just finished suzi’s deep dive video about RE4make

her ending it with “it’s a game i’m so glad i lived long enough to play”

was

just

a kick in the fucking head and i just want to bury my face in my arms and start screaming

I always wonder why SQEX use the title 'Crisis' to almost every prequel of FF7, i.e Crisis Core, Before Crisis, Ever Crisis. Is 'crisis' really implied toward Sephiroth?

Also, I'm apprehensive on playing the next part of FF7R because I don't want to beat up poor Sephy again (TT_TT). No matter how many ppl say he is strong or evil, to me he's just a poor baby.

But I'll definitely play when SQEX decide to release a sequel where Sephiroth as the main character. I even got in a habit of apologizing to the monitor whenever I finally defeat Seohiroth. Am I weird? Does anyone else feels like this?

No anon, don't feel weird about being yourself~!

༻❁༺ Crisis Cutie's Favorite Word?

Personally, I think "Crisis" could be applied as a collective term to FF7's cast. It's definitely one of Sephiroth's special words alongside reunion and despair, though. We know little about Sephiroth's role in EC now, but I wonder if his story arc will be another variant of his identity crisis, like in Crisis Core and Before Crisis. It'd certainly be an emotional crisis regardless, though.

I feel you on Sephiroth but at the same time; I understand the need to put him down, and it brings such heavy feelings to my heart. 💔💔💔 I've noticed that almost no one seems to give Sephiroth any empathy, even Aerith, who's pretty much the Sora of the series.

Sephiroth's actions brought everyone deep sorrow and crisis. It's clear why they felt such despair and hatred towards him. Quick disclaimer, I'm not blaming anyone or anything here, just pointing something out. Also Aerith just knows there is no turning Sephiroth from the path of evil. In 7R, she's completely right when she told him that everything about him was wrong, in every sense.

༻❁༺ Cycle of Pain

I knew Vincent indirectly expressed empathy (from what I remembered). He understood how the circumstances of Sephiroth's birth lead him to who he is. That's why he couldn't bring himself to confront Lucrecia with the harsh reality of what her son had become...

And we as the audience have the benefit of seeing both sides of the story. I understand why Sephiroth's trauma of abandonment, emotional abuse, and killing/fighting was became much to bear, leading to his breakdown in Nibelheim.

And I can imagine the despair and fury that Tifa and Cloud experienced when Sephiroth committed his abhorrent acts at Nibelheim. Tifa refused to be part of the cycle of pain that Sephiroth kept alive, and instead extended a hand to Cloud, saving him from his own descent. Without the bonds that Cloud had built, he could have easily become like Sephiroth.

Vincent, like Tifa, made the decision to break the cycle for himself. Despite his broken bonds and difficult circumstances, he was able to stay true to his inner goodness and remain on the path of good.

༻❁༺ Another Crisis Game Please!

I would love to play a game starring Sephiroth. Honestly, I think Crisis Core should've been the game for the First Class Boyos. It just had too much going on within the plot (IMO) and the game suffered from the constraints of originally being a handheld game. Zack is a great character, but honestly, he was just "there" a lot of times. He only took a permanent, active role closer to the end, which he had to for plot reasons. And I loved it!

Zack saw the results of his attempt to live heroically and play by the rules... It had not brought him to his hoped-for destination. He tried so hard to endure the terrible events and he did! But his prize was death and betrayal. Like Aerith, he was just too good for the world... It's interesting how similar his death is to hers. They faced immense hardships, but their powerful sense of morality and bonds kept them true to themselves while dying for a selfless and noble cause.

Honestly, the whole main cast of FF7 needs a fountain of hugs.

PLAYING: Final Fantasy VII Remake

So, with all the side quests out of the way I'm now ready to urgently save Aerith who is probably being tortured, if not dead, while I was hunting for the perfect dance song. The climb to the surface was...well, it reminded me of some other games and not in a "good" way. I then infiltrated the Shinra building and had all kinds of weird Mandela Effects happened...

It's time to climb to the surface and I've got my trusty Bat Grappling Hook. The climb through the destroyed sector 7 was very reminiscent of both The Last of Us and Resistance 2. Obviously, there's a great section in The Last of Us where we travel through a collapsed building, and it's filled with story, character, and great environmental design. FF7R's level design...not so impressive. The floors of the collapsed building were practically empty. Just flat floors with no furniture or any evidence that humans once used this space. Maybe that's why Shinra was so willing to destroy it?

