create a concept that would make it stand out even more in the Remake. We decided to make Wall Market a huge entertainment district, and we were very enthusiastic in making the Honey Bee Inn even more of an entertainment hotspot in the Remake. I actually helped create the Honey Bee Inn for the original game, so it was easy for me to reimagine the place for the Remake. While still retaining some elements from the original, we were able to give it a huge makeover.

—The Shinra Mascot dog “Stamp” appears in various locations, even on a snack package blowing in the wind in towards the ending with Zack. Was the character of Stamp originally created in the beginning stages of development?

Toriyama: The dog Stamp is a very important symbol that was planned since the beginning. Stamp’s use was determined along with the game design. AVALANCHE also uses him as their symbol, so there is a good meaning to him that we included to have him stand out. However, the Stamp that appears in the scene with Zack is a different breed, so please pay attention to that.

—I was quite surprised that Chadley turned out to be what he was in the story, but who’s idea was it to create this character?

Toriyama: Chadley is a new character that was not in the original game, so it was the scenario team who decided on creating this character. There are a lot of contents regarding the game’s difficulty levels and clearing the battle reports, so we decided to have Cloud be able to encounter Chadley throughout the entire game. I haven’t finished clearing the HARD mode yet, but I hope that those who haven’t cleared everything yet can challenge themselves with this!

—The new character Roche left quite an impact, but he’s an eccentric one that only appears in Chapter 4 and nowhere else. What was the purpose of his character, and will he appear in the next installment?

Toriyama: We had initially drawn up a concept of having Roche appear at the last battle on the Midgar Highway, but we thought that he might ruin the serious mood of the ending sequence, so we scrapped that idea. We also thought to put him in as a boss battle in the Chapter 14 slums, but since you can’t really race around on a motorbike in the slums, we unfortunately could not make it work. Roche’s spontaneity is one of his character traits that stands out though, so there’s a high chance that he’ll appear in the next installment (laughs).

—In the Remake, the characters have a lot of banter when they’re walking around or fighting battles, and the dialogue is not always the same either. Did you oversee the types of conversations that were put in?

Toriyama: All scenarios were checked and supervised by me and Nojima-san. We actually had a lot more lines prepared in the script for dialogue spoken by characters in boss battles, but somewhere around the middle of production, we eventually cut out the frequency of giving out hints and instead left it to the players to think about what to do. This in turn caused us to cut a lot of dialogue out.

—Are there any specific episodes, scenes, or dialogue that you were interested in or wanted to include?

Toriyama: The AVALANCHE base at the bottom of Seventh Heaven in the original game was an interesting area that left an impression on me, but since Cloud is not very close with AVALANCHE in the Remake, we wanted to show that distance between them, which made us leave out that scene. Although I really wanted to have Barret punching that sandbag in the Remake, I had to restrain myself (laughs).

—Lastly, is there anything you would like to say to the readers?

Toriyama: Even though the first installment of the “FFVII Remake” has ended, the story has only just begun. While listening to the voices of the fans, we also hope to make the next installments something that would exceed your expectations. I personally also played the original game again after finishing the Remake. While waiting for the next installment, I hope you can enjoy the differences in the Remake’s portrayal of Midgar and also have fun imagining what kinds of things lie ahead in the next game too!

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CO-DIRECTOR HAMAGUCHI NAOKI INTERVIEW

—Now that the game has been released, how are you feeling?

Hamaguchi: I felt very relieved after seeing the user feedback after the game was released. I fully joined the development team for FF7R in 2017 when the fans had been waiting for this game for quite some time already. So I made it my mission to ensure that fans do not wait longer than 3 years for the completion of the game. FF7 is a game that many people have come to love, so there was a real sense of responsibility to carry, but even so, the development team staff is composed of people who are extremely passionate about FF7, so we were able to enjoy making this game while progressing on its development.

—Since you were involved with the development of the game, was there anything you were concerned about?

Hamaguchi: What was constantly said to the team was that we must “respect the original game.” We were not creating a new game that is only inspired by the characters and world of FFVII, but we strove to create a game where the elements of the original are remade using the latest game design and graphics, making it feel “nostalgic yet new.” If we were to stray far away from the source material, then people might think “this is not the FFVII that I know,” so we tried to follow the original story but added details that we could not add 20 years ago using the latest technology. With that, we were able to focus on enriching the story to create an experience that is still “the FFVII that l know, but with a lot more new things waiting to be discovered.”

—From the game’s battle system to its story to the elaborate details of Midgar’s various environments, including songs that sometimes only play in one scene, the game is full of a richness that has been carefully crafted, which shows that a lot of time and effort was spent creating this game. The staff must have been very enthusiastic, right?

Hamaguchi: The Remake was made possible by the enthusiasm from the entire staff. During the production of this game, the task division between the development staff was even more than another Final Fantasy numbered game. For example, a person in charge of location would usually be a level designer that would spend 2-3 years on a single location’s design, execution, and then implementation, and we had specific staff designated to work on all the locations as well. For battle parts, we had a single person in charge of 2-3 bosses at a time, and a level designers also oversaw everything from design to implementation. With this scheme, we were able to have each game designer focus on only the parts that they are designated with, which allowed them to be enthusiastic and particular with the production of their areas. However, because of this, each game designer felt very strongly of their work that they poured their all into, so in order to not lose satisfaction, wemade it a priority to view the contents as a whole within the team. By doing this, we were able to combine everyone’s vision into the end product.

—Without having the battle system be solely either a Command RPG or Action style, it must have been challenging to fuse the two together. During development, there must have been some trial and error to get it right, but was there any part that was specifically concerning or challenging?

Hamaguchi: One of the most particular parts was how we were going to incorporate the ATB Battle System. We didn’t want to incorporate a completely new battle style that was different than the original, so we were inspired by the original FF7’s ATB battle system to create a new and improved one that also works in real time. Of course, I’m sure that the action elements we added gives off a very fresh impression, but the root of the system is from the ATB battle system, allowing us to incorporate a sense of nostalgia to the battle system. The part we worked extremely hard on was how to fuse together action and command style elements. Many of the development team staff including myself have a long history working with command RPGs, so we are very confident with that type of battle style in that field. However, when we tried adding action elements in, there was a sense of discord within the battle system we had.

