Final Fantasy 7 Remake Analysis: Boundless, Terrifying Freedom

[@KingKlonoa]

That Kiwami joke was something I never thought about, but is actually a pretty apt comparison. I don't think I ever connected the dots between Majima and Sephiroth's popularity versus how understated their original appearances were.

[@perrydunetz882]

Big fan of your vids king, but I have to say There is a key difference though, majima owns every scene he’s in by being crazy and entertaining whilst still intimidating (also really nailing the emotional scenes, his character has some serious depth especially in 0 and 4 despite how stupid some elements of 4 are) that said, Sephiroth is the opposite, sephiroth dominates the scenes he’s not in by being this overpowering presence throughout the whole game and we don’t really see the full extent of his power until the end, they both have relatively minor screen time, but sephiroth always feels like a present threat while majima comes and goes from the story as he pleases, not that that’s bad for either, just different, I think the way they’re both handled makes them two of the most interesting villains in gaming

[@perrydunetz882]

Granted majima as a villain only lasted one game

[@Rosencrantz17]

The underground trek to Wall Market where its just Cloud, Aerith, and that amazing music is easily, EASILY my favorite section of the game. It's not that fleshed out, it's entirely unnecessary filler, but my God was it fun.

[@thomasnielsen5580]

Much prefer going from the church to Aerith's house, and picking flowers for Aerith. In generel Chapter 8 is the best.

[@Marcostation3]

I have a feeling that Sephiroth won`t be the main villain at the end of their journey.

[@thor7af3]

Honestly? Wouldn't be surprised if he ended up being a party member

[@Marcostation3]

@@thor7af3 Me neither!

[@donavonhoho]

it's a FF game. We'll end up fighting god together with him.

[@xDevilNeverCry]

Inb4 people collectively lose their minds upon discovering Ehrgeiz

[@celfhelp]

i played ehrgeiz before i played ffvii hahaha

[@thegreatachiever4651]

@@celfhelp You're not the only one lol, i had Ehrgeiz before the og ff7 and i played Kingdom hearts 1 before it as well, at the time i only knew Cloud, Tifa and Sephiroth before getting the original game.

[@ShatteredGlass916]

"THEY EVEN KEPT THE SPIKES" i, as someone who miss Cloud in KH3, couldn't agree anymore

[@nxszxs7548]

We all miss him😔

[@dsennack7792]

Harits Andhika Nugroho he dead? feel free to spoil me for kh3, im not ready to care for any other game series right now since I discovered ff7/ ff7 remake

[@Ashtonyss]

@@dsennack7792 All of the final fantasy characters have been cut from the story with no explaination.

[@Rihcterwilker]

This is not Sephiroth from the future, but a Sephiroth that *knows* what's going to happen in the future. The game was made for people that played the original/compilation first, and secondly for people that are going to play the remake first and then go to the original on ps4/steam.

[@brya9681]

This was a game for square Enix to squeeze as much blood from the haggard corpse of ff7 as possible while letting kingdom hearts creator show why he should never be allowed to direct games.

[@asdfghjkllkjhgfdsa8725]

​@@brya9681truth

[@duwanggus7374]

"The reunion at hand may bring joy... It may bring fear...But let us embrace whatever it brings."

[@Saben.C-Spoon]

This might seem minuscule, but mad props on the thumbnail. The trick with the text brightening the background is simple yet effective and I feel Cloud and Aerith looking into the distance represents both the theme of the game and the video pretty well.

[@CodexEntry]

Thanks, glad someone appreciated it! Me and another channel, Core Ideas, put a lot of effort into getting it to look just right and I'm still really happy with the results, always makes me smile a little when I see it

[@AntonyD]

Great review, thoroughly enjoyed it. Considering this is the first time I'm watching it though, I'm not going to come back to tell you the Ultimania confirmed the Advent Children link, I'll just say it now, the Ultimania confirmed the Advent Children link. The Sephiroth issue is an interesting one, as you stated in the early parts of your video, he is one of the most iconic villains in pop culture history, so the Remake was always going to have a difficult time having him be as impactful as he was in the OG game. Ultimately though, personally when I realised he was the final boss, I was thinking to myself, there's no way I can beat this dude with just Cloud. Even when I ended up with the whole party it wasn't a walk in the park. I feel like the intimidation factor is still there, and will only grow in later instalments.

[@amazinglyaverage590]

Limitations breeds creativity, creating literal plot ghosts and cheesy switch-aroos is most definitely not.

[@QuikVidGuy]

@@amazinglyaverage590 those aren't what the limitations were

[@DXHellfire666]

What works for me too on top of that is the sheer fact that Seph shows he is 100% just screwing with you - he never loses his air and only really so far as messes with Cloud (and by extension the player) which I feel is them actually going deeper with FF7's postmodern angle. They're trying to make Sephiroth a straight metaexistential threat over his original existential threat, and I gotta say, it is pretty damn cool

[@helenlane5879]

@@DXHellfire666 Dude, I totally agree with you. I always felt like Seph was in control of the situation no matter what. Him fucking around with cloud and making him freak out all the time made him intimidating cause Cloud couldn’t do shit! Only like once in the fight does he frown, all the other times he’s smirking and trying to fuck with your head. Mind you I’m kinda a newb to ff7 and when I played the og I got emotional but they were also just little polygon ppl to me. Honestly I think this game goes more for the “cloud is fucked up and needs therapy” route and so with Seph adding that pressure, he increases our worry for him. I think Seph is intimidating but more so in a different way.

[@pascalfernandes6957]

@@amazinglyaverage590 sry to say.thes plot Ghostwriter qher alsays part of the lore.ther the voice of the Planet basicly. You heard them in dirge.ther scream. Ther wher cut from the og game too

[@CodexEntry]

Hey ya'll, thanks for watching, hope ya enjoyed! One of the most emotionally taxing games/videos I've dealt with in a while, but had a lot of fun with both. This video is also pretty long, so I'll be leaving timestamps below to make life a little easier for everyone. If you did happen to enjoy this, it'd mean a lot if you considered helping me out over on Patreon! Just a dollar or two can go a long way to help keep things rolling. And again, thank you for watching ❤️✌️ www.patreon.com/codexentry Intro - 0:00 Part 1 - 0:41 Part 2 - 3:28 Part 3 - 12:12 Part 4 - 26:43

[@hemangchauhan2864]

Put the timestamps on the description. It'll divide the KZbin player bar accordingly.

[@CodexEntry]

Done, good looking out, ty

[@charlestonho6733]

Seph is obviously from the future

[@CodexEntry]

@@charlestonho6733 He may or may not be but I don't find speculating on that to be very valuable to the discussion about what does and doesn't work about him, and I especially don't think trying to pin him as a SPECIFIC Sephiroth does anything other than reduce his role to fanservice nonsense. It's cool if you wanna theorize about it, but until I see it in the Ultimania or flat out stated in game, it's still just theorizing.

[@dreambiscuits]

@@CodexEntry well the ultimania states there's multiple timelines by giving confirmation to Zach being alive in another timeline. It's all that heavy context of the future and Destiny I feel like it's acceptable to have the discussion involve timelines. It's what the game wants you to think is happening. I mean even the 3 whispers you fight at the end are direct references to Loz, Yazoo and Kadaj which was also confirmed in the Ultimania. I personally think this game was a masterpiece. It has some graphical flaws and the materia system should be better but the story was 👌

[@BlackmageAp]

This was both a critical analysis and a love letter to what I have found to be a unique and terrifying experience. Well done man, and I can't wait to see more from Square, Nomura and You! All in the same madness!!

[@bahamutskingdom]

I actually saw it differently than everyone else. I remember a dick ton of black screen conversations between Cloud and ________ in the original. It was set to me in the original to be Sephiroth/Jenova the entire time. This was done at the moment Aerith dies. A black screen cuts into Sephiroth's onscreen dialogue stating "Because you are.....a puppet" So all of the balckscreens in the original portion of Midgar, I automatically took as Sephiroth. So when it is done in the Remake.....seemed natural to me. He lost nothing to me for being there. See he was always there. Well not he, but Jenova. It worked for me. The game as a whole worked for me. And I am a very large Final Fantasy fan. I mean I have a large website for the titles, in which Final Fantasy VII handily holds the most pages, as well as the most pictures for any title. I know the game back and forth, up and down. I played it well over 100 times within the very first year of its release. And I cannot count how many times afterwards. I am a rare breed it seems though. I can enjoy the living hell out of something, even if it is different from the original. I actually, if I am honest, call the original a VERY FLAWED MASTERPIECE. The masterpiece of course coming more from the legacy of what VII did to gaming, and pop culture. After the dozen or more times I have gone through VII Remake.....I have so much more love and admiration for the title of VII, because of how much more I understand was potentially there.

[@bahamutskingdom]

-Side Note- THEY DID NOT PROMISE SHIT. Promised a remake with changes. You got exactly what was said.

[@modestalchemist]

like for "I CANsEEtHe FUtuRE!"

[@TheDreamrevolution]

This Reviewer is obviously a Teamfourstar fan. C:

[@maxellis3325]

I agree. Aerith's not only the best character in the game, but one of my all time favorite video game characters now. She's perfect, and (spoiler for the original FF7 and probably future Remake parts) now I'm going to be legit very sad when she dies.

[@guyjusta9973]

With all the new stuff going on its not a 100% that she will die.

[@DarthPingu07]

Her death was when Sephiroth fucked up. He never foresaw that she could control the lifestream and save everyone from meteor. That she could keep Cloud from dying. For Sephiroths plan to have a chance of working, he needs to keep her alive. I think that's why he wanted the whispers out of the way too.

[@Darkyan97]

@@DarthPingu07 That's why I think if we want a happy ending Aerith has to die either way. I think she will still die but with different circumstances from the original.

