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denble · 2 months

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FFVII Remake Hard Mode finished

So I've finally finished the game in Hard Mode.

It's not that bad

From Chapter 3 to Chapter 16 I am quite over-powering actually. Chapter 17 and 18, however, will be a pain if you don't level your Materia correctly (namely, your HP Up and MP Up Materias). I think I did more or less the right thing, except that my HP Up and MP Up Materia were a bit under-leveled, considering I never grind during my playthrough. That requires being attentive to healing as well as guarding (forget evading...) as the bosses hit really hard and there is no way to increase your defense. I tried Magnify + Barrier but the effect last about 30 seconds... so my best bet is still Maginify + Healing

Favorite (hard mode) boss fights

Chapter 4 end fight + Roche: There's just raw fun cutting down so many enemies.

Chapter 5 Crab Warden with Cloud - Tifa - Barret: because I love the trio

Chapter 9 Hell House: There's this unmatched satisfaction knowing so many people struggling at this fight while I win on my third try after getting the equipment and Materia right.

Chapter 17 Top Secret Challenge with Cloud - Tifa - Barret: Honestly, I love using them, especially in the Shinra Combat Simulator

Chapter 17 The Arsenal: Probably my most favorite boss fight ever. Hiding behind debris while having the ability to attack from afar with Barret is an absolute joy. Difficulty and length is just about right. A right mix between brute force and strategy (unlike fights like Rufus in Chapter 17, where it's almost a one-hit-one-kill fight, either for him, or for us)

What's left after Hard Mode?

Well, there are still a few trophy to claim. Notoriously the Dress for the 9 and the Biker Boy. I also need to claim the last Manuscript in Chapter 9.

And then, Yuffie DLC. I started it, but wasn't too into it so I just left it there and will come back when I feel like to. Honestly, being the old cranky woman I am now, I don't find cute talkative girls appealing. Too much noise. Same reason why I'm not too fond with Aerith. She talks to much, and too playful for this old me. Not hate-talking the characters, it's just that it's a game, and there are aspects that I don't enjoy. That's the emotional response I have and I can't help it.

Talking about annoyance, lots of people find Johnny annoying and unbearable. I myself know that he's annoying (Cloud is clearly annoyed with him), but I'm fine with his presence. I find him pretty amusing actually, all the bro/aniki talk with Cloud.

#ffvii remake

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loregoddess · 3 years

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Ib and Ff7

FF7 is under the cut bc I Had Some Thoughts about it, and I am so sorry.

Ib:

Favorite thing about that game: I was NOT expecting to end up as emotionally invested as I got after like, a handful of minutes playing it? Like it's a little indie rpg maker game and yet it's honestly one of the most impactful games I've ever played.

Least favorite thing about that game: The motion controls are a bit wonky which like, small indie rpg maker game mechanics are to blame, but it made getting out of the mini-maze hell when I was on my "I have to save Garry" run.

Favorite character in that game: Garry, I've never gotten so attached to a fictional character in such a short amount of time only to be BETRAYED by my own choices, resulting in him being dead and in a painting for my first ending.

Would I recommend it? Why? Yes yes yes, it's free, it's fun, and it only takes like, 30 minutes to play.

Free space to go off about something! Despite Mary being the antagonist and responsible for Garry's death in several endings, I do feel a bit bad for her and wish there was an ending where Ib could like, save both Garry and Mary. It doesn't make much sense for the overall mood of the story, but still.

Rating out of 10: 9/10, good game overall, strong narrative, slightly wonky controls, excellent soundtrack, endearing aesthetics.

FF7:

Favorite thing about that game: It has a really interesting plot and cast of characters, and just a really strong narrative overall. Getting into all the extended compilation stuff was easy because the initial game experience left me wanting to explore more. The Remake does a really good job integrating a lot of this extended lore into...whatever the Remake's narrative is trying to do.

Least favorite thing about that game: The fandom--Okay, for real though, in the original game I hated Aerith's death. Like, yes, from a story perspective as the player because she was one of my favorite characters, but I actually think that was strong writing for the narrative development. What I mean is that mechanically it was a hideous decision because it leaves this gaping hole in the game. Maybe the player was using her and now has to try and get a character they weren't used to using up to level speed with Cloud and whoever else they were using for their main battle party, and that's just frustrating from a player perspective, but also when she leaves she takes everything except the materia she was carrying with her and the player looses access to that entirely for the rest of the game, but can still purchase her staffs and stuff from in-game vendors? Like, knowing this now what's the point of using her at all for the first part of the game? There's literally no point in leveling her up when I could use the exp for someone else, and there's no reason to buy her any good equipment because her most powerful staff is in the last dungeon you can use her in and you could give her any throwaway bracelet because you're going to lose it anyway. It literally makes no sense from a mechanic standpoint and I hate it because the original game's mechanics are already wonky (although that wasn't entirely rare for that era's jrpgs) but then just having this mechanical gap appear halfway through the game just messes things up even more. The original FF7 game has a lot going on in it, but because there's so much I feel it lacks the sort of polish it could have had, and I especially feel that Aerith's death just made the lackluster mechanics feel more insulting. However, the Remake has so far done a fair job of balancing the party mechanics so that even if the writers do decide to kill off Aerith again, I don't think there will be the mechanical gap that the original game suffered from because the Remake is much more mechanically balanced and well-designed.