The part we were stuck on was that implementing a command system will cause the the user to have too much information in regards to fighting strategy, and that would only cause issues if we were also going to add real time action options too. When we were doing trial and error to figure out how to draw the line between how many action and command elements we could add, Battle Director Endou Teruki was able to join our team. He is extremely versed with action battle systems and how to develop them, so as soon as he saw what we had created, he immediately pointed out that we were lacking features in regards to the action elements of the battle system. Since we were having trouble figuring out a balance between the action and command elements, we couldn’t really answer what we were lacking since we just simply added in action elements, so we were not able to create a very refreshing experience. Luckily, Endou was able to concentrate on the action parts and balanced out the battle system with fast paced command RPG strategy as well as action elements, which is what you see in the finished product.

—In terms of creating an action battle system, I’m sure there were concerns about the increasing difficulty of that fighting style. For those who are not fond of action battle systems, there’s also the option of “CLASSIC Mode,” but was there anything else you were particularly conscious about?

Hamaguchi: For those who only wanted to enjoy the game’s story, we implemented EASY Mode, for those who wanted to enjoy the command RPG style of fighting, we also created the CLASSIC mode, so there are different play styles you can choose from. Since the “CLASSIC mode” was something we tried for the first time, we were excited to hear the reactions of the players, and I think the reviews have been favorable. We heard comments from users who enjoyed the Normal mode’s difficulty level but in the CLASSIC mode style, so we will refer to their feedback in the future as well.

—Since the game’s release, I’m sure that most people have viewed the battle system in a very favorable light. What do you think about the reactions that you have seen thus far?

Hamaguchi: We feel that we have delivered the exact type of battle experience that users can accept. I think this is thanks to the way we were able to create a system that not only reimagines the ATB battle system in real time form, but we also pays homage to the Command RPG style, which leaves a sense of nostalgia while giving a fresh new experience to the battle style. I’m sure there are a lot of people who are interested in what kind of battle system we have in store for the next installment too. We would like the battle system to be even more customizable with more action and command strategies that users can curate into their own playing style, giving an even newer experience, so please look forward to that!

—It seems that the level cap at 50 has some limitations in regards to your status attributes and range, and since various weapons have their own strengths, it seems like you put thought into balancing out battles. In regular RPGs, characters grow and their weapons become stronger, but it feels like this was done in moderation. Was this balance something that the development team had planned from the beginning?

Hamaguchi: When we were stuck on how to create the battle system, we made changes to optimize the balance of the battle system. We wanted a balance that also incorporated the original FF7’s customizable options with materia, and Battle Director Endou also had the same thoughts. However, if we allowed players to get as many materia as they would like, then they could technically give the same set of materia to each character, which would defeat the purpose of giving each character their own unique abilities. Thus, we decided to put limits on the amount of attributes you can have. Moreso than putting a moderation on gaining strength, we wanted players to have fun with the strategies that they could incorporate by using different materia or weapons. If you were to redo a battle, you could try other ways of setting up your weapons and materia to create a stress free battle, and I thought that was an important function to have.

—Boss battles within the game have different stages where the attacks or field changes, such as the Sword Dance battle that splits between two parties during the fight. Was this concept of having battles be set up in different stages as the fight progressed something that was decided during the beginning of production?

Hamaguchi: That’s right. I told the team during the beginning that boss battles would be executed out in phases. Many of the bosses within each chapter contain some of the most exciting reveals, so we wanted players to be able to feel immersed within the story even through the boss battles. In order to do that, we constructed each boss battle to have several different phases where the battle strategy changes and also focuses on the story at the same time. We also paid attention to the party structure. In particular, we spent a lot of time and effort to solidify the party structure during the battle with Sephiroth. The battle with the Whisper Harbinger that leads to the climax fight with Sephiroth is one that changes automatically as does the structure of the party you are fighting with, so the protagonists need to work together in order to challenge their own fate.

However, we felt that if we were to do the same type of structure during Sephiroth’s battle, then it might become tedious to the player. For example, if we were to take away one of the protagonists out of the four, then the fans of that protagonist might feel let down. Because of that, we decided that the characters who join you during the Sephiroth battle will depend on how you fought during the Whisper Harbinger battle. However, in order to do this, we would have to create a ton of cutscenes depending on the order that the characters appear in, and even now I remember the look on the cutscene team member’s faces when I proposed the idea and the blank stares that I received (laughs). Because the Final Fantasy Series is one that is known for having a large amount of cutscenes, I am really grateful for the cutscene team member’s assistance in not just the Sephiroth battle scene, but for working so hard on all cutscenes within the series too.

—There are weapons, accessories, materia, and items that were added into the Remake that were not present in the original game, but was there any particular reason for doing this?

Hamaguchi: Right before the game went gold, I actually made an absurd request to the team to add the “Pedometer” materia. You get this materia at the start of Chapter 14, and since you’re there to help people out with odds and ends within the Sector 5 and Sector 6 slums, you would need to walk around the areas a lot. Since you had visited these areas within Chapter 8 and Chapter 9 already, there wouldn’t be many changes, so I thought to give players a reason for walking around these places again by adding in this materia. I actually originally called the materia the “Step” materia, but I noticed that Toriyama changed the name to the “Pedometer” materia instead (laughs). I was reminded of it again when I saw the strategy book refer to that name.

—Is there any specific monster enemy or battle (whether it be within the Colosseum or Battle Simulator) that piqued your interest?

Hamaguchi: The “Level 7 Top Secret Battle” has quite a shock factor. The person in charge of battle planning asked me, “Does it make sense for Bahamut to summon Ifrit?” Since they are fighting in a virtual reality, it wouldn’t be a problem, so I answered “Yeah, go for it!” without thinking too much about it. However, when I was doing a play check for the difficulty level of the battle, I remember being shocked (laughs). When that happens, you’d probably panic and think that you should defeat Ifrit first, but it’s actually more advantageous to focus on attacking Bahamut instead. This battle was the most difficult one for me and left quite an impression.

—I’m sure that there are several younger development staff who never played the original FFVII, so were there any instances where there was a bit of a generation gap?