[@TsujiCross]

I’ve considered a possibility where Remake Aerith accepts her originally predetermined fate, but on her own terms - like, say, renouncing her mortal life to enter the Lifestream and control it to save the world by her own decision rather than waiting for Seph to skewer her (which he might not even want to this time for the reasons DarthPingu pointed out) - to make a case that Destiny isn’t actually a bad thing, and whether one should defy or follow it... might in fact be best decided upon on a case-by-case basis rather than fully followed or fully defied with no in-between, wherein would truly lie the weight of the responsibility of making one’s own destiny

[@Brahmsonite]

Sephiroth's role is obscure if you know the original, even if you played the entire Compilation. To a newb I'd guess it's inscrutable. We do know that he terrifies Cloud and uses weird sick dudes as puppets and kills President Shinra and absconds with Jenova. He does plenty. As for whether he does enough clearly enough for first-timers, we'd do better to ask them than to pontificate about their experiences for them. Also I think Jessie and Wedge are dead as Biggs is the only one we see recover. (Wedge got defenestrated by ghosts, gg). And for the not-enough-death part. You might be right. Or possibly, in railing against Fate they've had some early luck (and a real close call with Barret), but now they've killed the Arbiter. Their safety net / training wheels are gone and the future Aerith's been apprised of is no more. And they're in rebellion against the Planet itself. If that doesn't haunt then I'll be very surprised.

[@jeremycampbell6189]

I'm not sure how some don't like the Train Graveyard. I personally thought it was one of the best parts of the entire game. They managed to turn a part of the game that was basically a 5 minute at best meaningless section into something creepier and more atmospheric than almost any horror game released these days. Not to mention the boss fights are sick imo too. Cept Eligor on Hard Mode. Fuck that dude on hard mode and his annoying reflect shenanigans. Overall I still loved that section myself and was nice to see Max loved it too.

[@CodexEntry]

Honestly, wrote that line a while ago, but I've also come around on it a bit. I still think it kinda brings the story's momentum to a screeching halt and has some of the most annoying level design, but it has some of my favorite moments and shots. It's not the best, but it's not that bad.

[@RTuga02]

Meh, I liked it. Wouldn't say one of the best parts, but I like how it plays with both the player's and the characters frustration. We (player and characters) just want to get to that damn pillar and we have all these damn enemies and trains in our path. Tifa ends the chapter basically with a line that says it all: "And you...can go to hell!" - let's mosey!!!

[@RTuga02]

@@CodexEntry Btw, very nice video. Well put together and with strong opinions. Those opinions feel very well based and never thrown at the face of the viewer. You clearly enjoyed the game for what it is. It hurts a bit not being a full on 1:1 remake. But if this remake can trade a bit of nostalgia for a sense of new adventure (a good one I hope!), well, I'm down for that. People could be a bit more open minded to change, at least if it is well done (talking about the amount of hate this game has garnered).

[@blobeyeordie]

Because it completely breaks the pacing at a pivotal point in the story. I actually really enjoyed both the sewers and graveyard, but they shouldve been kept quick like in the original and their full contents be side quests.

[@vincentgraymore]

@@blobeyeordie There is deliberately doing these kinds of segments. I remember reading about God of war and why that game had stupid mini-puzzles here and there. It was made so because the developers wanted people to feel intense when it actually mattered and when you have a 20+ h long story you need breathers and above all, you need to make the audience "bored" to feel the high again. This makes games like a sort of a rollercoaster, something that almost all games (and movies) strive to be when focused on the story. It is the saying of you need something good with something bad and reverse. In essence, these moments might thus be designed to elevate when it actually matters as you are then on the curve up on the rollercoaster, rather than exhausted at being at the top all the time and avoid the downfall. If everything were great all the time then it would be exhausting. FF VII remake does a good job where it puts calm and where it puts action and when it is designed correctly people do not care for the parts that are there to recharge feelings of ecstasy as they want the next fix.

[@JameboHayabusa]

I thought for sure the game was going to end with a Jenova fight. I kinda feel like Square isn't using it's lovecraftian nightmare creature to it's full effect. I pretty much share your feelings of being equally confused and aroused, by the ending.

[@Subsistence_Sasquatch]

In a way, I feel like Jenova should be the final boss in this series. Sephiroth manipulates Cloud, but Jenova manipulates Sephiroth. If this is Advent Children Sephiroth, a Sephiroth with more insight, maybe he wants to cut Jenova out of the picture now, too. As long as Jenova cells exist, so does Sephiroth.

[@JameboHayabusa]

@@Subsistence_Sasquatch nah jenova doesn't control sephiroth, it's the other way around. Either that, or it's more of a symbiotic relationship. I've heard a lot of theories about it over the years, and unfortunately, the original game never says for sure. Considering Sephiroth was the final boss though, it's probably the former. Imagine in part 2 you find out Ol' sephy boi was just being controlled by Jenova, and someone else becomes the main antagonist.

[@jondoe7036]

Well, seeing how thoroughly they blew their Sephiroth load at the end of this game, the actual final final boss more or less has to do something completely different inorder to be stand out at this point. It can't just be Sephiroth being Sephiroth all over.

[@djmeagaaim17]

@@jondoe7036 Yeah, but that does not mean that they wont, they did it in the kh series with Xeanort

[@jondoe7036]

@@djmeagaaim17 As much as Kingdom Hearts has so far liked to get a mileage out of its baddies, the series hasn't rehassed a final boss since the Chain of Memories (which ends with Riku battling Ansem from the first game) and Xehanort in KH3 and Birth By Sleep are completely different fights, both contextually and mechanically.

[@FilipKanzurovski]

I think you hit it on the head for me with the final part of the video when you talk about how amazing THIS entry is and how you want to see more of it. For me, my attachment to these characters at this point is going to be enough to get me excited for the rest of what this “FF7 Remake Project” has going for it. I’ve seen many people link this back to the feeling many felt when the Compilation of FF7 started coming out, and how they were so excited and hyped going into it, but coming out, they were severally disappointed. And many feel like getting excited for the future of this Remake is just setting yourself up for disappointment yet again. Now, I was a really small child when the Compilation was coming out without even a clue as to what a Final Fantasy was, so many it’s not my place to say. But to me, the reason why I’m not feeling that here is because we already know who these characters are. What made the disappointment really big for a lot of people is that the version of the characters depicted in Dirge of Cerberus and Advent Children just did not feel like the old characters. They were radically different versions with the entries themselves having a different feel to that of the original 7. But in the Remake’s case, it’s a safe bet to say that the versions of the characters we see in FF7 Remake are the versions that we will be getting in future titles in this series. Precisely because those future entries are direct sequels to this game. And this is a cast of characters that no matter how different things get, I just want to follow to the ends to the earth. This game captured something special, and I want to see it continue with Part 2 and beyond. Fantastic job as always Ryan.

[@vincentgraymore]

This is part of why I am sad about this. I liked AC but it was kinda out of place and many people hated it. Now suddenly people use AC as some kind of fan theory engine and thus like it. I liked Dirge of Cerebus but it was a strange FF game. This is not really the saddest part though. The saddest part is that people do not care about the world of FF VII as much as the characters. The reason why the Compilation had mixed reviews was because of how it treated the lore and story, not only the characters. Sequels (and prequels) often introduce bullshit new things just to have subversion or "new things". The compilation did this but it was fairly within the rules. When I played FF VII for the first time I was amazed by the lifestream, the Gaia version of Greek mythology mixed with spiritualism. The weapons were an attempt for the planet to use what it got at its disposal to fight off a foreign invader. Lifestream was all life on the planet yet it was fragile and not really alive. The Ancients basically ascends after having lived on the earth and experience life as a gift. The lifestream was gentle yet also means the death of everything on the planet. I was amazed at how little the story was in comparison to the other FF games. It was a tiny planet's struggle for survival in a vast universe of potentially endless planets with life and there was an ecosystem of viruses and everything. Not time traveling or reality shattering or destiny defying. Now in the remake, the planet apparently had a failsafe system way stronger than the weapons (yet still as stupid in intelligence) and the planet is supposedly an entity that either knows all time or exists in all time. What was a story of something innocent and neutral but caring suddenly became a theme about a planet being stubborn and manipulate. Life is not as important as Fate and fate is something that is a natural force but it can be defeated. It felt like how it would be to kill gravity and worse of all is that since the whisperers were supposed to represent fate they are in fact not fate. Fate exists as abstract even now after their defeat. I love Cloud and Co as much as the next guy. Cloud was probably my favorite video game character but I was not prepared to sacrifice the story and theme of FF VII just to see more of the characters. If I wanted that I would play Dissidia. Now I have silly wishes as well. I want Lightning to be a DLC character and I want the ability of costumes etc but as silly things, not actual game lore things. The reason why FF VII remake was a success was not that it was more content. It was because it relied on old content. The parts that are good in the game are the parts that are expansions on the original and the bad parts are the ones when they deviated too much. I did not mind Roche, I did not mind Sun lamps, I did not mind Jessies arc etc because all these were within the limits established by the world of FF VII but the whisperers broke more moments than they were worth including for. Also, I have been thinking about Red lately. Red is basically not at all the same. He was a teenager and a rather bratty one at that. His only reason to stay with the party is to get home and when he gets home he really does not care about the party's struggle until he overcomes his own loss. This new Red is cool but just thinking about a child crying for his father becomes a strange though when the child is speaking like a grandfather. This new Red doesn't seem like someone that would get moody about his father or being someone what was told things but had to experience them later.

[@Charolette21]

I am personally down with the remake's theme of 'FUCK FATE! If I want to live, I will godamn live!'.

[@thecrimsonpool]

they really needed to move the Cloud explaining Sephiroth scene to when the team was hanging out in Aeriths room in Shinra HQ, theres no excuse to not explain a little of who he is and why they are fighting him at the end. Honestly thats my only complaint with the remake......well besides maybe having Cloud tell Aerith about Zacks death that way that ending scene makes sense to new fans

[@TheKlimekpl]

yes but there is one unsure thing, does Cloud really remember all the story about him and Sephiroth ? he still have mental spasm in the remake

[@thecrimsonpool]

@@TheKlimekpl true, but he doesn't need to tell everything. Just the basics of who Sephiroth is

[@PerrydactylShow]

Great job, dude! I REALLY want Jessie in my party, too!

[@zeroxeroFX]

I want to see my party in Jessie.

[@michaelalvarez3034]

Duuuuuuuuuudddeeeeee omg. That transition when introducing sephiroth....... absolutely perfect

[@RevanJJ]

Sephiroth’s greatest weapon in this game is...being very creepy (as in not allowed within 3 miles of a school creepy) & whispering in Cloud’s ears. Lol

[@Yulises]

That FF7R discussion video on KingK's channel felt like a convention full of all star video game analysis lol Do another one!

