Final Fantasy 7 : Cut Content & History [Part 1] | Cut Content

[@blaat44]

The fact that the game started out as (just) an eco terrorist group trying to blow up a reactor and it eventually evolving in to such an epic story is something I always loved about this game. Thank you!

[@gjtrue]

Looking up the development history of Final Fantasy VII is amazing and shocking. Sephiroth and Aerith originally planned to be siblings or even lovers as you mentioned, Zack and his role being created *very late* into development, unused plot points and character motives as well as designs, planned to be set in our real world of Earth, and so on. Like going by that flow chart, it even seems the were considering Tifa and Sephiroth possibly being siblings as well. Could you even IMAGINE lol. The biggest surprise to me personally being that 'Final Fantasy VIII' characters like Edea, Fujin, and Raijin were originally being for the prior installment here and even got as far as concept art. The creators at the time must have really wanted to use a Earth setting in some fashion. Seeing cool versions and plots of it in their later games like Parasite Eve and Einhänder.

[@TheObsessiveGamer]

The biggest surrpise to me if the Sephiroth and Tifa connection they were planning. Granted Sephiroth was to have Vincents design at that point which would explain why both Tifa and Vincent have long, straight black hair lol

[@theblindfoldedbirdwatcher570]

​​@@TheObsessiveGamerConsidering the possible Zeiram/Iria anime influence on FFVII, the Tifa and Sephiroth connection isn't that far-fetched if you substitute Iria from the anime (who structurally has Cloud's hair if you look at it) for Tifa (Iria has Tifa's shirt-the straps in particular from the 1991? film) and have her brother (whose hair is borderline Sephiroth-esque in the hair bangs though not as long and not resembling physical 7s like Sephiroth's actual hair bangs.) be the Sephiroth stand-in. Also, at one point in Zeiram, Iria does wear a tunic similar to Vincent's, so.... Anyway, the developmental connections are complex for FFVII, and I believe not just with the Zeiram 1&2 and the Iria connections.

[@aa.design.excellence]

PE2 is one of my favorite games of all time. Shame it doesn’t get more love/gets considered just an RE knockoff.

[@Peannlui]

Tifa and Aerith were originally the same character, too

[@gjtrue]

@@Peannlui That's crazy. 🥴

[@myekyl7448]

Lets also not deny that Cloud and sephiroth are def inspired by Guts and Griffith from Berserk. Troubled past protagonist with a massive heavy sword. White haired Rival who both embodied being very trusted , elegant and beautiful, more so when he was a Hero.

[@AmorFati777X]

OG cut content like red xiii clones is what I hoped remake would have not the bullshit they added to it. Although really I just wanted a faithful recreation of the story. FFVIII would have been the game to retcon with time travel alternate timeline bullshit if you just have to, and games like FF II and IV were bare bones enough to be remade with embellishment.

[@TheObsessiveGamer]

I mean...we got Test 0 at least xP But overall the story still is the same...just heavily padded in both good and bad ways imo

[@l3layze]

There's so much missed opportunity with the remake and exploring more of the characters backstory. It hurts to think about it tbh.

[@ShyArt85]

I enjoyed the video! Looking forward to the next one. This game is my personal top three. I called them the big 3. Ocarina of Time, Metal Gear Solid and Final Fantasy VII. Growing up in the 90s,1997 and 1998 were the best years for that era. A lot of firsts and groundbreaking games that set an industry standard. ❤

[@TheObsessiveGamer]

Thanks! Good thing is I've made videos on all 3 now haha. Those two years really were some of the best years in gaming that we still haven't been able to outdo

[@retrobution1262]

Great job on this. Learning about the connections this game has with parasite eve was very insightful, both titles were worlds away from squaresofts usual rpg fare in terms of aesthetic. It was a wondrous time to be a gamer. Looking forward to part 2!