Hamaguchi: Since the original game was so widely loved by fans everywhere, there were a lot of younger staff members who were scared of making changes. On the other hand, Producer Kitase wanted big changes (laughs). Nomura and I saw the Remake as an homage to the original game, so if we were to change anything, we made sure that it would be something planned with a specific reason that fans could accept.

—Did you have any ideas or wishes that you were entertaining by yourself that was then made a reality in this game?

Hamaguchi: It’s not something I was entertaining for a while, but having an automatic weapon growth system was something that I focused on before working on FF7R since I was on the development team for the “Mobius Final Fantasy” game, which left a strong impression on me. Since a smartphone game operates in a way that you return to it on a daily basis, lots of things are automated as much as possible to create a smooth experience. There’s also a card synthesis system within the game that allows for an automated way to synthesize your cards, so that was a point that I thought would be nice to have in FF7R where weapons could automatically level up as well. I’m always thinking about the consumer side when developing games, and being able to see customer reactions in real time, such as when I was developing smartphone games, gave me an environment to try out a lot of ideas I had. I think that was a great experience for me.

—As a gamer, was there anything in particular from FF7R that surprised or impressed you?

Hamaguchi: Although I myself was involved too, I’m still very impressed that we were able to successfully create a game from start to finish without making compromises to any of the large amount of data we had. This is all thanks to not only Nomura, Toriyama, and other directors such as me, but also to the game designers, graphics team, sound team, system staff, and more. All of us had various responsibilities as creators, and it’s because of the best efforts of everyone that we were able to make this game possible. I’m personally very excited to make the next game with the same team members again!

—FFVII Remake is highly praised as a game with amazing quality with the latest technology, but was there anything that was challenging or something that you did not personally oversee but was still impressed with the outcome?

Hamaguchi: Seeing the world of FFVII open up through its story is one of the highlights that makes the game so enjoyable, but the user experience and story immersion could be greatly impacted with too many loading screens and wait times. We therefore kept a technical eye on the loading system since the beginning. In order to do this, we aligned the data with each situation so that it could simultaneously load, which allowed us to not have the loading screen appear during the middle of the chapter. During the last cutscene of each chapter, the next chapter’s data would already be loading in the background, which allowed for the load screen between chapters to also be as short as possible. We also added tips to read on the load screen, but because the loading times are so short, it’s also difficult to read all of them. It made me cry out with joy!

—Lastly, is there anything you would like to say to the readers?

Hamaguchi: The first installment of the “FFVII Remake Project” was centered around Midgar, and we strived to recreate a Midgar that you could not experience in the original story, showcasing the hustle and bustle of the lives of the people there as well as the environment. The next installment will then shift to the other parts of the world since the characters have escaped from Midgar in the story. We hope to create a game that allows you to experience the charm and allure of the world of FFVII from the various lives of the people as well as the environments that will be present. Production for the next installment is already under way, and our team is putting their all into the advancement of the game. Although there is still a wait, we hope that you can look forward to what we have in store!

[papirouge]

Gamerbro will always be more accepting of Japanese characters because most of those games are japanese and also Japanese are honorary White people (see my previous post).

But even Japan has this habits of shoving japanese characters in non fantasy/realistic games/manga (supposed to be in a White setting)... because they can. For example Shadow of Hearts: Convenant is supposed to happen around World War II in France and yet, there's a Japan samurai in it 🥴 Same for Shingeki no Kyojin that's set in a very (titans apart) conventionally European/germanic medieval world, and yet, Mikasa, the last Japanese alive, is here lol

Gamerbro have no issue letting these overbearing stunt pass because they're 🌟japanese🌟 but they refuse to let that fly is Western (so multiracial) studio do the same¯⁠\⁠_⁠(⁠ツ⁠)⁠_⁠/⁠¯

I think Final Fantasy main characters have always been dubbed by gamers (even for FFVII that's a fans' favorite, Sephiroth seems more popular (?)), and I think it got worse when Square Enix transformed the serie as a gigantic cash grab (bc of the Final Fantasy movie flop) with unecessary sequels (it started with FF X-2), several part games, FF VII desperate neverending milking (remake + movies), releasing an unfinished game that you had to PAY to get the actual ending/finished/fixed version...(hi FF XV). Wasn't FF XV unanimously clowned for its awful chara design (at least the main squad looking like an outdated camp vkei band)? The Final Fantasy serie lost its luster since a while already so I understand the gaming community clowning it... But yeah, men loooove complaining about how male mental health isn't taken seriously, and then call 'pussy' entertainment soft bois.

And yeah, manga/anime censorship isn't new and every scrote seething about PC culture has no idea of what they're talking about. I'm from France and my country was one of the earliest to import anime/manga. Dragon Ball came out on our screen in the early 90s. This anime a censored like crazy. Kame Sennin peeping (underage) Bulma butt, Goku touching Bulma genitals, extreme violence....all of this was edited out by the producers of the CHILD PROGRAM that was broadcasting it 🥴 THEY ALSO BROADCASTED HOKUTŌ NO KEN WHICH HAS TO BE ONE OF THE MOST VIOLENR ANIME OF ITS GENERATION and they literally had to change dialogue and edit out like mad the 'worst' scenes (this shit was still violent nonetheless 🥴)

Same in Ranma 1/2 with Happōsai stealing girls panties and in the french dub they called them "tissues" 💀

And even for Dead or Alive 2 they censored Ayane and Kasumi age because they were canonically 16 years old but since they were highly sexualized in the game it didn't fly for the Western version so their age got switched to "Unknown" for those local version💀

Those scrote screeching about SJW culture have no idea how DEFENSIVE parents were against that anime trash when it first got imported her. If what we have today is SJW, I have no idea what they would have called what happened in the mid 90s .... If anything, society has become more lenient an open to the rEsPect cUltUrEs crap that's made us more enabling of straight up pedo bait bs. If anything we need more censorship. There's a literally rise of pedo sexual assault in Japan. Any person trying to say iT's fIcTiOnAl is either an idiot or a pedo. Pedophilia is going rampant on society and anime culture has totally a part in it.