This isn't necessarily a horrible offense. It reminded me of Resistance 2's Chicago "boss fight". First, let me point out that Naughty Dog has one of the greatest gameplay debuts ever with Uncharted 2. I feel it it really set the bar for cinematic gameplay. There were two key ingredients: 1. Amazing visuals with well-decorated environments. 2. Scripted gameplay that didn't feel scripted. So many games, I feel, tried to live up to this demonstration and they always failed at one of those two successes of Uncharted 2; sometimes both.

Resistance 2 failed at the first. While I love Resistance 2 (like a whole lot) the rooms introduced to the player during the demo (and even in the final) were very much devoid of any set decoration. This is something that would have been permissible on PS1, MAYBE PS2, but on PS3 it was pure sin. So on PS4...I mean...just inexcusable. Did they plan a shorter climbing section and then were like, "We've got three weeks till release, feel like adding an hour to the game?"

This section also served as an awkward reminder that this is basically an action game. It's more Uncharted than Final Fantasy 7. I remember the climb from the original--it only takes about 5-10 minutes and there's no fights on the way. But it was a puzzle-driven maze that involved climbing and timed jumps. Awkward, but gave another dimension to the greatness of FF7. Not only that, but the mental state of the players and characters was significant. Maybe an hour in-world time had passed since the Turks blew up the pillar, killed hundreds if not thousands, and Aerith was captured. The wound is fresh, and this climb was about being focused on your goal--to literally rise from the ashes.

But Remake--you had too many chapters leading into the climb. The raw feeling of pain is somewhat numbed now. And the climbing experience is so prolonged with fighting, platforming, and a boss fight, that you're in a completely different mindset than in the original. For me, this isn't good. But maybe others feel different.

NOW--into Shrina Building. The increased Scale of this game is impressive. Makes me sad I don't get to explore more of it. Wandering around in the parking garage reminded me of playing Watch Dogs Legion.

The lobby section with Tifa was weird. It was scripted and unfun. What was the thinking behind this? Let's give the player one choice and be REALLY slow about it? And then as you climb up, the music changes like Tifa has finally learned to be a hero--WTF. I actually like Tifa more in this game than the original, but I feel like Remake doesn't respect Tifa at all, or acknowledge she's a major badass!

I took the stares. Fun nod to the original. Some pretty comical banter and it was interesting how Cloud slowed down the further he climbed. "So many stairs!"

Playing the original, I liked exploring the Shinra building. It was interesting to show different aspects of being a Shinra employee, and they had some interesting challenges and puzzles: like sneaking past guards, solving a literal puzzle, guessing a password, collecting awesome items. I wasn't feeling it this game. maybe I'm just ready for the game to be done and I'm tired of them stretching out insignificant moments.

The presentation on the Promised Land was a nice touch. It's interesting, they're giving out way more info than the original did at this point. But it also makes sense cause this has to be its own game. It can't rely on Final Fantasy VII Remake Part 4 to explain brief comments mentioned here. But the music and peppiness of the Promised Land presentation was perfect and totally reminded me of videos from Disney World and Discovery Channel. Annnd Sephiroth is walking the halls. Neat. Met Midgar’s Mayor. They gave him more “character” than the original...that’s nice. But then we had to climb through the duct. This kinda made me want gauge my eyes out. Sure this is based on the original, and sure I’ve spent way too much time in air ducts cause of Metal Gear Solid, but Cloud moved soooo slow, and there was no real maze or strategy. They didn’t need to make it this painful. I remember asking myself, “Why am I playing this??” We track Hojo to the lab. We did not meet Jenova before this next section. As we confront Hojo, no awkward breeding attempt between Aerith and Red XIII. Maybe they realized this was stupid and took it out. But it somehow made Red’s introduction even more awkward. I kill the poison boss and see Red lying there. Oh, Hi Mark. And then we go rescue Aerith. Those hooded folks pop up again...I swear they’re from the Timeline Commission from Umbrella Academy. Anyway, awkward Red XIII intro...and Jenova. Thinking about it...maybe Jenova should have been more central to the plot. Like, after the bombing mission, a Helicopter should have flown overhead carrying a container, and that’s when Cloud started getting visions of Sephiroth. And maybe this container gets moved and all these rumors about the appearance of monsters and stuff relate more to the mysterious container. All of it inspiring Sephiroth visions. And then it’s like, now that Cloud is here--it’s here. All coming to a head. Well--anyway. hanging out in Aerith’s old room. Let’s see how this goes.