[@ttamecco]

Hey, thanks for the video. Actually probably some of your strongest stuff. Which is funny because I actually disagree with a lot of the stuff said, but I’m not really interested in the “predict whether or not the next game will be any good or not because pretending any certainty can be reached soothes my ego” game (though it is fascinating to see the sheer variance of well argued opinions this game brings out). I for one am really glad this game came out because it truly made me confront something about myself that I hadn’t noticed before. Our modern pop-culture has this unhealthy obsession with perceived perfectionism. If a work has flaws, we’d rather see the holes patched and immediately forget about it than address any new possibilities. And if thing old, it must get overhauled. If FFVIIR came out and was unambiguously faithful and modern, we’d be faced with a pretty strong possibility that all future renditions and rereleases would defer to this version over the original, and a lot of us wouldnt really bat an eye. whether that would be good or bad can be debatable, but I can’t help but feel concerned that it would be easy for us to look at a thing we have loves so earnestly as that original game and want to see it wholesale replaced with an “upgrade”. whether or not this bleak image plays out is admittedly still up in the air, this is the games industry, and we technically already do that to most older games. At least if it happened here people would be more liable to call bullshit. And I can continue to appreciate a now-quaint little 97 title that the devs would probably agree still deserves to be loved

[@m3ng252]

In the reveal trailer the narrator talks about “the reunion at hand” might bring joy or fear, but whatever happens we need to embrace it, I think he’s talking about this, the future is uncertain but I did my best to embrace every moment I’ve spent with the characters.

[@vincentgraymore]

It was most likely an attempt at easing fans but it was way too early and in the end, they did not do a good job with this. You cannot do that when you went the way that they did because the remake relies on subversion and subversion in a known story is hard. The whisperers are like the easiest way you can do it. Literally, a subversion that also gets killed for subversion. That promise that they made 2015 was probably changed a lot and there are many people that do not watch trailers at all because many do not want to be spoiled. They had only done that trailer and they also spend a lot of time upgrading the graphics while they worked. It is not really a "the promise" either because people that made noise did not want just more content, they wanted a remake and I would not call it false advertisement but the pun on having 2 meanings of the word remake should make people raise their eyebrows. It is not clever and when it happens all the time to everything that is when you end up with KH. All in all it is a great game but it also shows how you can easily troll an audience, alienate fans for no valid reason and create a game that needs all the context of basically 7+ different creations.

[@m3ng252]

@vincentgraymore well, I respect effort! 😁

[@jondoe7036]

That joke about cutting Fox off followed by his muffled "Hey!" in the background had me laughing way harder and longer than it probably should have.

[@RevanJJ]

That’s what I felt having him so much in the new game..it really did bring down his threat level. “Less is sometimes more.” Factually. I’m so glad you brought up that damn snake! That was my biggest “Oh sh** this dude is a bada$$” moment. I really wish they didn’t have him there essentially beginning to end.

[@ruthiehenshallfan99]

The Freiza Planet 419 joke was spot on.

[@henrywyhyt]

I feel exactly the same... They can really "screw this up six ways from Sunday", or they will produce a true, albeit different, masterpiece. The more I think about it and dig into all of the clues, the more I seem to admire the idea that a different plot overlay has been put on the classic FF7 story. You're one of the very few reviewers who feel this strange sense of hope and articulate it so well and unshamedly. Well done!

[@RoxasXIII]

the original FF7 Sephiroth"s slow buildup was based on Steven Spielberg's JAWS.

[@Brandon_Powell]

I'd like to talk about my hopes for future installments but I can't do that without spoiling it. But then again if you haven't played the game or you don't care about spoilers what are you doing watching this video? Regardless. Spoilers. Spoilers. Spoilers. Spoilers. Spoilers. I hope everything plays out exactly the same as it did in the original. Aerith dies at the hands of Sephiroth, Sephiroth is defeated by Cloud and the gang and Aerith's spirit saves them all. And then you hit New Game Plus and everything is completely different Nier Automata Style. Either that or just have Aerith's death optional. My main wish is to keep Aerith alive because God damn that woman.

[@modestalchemist]

for real though, the thing sephiroth has done in ff7r to justify being the final boss is that he's been the object of cloud's hallucinations for the entire game. Without using outside material, you might consider this fight as cloud confronting his fears. also why does everyone assume the boss fight at the end is really sephiroth, and not just another puppet controlled by the sephiroth chilling in the crater?

[@TH-qr9vp]

It probably either is a Sephiroth clone, or it is some sort of Hallucination taking place in a different time/space, since you also fight the whisper harbinger in that "alternate dimension" or whatever it was. They could use that to explain the power scaling problem, saying that in that "alternate reality where destiny exists the characters have max power potential. Kinda like at the end of Advent children where Tifa restrains the others from helping Cloud fight Sephiroth because she says he found some type of power that they used to have but the others have since lost.

[@vincentgraymore]

@@TH-qr9vp The power peak argument kinda falls flat because of the ending fight with Sephirot. When Cloud "omnislashes" Sephiroth he does use an even worse version than Ascension in the game and not near any version he uses in Advent Children. The power level in AC is insane (probably because it is more anime than western) and Clouds version of Omnislash even has phasing. He catches Sephirot off guard with this move in AC but it does not really matter when you are capable of phasing while hitting your foe. This alone makes Cloud not being at the peak power. In AC he takes a lot of damage to unleash this version (version 5/6, depending on the version of the movie) to show that it is his true limit break. He even tries to do a "regular" Omnislash but Sephirot blocks it forcing Cloud to unleash the new version.

[@vincentgraymore]

It should be a clone but being a clone doesn't explain a lot of things. Like how Sephiroth absorbs the Whisperers and uses them as a lame attack, teleportation, edge of creation, etc. The clones are capable of fighting (like when Sephiroth possess Kadaj in Advent Children) but they are bound by being a part of Jenova and Jenova is not herself dormant. In the original you do not fight clones, you fight Jenova. If it is a clone then this clone has done something even greater than the OG Sephiroth did in the ending (after all, absorbing fate should be even more impressive than destroying the solar system over and over >_

[@KennyCleod]

this is why in depth understanding is important. most people be like meh wtf is going like literally their brain don't function to understand what is the meaning of the story.

[@paulneligh5095]

I think once you forget about what it was and get excited about what it COULD be, that anxiety will go away. And it's not like HD mods for the original dont exist.

[@m3ng252]

Well, can’t take a leap of faith without the “faith!” ...well you get me, have faith my friend.

[@_SMEAR_]

May I know who edited this video? Because goddamn it is so well and crisply edited I would give that editor a RAISE. The video just contrasts the well written script and clear voice of the speaker with its interesting visuals, something with actual direction rather than a bunch of elgato footage mashed together while someone talks about their points at the background. Great video!

[@CodexEntry]

I am the primary editor and writer, credits at the end for a more exact break down, thank you for the compliment, glad you enjoyed

[@myniko]

21:33 Context: FF7R was my first FF7 experience. IT WAS COOL. Seeing what made cloud panic every time he saw him was very strong. It also brought in everyone who else who wasn’t understanding what cloud was dealing with. I thought that was neat

[@welshradz5132]

Love your inclusion of TFS FF7 Machinabridged clips :D

[@Antispor]

He doesn’t attack Cloud until the end bc he can’t. As soon as you destroy the Arbiters of Fate he attacks. Also, he most likely wants Cloud alive so that no matter what he can live on through his memories.

[@thogameskanaal]

I thought the expanded train graveyard was a good thing. Sure, it might not be everyone's cup of tea, but why the rush? It feels more like a journey, and is a nice little break from all the intense moments before the whole plate go kaboom. Though, I'm realy taking my time with this game. I started playing in April of last year and I still haven't even finished it. I'm prepared do bail out of this video if it gets too spoilery :3

[@felman87]

My buddy and I had the exact same talk about Sephiroth. Ok, I know that we had to introduce him earlier than normal. We didn't see Sephy until the flashback in Kalm and that's not in the game. So, why not just have him appear near the end of the game. He's not the final boss, those are the fates. Sephiroth wants you to fight them. Not because he knows he loses in the original final fantasy. But because he hates the idea of fate or anyone, dictating his destiny. It makes sense. Sephiroth is powerful and wants to shape the world to his image and the fates stand in that way because they have their own idea of the direction the world should take. So why not have Cloud and Co take them out. Instead of Barrett being the one killed and revived, make it Rufus and the Turks. Sephy killed them but the whisps revived them. Can't stop Shinra with those fates in the way. Gotta take them out. So, where do we get the obligatory Sephiroth fight? Same place we got them in other games. Optional Boss Battle. We don't even need to invent a special area to fight him in, Shinra already did. Their combat simulation is perfect. It already has the secret bosses so why not add one more. They no doubt have Sephiroth's combat data from the time he was in first class. So we fight THAT one. 1st Class Soldier Sephiroth. You get the challenging combat that everyone knows you have to do. But it also gives you a bit of a hollow victory. Yeah, you beat him, but only in a computer simulation. Can you do it in the real world? How much different is the current Sephiroth from the one in the Shinra database, the Sephy from over half a decade ago? We don't know. And that keeps those tense moments we'll have in the future, well, tense.

[@dreambiscuits]

This game is a sequel tho. That's the reason why everything played out the way it did. Sephiroth and Aerith are time traveling. There's also alternate timelines and there's 100% proof from the Ultimania. Square Enix ABSOLUTELY fucking succeeded in making an amazing game.

[@b.h.4249]

Thank you for this absolutely amazing video, I can't believe I only just now found it. Your points were extremely well-articulated, the jokes had me suppressing my laughter to not wake up any roommates and the editing was great. I agree with most of the points made here, though I do lean a bit more on the optimistic side considering the future of the project. Having played the OG a year ago, Remake is my favourite game of all time and I can't wait to see where the story goes in the future.

[@KeroKaminaX]

lol the foxcade sandbag

[@ulysses498]

Yo... CLOUD-CHAN!!!

[@Emil-Roma]

I think you just made the best discussion surrounding this game. Not because of depth or other mysterious qualifiers, but because you managed to name the inchoately felt anxiety this game left most of us (which is not a discussion on how good or bad the finished product is). You analyzed a very interesting psychological feature which, even if accidental, it's by far the most powerful emotion that accompanies this game.

[@aeronbern1769]

I loved the train graveyard... what's your problem?

[@yt49ab6p5]

I'm sorry this has nothing to do with this video in particular but you are one of the coolest essayist around KZbin. The fact that you don't have 100 000 subs is baffling to me.