you are right, "woke" has truly lost all meaning as a term... one of my new favorite games has a very basic and positive message to it but because the localization inserted some nonsense about a nonbinary character it got labeled as "woke SJW trash" even tho the rest of the script is pretty accurate to the original Japanese

I also saw comments about how just including a gay relationship in this game is "agenda-pushing" like I really don't get that tbqh. it just reminded me of people complaining that the new Zelda game is "woke" because it has a few characters who aren't lily white and Zelda has short hair lmao

LMAO Dying at the "woke" Zelda bc some characters are Black. Isn't that a fantasy game? like, with magic, talking trees, trolls and shit but Black people existing is a reach?? (they did the same for Lord of the Rings TV show)

I think the reluctance of these folks to see non White people in fantasy content is bc White people want to gatekeep fantasy as a 'White only' genre. Which is funny because White people have no problem reappropriating foreign genre for their own gain 🙃

Funny how these woke hunter always forget those Hollywood movies adaptation of foreign stories where the studio ALWAYS need to shove a WHITE hero for some reason or purposely use a story where a White character can outshine others?

Remember the samurai movie with Tom Cruise? 7 years in Tibet? Also Mulan love interest was supposed to be a White man initially, but people complained and it's been scrubbed off. There are whole think piece exposing how the Whites LOVE inserting themselves into POC stories to elevate themselves as heroes. Even woke storyline don't go that far with their non White characters ; they are always confined as side kick and minimum screetime (is it true that all the dark skin characters of the house of dragon ended up dying after the first season?? lmaoooo)

And I always said that the issue wasn't non White people being shoved in "White people story" because when Black Panther happened their were still mad and were seething about that movie catering to Blacks (but don't you dare saying movies featuring mostly White people are catering to White, it will make you an awful wokester lmao). Whites will always feel entitled for other races to relate to their stories, but never the other way around. There's a post floating around cathblr with Catholics raving about Arabs discovering the Lord of The Ring and enjoying it a lot. And I couldn't help but think: would those catholics turn the favor and rave about an Arab movie with islamist undertones...? 🙃 lmao.... Those people are soooooo transparent 💀

Everything is woke if you try hard enough, anyway. Scrotes are seething because they consider some video game female characters are purposely made ugly (like Aloy from Horizon Dawn. A scrote was coping bc the mocap actress was much more beautiful and he couldn't wrap his hand as of why they would change her face to make her look more 'rough' ...when he's just too stupid to grasp that this choice is actually pretty coherent with the storyline since homegirl is nomad WARRIOR.).

I also remember when they made a revamp of Mortal Kombat chara design and changed characters body proportion to become more realistic, scrotes got mad lmao It's hilarious how they think they're really doing something 'counter-culture' but they only show how porn fried they are. There's no way to think this

...is better than that

Btw, all those ANTI praising Japan for being anti woke are up to a very hard wake up call. Many japanese celebrities are vocal LGBT+ supporters, a significant amount of online stars are gay/queer (Ryuchell, Peey, Kemio...). Even recently a member of AAA (a famous pop band) came out as gay 😬 there's a huuuuge push for LGBT visibility into the Japan entertainment right now, so it's obvious they have no idea of what they're talking about... The other day on Twitter I've seen a post summing up why Western conservartard scrotes love Japan

This post was in a thread about nuclear bomb and American burgers saying it was oKay tO kIlLs thOusaNd of CivIlIanS bEcAuse jApan wEre tHe bAd GuYs 🤡

The USA humiliated Japan in the non threatening " tech/anime obsessed pacifists". Unlike other countries that still have a minimum of pride and honour, Japan doesn't remind the USA how bad they are and the unchecked harm they done to them. They are also completely economically submitted to the USA (there are still American base out there.....). So the USA give them a cookie and constantly elevate them as the perfect non White country 🙃

[vivi-mire]

Hey! this is a post with some of my various thoughts for the ffvii magical au that’s been discussed. It’s long, so It’s all under the cut. 

In this world, Magical girls are fairly commonplace, like superheroes in other media. Unlike the name suggests, it is a very gender-neutral profession. 

Magical girls, once they gain their powers, often register with their local government to get a salary for their magical work. They are usually paid per monster/crisis, so most have normal jobs outside of their magical abilities. Another option is to be a private Magical Girl, one who is employed by a private company such as Shinra.

Fan groups for various Magical Girls are very common. There’s a fanpage out there for even the most obscure ones. Have you ever heard of Mr. Dolphin from Junon? Me neither. But there's someone out there making flower crown edits of him as we speak. 

Magical abilities usually consist of 3 factors: The Transformation Sequence, A Weapon, and Other Supplementary Powers (ex: fire magic, healing abilities, etc.)

Magical Girl abilities are recognized to come from three sources: 

1.) Passion. People who are so involved or Passionate in something can sometimes manifest magical girl power from it. Magical Girls who gained power this way generally have abilities related to the passion and are often older than type 2 or 3. Ex: a magical girl who gained their power through passion of knowledge may have analytical/information based powers 

2.) Genetics. Children of Magical girls have a moderate chance of inheriting powers of their own. These powers often take after their parents but with a personal twist. Some scientists (cough Hojo cough) work with theories on how this inheritance works and how to get the most power from it

3.) Outside, unknown source. The rarest type, these magical girls gain power from something other than 1 or 2. There are usually illegal experiments or freak accidents involved. 

Types 1,2,and 3 can have overlaps, like a type 2’s powers becoming distinct and mature from a type 1 experience, or a type 2 with dormant powers being awakened through a type 3 incident. 

However, there is a 4th, unrecognized source that not many know about: Loaning. This is what happens to Cloud. Aerith, who was a type 2 magical girl, deciding she really didn't want to have to deal with her magical girl destiny, lent out her powers to Cloud, who uses them as a type of proxy magical girl. Because of this disconnect, he is missing the transformation sequence factor of his powers. Cloud’s improvised transformation sequence consists of him wearing some of it under his clothes, and having abag with the extra bits nearby. 

