This was an excellent write up, and reflects my own opinions very well, albeit with much greater patience, tolerance, and elegance. The Gongaga chicken quest was the nail in the coffin for me as far as side content went. I knew what the quest writers were doing here, but after the already apparent burn out, being gas lit was too much.
You have a lot of interesting choice in words used to describe your experiences; torture, slog, shallow, hallow, etc... I will be respectful and not attribute them out of context, but those same terms are regularly used in my own analysis of Rebirth. Terms I did not feel compelled to use when reviewing multiple back to back playthroughs of Remake, despite its own obvious flaws.
Rebirth is shaping up to be the stereotypical middle child for sure.
Were this a proper review, I would have used different words, too, for sure. With this being an opinion piece and outlet for my manifold emotions, such terms are certainly warranted and elevate the textual expression I feel.
As a game, I think Rebirth towers over Remake. In terms of integration of new elements and mysteries however, I think Remake did a better job overall (Though I do really like Sephiroth's ambitions of separating Tifa from Cloud). That being said, Rebirth does suffer from this middle child syndrome a bit, both positively and negatively.
Game three will surely put things into perspective, but we're not there yet.
After finishing my playthrough I had pretty much the exact same opinions you shared here. I think the only major difference between our experiences is that instead of rage-quitting I continued getting absolutely obliterated by both Jenova and then the last Sephiroth form for *hours*, each time getting more and more pissed at the ending haha.
Remake was the same thing. I HATED the ending so much that I never bothered touching again it for 4 years and I almost didn't even bothered with Rebirth.
The key difference between Remake and Rebirth for me was that now I'm convinced that they (the devs) really understand what FF7 is and what makes it so special (a thing that 100% of the Compilation fails to do so). Then I went to check a few reactions of that ending and, after seeing some of the interpretations for that ending, I convinced myself that we're seeing Cloud gaslight himself in real-time the same way he did after Zack's death and that most of this timeline and worlds merging talk is to distract us the players from that. You talk about it but mention how it doesn't change your opinion but I'm happy it did change it for me. I really like how the remake project has been handling and enhancing Cloud's absolute horrible mental state, and I think it makes perfect sense that I happened again with Aerith.
I'm also convinced, after 2 games that are very faithful to OG for 90% of the time, that they're not really changing the story that much but are using the whispers and this "defy fate" slogan to retell the same story with some uncertainties added and new elements for those who think that a simple retelling isn't enough. This also helped with my handling of Rebirth's ending over how salty I was after Remake.
I just hope they handle Cloud's true past and Zack's involvement well. Ideally Zack wouldn't even appear at all if I'm being honest so I can only hope he remains as a fanservice character without actually meddling with the actual story.
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To talk about some minor stuff, I'm so glad I decided to just play through the story and not try to do a completionist run because I see so many people complain about the mini-games while I had so much fun doing them once and moving on
I'm glad that you came around with your opinion on Rebirth's handling of the last chapter. To be clear, I don't dislike the focus on Cloud's psyche and self-delusion. It's probably the best way they could have combined his portrayal with the new mysteries to keep the experience fresh, leaving players guessing, theorizing, and talking for years. Showing us what truly went down would certainly have lessened the impact.
However, that is the rational analyst in me talking with an approximated objective view. The fan, player, and nostalgia-driven human being side of me still stands by every word in this article, despite having a different view on certain segments and scenes by now because it's not just about not understanding what happened or what the intent was. It's about fundamental points and changes to the narrative and presentation that I think change the essence of Final Fantasy VII in those affected parts that make me dislike how chapter 14 was handled.
While I agree with you entirely on a rational level, on an emotional level, I cannot make peace with how Rebirth ended. Which is in itself an ironic meta situation as I feel like the developers tried to evoke a feeling in us fans similar to Cloud by catapulting us onto a 5-stage path of grief, which is a very bold and risky move. That's at least how I feel.
Regarding Zack: I and many other Scholars of the Lifestream are in agreement with you :D
I understand your feelings very well because that's how I felt after Remake. It took me 4 years (i.e. beating Rebirth) to "forgive" it.
With Rebirth I came to the (hopefully right) conclusion these crazy endings are a necessary evil to keep new fans engaged and wanting to buy the sequel and for those OG fans who think that a faithful remake would be boring (even though Remake+Rebirth were 90% faithful to OG and I've yet to see a single person calling wither game boring haha).
I still agree with most of your points tho. I'm not a fan of Temple and I think City of the Ancients was massively underused and rushed. Overall I think the presentation and execution of these last chapters could have been much better but after 2 games and almost 150 hours of almost perfection I think they've earned my trust for Part 3
I agree with the entirety of this. Loved reading your full detailed thoughts and feelings on the game. And I think you speak for many when u say - “Mooglets can suck a pompom”. Thanks for sharing your thoughts. Whenever you are ready/ able to get back to posting I’ll be ready to read it all. Got a minimum 3 year wait to the next game so seriously, take ur time.