Favorite character in that game: Aerith and Tifa, even when I was playing through the original game with it's really wonky writing (or localization, maybe), I just liked them a lot. Aerith breaks a lot of the "jrpg squishy healer girl narrative's heart" tropes I've come to expect, and Tifa had a lot of depth stemming from all that was going on in her personal character arc, and I really appreciated the writing for both. The Remake's kept the momentum and added even more details that make me love these two even more. Special mention goes to Nanaki (Red XIII) because would it wouldn't be a game series I've been obsessed with if I didn't love one of the characters the main writing team loves to ignore.

Would I recommend it? Why? Y...yes? I mean, sort of. Like my very long rant shows, I'm not actually a fan of the mechanics of the original game, and that's saying a lot since I actually love a lot of old game's for their wonky mechanics. But like, I had a hard time figuring out the internal logic and battle systems, and I'm still not even sure what healing magic scales off of right now, or the most effective use of materia and other items to their maximum effect, which is something I usually pride myself for knowing in jrpgs. The story is really interesting, but there's also a lot of plot gaps that sometimes get explored in extended lore but were never hinted at in the original narrative (like, when I found out that Tseng and Rufus not only survived their "this character very much just got killed on screen" deaths, but got quasi-redemption arcs, I was so, so confused). Also the general pacing is really weird, like the Midgar section sets up the Turks as being Really Serious antagonists, but then they just. End up being comic relief for the rest of the game, and slightly annoying boss fights. Rufus gives this really dramatic speech about how he's going to be a tyrant who rules by fear and then spends the rest of the game Not Doing That, instead chasing after Sephiroth and failing and then dying but not really dying bc as I noted, that got retconned. Hojo is literally one of the most evil characters in the story and the root of almost every issue, but you also get directions from him on a beach surrounded by girls in sexy (for PS1 era graphics) swimsuits, and it's like, why? So like, the original is decent and has a lot of interesting points, and the ost is amazing, but the mechanics are wonky and the actual plot flow is...weird. So like, if you just want to know the story, watch a playthrough, but if you want the challenge of the wacky mechanics (which I know damn well people have figured out and made incredibly strong end-game teams), then go ahead and play it yourself. As for the Remake, I would suggest at least watching the original game to get to know the narrative to better understand how the Remake is changing the direction of the story, but also like, I'd recommend it just because it's plain fun, the mechanics are pretty easy to pick up, the ost is still amazing, and the narrative is even more rich. I would suggest a handful of things from the extended compilation works to better enjoy some of the Remake additions (i.e. the novel where Kyrie and Leslie first appeared as characters, they're both actually super amazing and the Remake only skims the surface with them), but like, it's not necessary for the overall enjoyment of the Remake.

Free space to go off about something! I've gone off about enough already, but I would suggest avoiding the fandom if you're interesting in getting into the game because there's so much petty arguing over shipping nonsense and what is or isn't canon, like, it's not the most toxic fandom I've ever seen but it's not what I'd call fun either. Would fully recommend the entire compilation though, I really loved all the novels/short stories, and even just watching playthroughs of the games related to FF7 was so much fun and added so much depth to the world and characters. Would recommend Advent Children, but only after playing/watching the original game and reading at least On a Way To a Smile (and additionally reading The Kids Are Alright for the Complete version of the movie) because nothing in the movie makes any damned sense otherwise.

Rating out of 10: Original game is 6/10, and the Remake is 9/10

#I am so sorry the second section is so long #I even cut parts from it to try and sound less petty about things but I have Many Thoughts #ask meme #lookerdewitt #I still don't have an ask tag

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cloudstriffes · 4 years

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Final Fantasy VII Remake Review

I’ve officially finished the game and I have soooo many thoughts and theories and emotions, so imma jump right in about what I loved, what I wanted more of, what I disliked and what I want to see for part 2. This is gonna be long, but Spoilers below the cut! (also I am not including anything about ships in this)

What I enjoyed/loved:

Characters:

Like with FFXV, I think this games biggest strengths lie with it’s characters (unlike FFXV, I think the story has the potential to be strong too, but I’ll get to that later).