Shinra is a large company that also employs Magical Girls. Shinra Magical girls are employed by Shinra as a private force, being on standby to be deployed to various areas and are on Shinra’s payroll. There have been many rumors of Shinra tampering with type 3 magical girl experiments, but this is all alleged and Shinra has never addressed the rumors. Shinra Magical girls are usually assigned an area to protect under Shinra’s control. Ones with support based powers may also be stationed at Shinra-owned hospitals or disaster sites that Shinra has been contracted to aid with. 

---------------------------------------------------------

Sephiroth: 

Type: 2 and 3 mix

Employment: Shinra Licenced Private Magical Girl

Sephiroth was the result of Hojo trying to mess around with how to breed the perfect magical girl. Lucretia was a fairly powerful one herself, and Jenova (who is thought to be some ancient magical girl specimen) was added to the equation via hojo brand fuckery. He is very fascinated with Cloud, who caught his attention with his unorthodox transformation sequence. He has been at Shinra for as long as he can remember, and due to Shinra’s hardworking propaganda team, is generally regarded as the most popular Magical Girl of this time. 

Genesis:

Type: 1 and 3 mix

Employment: Shinra Licenced Private Magical Girl

Genesis is known by his coworkers as being very flamboyant,easy to anger, and competitive. He has an almost one-sided rivalry with Sephiroth and Cloud and is very proud of his abilities and performances. His powers came from his love of Loveless, with poetry and wordplay abilities, but some patented Shinra interference gave him powerful fire magic as well. His transformation sequence is well known for having a splash zone- stand too close and you WILL get hit with glitter and various other materials that swirl around. 

Angeal:

Type: 1 and 3 mix

Employment: Part-time Shinra Licenced Private Magical Girl. Owner of a Florist shop.

Angeal used to be employed full-time at Shinra, but has since semi-retired due to training an apprentice and wanting  to work on his passion. He still takes on Shinra missions, but it is less often and more specialized. His powers are plant-based, due to his awakening passion. Much like the others, Shinra also threw in several other enhancements, making him a type 3 mix. He runs a Florist shop above the plate, and is acquainted with Aerith, who is one of his suppliers. Zack, his apprentice, also works at Shinra.

Zack:

Type: 1

Employment: Shinra Licenced Private Magical Girl

Zack is Angeal’s apprentice and Cloud’s best friend. He has the ability to copy attacks from beings he has met or defeated, giving him incredible potential. This got him on Shinra’s radar, and he was offered a job not long after he registered. He is very excitable and friendly, earning him the nickname of “puppy” among others. 

Cloud: 

Type: unknown (type 4)

Employment: Under the plate corner store cashier, handyman, various other small jobs

Cloud is one of the few unregistered magical girls below the plate. He was lent his powers by Aerith, after he expressed his frustration about Shinra rarely stationing Magical Girls in his area. He is very exasperated with magical girl culture and would just like the powers thank you very much. Because he has no transformation sequence, Aerith bullied him into getting an outfit under the insistence that “it would protect your identity!”. It does not. He rapidly gained infamy as an under the plate unlicensed magical girl, and has been caught in camera multiple times putting his outfit on. In some of them he is even looking directly into the camera. However, whenever asked, he denies it was him. Because he is a proxy, his powers are not as potent or specialized, leaving him with a fairly standard kit of super strength, a hugeass sword, and various small elemental abilities. 

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Reeve & Cait sith- Reeve uses Cait as a magical girl conduit and generally works under his own agenda. His movements are unknown to shinra

Vincent- type 1 whose passion was guns. That's right, his magical girl ability is a gun. It sounds funny until he's pointing said gun at YOU.

Cid- space themed magical girl, but fell into obscurity when the rocket launch failed. 

Tifa- runs a bar and is one of Cloud’s good friends

Barret- runs a daycare below plate and is also a member of the neighborhood watch.

Kunsel- he’s a magical girl, but virtually no one knows about him. Has information-based abilities. 

[goldie-claws]

6 and 11 for any f/o(s)! ^^ (@lilacslovers)

Thank u for the ask @lilacslovers ! Ngl it was tough to pick who so I’ll do Sephiroth bc I have some thoughts about my favourite catboy (also btw when I say Squeenix I mean Square Enix. It’s just my nickname for them lmao)

6) what are some tropes that fan art of your f/o tends to follow? - From what I have seen over the years and through osmosis lmao, is fanart loves making him the dark and brooding type which is arguably completely untrue lmao (even an official Advent Children poster does it! I mean look at this ghdfkg).

Plus since FFVII (his home game which I think is important to add) he was more of a guy who just kept to himself before he became a villain? Which I’d argue gets blown up a bit to make him a ‘Why are we still here? Just to suffer?’ kinda guy by fanart and maybe fans but I haven’t spoken to any FF fans indepth since I grabbed him as an F/O lmao.

And since FFVII even Squeenix have misinterpreted his character (Advent Children being an example of that also, naturally) so imo and depending on who you ask, his original incarnation is the most TRUE version of him (That and the remake! They did a really good job imo in going back to his original character :>).

Sephiroth is just a weird guy obsessed with spending Mother’s Day with his alien madre and also becoming a god on the side. He maybe look like the brooding type because anime sword, long hair, black cloak but in reality he is just a catboy baby! I genuinely don’t think I’ve ever seen someone perfect the :3 face like he can lmao.

He wants to cause problems on purpose and I’d let him. Just watch out for any glasses of water he plans on knocking over to spite you.

11) do you think it’s better to have a copious amount of content for your f/o, even with the risk of finding a lot of ship art, or better to have a lot less? - Slightly leaning towards less fanart imo. He’s a very particular character to write/draw etc due to how even Squeenix and fans handle him, so finding that pure FFVII characterisation of him may be tough to find.

Especially since he is THE original Sans Undertale eg. popular character every fangirl of any age loved, which then leads to him being woobiefied (eg. made more pitiful/likeable) and like, I’ll agree his past is fucked up and he deserves pity in some places, but not ALL the time (past does not excuse actions) which some fanart may emphasis and forget that he is THE signature villain and very important to the history of games and villains in general.