[@SZF123456]

Yeah, as soon as he said NY I was like wait a sec…

[@retrobution1262]

@@SZF123456 Yeah man and Parasite Eve was so unique and different. Many elements in Midgar make it so obvious now too. Imagine if they had kept it for the final product? The rpg landscape in the west would be unrecognizable

[@TheObsessiveGamer]

If you toss in Xenogears as well, you got another game that was quite different from these two as well. Truly the golden age for RPGs. Thanks and look forward! :)

[@TrueKoalaKnight]

The concept for FF7 was Parasite Eve? Dodged a bullet right there. I would have hated them setting a Final Fantasy game in New York.

[@TheObsessiveGamer]

Crazy thing is that this isn't the only thing that was pitched for FF7. Technically Xenogears was also pitched as FF7 but rejected.

[@blango-san]

@@TheObsessiveGamer and FFVII as it is was loosely based on it :) that's where the whole thing with Cloud's split personality comes from

[@TheObsessiveGamer]

If you enjoy this video, give it a like and maybe also leave a comment to assist us with the algorithm!

[@weirdshitcoolideas]

Been subbed but I love this style of video a lot

[@RemoWilliams1227]

Here you go, enjoying very much.

[@dang3311]

where is part 2

[@TheObsessiveGamer]

@@dang3311 literally coming out tomorrow lol

[@weirdshitcoolideas]

@@TheObsessiveGamer we are starving… after only 2 weeks. 😂

[@teruienages962]

Fun Fact: The entirety of Final Fantasy VII actually CAN fit on one N64 cart with but the omission of only one thing: The FMV's. If only FF7 as we know it had merely provided in-game renders or simply just still images and text descriptions of the few-in-number FMV cutscenes, the entire rest of FF7's game can fit on an N64 cart. The only reason they really wanted it to go on CD's was because they were most proud of their movie making technology and simply just wanted to show off.

[@TheObsessiveGamer]

@@teruienages962 it can fit...but even then I believe still would require a bigger cart like a 32mb and 64mb cart that wouldn't release till later on since there were still quite a bit of environments, textures, and music files to keep in. But yeah they wanted a more cinematic game. The other issue however was the N64's ram making the transitions between low-poly field and high-poly battles quite tough due to bad architecture.

[@timog7358]

i highly doubt this. the little 3d ff6 demo they made already had 20mb

[@TheObsessiveGamer]

@@timog7358 tbf FF6 demo probably also was unoptimized as it was just a battle field with simple models which many N64 games had outdone by a lot. Also the textures were quite a bit higher quality than what N64 games could normally put it. With optimization this could be brought down significantly.

[@dumdumchord]

If it COULD fit, someone will do it eventually. I doubt it's possible without further optimization though. This game has a lot to juggle between the different gameplay scenarios such as battle, field, world map, sub, airship, fort condor, bike, snowboarding, rail shooter, etc. We haven't even started on the soundtrack. Maintaining all of those pre-rendered backgrounds and the shading, I highly doubt the n64 would do it with ease. There would likely be more cuts than simply the FMVs.

[@acerimmer8338]

Nah. It wasn't just the FMVs that required CD storage that cartridge couldn't fit at the time. The pre-rendered backgrounds take up massive space as well. This was the other major reason Square shifted to Sony. The entire game w/o FMV is something like 100mb, much too large for N64 even the canned disc-drive, let alone regular cartridges.

[@ForzaTerra89]

Great video, the idea for Aeriths death being more real, sudden and sad versus Hollywood is something I really wish they stuck with in rebirth. It could not have been more Hollywood, it just sapped it of the emotional impact. I wish we saw it even if cloud didn’t. I don’t think seeing it in part 3 will have the same impact as if we saw it in the ending of rebirth or the original

[@TheObsessiveGamer]

While I like the Remakes handling of several things, I do wish they did better with the way that one was handled. I just beat it as this video had just gone online and thinking to what was said in here haha

[@ForzaTerra89]

@@TheObsessiveGamer oh for the most part I think they did an amazing job, but they got this bit wrong in my opinion. It was too extra

[@TheObsessiveGamer]

@@ForzaTerra89 yeahh too much extra I agree.