[@MetalheadSean666]

18:00 you forgot accidentally hitting the chocobo at soon as you enter the battle because you got so used to the last 8 where the thing never appeared

[@Arany-Csillag]

Just finished the remake and your video was the first one I watched. This vid is such a perfect companion piece for the game and I loved it so much

[@lnrs]

im sitting here at 1 am adding a chapter to my masters thesis specifically about sephiroth, inspired by your video. i don't mean it in the "stealing your ideas" sense, I'm specifically writing about the many many iterations of sephiroth across different media, but damn if this video didn't inspire me to sit down and resume writing

[@MrDezokokotar]

Great video. Id say im slightly more optimistic about where the series is going than you but overall this is a very fair and reasonable take. I do hope they keep the core team for the next parts because this seems like a pretty solid combo. Certainly it feels leagues better than Final Fantasy has been for the last decade.

[@SurinaSlackArt]

Damn, I'm so impressed with how this video is put together. Well done. I'm here to stay; subbed

[@TristanTomaselliWriter]

YES, once again I am in total agreement with you, specifically on the subject of the arbiters of fate. "Desire and need to defy audience expectations." Very well said. However, I'd be remiss if I didn't observe you've been critical of FF13, yet its theme is mirrored by the revised theme of FF7R. Again, great observations all around concerning these thematic issues (I'm compelled to watch again simply because your analytical skills are quite keen).

[@HadesWTF]

Well...now I definitely need Majima v. Sephiroth

[@macalloway1]

Unrelated note-Do we know sephiroth doesn’t like cloud? The biggest issue with this analysis is it assumes ff7 remake wants to be anything like the “original” in terms of narrative execution. I’m getting the feeling that the word “remake” in the title is really more of a subtitle like the “matrix:reloaded”. I’d bet there will be no part 2 or part 3 in the title of follow up games. “Remake” (and obviously I’m guessing) is meant to indicate the redoing or attempted correction of the negative events in the original game. So more like re-make as in do-over to address the triviality of trying to change the past (you know for the years of fans wondering what if things went differently in ff7)because in life you make tradeoffs. You marry one women and you don’t marry who may be perfect for you. One person dies the other lives. You take one job you lose the other. You can’t have it all. You can project this forward with the possibility of aeris?aerith? Living and that love triangle that kinda solved itself in the original. consequentially the theme of life still exist in a speculative situation like this.

[@egebamyasi2929]

Great video. I can't really agree with you on the whole Sephiroth changes but you got your point across in an adequate fashion. What an amazing game

[@kingthorgrim1591]

"I have traveled so far to find so little meaning in tragedy" As I Lay Dying, Meaning In Tragedy Thank god somebody feels the same way I feel about Aerith's death, it wouldn't make any sense if it happened again. The themes of the remake are hope and destiny, do everything in your power to prevent the worst from happening and forge your place in this time, it's you who decides your fate, it's all in your hands.

I' m glad to find more people to think that Aerith's survival can be a wonderful chance instead of destroying the plot of the game... I'll pray for Aerith!!

[@kingthorgrim1591]

@ I'll be honest, I could write an entire essay on how Aerith's death actually made the original plot slightly worse and how her survival would actually make the story even better

[@dsennack7792]

Ike Strife yeah right, I mean in the original the theme was life and the weight of death so it made sense, but in this remake it is so often mentioned that your fate is your own that it is hard to deny, it isnt the central theme. would love to see aerith and cloud finally be happy together

[@dsennack7792]

Vanessa García Amate lol praying didn‘t exactly go so well for aerith did it?

[@RAZOZEDGE]

i like your title suggestion and I was mad at first when finishing the game because I just wanted a 1-1 remake. But after letting my thoughts fester after some time, I'm happy with how the game is setting up the sequel. To me, this is more a final fantasy sequel than a remake or remaster. I really like the remake name, because we're remaking a new story in the universe of final fantasy 7. But really enjoyed your video

[@KennyCleod]

i can't believe the video ended. I'm sad

[@Sir_Him]

I am very much the kind of person that will complain about Biggs and Wedge being alive. I'll use your own words to say why. "It has no lasting consequence, so it has no weight." Removing their sacrifices so that they magically survive a plate being dropped on them removes the weight of their actions and consequences, thereby weakening the story. But as this is a Nomura headed up story, it was going to be weakened in the first place.

[@TyroneLT]

I get that people didn’t like the train section but that Ghoulish Symphony Boss Fight music really slaps!

[@criticlog]

The section about what made Sephiroth such a great villain made me laugh cause we practically made and posted the same video, one day apart, point for point lol cheers to future videos

[@chrisdillon8376]

This is one of the best videos I've ever seen on KZbin. A perfect compliment sandwich seemingly narrated by Michael Swaim.

[@chaosstorm8307]

Alright... I wasn't expecting a tfs reference. 7:30 had me laughing.

[@ravenheart2752]

To say you were promised the remake to be the original you wanted to be is just projecting hope. They never state it was going to be a one-for-one reamke.

[@kirk001]

"Remake" apparently refers to "remake" the timeline. When I finished the game and got access to the chapter select, it occurred to me that they could incorporate the chapter select and continual replays into the storyline for the series ending. We'll get different end fights and end resolutions based on choices we make in all 3 parts (or however many parts we end up getting.) Like the first play through, we end up saving the planet, but humanity dies, so we have to play through again, and Aerith guides us to make different choices to try to come out with a better ending--each time remaking the time line.

[@sadgoy.]

Dude i love how you edited that intro. It's good enough to be like an official trailer. It just needs the square enix logo and credits.

[@SirVyre]

On my first playthrough of FF7 as a child, I was about level 19 when I got to the Midgar Zolom swamp. It's fairly possible to kill the snake even before that level, with the right hutzpah. What's truly infuriating about it though, is that you get across the swamp, doing something the game didn't intend for you to do, to come upon the impaled snake that you just killed. You're 7 years old, and you wonder why the heck the game didn't give you the credit, attributing it to Sephiroth. :( The thing is, is that as you stated Sephiroth has been in a lot of other media. So much so that his gravitas no longer exists anyway, so I don't think it was hard for the developers of FF7R to let that fall away. They basically banked on, "They know who this is." All of the MMO names, screennames, internet handles, gamertags, and so on and so forth that are something like, "Sephirothxxx9925 or ISephirothl over the past 20 years make it pretty obvious that he's permeated our culture. This makes him lose impact as a villain, and I already know dozens of people hoping he gets a redemption into active party member arc. What I think is funny though, is that even in the original FF7, Sephiroth was arguably not the main villain. It was the parasite; the Calamity From the Sky. We know it as Jenova. We know that it took over the Cetra known as Jenova, and it bent her towards world domination while also mutating her body. Sephiroth is closely linked to it, of course, having had it permeate his cells during his time in Lucrecia's womb. It's hard to say for sure though, whether it was his own will or the parasite's, that drove him to desire godhood at the expense of the planet. Considering it did something similar to Jenova though... that's always been the most interesting plot thread to me from FF7. It's a shame though, they didn't expound on it as much as they could have, because they wanted Sephiroth to be seen as the main antagonist. Funny how the times change, huh?

[@djmeagaaim17]

I always thought it would have been interesting if they showed both Sephiroth and Jenova fighting for control trying to fight for control of the limbs of Jenova, and the Sephiroth Clones with with either different text boxes (or voice acting) looking and sounding different depending on who is in control at the time, with Sephiroth tricking the party into destroying the pieces of Jenova so he can gain more control of the things, so by the time the reunion happens after the Jenova Death boss battle, he is in full control.

[@TimCarella]

This video is extremely great. Great content, editing, timing, and tone. Well done sir.

[@CodexEntry]

Thank you

[@CetraMystic]

Omg if anyine reads all of this theyre a legend!!! I enjoyed, you got a new subscriber, nowwwww....... my observation putting myself in the shoes of a noob to ff7. After the first hour of the game cloud has some kind of mental break and is confronted by a tall silver haired man he is obviously surprised to see, after following him into an ally the mysterious man tells a tale of the past he and cloud share in which he suggests that he killed clouds mother while she pleaded for her sons life, this guy is already the protagonists primary antagonist just based on this scene alone. Later we see a flashback to the Nibelheim reactor and tifa lamenting the death of father at the hands of sephiroth, he is now also an established antagonist for tifa. Near the end of the game this sephiroth shows up and kills the president of the corperation we think is the games main antagonist as if it means nothing and kills berret(temporarily) in the same breath before anyone can even notice and react to his presence he is quite unstoppable. This man is supposed to be dead and has seemingly gone to great lengths to steal jenova from shinra and based on what aerith has explained is greater threat to the planet than anyone realises he is now an antagonist for berret and avalanche... does he need to be the boss of the game? Maybe not.... but in the final fight not once does this silver haired man even appear to be trying he is standing around casually lobbing magic at us and taunting us and in the final scene he shrugs of an epic combination from our hero as if he is bored with the endeavor, and however vague and confusing his words may be he obviously wants cloud to follow he is egging him on...... now its over we beat the game but what do we know about sephiroth???? Killed cloud and tifas parents, wants jenova for aome reason, feels wrong to aerith, and is by far the strongest entity any of the party has ever stood next to, also if we paid attention we know that it wasnt really sephiroth we encountered at any of those moments it was robed men or hallucinations, but we dont know who he is why he is or where he really is hes still mysterious only people with prior knowledge wouldnt find this version of him mysterious. They clearly established him as the main villain and shinra as the secondary overarching enemy.... (time for a horrible comparison) shinra is team rocket and sephiroth is mewtwo..... >_< (mad at myself) i do think we seem to powerful however even with sephiroth beating us without batting an eye we have to much power at this point i really hope the theories about yuffie showing up right before or after kalm to steal or stuff happens, i dont wanna be level one with nothing let me keep my moves and xp but make hp up and mp ups rare or something. Anyways if you read all this then im srry for making your eyes bleed. >_

[@AshAtropos]

I heard warrior as lawyer and now I'm just really interested in a Sephiroth legal drama

[@storm_shadow-2107]