Sephiroth is a genuinely frightening and scary character for many many reasons (hell, there’s even one scene where Cloud is actually paralysed with fear over seeing Sephiroth in front of him, to the point he can’t defend himself with his buster sword like in previous encounters). It’s very obvious in the remake he completely lacks empathy and a moral compass (eg. he stabs another evil character who is threatening Cloud’s group, only to immediately turn around and stab a good character for no reason other than maybe(?) spite or because he’s a troll lmao), which I think many people have forgotted bc haha hot boy!!! Again, there’s a reason he is THE villain of video game history, and why I make it where my S/I’s form a bond with him BEFORE he becomes evil lmao. Otherwise there would be no hope in befriending him.

[cateringisalie]

Sephiroth for the character ask

How I feel about this character

Overhyped and overused. An effective villain once, now more of a marketing tool or an expectation. Which feels very flippant. Sephiroth is interesting and he is unnerving and scary, and effortlessly conveys feelings of unstoppable cruelty. Cold, calculating but also somewhat dramatic. That was 1997. By this point... He doesn’t stay down and if he’s not on-screen immediately or at least alluded to with heavy-handed thematic nudges clearly fandom will just walk away from your FFVII project (how Dirge ever got released is an increasing mystery now I think about it...). Gotta get One Winged Angel in as soon as possible (even if that never was his character theme).

All the people I ship romantically with this character

Aeris Gainsborough is the easy one – I’ve written for the ship a few times. Elena is an odd one I don’t think I understand, but I could swear I actually enjoyed a fic where the two of them were romantically linked. Outside of that we get into murky areas; all the actively popular ones are objectionable (never bought into Cloud with him and Remake really made that unappealing. Zack is... Zack and I try not to think of him if I can help it.Anyone else who may or may not be shipped with him who also featured in Crisis Core doesn’t actually exist).

Putting him with Tifa never works in a way that putting him with Aeris does – which of course feels like hypocrisy but the vibes of it all are so different and with Tifa is just no (I have extensive other Tifa ships so it’s fine). After that from prior fic exploration I suspect further popular Sephiroth ships (excepting the odd Scarlet/Rufus/Tseng) are OCs and self-inserts.

Oh, but I am here for shipping him with Eve from Parasite Eve for no good reason other than she is Jenova-esque and also this was a popular joke pairing in certain older fanfics.

My non-romantic OTP for this character

This is probably Jenova? Sephiroth is not exactly blessed with a multitude of friendships in any release to date (no, not even Crisis Core. Oh sure if had friends there if we define them as other attractive men he stood beside and occasionally fought, but friends as in liking someone and spending time with them/doing activities? Not in the slightest). But he does spend near the entirety of FFVII carting around some denomination of Jenova with whom its popular to assume he could communicate.

My unpopular opinion about this character

I don’t think I’ve ever been convinced by some of the arguments for his pre-fire life. The aspiration to have friends he never did feels off (by similar logic most of the FFVII cast have no friends – which is fine for some of them but others are just kinda odd – and hey Remake made this worse). Not-actually-popular-but-really-annoys me: the notion that he burnt down Nibelheim for some revenge logic against Shinra specifically and for recognising it was a front for the company in the backstory feels like some less than great excusing all the murder he did that day. I do not think he should be redeemed (like at all). If you push him into an AU and work around the whole fire/Jenova thing, then fine. If you’re clawing him back from the dead post-FFVII, then no. Also buying into the general villains can be villains and do not need to redeemed.

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon.

Stayed dead. And another because Remake makes everything more complicated to talk about now: had the one scene where he walked past Palmer and literally no other appearance in that game. Because that’s how you integrate him and have tension and mystery and a genuinely good moment.

[animus-inspire-archive]

1,5,16

1. What types of threads are your most favourite?

Something big, fat and juicy! Doesn’t have to be canon but something with lots of world-building or lore elements in it.

It’s been so long since I’ve done one so I’m rusty but I do like a bit of an action thread, especially if combined with above or a bit of emotional whumpage.

Something that allows for some banter between the muses is always good too!

5. What is your least favourite thing about your muse? What makes them difficult to write, or interact with?

See second point above, he’s not very prone to getting involved in action threads and a lot of what we tend to end up writing is introspection. Which, yanno, I love, but he’s not exactly a muse you can easily extrovert without the use of Cait Sith. Reeve uses his mind more in a lot of encounters and the guy is so much smarter than I am. That can be difficult to craft correctly, especially as I have so few spoons available to me these days.

Truth be told, if I was playing him entirely straight 100% IC along my headcanon lines, he would not be doing half as much with others as he is doing. But he grants me some leeway so I can get to writing with a wide variety of folks and exploring facets of his personality. He’s used to it, though he sometimes recoils at the more out-there or cracky interactions ;D

16. Does fandom intimidate you, or make you critical of your portrayal? Do you have any irrational doubts in what you are doing?

Not only am I old, but I’m also fandom old and been playing Reeve for so long that objectively I should’ve got to a point that I take some pride in my portrayal. And in some ways I do, but in many other ways I remain hyper-critical.

Quite a few evenings I sit down to write and just despise the look and sound of everything I produce. It’s embarrassing actually. I should definitely be past all this!

It’s generally thanks to an anxiety disorder that has been with me since childhood and having a personality type I have come to realise thrives on both receiving validation and encouraging others. So it’s less fandom itself, necessarily, even though I’ve never been particularly popular or highly regarded (I used to be more regarded which also contributes) - and that does niggle in doubts over the years.

I think out of fandom as a whole I have gotten most affected within the fic side of things - I actually orphaned most of my fics on my A03 account only last year, just because I was getting no comments and hardly any kudos etc. They weren’t unpopular characters or fandoms (most of it was Reeve and FFVII) and I don’t think I’m that terrible a writer or that my portrayal sucks, so I was pretty disheartened overall. I sort of regret that decision now.

I’ve come to realise I’m never going to be a popular ‘influencer’ writer or RPer so I am concentrating on what I think I am good at - which is someone who can craft some pretty amazing things with others whilst cheering them on, even if it has to be from the sidelines.

[avoutput]

Final Fantasy VII Legacy || Nomura, Complex?

This is the 3rd out of 3 articles. Find the second here.

