#they are so interwined to Nibelhiem and its secrets

[heavenlyascent]

Besides the mini games, there weren't really aspects of the changes in FF7 Rebirth that upset me too much. I can get over the additions of Tifa being consumed by a Weapon or the Gi being a more integral part of the story because, well, they're more additions than anything else. Unnecessary additions but additions never the less

(actually that's a lie the entire Glenn plot gets to me but only because if it turns out he's Cloud's long lost father, I will flip my absolute shit).

Then I got to Nibelheim and I honestly got so annoyed that I had to stop. That they changed it from a rebuilt town with people pretending nothing ever happened to a town that's being used as a recovery certain for degrading SOLDIERS and the mayor acknowledged that the Nibelheim Incident happened is insane? How could you take out one of the more horrific and pivotal points of the storyline for both Cloud and Tifa? Like sure yes Tifa is enraged that they rebuilt Nibelheim like it never happened but where's the gaslighting, the unsettling uncanniness of a town that is pretend it has been the same for five years, that a mass murder didn't happen?

There's a stark difference between Tifa going into her home and finding another person living in her room and saying she's always been there and her home being used a clinic. The pain and wrath of her coming home and having her trauma and pain being removed. That she's told to her face 'what happened to you, your family, your friends, that didn't happen, you're crazy' because Shrina HAD to hide what Sephiroth did--because if the world found out what he did, it meant they'd have to find out what SHRINA DID.

And Cloud? Cloud who is already mentally fragile, breaking slowly, coming back home and finding physical proof that everything didn't happen the way he remembered? Lies on top of lies that he can't untangle?

What about how Nibelheim is a central part of the main story??? Undeniable proof of Shrina's power that they can go back into a massacred village, destroy any proof that hundreds of people lived and died there, rebuild it, put actors in to those homes, and pretend like nothing ever happened? Does no one on the writing team see how taking that element out of Rebuilt Nibelhiem changes everything.

God, like the original storyline hit so hard for the player. For hours we're being told by Cloud and Tifa about the devastation of what Sephiroth and Shrina did; we see the physical and mental wounds that they carry from that night, we have a flashback we play through so we know exactly how it felt--and then we arrive at Nibehliem and it's fine. It's what one of the effective parts of the original story--a gut punch that takes the air out of everyone on the team and the audience.

AND THEY DELETED IT?

God, what does that take away from Sephiroth's storyline too?? They acknowledged SOMETHING HAPPENED in NIBELHIEM with HIM. THE WHOLE POINT IS TO HIDE EVERYTHING ABOUT SEPHIROTH AND THE JENOVA PROJECT WHY WOULD SHRINA EVER LET SOMEONE ACKNOWLEDGE WHAT HAPPENED???

The more I think about it, the more this change really pisses me off. I can't understand why they thought changing pretend Nibelhiem's story except that maybe they thought it couldn't be done with the way the upgraded technology works now? The world would have to know that something was wrong with Nibelhiem just pretended everything was okay.

Except, again, no one knew about Nibelhiem except for Tifa and Cloud. Nibelhiem is a small, remote village, no one would care if it suddenly disappeared off the map--and for the most part, we never run into anyone who actually acknowledges Nibelhiem except for Tifa and Cloud. It's, again, why returning to pretend Nibelhiem hits so hard--because it puts Tifa and Cloud's already questionable stories into jeopardy. Whose lying now about this? Tifa? Cloud? Both of them? None??? Can we even trust what we've seen in the story so far?

Or Shinra, this constantly looming shadow, so powerful it can rewrite history and memories.

The thing is they could have kept the clinic thing going if they had just kept up the plotpoint of people in the village DENYING what happened during the Nibelhiem Incident. If instead that guy had just said 'I have no idea who you are or what you mean, you never lived here Tifa' it would have worked so well.

It baffles me and kind of destroyed any generosity I had for the Remake. I overlooked a lot of things because, frankly everything so far was par for the course with Nomura. I expected going in to run into Kingdom Hearts level of absurdity, so when the Whisper plotline hit I was like ah, there it is, that's the over complication of an already complex plotline. It was fine, whatever.

But this? I even see metawise why you would remove the element? Doesn't Tifa have more of a reason to be fucking LIVID? Doesn't Cloud lose even more of grasp on reality? Doesn't Sephiroth kinda of more of a point about them being covering him up like the dirty secret he and JENOVA are--in both his birth and his death? Maybe they thought if they did so the Pretend Nibelheim story, they couldn't reasonable have Cloud explore the surrounding areas and do the stupid side quests. In which case, fucking just don't do that. Not every town had to have a goddamn a sidequest. You sacrificed one of the best parts of your story for SIDEQUESTS?!?!?!?

It's personally one of the worst aspect of the Rebirth for me. I haven't hit past it yet so I don't know if it's the worst part, but it sure as hell made me really dislike the game just for that. I can forgive a lot, I can't forgive this, and I won't.