I honestly think that the reasoning behind why they handled Sephiroth differently is mainly due to things in the overarching plot that are being set up in the first part of FF7 Remake. They introduce the idea of Sephiroth having clones in this game very early. In fact, one of said clones is Cloud’s next door neighbor at the apartment where he stays at. Then Cloud encounters another Sephiroth clone while traveling though the slums with Aerith (after saving some children), and once more inside the Shinra building after Barret gets stabbed and the party is forced to fight a “JENOVA” monster (right after beating it). During each of these moments, where Cloud is face to face with one of Sephiroth’s clones, he is plagued with hallucinations of Sephiroth, seeing him and experiencing PTSD even (based off his demeanor shift and the look of fear on his face). All of these times where Sephiroth has been apparently showing up were just clones, puppets of his showing up to do what he wanted. Sephiroth can manipulate his Clones and was even able to manipulate cloud in the original. However, it’s possible that Sephiroth can’t currently manipulate Cloud because his mind and will are too strong. Cloud’s headaches could be Sephiroth attempting to invade his mind to puppeteer his body but only resulting in headings and hallucinations (because Cloud’s Psyche is too strong at the moment). Now a lot of the stuff regarding Sephiroth trying to control Cloud so early are pure speculation but the fact that Sephiroth is able to hijack Cloud’s body and has done it in the original game isn’t. None of these details are ever explained in any way in Remake part 1 that I’m aware of. However, it’s possible that those details and that information is all being saved for part 2 whenever that releases. The devs might just be setting all of this up in advance so that when it finally does come time to introduce this stuff, it won’t be out of left field. The final boss fight where you face Sephiroth might just be another one of his clones who got strong thanks to absorbing the whispers (after Cloud and company “defeated” them). Feel free to correct me if I’m wrong but I don’t remember seeing any details that imply that we fought the real Sephiroth at the end but I digress. The devs could be building up Sephiroth as someone who Cloud has personal reasons to seek and fight. Cloud obviously is intimidated by Sephiroth or displays an obvious change in demeanor when he thinks he is around (seriously go back and check out Cloud’s reactions to being in close proximity to Sephiroth, the dude looks like he’s seeing a ghost). I get the why people aren’t happy with everything regarding Sephiroth but I think they did what they did in order to better service the narrative as a whole (establish plot critical information that will be expanded upon later in the games and such).

[@Khittope]

I want her to live. I want a new. I love Areith way to much. I want a redemption arch for sephiroth which is odd and way out but hey. :)

[@StarlightDragon]

I agree that there is a balance to be struck with how far they should change things and you could argue endlessly about where that line is, except I think there is a very clear and obvious line, and that's the core narrative of what happens. I think it's clear that they will need to add things and even change things or reorder things to make it a more cohesive experience (especially everything after midgar), but major shifts in the core direction of the story is where I personally take issue. I think most people will agree that 90% of the game, up until the end, was solid, unless they are total purists. Obviously there are some issues and it's imperfect in various categories (level design being an example), but for the most part it's pretty phenomenal. They set expectations within the first hour of the game pretty cleanly and stuck to those expectations pretty consistently up until the end. I think there is a line between the additions and alterations and fleshing out prior to the ending vs the addition of the whispers. Now, personally, I wouldn't care so much about the shift in direction if I felt the story they were building up to was good and the execution of that was compelling. But for me, it completely missed the mark and I saw it coming around aerith's church. Okay, I did't see Sephiroth ripping a portal into _spacetime_ coming, but I got the basic gist of what the whispers were doing. To me, just not a fan of it, but not put off by it enough to not see where they are going with the next one.

[@schizogony]

I really enjoy the way you present information and opinions. Liked & subbed.

[@Nyla_emotes]

Hello! I think you need to watch Maximillian Dood's and Easy Allies explanation. This game to me did a wonderful job. It is not completely for new fans and IT SHOULD NOT BE. This is for all fans, old and new. And if someone is a new fan after playing this they will induced to play (and buy) the original game. So in this way to me Square Enix did a great job. They gave to old fans something to look for and to the new ones the curiosity to step back in the best title of all the times. Speaking of marketing this is the best they could do and I will wait for the next part to release with so much hype. If you wanted a 100% remake with some better graphic you can already find the mods for that. This is something BEYOND that and to me it makes perfect sense, especially after Max's theories.

[@CodexEntry]

I've seen it, it's interesting, but I think about 80% of his theorizing is just that: Theorizing. It's by no means proven and is generally not that useful when talking about the things that I wanted to talk about here. Also, half of what your saying is stuff I talk about in this video, so I'm not sure what you think they have mentioned that I don't. I especially don't say I wanted 100% remake, I say very much the opposite of that.

[@justinalbin7272]

I'm really tired of seeing the lies told by the devs justified by this idea that nobody should have wanted a faithful remake to begin with. They chose to push the narrative that this game was going to be a faithful remake. This wasn't just an assumption people were making. In the months leading up to the release, a point in time in which they clearly knew what the final product was going to be, they stated it was going to be a faithful remake. To push this false narrative they even went so far as to claim that the compilation of ff7 was being treated as non canon. Only after they got our money was the truth revealed. This isn't a faithful remake. It isn't really a remake, It's a sequel. This game not only shoves as much of the compilation of ff7 in as it possibly can, It's been confirmed that it actually is a part of the compilation of ff7. Clearly you and many others enjoyed the game. I'm genuinely happy for you all. Joy in life is a thing in short supply and if this game brought joy into your life I'll say it again: I'm genuinely happy for you. That being said, It's really unfair to treat people who were dissatisfied with the changes as if they had unrealistic expectations or that they shouldn't have wanted a real remake to begin with. The devs wanted us to believe this game would be a faithful remake, and they went out of their way to reinforce those expectations. Whether this was out of greed to maximize sales or an artistic choice to "subvert our expectations" (that phrase is getting really old really quick) I can't say for sure. The fact remains though. We were lied to, and I for one am not happy. You say just play the original. I'm happy to. It is a game that brings joy into my life. What doesn't is being bilked out of $60 for a game I was promised would be a faithful remake.

[@bungawizmedia8003]

Before final cut scene/boss fight....sephiroth 7 min talking or in screen time in total out of 35 45hour game. Why have the fight? He is framed throughout the entire game slowly through 1min 15 second snips. Built slowly as a villan. Killing clouds mom barret twice president shina and tifa and tifas father. Arieth saying hes terrible as well. So if he has wronged all the main characters and been shown as evil throughout. So ya he has a well bit fight built throughout the game. Second thing. He is intoduced very closely to how hes introduced in the orginal game on a conceptial scale if you actually think about it. Maybe not at face value howeverrrr the concept you discussed how he strings the players along and acta like there puppets as to what he does. Is...exactly what he does throughout this remake. Everything peoppe find flaws with this game miss the fact they have captered the overarcing orginal concepts in the orginal in the remake first part. Its nit about pre destination. They bluntly say several times its about taking risks and not having regrets. Which was a major point of the original game on a subtext. I can think of 3 times they have different characters say live without regrets and take chances. From begining to end its saying this to you and showing it to you as well as indirectly showing and telling you. Idk how so many people miss the actual purpose of this games message. The node at the end is even a double antondra. The creatives are saying there feelings about why they were hesitant to remake the game.

[@bungawizmedia8003]

Star wars movies sucked

[@rem9142]

When you put it that way from 3:56 to 4:10, yeah it is kinda impressive. And according to a few RPG-lovers that I've come across I've heard that's kind of how it should be. Btw yes! I was oddly cynical about aerith and i was pretty sure i wasnt going to love her at least but she might be my favorite. After Cloud...maybe next to Cloud

[@zackfair6203]

14:10 agree -part of the horror in the og was that sephiroth was this mysterous guy you only heard Storys of 17:10 haha "you know nothing" 🤣 18:05 true

[@existingdark]

The best way to look at FF7: Remake is to come to the realization that "Remake" was not meant for us, the audience. Remake is a subtitle to describe an in-universe and canon change. We are assumed to have already played FF7. In this sequel, all of the characters and world have experienced this "Remake". Now what we're going to get is a canon fanfiction rewrite of what happened to serve a different (for better or worse) narrative focus.

[@Valkyrou]

I didn't have much issue with the train graveyard, sector 7 trek, etc. Cool idea with it being because of Aerith. It wasn't as good as the rest but I was still all about it

[@madestmadhatter]

The train yard's issue isn't how long it goes on on for, or what it contains, but that it takes place as we're trying to get to the plate, and that they revealed the fight happening there too soon, they put us in a situation where we just don't want to be there and then populated the whole thing with the toughest mobs in the game, as well as two boss fights, again these aren't necessarily bad on their own, but because we were rushing towards that important scene it made it feel like we were running through pudding.

[@CodexEntry]

This is honestly the exact issue down to the letter. It's hard to get super invested in Aerith seeing ghosts when every second we're there is another second Jessie might be getting killed

[@binglee8000]

Great video mate

[@JustADancerOnFire]

Best review of this I’ve seen! High props. Subscribed!

[@GrahamChapman]