It’s time to get down to mythril tacks. At this point, I have talked about what this game meant to me when it was released and how it’s newest installment fared as a game. Finally, it’s time to talk about the impact the Remake has on what has unexpectedly become a robust and diverse universe. What does this mean for us at large, the players? This is a no-holds-barred SPOILER frenzy about anything and everything in the Squaresoft/Square-Enix pantheon. This means not just the games in the orbit of Final Fantasy VII, but the entire catalog at Square-Enix. To be honest, this is just the introduction, I don’t know if I even have an intent of going so far beyond the purview of the Remake, but in the spirit of the Final Fantasy gatekeeper, Tetsuya Nomura, I refuse to limit myself.

It’s been almost exactly a month since I started writing this article. It took so long to come back to this because I kept finding more and more content related to Final Fantasy 7 that I either forgot about or didn’t even know existed. On my own shelf sits Advent Children, Dirge of Cerberus, and Crisis Core. I decided to watch Advent Children immediately after beating Remake. As a movie fan and amateur critic, the film is littered with terrible film decisions and was clearly the work of people who spend much of their time penning and creating video game stories. It’s a series of cutscenes without a controller attached and at a certain point, you realize Advent Children was never meant for film fans, but for fans of the game. Specifically for fans desiring an epilogue and more directly fans of Cloud, Tifa, and Sephiroth. The story is almost unintelligible because there is tons of connective tissue left to be assumed by the viewer. It is at once too far removed from FF7 in both linear real time and in-game universe time to be recognizable, and simultaneously inexplicable in what has transpired and why. It takes a crack at explaining it from moment to moment, but largely, it looks like they were looking for excuses to push the characters to act. I am not trying to review the film but rather my intent is to create a modus opendai for the gatekeeper, Mr. Nomura. The more I learned about the world of FF7 that was being created over the years, the more it seemed to lean on the stylings of this one man. In a way, Nomura launched Squaresoft and himself into a whole new stratosphere of fame and broke all expectations. In my first article, I mentioned that for a certain generation of fans, it was the perfect storm, but I would later find out the cause of the storm was Nomura breaking open lightning in a bottle, releasing his brand of design on the world with a multi-million dollar international company backing him.

If I may, let me take a parallel series by the same creator infested by the meta of his own other original creations, namely Kingdom Hearts. In its inception, it looks like two producers at Square were trying to make a 3-D adventure platformer game with characters as popular as Mario, but only the biggest brand on earth, Disney, could possibly beat the king of platformers. Nomura was… walking by and pushed himself into the conversation, and they decided if they could do it, they would let him direct. (Read more here) Yada yada yada, Kingdom Hearts was created. While I can’t seem to find (and didn’t look too hard to find) proof, I can only imagine that with KH having a tenuous new relationship with big-corp Disney, they focused more on a simple game that was straightforward. KH is very much a disney product with a little bit of artificial Nomura sweetener. With its unbridled success, Nomura was unleashed. Kingdom Hearts 2 would go on to be, in my opinion, one of the most unintelligible video game stories ever inscribed to plastic discs. But the power of Nomura’s story-telling is that we all understand it differently. He creates bedrocks, little story islands of unshakable facts that are connected via a salty sea of undefinable liquid moments. Cast out to sea, rudderless and deprived, you try to bring to your mouth this brine only to be dehydrated faster than if you had just sailed the sea and died in the sun between fact islands or lived long enough to tell the tale. And that metaphor is my tribute to Nomura. Long, winding, hard to remember, and just clear enough that you think you got it, but you still have problems with its construction.

It has now been over two months since I have last visited this article. What is keeping me from continuing? The incomplete nature of my knowledge of Final Fantasy VII lore. Unlike the Kingdom Hearts sea, VII is like a series of interconnected caves, and the more you unearth the more you learn. And therein lies the problem. The Nomura-verse is composed of both his methods and his circumstances. His methods, we have discussed, but his circumstance is game development. Unlike movies or books, games obviously have an interactive capability, but they also have a variable development cycle. Some titles come out quickly, others span decades. They also consist of different teams, story writers, directors, and a myriad of producers. This in turn can make it much harder to make a solid universe, especially when new additions start off in a place where a continuous story was never meant to exist. Nomura is at once hindered and strengthened by his circumstances. He can’t tell a better story because the development cycle of his vision is variable, and success is based on sales and popularity. Without success, he can’t create a new addition, and often in games, the end is meant to tie the whole thing up. Were there to be a sequel, a whole new story is thought up and tacked on wherever it fits. Gamers are pretty forgiving of this concept. Still, at the same time, Nomura probably wouldn’t make a concise story because it's not his style. For comparison, see the Dark Souls series. A game that both has deep lore and an involving story, but at the same time, the game doesn’t require you to know a single point to continue moving forward. This is almost the antithesis of Nomura’s style. In Souls, they let the player decide to explore its story caves, but doesn’t confront them with it to continue advancing. This is a strength of  video games. A strength that Nomura keeps using to his disadvantage.

Yet, Final Fantasy VII still excelled to unparalleled heights. It engages you in the same way all of the previous games in the series have, but with a slight departure on the strict fantasy theme, instead a merger with steampunk or semi-future. The series was changed forever, and so was gaming. Instead of doing the Dragon Quest method, expanding on the same universe design with different stories, Final Fantasy was emboldened to try completely random approaches with vector entries like VIII and X. For longtime fans, or fans of their original design, Every future title, MMO or Single Player, would go on to be successful, but not fully realized in their original context. Even the return to form in IX was much more playful than any of the original six entries. Gaming franchises have since become playgrounds for developers. Once they are accepted by fans, developers are emboldened and experiment with what would normally be a new IP, but instead use the financial shield of the famous namesake to move forward with new ideas. And in the case of Final Fantasy, when this concept of change works, it means that every numbered game becomes a wildcard. It’s a double edged sword for a gaming franchise that dates back to the 8-bit era. It has fans over 40 years old by this point and they may be willing to buy anything new. But this isn’t new to you and it isn’t a revelation for me. Final Fantasy VII Remake causes me to reckon with these demons I had buried years ago. It rips off a scab I thought had healed. I had given up on the past, a past where I was excited for a singular story, contained in a single universe, in a single title. I had given up on the glory years of Final Fantasy, but the Remake took me back and said, what if we told you everything you remember about the original was true, and everything we added after that was also true, even though you probably didn’t play it or even know it existed. Even if you do your very best, you probably won’t be able to track the story or interconnected characters if you aren’t in the know. It’s like joining a group of long time friends that are constantly referencing inside jokes, all of them just winking at each other, nudging you in the ribs and asking, “Do ya get it?” Truly, the Remake series thus far makes me feel lost at sea when what I wanted to feel like was coming home.

