Just wanna make clear from the start that I, too, am a Rebirth hater (I'm cool with Remake, except the final chapter). This reblog is about that Tifa critism.
I'll agree that Retri downgrade a lot of characters, but Tifa is NOT one of them. Tifa is, in my opinion, the *only* well written character left. And ofc I'm being biased as hell, hence my name, but if you truly judge Retri from plot alone compared to OG, Tifa is the only one that actually resembles any core narrative of the classic.
Firstly tho, I need to correct some points of anon.
No, Barret's arc was ruined in Dyne chapter. Literally spit in the accumulation of his arc and suffering. Barret's relationship with Cloud and Avalanche isn't the focus of his arc. And Barret has ALWAYS been a loving father. He improves his relationship with Avalanche, Cloud, and Marlene doesn't take anything away from Barret. And that Rude thing is, let's face it, just a way to keep the Turks around, same with Rufus and Cloud pointless fights.
No, where they truly fucking failed at writing Barret is with Shinra. And this is 1 bullet for 2 birds. Cos holy hell, doesn't SE just HELLA water Shinra down in Rebirth. Genuinely crazy how little Shinra's brutality is portrayed in Rebirth. We spend whole Junon being buddy with the troopers. They're the victim in Gongaga, in Golden saucer, in Temple of the Ancient. They have a whole side quest dedicated to doing good deed. Like, is Shinra even a villain anymore? Cos now I just feel bad for them. Which is crazy cos Nojima DOES know how to write Shinra right. In Trace of 2 pasts, in Tifa's section, Shinra is such an overlord. You breath wrong and next day troopers will knock your house down. This novel is published right before Rebirth so idk what happened in the dev room. And when we do have some Shinra villains, we have Rufus being played like a fiddle by a very obvious suspicious Glenn, Palmer twerking his ass at us, the Turks being shrank down clueless Elena. Scarlet is the only one doing her job right. Hojo sounds like a cartoon villain. The only time he poses as an actual dangerous maniac in in Charley's side quest- when it's shown that he's still torturing Charley's living body. BUT IT'S A SIDEQUEST!!! AND DON'T LET ME START WITH NIBELHEIM!!! If I talk about it, we'll need a gg doc instead of a Tumblr post. It's almost like SE is scared to present the embodiment of capitalism as.....bad. Like what's up with that?
So Barret's biggest foils falls flat, leading to his character falling flat too. He becomes too soft on Shinra, and Dyne becomes a joke. Barret is still a good character with potential in part 3, but man, they fucked his sandwich up too many times.
Cloud's characterization is also hella butchered. They rob him too much of his agency in service of other characters, mainly Aerith and Sephiroth. Cloud being tossed in 2 arcs in Rebirth. The first one takes 9 chapters and the second one takes 1 chapter. Guess which one feels more forced.
Aerith is....a lot. I'll make a separate post about her 1 day. But I'll come out and say it, her Retri writing drags a lot of characters down, namely Zack, Cloud, Sephiroth, Tifa and Cid. It's very inconsistent and frankly read like bad fanfic at some parts. Dear destiny may clarify some of them, however, only the in-game portrayal matters. And it's BAD.
Ok, so, Tifa. Let's go over some of anon's points.
"Tifa having no flaws" is crazy statement when we literally spend 2 games watching her struggles juggling between different problems.
Tifa loves the slum? Yeah? That's her home? She spent 5 years building her life from nothing, ofc she'll have a deep connection with that place. Heck is that "criticism?" That's why losing sector 7 later hits so deep. Cos we see this girl once again has to see her home being destroyed by the same evil that she's unable to stop.
Tifa has always hated killing. The only time she sincerely wants to end a life is when she avenged for her dad. And that blood lust almost costs her her life and leaves a scar as a reminder. Tifa isn't on board with the bombing. That's like...the main thing with her at the start. Jessie, Barret and even Cloud keep saying to our faces that Tifa isn't suited for such extreme mission. I don't understand why stopping Johnny is a plot hole. It perfectly lines up with her establishment. Yes, she does agree to go on the mission eventually. And guess what? It costs her Cloud, and by extension, entire sector 7. Any extreme violent act she's participated in ends up costs her something important. On the contrary, sparring Johnny helps Tifa and the gang in the long run. Think about how such patterns will shape her behavior.
Tifa doesn't like conflict, but she does get mad. Almost anytime she shows anger, destruction comes. In the Midgard reactor, in train graveyard, on the train, in Nibelheim reactor, in Corel prison, and yes, in Kalm too. She was about to ask some sensitive questions when the vibe was already tense, but Cloud hit her with some dumbass accusation. That part is pretty stupid ngl, but more on Cloud's part. Cos why does he listen to Sephiroth of all people???? So yeah, she lashes out. Shocker.
This friend thing is especially stupid cos this is just outright refuse to look at the nuances of Tifa. Tifa is a multi dimensional character. She has many different traits that oppose and coexist at the same time. There are layers to Tifa.
She hates being objectified but she is comfortable in her own skin.
She hates violence but is willing to use her power to protect her friends.
She is a people pleaser, which results in her having many friends. But she has to put her own needs and wants behind for said friends.
She's a fast learner but is limited by her own environment.
She wants to settle down but always has to exert herself to the changing of the world.
Her talent is byproduct of having to grow up too fast or else she'll be used and abused.
Back to Rebirth, she's the one tying the narrative back to og instead of whatever the fuck multi verse they pull out of their ass.
In Kalm, she questions Cloud's memory.
In Grassland, she cares about the robed men.
In Junon, she questions Rufus about Shinra's affiliation with the robed men.
In Corel, she questions Barret about his past, which ties back to Shinra.
In Golden Saucer, she's appalled by people's ignorance of the war and the dark side of the human trafficking business operating under the glamor. (Barret also points out the excessive use of Mako for vain entertainment.)
In Gongaga, not only does she deepen her relationship with Cloud and his identity crisis, but she also extends Lifestream mechanism and her connection to the WEAPON.
In Cosmo Cayon, she questions their beliefs and goes against the outdated belief - the belief that enable Shinra's destruction practices on the planet.
In the Temple of the ancient, she actually keeps Cloud's crisis about him instead of...time travel and future memories.
All of the things she involves in revolves around Shinra, SOLDIER, Avalanche, the environment, Lifestream and Cloud's identity crisis- everything OG FF7 was about. We don't have to ask about multiverse bullshit when it comes to her and I thank God for that.
So, while I agree with the overall critism, it oversimplifies a lot of problems and mischaracterizes some characters just to make a point. Retri has a lot of problem, but Tifa is NOT one of them. I hate the gross simplification of her character while she's the only one who keeps the core of OG alive in this disastrous remake.
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