It goes without saying that for me this is the best characterization of Cloud Strife since the original game. I really love the character development we see with him just within part one (we see him go from lovable jerk to really caring about his companions and making the effort to listen to them and comfort them, even if it’s not easy for him and he struggles a lot). I really have a soft spot for characters like that and I think it’s done really well here.

Tifa Lockhart is BEST GIRL! I have so much love for this girl and she’s hands down my favorite to play as (I even made her the leader in the fights because I can don’t @ me). Tifa shows that you can have your cake and eat it too, in that she can be gentle, considerate, kind, and even shy at times, but she still takes names and kicks butt; she doesn’t have to sacrifice who she really is to be considered a bad*ss female character. I think her character is greatly expanded on here than in the original and we get to see just how everything affects her and not just Cloud (which is important since they have been through a lot of the same traumatizing events).

I always thought Barret Wallace was an interesting character, especially seeing his backstory in the original game (something I can’t wait for in the next installment). Here, it’s down 10x better and I love every second he’s on screen. I’m very excited to see how that Black and White morality view he has on the world will be broken down and really put a strain on how he view himself and the things he’s done. I also adore to the heavens his relationship with little Marlene. Also the way he starts to Dad towards Cloud 😭😭😭

Now on the the best character of the entire game. Mere words cannot express how much I adore Aerith Gainsborough. Her characterization is a god-send that I definitely wouldn’t have appreciated had I not looked into other FFVII properties and saw the disservice they do to her. Fortunately for us, in Remake, Aeirth is everything we originally loved about her and more. She’s got a mischievous and sassy side that I adore and just love how she plays off of Cloud. Their interactions were so sweet and genuine and got quite a few laughs out of me.

Other characters:

Um where to start. First of all, Avalanche. I can relate to Jessie on spiritual level because I too thirst for Cloud Strife. All said and done though, he characterization is great and she’s a lot of fun. Her backstory is good too and her relationship with the rest of Avalanche is very genuine. And I love Biggs and Wedge with all my heart. I overall think the expanded character development for these 3 is spot on and really makes their “deaths” hit hard.

Marlene Wallace is a precious baby and I can cry all day about how precious her scenes with Barret are😭😭😭😭

Red XIII is the best boy and he’s hilarious. I can’t wait to delve more into his backstory when we get to Cosmo Canyon.

The Side characters in Wall Market are some of the best in the game. They're all interesting and I really hope we see more of them.

I hate everyone at Shinra HQ but also Reeve is a good boy, but also screw Hojo x10, but also Scarlet can step on me, but also THE TURKS (where tf is Elena😭), but also SCREW HOJO, bust also that Kunsel/Crisis Core reference tho, but also Rufus Shinra CAN GET IT.

I said it before, but Sephiroth is actually very intimidating (not that he wasn’t in his other appearances, especially Advent Children) but hoo boy, the way we actually see how it terrifies Cloud really makes it stick for me. Sephiroth can get it too don’t @ me.

Story/Other:

I know a lot of long-time and even recent fans won’t agree, but I thought the story was very, very good. Don’t get me wrong, it’s flawed, but would I have honestly been happy with a shot-for-shot high definition update with some expansion here and there? Yeah probably, but I know how that story goes.

I think doing a complete 180 to the story we know is a huge risk that I have hopes will pay off. I really love the idea that by changing fates of certain characters for the better (ie. Zack, Biggs, maybe Jessie and Wedge), Cloud and the others may have doomed themselves to an even worse fate with Sephiroth and I absolutely love that I don’t know where it’s going to go from here. I mean, I sure we’ll still get our fan favorites like Costa del Sol, the Gold Saucer, Yuffie, Vincent, Cid and ELENA, but we’re in for so many twist and turns and whatever the heck Zack being alive will do to the universe (or alternate universe? Idk I have theories).

My favorite areas in the game were the Sector 7 Slums, Aerith’s House, Wall Market, the Collapsed Expressway and Shinra HQ.

I think the voice acting is good, and for some character’s it’s great. The main cast (Cloud, Tifa, Aerith, Barret, Red XII and Avalanche) is VERY GOOD and the major side characters are good too. I already know there is discourse about Sephiroth and Zack’s English VA’s so I’m not sharing my opinion right now on that.

Also the soundtrack is god-tier. I cannot stop listening to “Hollow” and hearing updated renditions of tracks from the original soundtrack somehow made me nostalgic for a game I only started playing last year. It’s top-notch imo.

What I didn’t like:

There’s nothing in the game I genuinely hated to the point where it ruined things for me.

I did enjoyed the second half of the sidequest for Sector 5 Slums (when you have Tifa and Barret back in your party), but the other sidequest were either annoying or hit and miss.

There’s also the issue with padding and certain areas seeming to go on forever. I really liked the Train Graveyard, for the first 20 minutes and after that it kinda dragged on too long for me (we had like two major boss fights in that one area😩) especially when the next major story part was the drop of the Sector 7 plate. I did love the little scene with Aerith waiting to be found; that was really good.