It's funny how the reveal trailer for FF7R basically summarizes everything you said here: "Long ago, we looked upon a foreboding sky. The memory of the star that threatened all burns eternal in our hearts. In its wake came an age of silence. Yet with each fond remembrance, we knew those encountered were not forgotten. That someday, we would see them again. Perhaps it was no more than wishful thinking. But after the long calm, there are now the beginnings of a stir... The reunion at hand may bring joy. It may bring fear. But let us embrace whatever it brings. For they are coming back. At last... The promise has been made." But, yeah, basically, I agree with you; right now, I'm torn between anxiety and excitement. "What if they fuck up?" Did they duck up this first part? "Well, uh, not really? I mean, I love it so clearly they did something very right, but some parts and some decisions... I dunno..." Well, you do know why those parts are different, right? "Yes, but I cannot help but question some of the parts and decisions none the less. I mean, was it _really_ necessary for Biggs to survive just to illustrate that destiny has been changed? If they just leave that plot-thread hanging then I'm not really a fan." But if they do follow up upon it. "Then I may still not know if I'm happy with it or not! Wedge made a difference; he saved a lot of lives, and that's great for him, but does he, himself, really have to survive? I love this new Wedge, but I don't want every character death in this Remake to have been a fake-out..." Honestly, I'd say Jessie is kind of a key piece to my puzzle. I want Jessie to have survived _only_ if if her story can be elaborated upon or if we can get some more world-building out of her survival, but I don't want her to have survived just for the sake of surviving. I'm not sure if I'm okay with Biggs' survival, because I don't see him leaving Midgar/appearing in future games. If his survival is meant to foreshadow Jessie's survival and future appearances, then I actually am kinda okay with that... but if Jessie doesn't come back, if none of the Avalanche members come back, then I'm not okay with it... You know that line from Wall-E? "I don't want to survive! I want to live!" Well, a character in a story only comes to life when they fulfill a part. Them merely living and surviving is not fulfilling a part. In such a scenario, they can be much more alive if they die... I am, however, _not_ worried about the power scaling in the future parts, quite frankly because everyone and everything around us have been keeping an even pace with Cloud and the gang in their own power scaling. The Scorpion Sentinel made the Guard Scorpion look like a toy! The Remake!Airbuster was a fucking weapon of mass-destruction compared to the mere tank that the original version was! Remake!Reno and Rude completely outclass their AC!counterparts and would probably, if not outright wipe the floor with Yazoo and Loz, then at least go toe-to-toe with them. Remake!Hell House was no longer a weird mook, it was a full-blown boss, and it was _way_ more powerful than it was in FFVII. I mean, hell, it could even fly! And Remake!Rufus fucking Shinra went from a pushover who challenged a supposed one-man army to a duel like a complete fool to a one-man army in his own right... Frankly speaking, even if the Midgardsormr is reduced to a mere mandatory boss of the Kalm area in the next part, an enemy that we're supposed to defeat in order to advance the plot rather than an unbeatable foe, (this could still be done quite right by making the snake a stage hazard for the swamp area that you first have to run away from and lure up on land in order to have a fighting chance against or something like that,) I am _still_ not worried about the power scaling. Also, I'm quite convinced that Sephiroth is _not_ Advent Children!Sephiroth... Square made a point out of not showing AC!Sephy ever blinking or breathing in order to illustrate that he's transcended beyond such petty, human necessities. But Remake!Sephy? He blinks, he breathes... he clearly has _some_ degree of pre-science, and it's certainly not outside the realm of possibility that he gained it from his future self through the tainted lifestream or something like that, but he is most definitely _not_ his future self... Ultimately, I just hope the next part of FF7R won't have a central theme around destiny and stuff though. We covered that theme in this first part and we told destiny where to stick it. Now, let's move on and focus on other themes; let the shifting timeline and the changes we've wrought be a part of the plot, sure, (in fact, you _better_ make it a part of the plot, Square; you _cannot_ show Zack surviving and then not _do_ anything with that plot point,) but _do not_ make the destiny plot as obstructive as the Whispers were. We got rid of them for a reason and they've served their meta purpose. Now, let's not explore the meta around what it means to have changed destiny/remaking events in a remake... And _please_ don't make the moral of this story something along the lines of "Sometimes, changing destiny is wrong and does more harm than it does good, regardless of the intentions," because that would just come across as a "Welp, we tried, but Remaking FFVII was clearly a mistake."

[@jasonborne238]

Just wanted to let you know that there are 3 sephiroth's in the game confirmed by the ultimania, illusion sephiroth, the real sephiroth and future sephiroth that we fight at the end of the game

[@sinxstarx1721]

Great job! I think that SE is setting the table for the next game. In game 1, you're left feeling hopeful after seeing Biggs and wedge "survive" and feeling like you could possibly alter the last and save Aerith, but I feel that is very intentional. If you think about "hurt and pain" is literally the feelings that made ff7 so iconic and they are going to amplify that in the next game. They are gonna make us hurt more than we ever did before and make us hate sephiroth more than we ever have before and giving us this feeling of "hope" at the end of the game is all part of their plan

[@hamedmahmoud3769]

Wow, this is quite possibly the best video essay/reaction video to FF7R that I’ve watched yet. Great job. Subscribed.

[@ultima513.]

Awesome Video!

[@samcherry4741]

Mhm! I want Bomber Jesse to join as soon as possible. Her whole move set would be crazy. She needs sticky remote explosives and since she's light she'd be super fast too. Uggggh, and what would her relationship be like with Yuffie or Vincent? That's so exciting, the possibilities of bringing her in to the later story is a bliss I really hope they embrace. OH MY GOD ARE WE GONNA GET JESSE AT GOLDEN SAUCER?

[@HadoukenX]

Great video. You had me sold during the Sephiroth section. You gained a new sub! 👍🏻

[@bungifish2227]

That intro is hype! You should release that as a separate video

[@themadgamer4571]

After taking some time thinking about it. It seems after beating the whispers, we kinda had no choice to fight him. He was part of the reason that portal opened, perhaps we had to fight him to get out. Also the effect on the world/timelines didn't resolve until we beat him. We always have plenty of reason to face him when we get the chance. But what was his reason for fighting us there? Only thing I can think of was his motive to try to convince Cloud to join him in further defying destiny. That's about it.

[@timothymoran7919]

He absorbed and distroyed the harbinger of fate

[@nathaliehernandez8145]

Damn this video is art! I loved it. Also thank you for pointing out how little time we would spend with aerith without the filler parts! I'm a little tired of people calling Square a corporate evil that wants to milk the remake. They did it for you fans! Hojo's lab was also for us to spend time with Red. I'm scared for the future, but I can see the devs have poured love in the game, so let's hope for the best!

[@lastmanstanding7155]

What I got about sephiroth is that he's just playing cloud in another manner. Rather than the orginal way he got cloud to unknowingly defy fate. Although that is arguable since most characters express a desire to be free. The fight with sephiroth imo isn't really him fighting with the intent to kill like the orginal ending of final fantasy 7. Where he literally went god mode. I think anything less than God mode sephiroth is just him toying or scheming in some way. Because I believe ur right. That whole fight could've had him tpk the entire team. But he clearly states he just doesn't want cloud to die. In all honesty if he had killed cloud he'd just be revived like barret. So how can he really take that type of fight seriously? The completion of the defying of fate occured the moment the cloud finished the fight and was transported with by sephiroth. That conversation was just him giving cloud a choice. So yea that's why I'm personally still looking forward to facing the real sephiroth.

[@siekensou77]

changed? or is it actually a cour 2.. a “NG+” for the characters?

[@Emil-Roma]

I really get you man. And I adore this game. I think the vast majority of it is obscenely good. Game of the year material. But there is a lot to discuss, and this shouldn't detract from how fantastic this game is. But, here we go, here's my take (it's kind of long, so if you read it fully, I think you're crazy but I really like you, be Ryan, or whoever you are). Some of it will clearly echo what you say in this video, I wrote most of it down and sat on it after finishing the game, and I figure there isn't a better audience to discuss it with: We know what kind of games this team makes. These are games that tend to be full of fan service and that don't experiment with storytelling. They also don’t take major risks with their plot, it’s always good and evil, it’s always predictable for the most part. These are, of course, general points, but they do ground my concerns. That said, I want to balance that my sense of anxiety seems to be stronger, with the fact that I don't want to come up as bashing this game as a self-contained unity (something about wholes, parts and sums here). But I think my reading of the game is a little more pessimistic. Now, as for the ending being concerning, I want to justify my inference a little bit. Quickly though, I should say that all of this rests on my idea that this series of games should be as faithful to the original as possible, in terms of the spirit and thematic/storytelling ambitions at play, which means that if you don’t share that, you’re unlikely to agree with some of my comments. I am not a purist, and I in fact welcome change, I just think there are right and wrong ways of changing things, and this game has lots of examples of both. 1. With what we currently have from Final Fantasy VII Remake, this team has shown that they are entertaining the idea (if they are not outright committed to it) to changing plot points, both in major and minor ways. Their self-indulgent and honestly selfish attempt at justifying this with “fate” and “whispers” seems to indicate they want to go much further than they do in some of the scenes in this game, otherwise, they would have just done it, like they do with chapter 4 or with some other parts of the game. I of course hope I’m wrong here. 2. They have shown that they are not interested or not capable of delivering a story with high stakes, particularly emotional ones involving death or loss. I don’t mean to sound rude or condescending, which is why I’m leaning more to negligence or the fact that this is not a priority far more than I am toward the idea that they are incompetent. Examples of this include everyone surviving the fall of the Sector 7 plate, the way the deaths of Biggs and possibly Jessie are unmade. And of course, the direction they seem to be taking with Zack and perhaps Aerith. It sounds uncharitable, but I wouldn’t put it above them to try and reverse these two’s circumstances due to the popularity of the characters. 3. This is very much a Toriyama, Nojima and especially a Nomura product. This is not trivial, and it has big implications. Collectively, these guys are responsible for several atrocities (and indeed some very good things, but the “bad stuff” here is more recent, and so more relevant in my view) at Square, including FF XIII, FF XV and its extended works, the entirety of Kingdom Hearts, FF X-II and most of the unfortunate extended works concerning FFVII, which for our purposes is probably the most concerning part. I’m not saying anything that they produce is bad, that would be ridiculous. But it is important to note that this is not a team most classic Final Fantasy fans trust. 4. Also, and I saved this for close to last because it is not the strongest point: in my opinion, every alternate world, multiple universe or alternate timeline story that I have seen drops the stakes dramatically and ensures that nothing truly significant can be delivered without the accompanying thought that “things can go differently”, which makes it hard for events to have a strong emotional impact. That said, this could be a matter of taste, as I personally despise this trope generally, and I don’t trust Square’s theme to handle it well. 5. Lastly, as we know, the entire enterprise has the signs of a theme that is almost completely antithetical to the message/theme of Final Fantasy VII. The theme seems to be that of acceptance, loss, and especially life after or with loss. It’s no coincidence that loss (most commonly in the form of mortality) accompanies every character in the game in an important way. Themes like life, death, finitude and acceptance/overcoming trauma don’t go well with alternate universe scenarios for obvious reasons. There also seems to be some kind of disdain for the original story, as if the events of the original are something to be avoided (this is said outright by characters like Red and Sephiroth). This is one of the worst offenders if you ask me. It now seems that the original story is a kind of “bad ending” that must be rewritten (in both senses of the word: by the characters themselves, and literally by the developers). This, again, is both antithetical to the theme of FFVII and I'd say disrespectful to the original. This may sound uncharitable, but I don't think I trust Tetsuya Nomura to handle a story with weight. If anything, it seems to me that thematic dissonance, and the brutal uncertainty that accompanies it is more a product of confusion and mishandling, rather than a masterminded attempt at delivering a different, yet equally rich theme. If I had to add to one of the things you said you felt, it would be a third variable: a very strong, deep-rooted cynicism given what we know about Square. And I don't think I can hold my breath for this new story with everything I know, no matter how excited I feel about playing the next excitements. After all, that vertigo-inducing sense of freedom, for us, is not taking place in a vacuum.

