Spoiler Warning for Final Fantasy VII Remake and original Final Fantasy VII
It's finally time. Or it's happening again? What is time? This isn't just a question about the hours and days blending together while we are all in quarantine, but also questions we attempt to answer about Final Fantasy VII Remake. Austin, Cado, Patrick, and special guest Matthew Gault gather once more to discuss the differences between the original and Remake, that wild ending, and how you pronounce "Cait Sith." You can listen to the full episode and read an excerpt below.
So, a few things about the ending and general spoiler stuff:
Laughing my ass off at everyone reading way too much into that crisp packet at the end. It’s an old mascot design! It’s an old ass bag of crisps floating around the wasteland around Midgar! Like, my most Deep Read take on it is that it has “the original” written on it, so it’s extremely on the nose symbolism for “the original” being discarded. And I don’t even like that reading, because Nomura doesn’t feel that way! He’s said so in interviews(last paragraph)! Sure it’s possible that multiple timelines exist now anyway, but I don’t think the crisps are supposed to be the thing that tells us that.
Secondly: I do trust Aerith, but I am absolutely of the beleif that she knows that she’s supposed to die. I also think that’s at least part of what Marlene saw when the static happened between the two, in the same way Red XIII got a grip on what was going on when she gave him pets. My guess is that part 2 will probably involve Aerith grappling with that in some way, wondering if having broken fate means she doesn’t have to die, maybe even ending with someone else dying in her place. My less convincing thought is that future Aerith and Current Aerith are occupying the same mind, presumably in the way way Sephiroth is doing, which is what she means when she says that she “loses a part of herself” whenever the whispers touch her, they’re trying to erase the future Aerith from her mind. But that’s kind of just idle speculation, and I’d rather time travel didn’t work like that so that we can have a Two Sephiroth’s situation.
I wonder if the revisions in this story aren’t even about fanbase’s orthodoxy at all. I think its more a practical issue that you either play with the dramatic irony that clearly every person in this project has to deal with, both the developers and the players. Or if you choose to ignore it, all that weight is hanging over the story anyway.
Also, you really had to get the final boss in the way they did. People would be very disappointed if that particular character never got a proper appearance in this title.
Thoroughly enjoyed the game as a newcomer, but that also meant I had no idea it would go full on power anime by the end, having started out a relatively grounded story of class and environmentalism.
I feel like they did a great job setting up a world for fresh eyes though, side characters and areas get much deeper development and spending 40+ hours in and around Midgar makes it impactful when things inevitably go bad.
All in all I’m excited for where it goes from here, and judging by the numerous hints toward future events and characters I’m probly gonna want to play through the original before the next remake part releases. I’m guessing I’ll have a wide time frame.
I saw a 5 hour lore speculation video, which is hilarious to me.
Like, I know nerds love lore, but when the central theme of a game is about rejecting the comfortable status quo and accepting the danger, sacrifice, and uncertainty that comes with fighting for a better future, then maybe you’re not supposed to be able to puzzle box together what’s gonna happen next lol.
Also, I’m not 100% sure how much Aerith knows, but there are multiple times in the game where she knows more than she should. She knows Cloud’s a mercenary, and she knows who Marlene is. Also, when she gives Cloud the flower, she says that “lovers gave them when they were reunited” which could be a reference to Cloud’s similarity to Zack, but I think it’s more foreshadowing that Aerith knows some shit.
My wife never played FF7 and went into the Remake blind. She loved it.
She interpreted the ending as a new reality being created without me saying anything, only now does she know that wasn’t the original escape from Midgar. She didn’t know who Zack was and was very confused by the cat wearing a crown.
Ian Walker wrote about frustration with regards to the new plot elements drawing on familiarity with the original’s major story beats.
I think the project heads were worried that ending at the disc 1 cutoff point wouldn’t be as climactic and players would feel the sting of a story only partly told. Personally, if it had ended there with the Whispers and Sephiroth maintained as a point of mystery, I’d have felt more optimistic about the project going forward.
Okay, i was pretty much in the same boat as your wife and I am BEGGING somebody to please explain that weird crown cat moogle fuckin thing when the plate is falling!!!
From what I remember, it’s Cait Sith, a small cat robot that Reeves controls to act against Shinra. The implication is seemingly that he was trying to do something about the plate falling but failed.