[@theblindfoldedbirdwatcher570]

​@@TheObsessiveGamerI can't think of Aerith 's death anymore without considering: The possible Celes/Rachel parallels from Final Fantasy VI in terms of their roles (Celes 's close association with Kefka, the love interest, possible hair style, Rachel being the former regret of Locke, being dead, etc.) Terra's half-Esper heritage being similar to Aerith 's half-Cetra heritage Rosa/Rydia parallels (Rosa being the love interest, Rydia being the last summoner). The ending of the Medieval Section (or said chapter in general) from Live A Live (which is more of a stretch, but may have something to do with Sephiroth 's style of killing/Aerith kicking the bucket) The Heroine from Final Fantasy Adventure (Seiken Densetsu 1) (whose role is similar to Aerith 's and this was a first project made by FFVII's director)

[@RoseBleueDuRosierSec]

I was waiting for this one! You never didappoint!

[@TheObsessiveGamer]

And I wish to never disappoint indeed :)

[@cal5964]

Great video learning what happened in the production is one of my favorite things

[@TheObsessiveGamer]

Thank you! And that is some of my fav stuff to cover

[@peanutbutterrocket]

I love final fantasy 7!!!!

[@TheObsessiveGamer]

One of the best RPGs ever!

[@ourfamilyaccount]

I'm surprised they never changed the hair-styles of Sephiroth and Aerith, they do look alike definitely see them as siblings if Square Enix went that route.

[@TheObsessiveGamer]

I imagine they still wanted some allusion between them. One who is an ancient vs one who only THINKS he is an ancient

[@TheAufziehvogel]

As with many here, I've waited for the Final Fantasy VII video and man, lot's of details I did not know (we might know more if SE hadn't refused to release the Ultimania Guides that were published in Japan). So really waiting for Part 2 here. There is, however, a small mistake you made. I actually do not know how Masafumi Miyamoto looks, but on the picture you present this is clearly Yosuke Matsuda, former controversial Square Enix President indeed (now replaced by Takashi Kiryu) who was not in charge at the Square Enix lead before 2013. Just a little heads up here. You find this falsly marked picture also on Google. Cheers and can't wait for Part 2.

[@TheObsessiveGamer]

Thanks and glad you enjoyed it! Yeah alot of info that never got through cause that. Thankfully alot of fan translations were done which is how I found a lot of the info. Sorry for that small mistake,will make a note in the pinned comments on it. Thanks for bringing it up!

[@wingedmirage4226]

It's wild seeing the FF7 cast in the artstyle of the original Final Fantasy artist

[@TheObsessiveGamer]

@@wingedmirage4226 Amano art style feels really wild for them. Aerith especially looking different

[@yeez13]

I still find the fact that XenoGears began as a pitch for FF VII to be incredibly fascinating Given all the work that Takahashi & his wife did for the worldbuilding + storyline they ORIGINALLY INTENDED, it makes one wonder if that was all done after the fact or if it was part of a larger pitch for sequels that he wanted to do within the FF Franchise

[@TheObsessiveGamer]

That is a story i'd like to look into one more, but I wouldn't be surprised if that did happen that he'd pitch FF8 and FF9 as sequels too

[@jaim3_mm]

amazing vídeo, waiting for part 2

[@TheObsessiveGamer]

Thank you!

[@dang3311]

same

[@SorcererLance]

I'd like to imagine Sorceress Edea's potential role in FF7 to be Jenova's possible human form once her parts were finally assembled... instead of what we got as a final form with "Jenova Absolute" near the very end of the game (but to be fair, Jenova Absolute does look more appropriately alien-like rather than having yet another nearly-indistinguishable humanoid figure like FuSoYa in FF4 or Zidane/Kuja in FF9). My basis for this theory? They later recycled Jenova's manipulative "mother" role for Edea in FF8 when she bewitched Seifer to become her unwavering bodyguard, not unlike what Sephiroth saw himself as with his obsession with Jenova as his perceived mother... FF8 even took it a step further with the later reveal that Edea was most of the protagonists' Matron, their motherly caregiver in their old orphanage they once shared.