[@SuperWisemon]

But why is there so much cynicism for modern Square? I'm 20, and I grew up with XII and XIII mostly defining my taste in games. Modern Square has always put out more interesting, engaging and thematically resonating games than that of the previous era for me. The World Ends with You, Final Fantasy XII, Crisis Core, Final Fantasy XIV, Final Fantasy VII:R and a fair few others are all games I'd easily place in my top ten and it's largely due to their narratives and how well they emotionally resonate with me. I don't see any big change in quality from games like X to what they put out today. Hell, honestly, both VIII and VII are fairly low on my list of best FF games - 6.5 and 7/10 respectively from me. Having played VII for the first time directly after Remake, and then a 3rd run of Crisis Core afterwards, it really became clear to me just how inferior I found the original VII to both. The way characters are presented in the original VII is just outright poor, with characters like Yuffie, Vincent, and Cait Sith being genuinely some of the least engaging I've ever seen in a JRPG. They just never interact with each other, I never understand them. Compared to XIII, which despite many of it's other faults, has by far the best character development I've ever seen in FF, it's night and day. I understand Hope, Vanille, Lightning, Sazh, Snow and Fang. Even in XV, the one thing it absolutely knocks out of the park is the relationships between Noctis, Prompto, Gladio and Ignis. I don't have a clue what Yuffie thinks of Vincent, they've never once said a word to each other. I barely get why they're even there, but there actual characterisations are entirely distanced from the main narrative and instead focalised on two incredibly short side quests - at max 1hr for each. That's understandable, maybe, since they're optional, but then why is Cait Sith handled so poorly? I just don't buy them as people at all, and the same can be said for most of the cast of VIII as well, yet modern Square nails this aspect out of the park every single time. Hell, had I not played Remake first, I kinda doubt I'd really like Aerith as much as I do. Remake, for me, is a much more interesting game due to it's deviations, and given I think it is itself already far better than the original, I do have absolute faith in the development team to make something that eventually defines this decade of JRPGS for me.

[@Emil-Roma]

@@SuperWisemon Weirdly enough, I don't disagree with almost anything you said. I think it's a matter of scope, for the most part. I'll try and break my response down by focusing on mostly the same areas you touched on, and try to explain why my cynicism is so strong when presented with most modern Square titles. But like I said, I think I agree with most of what you said, I just don't see it alleviating my concerns, mainly because the games you mentioned, for the most part, are not associated with the three creators I have a problem with: Nomura, Nojima (nowadays) and Toriyama, who are all heavily involved in FFVII Remake (of the ones you listed, I think only Crisis Core involves Nojima, and not as a main writer). 1. I'd like to know more about what you mean by "emotional ressonance" means to you (both out of personal curiosity and to get a better feel for your argument). I personally really like FFXII, and I don't think it is a particularly controversial title, it handles most story elements well, and while I am not in love with the cast, I think they are mostly fine. I've also not played XIV, and likely won't, as I don't like MMO's, but I've heard very good things and am happy to take your word for what you think it does well. The reason I don't share your faith involves games like FF XIII, as it is a game that in my view deserves all the praise and hate it deserves, XV (the most recent and one of the worst offenders if you ask me), the Compilation of FFVII and probably Kingdom Hearts. I agree with you that the cast in the cases of XIII and XV is better characterized than some older jrpg's, but that seems to me to be more a triumph of voice acting and animation in videogames than of good writing. In fact, I'd argue that, at a basic level, execution in FFXIII's plot feels sloppy, which I think extends to the characters, and more importantly their dialogue (not just the playable cast, in XIII's case, the antagonists are probably the worst offenders), as that feels cheesy, on-the-nose and not good at conveying a main theme, it's not any better in XV. I will grant that interactions feel better and better as videogames progress, but that seems to be, again, more to do with the times than with great writing (in most games nowadays, traversal is more important and so dialogue is purposely deployed when moving, traveling, etc. so there's more space for characterization). I don't disagree that FFXV's bantery and relational moments feel good sometimes, but having gone back relatively recently, it's jarring just how little there is, and how little response there is from characters like Noctis (I get that his character is supposed to be this edgy/emo teenager with issues, but it´s still the case that his interactions feel robotic), and because crucial points in the story are not in the game, but in the movie, anime and DLC, dialogue and characterization are awfully disconnected). 2. We may disagree on this, but I just don't see Crisis Core or indeed any of the extended FFVII Compilation works to be particularly good. I think Crisis Core is the best work to come out of that, but then again, the competition boils down to the disaster that is Advent Children, a weird mobile game that we know little about, and one of the worst video games of all time (no hyperbole here, Dirge of Cerberus is among the worst products I have ever encountered). That said, I think Zack carries the show, particularly when contrasted with some awful characters (Genesis). He's a typical Japanese media protagonist, but he works well, and that is ultimately what matters. To borrow a point you made earlier concerning scores, I think I'd give it a 7: it is adequate, sometimes enjoyable, but not stellar in any way. 3. I think an element that largely looms over the concerns I have is the design and writing philosophy of the works these guys have been responsible for. Chiefly, I see a lot of Kingdom Hearts (never a good sign) in products such as Advent Children, FF XIII and especially XV: no real nuance in terms of communicating a theme and too much focus on stylistic aspects rather than character building (which, in fairness, the Remake does very well with, with the exception of Sephiroth, Red and probably Zack if he turns out to be alive, which would have a bad effect on Cloud, but that is uncertain so far). It's also a constant effort to stress style over substance (a criticism even I am tired of having to make when it comes to good old Nomura, sadly, it's still mostly true), for a good example, look no further than Sephiroth in any media presentation that isn't the original FFVII (and maybe Crisis Core, but that is 50/50 for me). Overall, my concern is that this new story will be another Nomura/Toriyama journey: these are same-y, have no emotional resonance with me, close to no stakes (and this is amply proven in the Remake), risks or experimental elements in their storytelling, and are limited and strongly linear (and not in the standard, dead-horse-beating criticism leveled at XIII's level design, but rather in terms of how little options there are in terms of progression and ways to take on scenarios or approach. Remake is probably the best of the bunch, as it feels like a fully realized version of what a Toriyama product would look like, but even then, you have one main goal in every battle: stagger the enemy). In this particular case, it feels like a betrayal to the spirit of FFVII, and I personally don't trust these three people or their team to handle the story of one of my favorite rpg's. The main thing is, as much as I like the Remake, I feel there is far too much evidence to suggest this is, ultimately, another Square product where the influence of their modern approach goes too far for a game that simply does not fit with that model (or if it did in an early draft, it certainly doesn't now). Lastly, it's not obvious to me how the Remake is "already far better than the original". I think it's a killer game, but I don't see how it outdoes its inspiration in any way that isn't irrelevant (like graphics, animations, modernized gameplay, etc. these things don't matter and would be a staggeringly unfair and shallow metric to judge the Remake by). The one thing I see it doing better is characterization, particularly in the case of Cloud, but as I've said, this has a lot more to do with the decade in which each game came out. Could you elaborate? Sorry for the long post, I found your response interesting, though I'd like you to elaborate on some things, if you don't mind.

[@SuperWisemon]

Emiroma No problem, and thanks a lot for the well-thought out response! It’s nice to be able to have a well meaning discussion on this site. I guess I’ll start with why I generally think the Remake is just a better experience for me, and it’s right that the biggest factor in that is the characterisation. While I do think the Midgar section of VII does have some of the best examples of that in the game originally, I feel the amount of time we spend with Barret/Tifa/Aerith and even Red XIII really expands my appreciation of them. The small things which modern games can do so well, like in-battle banter really help flesh them out, and I can start to see how, say, Tifa and Aerith feel about each other - rather than vaguely understanding that they had a slight love triangle in the original. The scene we’re they beat up Don Corneo’s thugs in the mansion is one of my favourites because it just exudes a kind of fun that I just never saw these characters engage in, at least not to that point in the original. Otherwise, I did have some issues with the difficulty scaling in VII and some retrograde game design choices like no checkpointing, which did make me lose a good amount of progress due to random mobs killing me in the over world (specifically on Wutai island, which I went to thinking that’s where the Temple of the Ancients was, only to be instantly killed by some birds who didn’t give me a chance to even fight back). I also got pretty bored of the going to-and-from place to place on the last 10 or so hrs. It seemed like the game simply ran out of new content and just decided to have everything take place in the same places, pretty much from Mideel onwards. Nowhere near as bad as something like Tales of the Abyss, but did get a little grating. In the end, I found that, exactly as I had found with VIII, the characterisation was absolutely amazing for Cloud/Squall, but kinda just didn’t apply to anyone else. At least in this case, Barret and Tifa did feel fleshed out enough for me to like them quite a bit, and Red XIII is just so likeable on paper that even if the game didn’t do anything with him past Cosmo Canyon I still had to keep him in my party just to see if he’d say anything more - another major misstep for me: having only the characters in your immediate 3-man party actually talk during non-story pivotal scenes, which can lead to really cool bits of dialogue like that in Gongaga completely missable. It would’ve solved at least some of the impression that these people never spoke to each other had they just made everyone in the party able to do that, rather than having them split up via the cell phone mechanic. Another big quibble I had with OG VII which just didn’t effect me at all in remake was the really, really rocky localisation. I played on the original PS1 release, so all the minor grammar and spelling mistakes that the PC port fixed were in-tact. It was incredibly immersion breaking seeing about 25% of the text boxes of the game contain some error in them, not to even bring up the nuance it misses compared to fantranslations - which I did try for all of Midgar but ended up not working by the time I hit Junon. None of these things were really there in Remake. The characterisation, helped largely by the VO for sure, was spot on. I had no troubles with difficulty (I.E, things were usually incredibly easy in the original, but sometimes random mobs would wipe me) and I greatly prefer action combat to ATB - to be clear, I don’t mind turn based at all, I just don’t particularly like ATB due to the pressure it puts you under to select commands and the somewhat janky way Wait mode attempts to help with that. As sacrilege as it is, I did also prefer the soundtrack, I’ve never really rated Uematsu that highly, probably because I didn’t grow up with his music, but I do absolutely adore XIII-2’s OST and Remake’s feels entirely in that style. In terms of Nomura and co, The World Ends with You was actually his creative baby, and he was the lead on that project. I think it’s the best example of just how good his style can be, because I honestly think the cast of TWEWY is the most relatable of any game I’ve ever played. The way it’s so consistent with it’s theming in every facet of the gameplay and artistic vision is honestly something to admire, and I really recommend watching The Game Professor’s analysis of it. It’s still in the vain of Kingdom Hearts, as most of his work is, but I do think it avoids many of its pitfalls like clunky dialogue or convolution. It does seem to me that a theme across these creative’s games, KH, TWEWY and XIII in particular is a focus on character, which really appeals to my sensibilities in what I want to see from a narrative. XIII does absolutely suffer from some abhorrent dialogue, same as KH, but I always find myself so endeared to both their casts which allows me to really react emotionally to events which occur around them. Roxas in KH2 is one of the most tragic characters I’ve had to play as, and the creative decisions that led that game to have a 3hr prologue based around a brand new character that’s entirely focussed on his tragedy was both very risky but incredibly rewarding. Those risks seem to permeate Square, it’s one of the things I admire most about them - they’ll throw money at things that are super risky and allow their creatives to take those risks, and Remake is the best example of that. With XIII, I just like how much the narrative focusses on character events. It feels more like Persona in a lot of ways, and while I dislike the gameplay and don’t care for the plot, I’ve played the game 3 times just to spend more time with it’s cast, Sazh in particular. XII is absolutely an outlier here, since it’s the opposite of XIII in many ways. It’s intensely plot focussed, and actually falls under many of the same pitfalls as I find VII does with it’s characterisation in that characters will have one or maybe two big moments and then become largely background dressing for the main plot. However, XII is actually my favourite game ever made, and a large amount of that comes from it’s dialogue, localisation and dedication to crafting a living world. I’ve played it so many times now that I don’t see those character failings anymore, since while the game doesn’t have many scenes dedicated to them, the ones that are there have so much depth to them that every play through allows me to uncover something else about their stories. Examples like Vaan’s brother Reks not actually dying when Gabranth stabbed him at the start of the game, but instead being kept alive as a witness to the regicide and then left in a comatose state for Vaan to watch slowly die. I think there’s a lot more at play, like a more general appreciate of the style of modern square, with the levity of XV or XIII:LR and the incredibly diverse soundtracks. Voice acting is also a big component, as a voice actor myself and someone whose career choice was entirely inspired by the great British talent in Xenoblade Chronicles and FF XII. Games with voice acting just plain are more valuable to me, if not on the level that they’re more enjoyable for me to engage in, then in the fact that engaging in them gives me more to work on in my own performances. These seem a lot more centralised in MY enjoyment, and definitely more superficial, though. I guess, in the end, when I see Nomura, I do get somewhat anxious over the quality of the dialogue or the commitment to death which he always shirks, but that’s always a minor component compared to the elation I feel instead that we might get another The World Ends with You from him. Toriyama I feel less esteemed about, but I also think that if he has a robust team around him and isn’t given full control, his more questionable stylisations can be roped in. Inevitably, it’s also hard to not include real auteurs like Yoko Taro into the Modern Square envelope as well, which does absolutely give me more faith in the future of the company.