I also am confused about the back and forth about how much Aerith may know about her and the others’ fates. At times, it seems like she knows much more than she’s letting on and other times, she either really doesn’t know or she subconsciously is aware of something, but I guess it’s to be revealed.

Enough people have commented about the graphics and npcs in certain scenes (you know what I mean) so imma just say that at best it’s hilarious and at worse it’s very distracting.

What I want to see next and my overall rating for part 1:

As expressed before, I’m excited to see how much the story diverges and if the Arbiters of fate are really gone. I just feel like there’s more than Sephiroth pulling the strings here, but who knows. I also can’t wait for more references to Crisis Core (if ya’ll show me Kunsel I’ll cry) and I definitely hope we get more scenes of Zack and Cloud in the, I guess, alternate reality? Also playable Red XIII and If ya’ll think i’m thirsty for the characters in this game, just want until Vincent freakin’ Valentine shows up.

All and all, I think I can confidently rate part one with a solid 9/10. It’s flawed, but it’s going in such an unexpected direction I didn’t anticipate that I’m left hungry for more. The characters are stellar and the expansion of certain parts of the game is amazing. I cannot wait for part two guys. I hope you all found something to enjoy too. Now I’m in the process of replaying it along with some other games I need to finish. I’ll still be tagging spoilers for now (ffvii remake spoilers)

#ffvii remake spoilers #ffviir #final fantasy vii remake #final fantasy vii #cloud strife #tifa lockhart #sephiroth #barret wallace #aerith gainsborough #ffvii #games #final fantasy #*c.r post*

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halfcharacter · 4 years

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Rufus Shinra Analysis in FFVII Remake (2020) vs FFVII (1997)

taken from my original thread on twitter here.

[MASSIVE REMAKE AND OG GAME SPOILERS, you have been warned]

From what we’ve seen in Final Fantasy VII Remake so far, Rufus (in my opinion) is 100% more interesting than he was in the original Final Fantasy VII. In the original game, Sephiroth/JENOVA infiltrates the Shinra building and murders everyone inside. Then, Sephiroth/JENOVA stabs President Shinra and leaves his body at his desk with Masamune sticking out of his back. Palmer, who had witnessed the entire thing, calls Rufus (who is in Junon) for backup. Rufus responds by boarding a helicopter to come assume command of the company in the wake of his father’s death.

Rufus arrives just as the protagonists discover President Shinra’s body, and they rush out to confront him. Rufus doesn’t know who they are, so he asks. Each of the gang gives a brief one-liner of their “occupations”, and Rufus responds with “what a crew” which is A REALLY GOOD SNARKY LINE I’M SAD ISN’T IN THE REMAKE. In Final Fantasy VII Remake, the part where the party reveals their ‘occupations’ is instead given to Heidegger, and only Aerith, Barret and Red XIII are present.

An interesting major divergence from the original game then happens in Remake. In the original, Rufus begins his inauguration speech:

That’s right. I’ll let you hear my new appointment speech. ...My old man tried to control the world with money. It seems to have been working. The population thought that Shinra would protect them. Work at Shinra, get your pay. If a terrorist attacks, the Shinra army will help you. It looks perfect on the outside. But, I do things differently. I’ll control the world with fear. It takes too much to do it like my old man. A little fear will control the minds of the common people. There’s no reason to waste money on them.

As Rufus begins by talking about how Shinra used to work, the player starts to think “Oh good, maybe things are about to change for the better. Maybe he’s a good guy!” WRONG.

Rufus then drops the bombshell that he has no intention of being ‘better’ than his father—in fact, he’s worse. While his father used money to rule, Rufus will instead rule with fear. I’m not sure why this speech was cut from the Remake, but my guess is that they’re going to keep it for a later instalment because it’s just a+ in terms of setting up just how cruel Rufus actually is.

In the original, Cloud then asks Barret to take Aerith and escape the building (present in Remake) because the revelation that Sephiroth is alive “is the true threat to the planet” (not present in Remake). when Rufus and Cloud are alone, Rufus asks, “why do you want to fight me?”

Cloud responds, “you seek the promised land and Sephiroth.” Rufus’ last line before the boss battle is “I see. I guess this means we won’t become friends.” THIS IS A REALLY INTERESTING LINE which is not in the Remake because OG!Rufus and Remake!Rufus are quite different.

In the original it is implied that Rufus was planning to team up with Cloud, or at least gain their support since they’re both going after Sephiroth. It’s only after Cloud refuses his offer that they fight, and the fight was more of a story fight than a true challenge.