[@TheObsessiveGamer]

Never even thought about the allusions being Edea being the Matron may even be a carry over of her being Jenova at one point. Facinating

[@theblindfoldedbirdwatcher570]

All possibilities, I agree. but to be fair, the reason why the orphan kids in FFVII call Edea "matron" later on is because Edea (the non-possessed version) is a reference to Terra with the orphanage in FFVI. The kids call Terra "Mama" there too, which is the non-Latin version of Mother, unlike the Latin "Matron".

[@SorcererLance]

@@theblindfoldedbirdwatcher570 A lady with magical powers being motherly to a bunch of young orphans... I definitely can see the parallels there.

[@justgiz]

I vividly remember, when i played this as a child, expecting the entire game to be in the city. Boy was it a shock to leave the city and the shown the open world. Can't wait to play the remake sequel, when they release it on steam i know its already on PS5

[@napoleonfeanor]

I'd like to hear more

[@TheObsessiveGamer]

That's what part 2 is being planned for :)

[@jesusadrian759]

It's funny, from Nomura came one of my favorite things about the game, The Limit Break.

[@mrjwhite1989]

Great video, informative and interesting and I'm looking forward to more! If I have one piece of feedback it would be to avoid using footage with PC Mods for character models etc. While I fully support their existence I feel it's a bit confusing and inappropriate when the subject is the game's development. Just a thought 😊

[@TheObsessiveGamer]

Thank you! Yeah apologizes for that, gonna try to swap to non-modded version for the next part

[@mrjwhite1989]

@@TheObsessiveGamer No apologies necessary! Appreciate you taking friendly feedback like a champ 👍

[@ahabgaddis7277]

this is a really cool video, lot of neat info

[@Zeithri]

10:30 - And we've been mourning her ever since. 14:30 - Disagree.

[@BryceNeuner]

Great video, very informative. I've never seen Nomura's storyboards for the Limit Breaks, thanks!

[@TheObsessiveGamer]

Thanks! Yeah Nomura did some beauty with those

[@OGBabygurl]

Super informative. Thank you!

[@TheObsessiveGamer]

Thanks! :D

[@sonic_genesis]

you gotta use the og content and not the modded version.

[@TheObsessiveGamer]

@@sonic_genesis yeah sorry about that, gonna be planning to use that for following parts

[@AntipaladinPedigri]

It's a myth that his mother died during the development of FF6. It was actually during FF3, so years prior.

[@TheObsessiveGamer]

@@AntipaladinPedigri and you got a source for this?

[@DermotBrophy]

@@TheObsessiveGamer and do you have a source for your augment? that she was to be in the game?

[@TheObsessiveGamer]

@@DermotBrophy first off I never said she was going to be in the game. Don't know what you listened to there, but that sure as hell wasn't me. Second, my sources are in the description for everything that appears in the video. Now I want a source that says it was FF3 actually and not FF6, as if that is true I'll add it to the pinned comments.

[@kalebsithnerd119]

My heart sinks everytime I see Sephiroth impale Aerith with his sword

[@TheObsessiveGamer]

Yeah it's painful. Tried to make it as dramatic as I could too here just for it lol

[@laithamekir5778]

Worlds joined by sarrow...

[@RETROSENSHI]

Whats funny about this, is that I just started playing FF7 again last week.

[@Koniving]

At launch I could believe, but turok 2 was 67 megabytes on a cartridge. And most 64 games are around 16 to 96... 4, 8 and 12 megabytes? Hard to imagine.

[@TheObsessiveGamer]

Yeah at launch which I mentioned there. Also those sizes you mentioned are MegaBITS, which are calculated differently from Megabytes. Thus Turok 2 is actually 32 Megabytes, while games like Dr Mario are only 4MB while RE2 and Conker which are late stage games are at 64MB.

[@DoogerWooger]

Which Tifa cover did you use?

[@TheObsessiveGamer]

Oh that's not a cover. Just the original games track but slowed down a bit, so it sounds little different

[@DoogerWooger]

@@TheObsessiveGamer Oh wow, thanks man!