[@Emil-Roma]

@@SuperWisemon First of all, thank you for engaging. I guess I'm lucky in that I tend to find well meaning discussions more often than others. But then again, I wasn't expecting anything less from someone who took the time to read a massive comment like my original post. In that sense, I should be thanking you for taking the time to read and discuss. I want to get one thing out of the way first, this is regarding what I know and what I am actually equipped to talk about. I strayed from talking about TWEWY because I only know of it, I haven't played it. Similarly to what I said about FF XIV, I really only have access to what people say, but as I said, I am happy to take your word here. I'm afraid I can't meaningfully talk about that game, but from what you say (and indeed most review scores and comments), it seems that it is a very good experience. I think I understand you better because of that, and I do agree that stories like those can strongly resonate with players, as they are based around modern urban culture (that's as far as my knowledge goes though). I think there is a lot to be said regarding how games like Persona 4 and 5 (and I guess TWEWY counts here as well, though you know it far better) handle apparently mundane problems or aspects of life that in fact feel far more relevant to our lives than those in fantasy settings precisely because they are urban and so hit closer to home. The thing for me is that games can balance the less relatable fantasy elements with enough emotional weight and resonance as to make them impact almost anyone as strongly as situations like the ones found in games which have more familiar settings (I think the original FF VII is phenomenal at this). My original point is that I personally don't trust the staff that produces games like Kingdom Hearts to handle these stories with the nuance they need in order to be emotionally impactful while both a) connecting to a strong theme and b) making the story resonate. All of that said, it is a point in favor of Nomura that he can do it, as you say, in other cases such as TWEWY. Will they be able to do this with the Remake's new story? I don't know, and my own expectation is that they might not be able to do it, as we have evidence that part of the setup for moments of connection with the player (Sephiroth's slow-burning introduction and being able to compare ourselves to him both narratively and gameplay-wise, for example) are being mishandled if you ask me. However, I do appreciate that this is not as one-sided as I am making it out to be, as you say, there is evidence to the contrary, so in some senses, we are still left with loads of confusion and anxiety, but it's not all negative. On another note, I do agree with you that characterization is an improvement. That is, by far, my favorite part of the Remake. Save for the fact that some things in this game seem to foreshadow that some emotional weight will be lost with Cloud's and Barret's stories later, it is incredibly good to see that the characters are who I know they are (and not the edgy and gloomy doppelgängers several side projects like KH and Advent Children spent lots of time trying to convince us they were all along). I can't overstate how much of a stroke of genius this is for the most part. I could go on praising this part of the game (and in my head I still am), but I'll move on to something else. Suffice to say that this gives the confidence that, even if I probably won't love the new direction of the plot, I am mostly reassured that the characters will mostly be consistent with their best versions. I was especially concerned for Cloud and Aerith, and I can't believe how happy I was for being wrong. As for your gripes with the original, I think I agree with most of what you say, actually. I don't want to spend too much time selling you the original, as it is not my intent, but it remains magical to me (and not in a sentimental way, I think it still holds up, save for the visuals, against modern JRPG'S). It does suck that a portion of the party won't be there for some interesting story moments due to the PHS (though I have to say, I am almost certain this has to do with technical limitations more than anything else, so I wouldn't go too far with this criticism). I also think that, yes, the Remake's gameplay is a massive improvement when it comes to difficulty and other things. I just don't know if these criticisms are fair to the original. My view tries to balance how contextually important the original is (with things that both aged greatly and poorly) with how much I think it still holds up as a timeless classic, and so I recognize and in fact accept most criticisms of it, but I also think that comparisons with modern games can be a little unfair and can miss the point, which is why I try not to compare games across time on the technical side. On the story and narrative side, I am more than happy to do that, and I think that the Remake has some edges over FF VII, while I prefer the tone, feel and story of the original (this is obviously based on an incomplete assessment of the Remake's story, but I'm going off of what we know so far). Most of all, I prefer how FF VII handles its storytelling and pace in far subtler ways so that moments have more payoff later (examples for me are Cloud's story being dubious but never overwhelmingly so, the masterful introduction of Sephiroth and how the game characterizes growth in the long term). I don't want to try to convince you of accepting the original as better, that is not my point. Rather, I'd like to show why I am resistant to the idea that the Remake is immediately better. It's obviously a matter of opinion, and I highly respect yours. Back to Nomura. I think that, as I said, it might not be all negative, though I don't think I'll abandon my cynicism regarding the guy, particularly when he has a more lead-like role and is accompanied by the team I don't trust. To link to some of the stuff you said, I do think that, from what I read before writing all this, TWEWY might not be susceptible to this because Nomura is not the director and people like Toriyama or the FF XIII and XV staff are missing, which is not the case with FF VII Remake. There is something similar to be said with FF XII, a game that I love: Nomura and co. are not involved here at all. Not to sound too negative, but that might contribute to the fact that XII is, in my view, a perfectly good game. It's not my favorite, and I think there are better FF's and modern JRPG's out there, but I do like it more than X, for example. As for XIII, I am in a very weird spot, because I think it gets all the hate it deserves due to the bland and linear design (and I don't just mean levels, I mean everything, from combat to character progression, to the plot), the bad writing and dialogue, and the weird story. But I can't deny that I do respect some things, such as the character-focused story, the art style, and the fact that they were not afraid to make a cast that is initially unlikeable and complex (though that does come at the cost of pretty bad world-building and the criminal offense of relying on logs to make the story coherent. As I said before, I think older Square games struck a better balance of both big-picture and character-focused stories hanging together). I must say I never played the sequels to XIII, I was too burned out with that universe to continue on, but I have heard from my friends that it does get better. Maybe we'll get a rerelease of a definitive or improved compilation, I can see myself checking that universe out with a more charitable view. I also want to mention, all of my criticisms don't involve anything technical, as I said in the last comment, I think it is for the better that videogames involve better and better voice acting, more dynamic interactions, evolving gameplay and so on. I think that those are factual increases in quality that I appreciate. My concern is that these improvements historically didn't lead to great improvements in one of my favorite genres for a long time (it may not be as bad as I'm making it out to be, but I think that incredible JRPG's are rarer nowadays). There were clear exceptions, and these are games I adore, I'd list the first Xenoblade Chronicles (it's cool to know that game is important to you, it's among the greatest games ever made, so it impacting your tastes doesn't strike me as superficial at all), Persona 4 and 5 (including Golden and Royal), Fire Emblem Path of Radiance, Awakening or Three Houses and Radiant Historia as some of my favorite games of all time, and they're all recent. But it seems to me that Square is inconsistent at best nowadays and so I don't put them in the same pedestal I would the devs of the games I've listed (who are obviously still fallible, I don't want to suggest they aren't). I do think that some of the stuff Square publishes is among the best I have ever seen, the killer example here is NieR Automata, but that game was not developed by a main team at Square (they only published it), and so I don't associate the genius that is Yoko Taro's team with the elements that make me anxious about modern Square titles like Final Fantasy or Kingdom Hearts, for example. Anyway, as I said originally, I think we agree on a lot here. If I had to refine my original position, I would say that I am more anxious about specific people at Square (and not modern Square Enix wholesale), and how they handle storytelling people who are heavily involved with the remake of one of the games I hold dearest, and so I think we have a right to be concerned. Though through this conversation, I think I have fleshed out my position a bit, and I appreciate you taking the time to discuss it with me.

[@Valkyrou]

Totally agree on Sephiroth. I think it can be explained, but only through outside media and whatever happens in the sequel. But it FEELS bad either in just this context or the entire series. It's narrative whiplash