HERE IS WHERE THE FINAL FANTASY VII REMAKE REALLY DIFFERS RE: RUFUS. Remake gives us a short scene with the Turks thinking back on their actions regarding the Sector 7 pillar, before Tseng gets a phone call from Rufus and says, “the VP needs us.” The Turks then leave.

The first time Rufus is seen is when the AVALANCHE helicopter is shot down, and Reno asks, “you sure you want to do this personally, boss?” to which Rufus smirks. In the original, Rufus arrives at the Shinra HQ because he heard that his father had died. In the Remake, Rufus was already on his way to Midgar when his father dies. Why is this? An important clue comes from the Turk-centric game Before Crisis, as well as the actual boss battle vs Rufus himself.

Before Crisis reveals that Rufus had previously planned to assassinate his father with the help of AVALANCHE but was found out. This assassination attempt is confirmed to be canon within the Remake from one of Heidegger’s lines early in the Remake. President Shinra placed Rufus under house arrest, but still retained him as VP (even if in name only). While fighting Rufus in the Remake, he tosses two coins in the air and the camera gives us a closeup of them. The coins read “Shinra Inc.” and “A New Era”, among other things.

Players of the original will know that “A New Age” is how Rufus brands his version of Shinra, particularly seen on his banners during his parade in Junon. Remake!Rufus has already managed to have his new currency minted BEFORE HIS FATHER EVEN DIES. So, what does this mean?

It means that what’s likely to be the case in Remake is that Rufus called Tseng to come pick him up because he’s either staging another coup/planning to take control right there and then. He just happened to have weird timing and arrived at the same time as Sephiroth/JENOVA and the protagonists, and his father had just died (at the hands of Sephiroth/JENOVA).

Rufus in the original didn’t show any sadness about his father dying, but Remake!Rufus appears to have taken that one step further in that he was preparing for another attempt, and had already had his new currency minted in preparation for his success and ascension.

It’s interesting also to compare President Shinra and Rufus. President Shinra is very much tied into the corporate structure—he rules using his wealth, he’s very business minded, and his closest allies are his execs. Rufus on the other hand prefers to use fear and black ops to get his way, which is shown by how he has a much stronger relationship with the Turks. The Remake showcases this internal conflict nicely with a brief scene near the end.

In this scene, Heidegger slips up and calls him “Mister Vice President”, which Rufus ignores. Tseng then walks in and says, “Mister President”, and Rufus replies, “that’s right.” Tseng smirks at Heidegger as they leave. This shows how Heidegger (and the other exec’s) control is being usurped by the Turks. I’m interested to see how the Shinra power struggles are going to be further explored in the Remake, because it’s one of my favourite parts of the whole game.

With regards to the actual boss battle itself, it’s very interesting how much stronger they’ve made Rufus in Remake. the original boss battle was very easy and was more of a story fight than a true fight. Rufus in the Remake is one of the hardest bosses because he just fucking counters EVERYTHING you do. he’s DESIGNED to be irritating as shit to the player, because he has a single attack that staggers him instantly, but the game doesn’t tell you what it is. Furthermore, the way Rufus fights is incredibly flashy—spins and twirls, shooting coins, etc. it’s all a dance to him. It’s very strongly implied that he must have been trained by the Turks, because he’s still a regular human, but he’s on a comparable level to Reno and Rude, if not even stronger.

In the original, Rufus fights Cloud because Cloud refuses to let him leave, Cloud having recognized him as a threat. In the Remake, Rufus HIMSELF chooses to fight Cloud. He willingly gets out of his helicopter to confront cloud BECAUSE HE WANTS TO. Reno even points out that Rufus doesn’t have to do it personally, but Rufus craves a fight with cloud. Rufus in the Remake fights cloud for sport and takes great pleasure in doing it as well.

In the Remake he comes off as a highly dangerous opponent who is both smart AND a capable fighter, giving Cloud a run for his money, while in the original he was pretty much just trust fund kid with shotgun and dog.

Remake!Rufus and Dark Nation/Darkstar combo off each other incessantly, implying that they’ve been fighting together for a very long time. Rufus also CONSISTENTLY taunts you throughout the entire fight, while Cloud (and the player) are getting really annoyed at him.

All of these elements set Rufus (and by extension, New Age!Shinra) up to be way stronger and more dangerous opponents than they were in the original game, where after the beginning Midgar portion they were pretty much just joke opponents vs the real threat, Sephiroth.

Another extra thought: Why can Rufus seemingly see the whispers?