[@squidsona8509]

Theres something so funny about midgar basically being new york

[@TheObsessiveGamer]

Considering all the cheap pizza you could buy in NYC too, this gets even more hilarious

[@autobotstarscream765]

Textbook cyberpunk. 😎

[@remembershooting2064]

Interesting stuff mate! New sub.

[@TheObsessiveGamer]

Thanks man! Glad you enjoyed it!

[@adammclaughlin845]

I wonder if people will be watching videos of the remakes in 30 years time. "Remember that time when those epic 90s heroes were reducing to rounding up cats and chasing chickens, or that first meeting with a minor npc's family?"

[@RIBANNI]

nice

[@TheObsessiveGamer]

Hope you enjoyed it!

[@MattBooth]

"Gains-Bro".... How can you pronounce it so wrong?

[@qhodave]

very nice breakdown. but please don't use cosmetic mods for this, people could think that's unreleased beta fpootage

[@keymo9480]

This was very interesting!! Thanks for this! You earned a sub!

[@TheObsessiveGamer]

@@keymo9480 thank you! Glad you enjoyed it!

[@reganmusicnz]

That top-down thing, early in your vid, that's the NES demake by some random chinese company right?

[@BradCorrupts]

ffs fix your aspect ratio

[@TheObsessiveGamer]

@@BradCorrupts which part? Pretty sure it was kept in 4:3

[@BradCorrupts]

@@TheObsessiveGamer FF6 footage at the very beginning for one.

[@TheObsessiveGamer]

@@BradCorrupts oh right , my mistake. Sorry about that!

[@Shiny_Gaming]

3minute intro. Fun. :D

[@TheObsessiveGamer]

In this instance it was technically a "recap" of the last FF7 video here, and that was a lot to crunch down as a result before hitting the title card haha

[@Shiny_Gaming]

@@TheObsessiveGamer yeah

[@timog7358]

feeling of reality and not hollywood... unfortunately rebirth makes it feel exactly like hollywood

[@TheObsessiveGamer]

Well I mean Kitase didn't direct the Remake trilogy, so he couldn't get it done the way he originally did it. But yeah this was Inception level of hollywood lol

[@ninten360]

I think it's a bit disingenuous to say they never wanted it to feel like Hollywood when so much of the marketing of the original game focused so much on the fancy production values and how the FMVs looks "just like a movie"

[@acerimmer8338]

@@ninten360 Sony was the one in charge of and funded FF7's marketing. Considering they owned Sony Pictures, it only makes sense they would've marketed it that way.

[@acerimmer8338]

Agreed. The original felt grounded and realistic. The Remake feels 'Marvel-ized' and cliche. It's a damn shame.

[@corbincompton2966]

I'm only upset hojos forehead wasn't bigger😂

[@LPandbeyond]

great vid but was discovered recently his mom dying during development was a translation error

[@TheObsessiveGamer]

Was it? May I see what the actual translation was?

[@LPandbeyond]

@@TheObsessiveGamer hi I can’t find the translation rn but his mom died in 1988 To be more accurate Sakaguchi's involvement with FF7 was very light as he himself stated that he wanted to let the newer guys do their own thing and Kitase re-confirmed this some years ago during his FF7 15th anniversary Ultimania interview, saying that before FF7 sakaguchi was always very involved with projects but with FF7 he intentionally kept his distance and focused more on producing and only offered advice in regards to the battle system.

[@TheObsessiveGamer]

@@LPandbeyond Indeed Sakaguchi's involvement was alot less which I mentioned via him being just the producer this time around. Granted he still had some input on creative ideas too here and there

[@LPandbeyond]

@@TheObsessiveGamer sure but the development of ff7's main core themes of "loss" had nothing to do with his mom passing away

[@dang3311]

um is there a part 2

[@JejeSolitaireDechu]

Pas traduit en français dommage j'aime beaucoup cette chaine

[@TheObsessiveGamer]

mais je ne traduis jamais en français ? Comment avez-vous regardé quoi que ce soit sur cette chaîne en tant que telle ? Je sais que ce n'est pas idéal, mais peut-être utiliser ici la fonction de sous-titres qui est générée automatiquement dans n'importe quelle langue ? Je m'excuse également si cela semble mauvais, car j'ai utilisé Google Translate pour cela.