This was an excellent write up, and reflects my own opinions very well, albeit with much greater patience, tolerance, and elegance. The Gongaga chicken quest was the nail in the coffin for me as far as side content went. I knew what the quest writers were doing here, but after the already apparent burn out, being gas lit was too much.
You have a lot of interesting choice in words used to describe your experiences; torture, slog, shallow, hallow, etc... I will be respectful and not attribute them out of context, but those same terms are regularly used in my own analysis of Rebirth. Terms I did not feel compelled to use when reviewing multiple back to back playthroughs of Remake, despite its own obvious flaws.
Rebirth is shaping up to be the stereotypical middle child for sure.
Were this a proper review, I would have used different words, too, for sure. With this being an opinion piece and outlet for my manifold emotions, such terms are certainly warranted and elevate the textual expression I feel.
As a game, I think Rebirth towers over Remake. In terms of integration of new elements and mysteries however, I think Remake did a better job overall (Though I do really like Sephiroth's ambitions of separating Tifa from Cloud). That being said, Rebirth does suffer from this middle child syndrome a bit, both positively and negatively.
Game three will surely put things into perspective, but we're not there yet.
After finishing my playthrough I had pretty much the exact same opinions you shared here. I think the only major difference between our experiences is that instead of rage-quitting I continued getting absolutely obliterated by both Jenova and then the last Sephiroth form for *hours*, each time getting more and more pissed at the ending haha.
Remake was the same thing. I HATED the ending so much that I never bothered touching again it for 4 years and I almost didn't even bothered with Rebirth.
The key difference between Remake and Rebirth for me was that now I'm convinced that they (the devs) really understand what FF7 is and what makes it so special (a thing that 100% of the Compilation fails to do so). Then I went to check a few reactions of that ending and, after seeing some of the interpretations for that ending, I convinced myself that we're seeing Cloud gaslight himself in real-time the same way he did after Zack's death and that most of this timeline and worlds merging talk is to distract us the players from that. You talk about it but mention how it doesn't change your opinion but I'm happy it did change it for me. I really like how the remake project has been handling and enhancing Cloud's absolute horrible mental state, and I think it makes perfect sense that I happened again with Aerith.
I'm also convinced, after 2 games that are very faithful to OG for 90% of the time, that they're not really changing the story that much but are using the whispers and this "defy fate" slogan to retell the same story with some uncertainties added and new elements for those who think that a simple retelling isn't enough. This also helped with my handling of Rebirth's ending over how salty I was after Remake.
I just hope they handle Cloud's true past and Zack's involvement well. Ideally Zack wouldn't even appear at all if I'm being honest so I can only hope he remains as a fanservice character without actually meddling with the actual story.
---
To talk about some minor stuff, I'm so glad I decided to just play through the story and not try to do a completionist run because I see so many people complain about the mini-games while I had so much fun doing them once and moving on
I'm glad that you came around with your opinion on Rebirth's handling of the last chapter. To be clear, I don't dislike the focus on Cloud's psyche and self-delusion. It's probably the best way they could have combined his portrayal with the new mysteries to keep the experience fresh, leaving players guessing, theorizing, and talking for years. Showing us what truly went down would certainly have lessened the impact.
However, that is the rational analyst in me talking with an approximated objective view. The fan, player, and nostalgia-driven human being side of me still stands by every word in this article, despite having a different view on certain segments and scenes by now because it's not just about not understanding what happened or what the intent was. It's about fundamental points and changes to the narrative and presentation that I think change the essence of Final Fantasy VII in those affected parts that make me dislike how chapter 14 was handled.
While I agree with you entirely on a rational level, on an emotional level, I cannot make peace with how Rebirth ended. Which is in itself an ironic meta situation as I feel like the developers tried to evoke a feeling in us fans similar to Cloud by catapulting us onto a 5-stage path of grief, which is a very bold and risky move. That's at least how I feel.
Regarding Zack: I and many other Scholars of the Lifestream are in agreement with you :D
I understand your feelings very well because that's how I felt after Remake. It took me 4 years (i.e. beating Rebirth) to "forgive" it.
With Rebirth I came to the (hopefully right) conclusion these crazy endings are a necessary evil to keep new fans engaged and wanting to buy the sequel and for those OG fans who think that a faithful remake would be boring (even though Remake+Rebirth were 90% faithful to OG and I've yet to see a single person calling wither game boring haha).
I still agree with most of your points tho. I'm not a fan of Temple and I think City of the Ancients was massively underused and rushed. Overall I think the presentation and execution of these last chapters could have been much better but after 2 games and almost 150 hours of almost perfection I think they've earned my trust for Part 3
I agree with the entirety of this. Loved reading your full detailed thoughts and feelings on the game. And I think you speak for many when u say - “Mooglets can suck a pompom”. Thanks for sharing your thoughts. Whenever you are ready/ able to get back to posting I’ll be ready to read it all. Got a minimum 3 year wait to the next game so seriously, take ur time.