The whispers are said in the Remake to be drawn to people who attempt to alter destiny’s course and ensure that they do not. Rufus seems to be able to see them, but Tseng cannot, and is confused by it. I’m assuming what this means is that Rufus’ actions have already defied fate in some way. Nothing of what he did on-screen really changed the original game’s timeline, so I think this means that he has done something off-screen that we the player hasn’t seen yet, but had timeline changing effects. Another idea is that in the original game Rufus and Shinra just “follow” sephiroth in the same way cloud and co. do. If the Remake is giving Rufus/Shinra more agency, as well as Cloud and co. themselves, it’s not hard to imagine that now Rufus himself can possibly pursue new timelines/events, rather than just following after Sephiroth. In the original, you have parties of people just following “Sephiroth” to the northern crater for the Reunion, but now all bets are off. Rufus also “dies” in the original and Advent Children retconned it, and I’m wondering if this means Rufus is also defying his fate to “die” on top of Shinra HQ near the endgame.

I'm REALLY interested in this re-imagining of Rufus and Shinra, and i can't wait to see more of them in remake. THANK YOU FOR READING ALL THESE MUSINGS ON MY FAVOURITE CHARACTER IN FFVII.

#Rufus Shinra #Final Fantasy VII #FFVII #Final Fantasy VII Remake #FFVIIR

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glowyjellyfish · 3 years

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Another collection of intermission/intergrade thoughts:

-I finally beat Ramuh after advancing the plot a little to get a bit of leveling, with the help of Sonon

-same for beating Chadley at Fort Condor, although I still think I may have just gotten lucky that time.

-I’m on chapter two now, I don’t know how many chapters there are or whether this is early or normal for completing those sidequests or if there are more sidequests or what

-eeeee Barret and Tifa

-I know it was mainly there to pin down the timeline, but also eeeeee they included Reeve

-and EEEEE SCARLET!

-what is with those executives and just letting terrorists run around in killing enemies in the lair just for the sake of data. not that it’s out of character for either Hojo or scarlet, but my goodness do they not see anything wrong with letting the protagonists progress and not just detain them like a normal person would

-now I am imagining that after part one/the Midgar escape, both Hojo and Scarlet are like “welp, guess I’m partially responsible for this whole breakout chaos, good thing Rufus wants to sweep it under the rug…” although realistically speaking, Hojo’s got to be thrilled that Cloud is running off to follow Sephiroth/Jenova.

-so back in the compilation days, I never played much of it but the vibe I got from most new characters was that they were designed to be anime-esque quirky miniboss squads and didn’t usually do great on depth, merely Quirkiness. This is an ENTIRELY UNINFORMED OPINION except maybe regarding DOC, mind you. But Remake so far has done a fine, even great job with the new characters, including the ones that I believe were invented in compilation materials. Characters like Leslie and Sonon show real depth, and they come across as heroes of their own stories rather than being made up to challenge the protagonists. I like it! I hope the trend continues!

-Yuffie’s Moogle cape was adorable, but I am very excited to see her in all her glory now, she is SO GREAT.

-ugh and the MUSIC. The music during the factory sequence was fantastic!

-I am pleased to report that I feel I have actually done a fairly respectable job of writing Yuffie in my recent fanfics. I may need to describe her moving around a lot more, but that’s a weak point of mine already. (This is for my FF7/FF8 crossover fanfic I talk about sometimes. In it, Yuffie has so far teased Reeve for his lack of combat experience, been annoyed at being required to attend a school for this mission, got Red to sit next to her at lunch so she could steal his cookie, found an extra secret area past the usual secret area for the ff7 group to have secret meetings, and insisted Materia is better than GFs and the ff8 world is dumb for having GFs. Perfectly in character amiright? am I right folks?)

-I might have to work on updating the Yuffie section of my ff7 fanmix

#ff7r intergrade #FF7R intermission #spoilers #ff7 #ff7r

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zachsgamejournal · 4 years

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COMPLETED: Final Fantasy VII Remake

The task is done. FF7R is finished. And I hate it. Not in a “Why did I waste my money on this trash” way, but a “What have you done to one of my top 10 games” way. I feel like I read the book and am now watching the HBO show going, “well that’s not right…” If this were a review and I was grading the game, I’d give it a 7/10. Graphically, the character models are beautiful, but the repetitive and narrow environments can be shockingly low quality at times. The gameplay is pretty good. It’s definitely an evolution of Crisis Core, but when you’re in red health, and your best chance to cast heal is to go put yourself face-to-face with a towering monster...eh, it needed work. I liked the side quests, but they could be awkwardly placed. The characters are not what I remembered. That’s not necessarily bad, but at times I had a hard time understanding their motivations. The added sections and elongated sequences were a major pain point, which also affected the story. Ultimately, I think Final Fantasy VII Remake’s development team had an impossible task, and they did their best...mostly.