[@JejeSolitaireDechu]

@@TheObsessiveGamer désolée la langue française est pas simple a parler pour toi donc merci d'y avoir répondu a mon message . mais pour faire cour je suis ta chaîne car très intéressante j'aime savoir les contenus non inutilisé de jeu vidéo où univers relié à ça . J'ai essayé d'avoir en français automatiquement part traduction il y est rarement je crois que c'était dans quelques vidéo si je me souviens bien mais si tu n'a pas traduit le français je comprends aussi . C'est ce que je disais c'est dommage qu'il a pas de traduction car ta chaîne est très intéressante j'essaye de comprendre l'anglais comme je peu mais pas simple pour moi aussi mais merci de m'avoir répondu en français c'est gentil bonne continuation je regarderai ta chaîne du mieux que je peu pour continuer a comprendre heureusement que tu met des image sur les contenus supprimée ça m'aide a comprendre aussi .

[@amarchand-uc5gs]

next video final fantasy 6

[@deathstinger13]

granted, this one hasn't even gotten that far into FF7, but just from the outside looking in, having Aerith and Sephrioth being siblings could have been an interesting twist. Especially if Sephiroth being a fist class SOLDIER and the existance of Sephiroth clones were maintained somehow. you could easily keep the final element of Aerith being an Ancient by either saying they're half-siblings, or that Aerith got the Ancient genes and Sephiroth didn't, or even that both were Ancients

[@cieciumalinowy]

Early concepts and designs ARE NOT cut content. Cheap clickbait.

[@eternalux6343]

STOP SHOWING MODS just show the original game jfc

[@weirdshitcoolideas]

This video is amazing thank you!! Can’t wait for part two

[@TheObsessiveGamer]

Thank you! That one coming very soon as planned!

[@AmorFati777X]

1997 Tetsuya Nomura: No absolutely not. That will only cheapen Aerith's death. Veto veto veto. Its completely out of the question. 2024 Tetsuya Nomura: hold my beer

[@TheObsessiveGamer]

I mean... Rebirth still ended the same in the end, so he isn't completely against what he said in 97

[@AmorFati777X]

@@TheObsessiveGamer the entire re-tcon cheapened the legacy of the og.

[@TheObsessiveGamer]

@@AmorFati777X I feel the padding did make what happened feel way less emotional, so yeah.

[@AmorFati777X]

@@TheObsessiveGamer I think "emotional" chasing is what all these new fans are really after. It's like they're satisfied with cheap feels at the cost of structural integrity to the story

[@TheObsessiveGamer]

@@AmorFati777X Well the biggest problem is at this point that most people know about Aerith's fate so it's harder to have the new generation feeling as sad as most of us did back then. But overall I can still imagine they'd feel more emotional with the original ending over this. Realistically all that came after should have been more AFTER Aerith had been buried in the pond so we still could have had the original emotional scenes that came with it.

[@sharkulashairstylist5505]

This is great thanks many. A gamer telling the truth about Nintendo's weak hardware? you're canceled! Nintendo hardware is still weak for today's standards.

[@weirdshitcoolideas]

Well Jenova probably uses Edea as her human form. Or would have

[@TheObsessiveGamer]

That is my theory. If she was being made as a more prominent villain, I doubt the team would have Jenova without a human form

[@KrusherMike]

Why!? Why could it not have been Yuffie!?!? It should have been Yuffie... 🥲

[@TheObsessiveGamer]

@@KrusherMike yfw Wutai would have declared war on Sephiroth over this :P

[@KrusherMike]

​@TheObsessiveGamer It was almost 30 years ago, now... I can not put into words the sheer rage I felt at the hardship of being a young gamer, losing my materia, and crawling my way to Wutai. The first time was the worst time, and every subsequent playthrough was salt in a never healing wound. I hate Yuffie, bro. 😅