This retrospective has left me feeling broken. Based on the end of the FFVIIR, I sought out to reconcile all of the loose ends to all the connected media. However, spending time with the prequel Crisis Core for over around 40 hours, I realized this was a crapshoot. None of it mattered. It didn’t enrich the characters, it only made the story longer. It just added wibbly-wobbly, timey-whimey “facts” to an otherwise complete(ish) origin point. The FFVII universe can’t handle the weight that is put on it. It’s a faulty bridge over a treacherous pass. On the other hand, that same bridge for some is a point of excitement. You tread the boards, one by one, testing your weight, hoping to get to the other side intact. And I think that is why we keep trying these games and why they keep getting made. We don’t want the fun to end, despite the fact that it has nothing left for us to be excited by. It’s a closed loop that we keep looking for something new in. By the end of the Remake, we are somewhere between ⅓ or ½ way across the faulty bridge, dangling between where we have been and where it is taking us. At this point, I am too mentally exhausted from trying to make sense of it all. Yet I am incapable of not enjoying it, the mental somersaults one does to understand the interconnected mess that is Final Fantasy VII. It’s too dear to me. I got on the bridge for so many reasons, but the biggest one is to be on the other side with all of the other fans who dared to play and dared to complete the game. To be in the know, to wink across the room. I want to be in that hyper-critical utopia where we all have one thing in common: We played Final Fantasy VII in 1997. And we all have something to say about it.

[leathenorthernlight]

My experience with FFVII

My experience with FFVII is funny.

As I’ve stated before, 7 wasn’t the first FF I knew. 6 was the first one, it was the one I grew up with, the only one I’ve ever played, and I love it, I love it a lot. It’s my favorite FF for a lot of reasons. But, as I’ve said before as well, 7 is the one I’ve dedicated more time.

It might be because it has had a lot of content since the OG came out, so I’ve been more invested on the 7 world a lot more. Or maybe it’s because it’s the most popular one out there and I always end up finding something more about it. Or perhaps it’s because I really enjoy and like the themes and concepts that 7 handles. In any case, the fact is that FF7 is the one I’m more immersed in.

The first playthrough I ever watched was around six or seven years ago. I liked the story a lot. I had troubles loving the characters, but that’s normal since I was not the one playing them, but it’s also true that I just wanted to know the story rather than being attached to the characters. And man, the story did not disappointed.

I already knew that Aerith would die, and the gamer said so a few times over the playthrough, so when the moment came, it didn’t leave the impression that it should have. Even so, I still thought it was a very important and shocking scene. I think that whole scene is pretty well done. It didn’t matter that I knew what was coming, it still was powerful. And the fight with Jenova with Aerith’s theme on the background was a punch right to the feelings. A very well done scene.

However, what ended up exploding my mind was everything after that. Everything that happen in the North Crater was something I did not expect. It’s true that we had clues about something being wrong with Cloud, but that was too much. It was as if everything I knew up until now wasn’t real. Which is awesome because that’s 7 main theme: reality vs. illusion.

Cloud’s breakdown, how he literally became a traitor giving the Black Materia to Sephiroth, Weapon awaking. Ugh, everything was amazing. One of my favorites parts in the whole game, no doubts.

Then, the revelation that Meteor has been invoked. At that moment, despair hit you with all its might.

Then, the scene in the Lifestream came and it was beautiful and we finally got to know the real Cloud, with his memories fixed. What is more, learning about the real role he played in the Nibelheim event was amazing. It never cross my mind that he was actually just a grunt and not a SOLDIER. One of the biggest reveals, I think.

Then, the rest of the game kept me at the edge of my seat. I wanted to know how everything would end. I wanted to know if the team would defeat Sephiroth, if Holy would stop Meteor, if there would be a happy ending after so much hopelessness. And I really think that ending with the Lifestream helping Holy and that little glimpse of Aerith at the end was perfect.

I really liked OG, which led me to search more about it. Actually, that first playthrough I watched was pretty complete, so I watched the secret scene with Zack after Cloud gets his memories back and you go to Shinra mansion. The gamer said that everyone who had played Crisis Core would know exactly who Zack was, so I went and looked for CC playthroughs, and I liked it a lot. Never mind Genesis who is the worst character ever created, but in general, I loved this prequel.

Thanks to CC I loved Zack like a maniac, I liked Aerith more, I warmed up to Cloud, I understood a bit more about Sephiroth and overall, it helped me to get a better picture of the world and lore of FF7. I really enjoyed the new perspective we had as Shinra workers. I might write about my experience with this in another time. Point is I liked it.

Then, searching FF7 related stuff on Internet, I found out there was a movie, so I watched it. I watched both versions: Advent Children, and AC Complete. I liked the Complete version more, but I enjoyed them both. They helped me to see how our characters were doing after the end of game and how the ghosts of their past weren’t as buried as they thought.

I also watched The Last Order OVA and I know it’s not canon, but I liked it anyway because I love Zack and I wanted more content with him. I haven’t had the chance to read the canon novels aside from some fragments here and there, as well as the Ultimanias. I haven’t watch any gameplays of Before Crisis nor Dirge of Cerberus, but I plan to do it, eventually.

I’ll admit that the Remake is what made me remember how much I love this game. I’ve also liked what they did with it, for the most part. I have some doubts, worries and disagreements about what the devs have done or plan to do, which I might talk about another time, but I’ve loved it overall.

I’m excited to see the next part. I just hope they don’t drag this out. They cannot do more than five parts or it would be a pain having to wait one part every two or three years… Although, if I’m honest, I’ll probably forget my passion about the game and will move to another thing until the second part is here. That’s me, alright.

Well, that was my experience with FFVII. I’m planing on writing a series where I’ll talk about the characters, my opinion and experience with them, as well as my feelings about Zerith and Cloti.