So, last we left off, we’re all hanging in Aerith’s old room. Super weird, since in the original the Turks capture the team and Avalanche faces President Shinra, face-to-face. This was a great moment in the original: “good try losers, but we got you!” Shinra...I don’t remember what he says, but it pisses off Barret. We’re then taken to prison cells where Cloud talks to different groups through the prison walls. You get some character development plus the awkward conversation of Aerith saying he promised one date to Cloud. Tifa overhears and is like “Well excuse me”. It’s a good scene of the team coming together and much of the interpersonal drama coming out in the open. This is where the team truly coalesces.

Remake, though...it’s awkward. We see more hooded ghosts and then freely walk out. Speaking of the ghosts, looks like I was almost right. They’re “Destiny” trying to make sure things play out. And they’re stupid. Probably gonna give them their own post. We then go to the Jenova container. Here, Hojo is using Jenova-juice to make monsters and shit. I didn’t hate this sequence, but it’s a whole new chapter and I was done. Like, we’re supposed to leave the cells and see a dead Shinra--not spend an hour plus wandering more hallways. It was neat how they took some of the weird monsters from the original and made them meaningful here as Hojo experiments. And I liked seeing Tifa and Aerith work as a team, developing a friendship, instead of a rivalry over Cloud’s affections. I’d almost prefer they had left romance out of it, just focus on everyone being friends. It’s fun having Red XIII around, and it was probably wise to include this new Hojo section so that he becomes a part of the team--since the game is about to end. But he wasn’t super defined as a character. He’s just kinda mopey. How did he get here, what did Hojo want with him? President Shinra is hanging off the side of the building. Barret talks to him, saves him, and then makes a few odd requests. Shinra grabs a gun and kinda challenges Barret on his ideals. This is all awkward. Barret’s past with Shinra is very personal. He’s not wrong to want to save the planet, but at this moment, Barret is much more “make Shinra hurt”. And since the remake doesn’t explain why Barret is this way, or show Barret as an unreasonable hothead, it’s just...awkward. Then we see Sephiroth kill the President. I get why they did this: very cinematic. But there was something startling about finding Shinra’s body in the original. Your main enemy/antagonist is already dead. Who killed him? Why? Are they a friend? All great and terrifying questions that are answered at the right times in the original. But since this is a partial-remake, we don’t have time for all that: so, stabby-stabby. Then they do the smartest change they’ve made in this game: you fight Jenova. It was always quite confusing in the original. Jenova was having to be transported by “Sephiroth”--so it always seemed weird to me that you fight Jenova. But then...Sephiroth was Jenova...kinda...need to check the wiki on that.

Then we have the boss fight with Rufus. The original handled this transition better. After finding a dead Shinra with the Sephiroth’s sword, Rufus’s helicopter lands. The gang does one of my favorite things and introduces themselves from their diverse backgrounds: Ex-Soldier, Flower Girl, Avalanche, Science experiment. Rufus is unimpressed and gives a speech about how he’s gonna be a bigger ass than his dad. It was a good intro to a new villain. Remake...it’s awkward. BUT I love how Tifa comes to Cloud’s rescue at the end of the boss fight. FINALLY the game recognizes how badass Tifa is. Cloud, ex-soldier, still needs saving. He can’t survive as a loner. And this moment beautifully illustrates that. Good move.

Before that, we do see Sephiroth carry Jenova out of the tower. But then there’s a flash, revealing a hooded figure with a tattoo. Think we saw this before. They’re really showing their hand here, but given the limited scope of the remake, I get why they had to. I’m mostly annoyed they didn’t do more set up. I know they showed Cloud’s neighbor being hooded, but I think they could have done more with this. I’m also curious if Cloud is going to have a tattoo under his shoulder armor?? Soo, I couldn’t wait to do the motorcycle event and end this thing. But we had to do a bunch of cut scenes...took forever. Then boom--we’re off. Similar to how the first sequence went, but the helicopter was a nice addition. I was impressed they did the boss fight purefly on the motorcycle. It kinda kicked my ass, I almost died. Luckily, I survived. Good fun. We get to the end of the highway and I’m ready to put down the controller and pat myself on the back. But then I’m allowed to move. As I walk forward, I see a “rest bench” to refill my HP/MP. Umm...this is concerning. I think we get a hint of Sephiroth--and so I imagine he will be the final boss fight. I’m ok with this, as it’s probably what needs to happen for the story. Instead, there’s this long BS about the Destiny ghosts and how they’re shaping the future and, for some reason I didn’t quite pick up on, we have to literally fight destiny. ...like...why?

So, huge interdimensional boss fight with an almost formless creature and its minions. Reminds me a lot of SIN from Final Fantasy 10. I didn’t like Final Fantasy 10. So I’m not liking this. I don’t get why we’re fighting Destiny, I don’t get how we can fight Destiny--like this is some bullshit I don’t need right now. While as intriguing as the debris-hopping is (reminiscent of Advent Children), I hated this stupid, tacked-on boss fight. I don’t see the point of Destiny being involved (gonna have a separate post about this). Then we defeat the stupid Destiny monster and still have to fight Sephiroth. Like, skip Destiny and just do an exciting interdimensional Sephiroth fight!!! I defeat Sephiroth...or a Sephiroth...and end up in an interdimensional space that reminds me of the final boss from the original. I imagine this is intentional. Sephiroth invites Cloud to join him against Destiny (very Vader/Luke) and Cloud says, “never”. Which is a little confusing, because Cloud literally just finished killing Destiny. And then the game closes with a cinematic I half paid attention to.

From what I can tell, Destiny Whispers killed Wedge for some reason, and Briggs is left alive. To hell with Jessie I guess? I did like Wedge coming back to help out. I love their choice of voice actor. But his inclusion has been an awkward ride.

As the game was ending, I was feeling...not great. I wasn’t really happy with it. But then they offered the Chapter Select. This changes things a bit. I can “control” my experience on a replay, and I imagine I can kinda punch my way through quite easily since I get to keep my equipment and levels. I may actually replay this game, but I still favor the original. A friend expressed a desire for them to truly remake the original--but I was on board for improvements. I recant that now. I wish they had stayed truer to the original and not tried to give me such an epic chunk.

#Zach's Game Journal #ZGJ #Final Fantasy VII Remake #PlayStation 4 #PS4 #Destiny Whispers are stupid #COMPLETED

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cburambles · 5 months

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Some speculations about Rufus' mother & who it could have influenced his insecurity & his choices concerning his father.

I was re-reading translations of the interview that the devs recently made about Shinra's story and something that intrigued me is that we get an idea of how Shinra sr became who he is in OG/Remake. We learn how Heidegger became so loyal to him, that Palmer was his friend whom he kept around to liven up the room & we also get a quick mention about President Shinra's mistresses. However, there's no mention of a legal wife.

I then thought about the museum of Shinra HQ. As the museum is dedicated to Shinra sr's life, you would at least expect something addressing his family. After all, Why not pushing that image of the ideal capitalist entrepreneur who became rich due to his hard work, with his perfect nuclear family to support him in the propaganda?

It got me intrigued and I ended up checking parts of the novels mentionning Rufus' mother. And she is never addressed as a wife. Just his "mother".

The only seemingly romantic relationship that Shinra sr openly had was Lazard's mother, a waitress from the slums, as the npcs around the church in CCR implies.

It makes me wonder if it turns out that Rufus' mother is also another mistress.

It kinda work in the story , as it would explain a lot some of Rufus' fear & thoughts about Evan.

We know Shinra sr always provide severance money to his mistresses who often happened to be secretaries.

Rufus also explain that his other siblings could show up & they would get money after they got to listen their sob stories. And we know that Evan's mother went to beg Shinra sr to get more money for baby Evan's chirurgy. And Shinra sr gave it to her.

It makes me wonder if Shinra sr could have taken in Rufus because his mother died when he was really young & he had no one else to raise him.

During Rufus' childhood memory in CoS, his mother is not mentionned. He is waiting for his father, seemingly wandering around the house late at night. As if he's not worried to be scolded by her, as if she wasn't there in the first place. When Rufus see his whole life stream in front of his eyes, he mostly only sees his father.

Rufus refers to her birthday & day of passing in CoS and her look in TKAA, almost put his own mother on the same level as Annette. Rufus doesn't even show anger at the idea of his father "cheating" on his mother & seems more annoyed & scared by the idea they can provide "replacements for him".

And that's it. We have no glimpse about her personnality, no memories of her etc... just some sparse info. It makes you wonder if Rufus even knew her or misses her.

Something that I've also noticed in the continuity is that Rufus is born a year after Shinra HQ in Midgar is finished. Shinra sr is 37 years old & by that point in time, is becoming a huge political player of the world, which means he has a target on his back.

So he probably had to pick an heir just in case, to raise someone who can be an extension of himself so his legacy & the company can go on after his death

Thus it's another expression of generosity toward his mistress and children in his mind but also provide him an heir that he can mold however he wants, without worrying about his mother's meddling or influence if she's already dead. Killing two birds with one stone.

It adds a lot more weight to Shinra sr threats of potentially replacing him as a child, Rufus would probably that his value & worth as a son is tied to the idea of him being a successful heir. And that threat might feels real when your father has other hidden children laying around.

Now imagine if you add Lazard in the mix. From Rufus' POV, your father suddendly hire your older brother & said older brother not only get control of the most powerful branch of the army but also gets more achievements & acclaimed by the public for it.

And he's charismatic as the employees around like him as well, including the manufactured hero Sephiroth. Meanwhile, not only you have no real achievements to boast about but you are the VP but have no executive power. How would you feel?

#cb's rambling #rufus shinra #meta #speculations #ff7 theories #ff7

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